Monday 28 February 2011

Desolation


O men, can what is decreed be stopped?
Can the good life that is no more return?

I remembered a time long gone,
and my anxious thoughts
Rushed down upon me, and my tears burst forth.

My passion's throes brought back to mind
thoughts of those I loved-
And those in battle fallen:
Rafi' and Nufay',

And Sa'd - all now in other Gardens,
while here
Their campsites are in desolation, the land
a waste.

*

Hassan Ibn Thabit
composed on the occasion of the battle of Badr.
*

{Transl. Jaroslav Stetkevych}
*


And after them I sent my gaze, when already
There stood between us
dunes crested with aloes and myrtle
*

Imru' al-Qays
*


Til Maha...altid...altid...


Foto (c) Roxana

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