THE PROPHET

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, speak to us of children.
And he said:
Your children are not your children
They are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
They though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of to-morrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinate, and he bends you with his might that his arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the Archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so he loves also the bow that is stable.

Kahlil Gibran

Greatest arab poems ... according to me

One of my faverout poets of the new arab age Bshara Alkhory .. I'm not usually a big fan of poetry but hey I'm an arab after all and it runs in the blood...

This is my attempt to translate a couple of pieces of his poetry ...

She complained of poverty and cried pearls that fell off her eyelids and scattered
I replied, while looking at her tears " Poverty!...while you have all those jewels?

Deliver the news to her if you ever reach her territories. That I have died in love for her as a sacrifice ...
And mention me with all the good things around her. in the hope that she will cry on me ... just hoping...
And escort her to my soil as my bones crave being stepped on by her feet ...

Hope you enjoy it ..

PS: I tried to do as much literal translation as possible so it would not lose its beauty. But it still did ... sounds a 100 times better in Arabic. Feel free to add your comments

A Taste of Arabic Poetry

I am one of those who believe some things can not be translated from one language to another.They are just not transcultural. My bi-lingual friends and I always find amusement in literally translating expressions and jokes between languages. Things like "no extra upon you" and " The envalops are Cairo" or my personal favourite "My Mothers vice presedent" all of which make absalotely no sence unless you understand arabic and are familiar with the Gulf culture.

Leaving all that aside every now and then ,within my mind, I try and translate some peices of Arabic Poetry. Sometimes this only goes as far as one line other times it is a whole poem. This is one of my attempts to do that what ended up being type on my computer.

I really love this one so I hope that it is not ruined by my translation. It is written by Nizar Qabbani and was preformed by AbdulHalem Hafez as a song. It is called "Qariaat AlFinjan" or The fortune Teller and it goes like this:

The Fortune Teller:
She sat down with fear in her eyes..
Staring at my flipped cup..
She said ..
My son ... don’t be sad ..
Love is what is written for you..
My son...
He has sacrificed his soul..
The one who died on the religion of his love!
Your cup is a terrifying life
and your life is journeys and wars ..
You’re going to love a lot my son..
You’re going to die a lot my son ...
You’re going to fall in love with all the ladies on earth ..
And you’re going to return like a defeated king..
...
In your life my son there is a lady ...
Her eyes are wonders of the worshipped one..
Her mouth is drawn like the end of a vine branch ..
Her laugh is melodies and roses ...
And the wild gipsy hair is traveling throughout the life ..
She might become a lady my son ...
That the heart fall in love with ..
She is the life
But your sky is raining ..
And your way is blocked .. it’s blocked ..
Since the love of your heart .... my son
Is sleeping in well guarded castle ..
And the castle is huge my son ..
And dogs are guarding it along with the guards
And the princess of your heart is sleeping..
The one who enters her room ..
The one who asks for her hand ..
The one who gets close to the fence of her garden ....is lost ..
The one who tries to undo her hair ..
My son ..
Is lost ... is lost ..
...
I’ve read the future and stars so many times ..
But I have never read a cup the looked like your cup...
I’ve never seen my son ...
Any miseries that looked like yours
Your destiny ... is to walk forever ..
In love ... on the edge of sword ..
And to stay lonely like the shells on the beach..
And to stay sad like the falling leaves ...
Your destiny is to keep going forever ..
In the sea of love with no boats ...
And love millions of times ...
And to return like a removed King !