Translated from Arabic into English by:
Dr. Emile Chidiac
**
Cover by Randa Baini
**
Preface
Translating Charbel Baini’s “Rubaiyat” {Quartets} from the original Arabic into English has been a pleasurable though complex task. This is due to the fact consideration had to be given to the exigencies of rhythm and rhyme which complicate the task of even the most straightforward of translations.
The aim of this is to introduce Charbel’s poetry to the English reader. The power of rhythm and rhyme plays an important part in Charbel’s “Rubaiyat”. Whilst it was necessary to ensure the full meaning of the “Rubaiyat” was captured in the translation, it was equally important to convey the rhythm and rhyme to capture the complete essence of the verse.
Some verses from the original Arabic have not been translated because they deal with colloquial and regional expre4ssions. The translation would render their meanings either ambiguous or incomprehensible to the reader.
To translate from one language into the other one ought to be fluent in both languages. To translate poetry, one has to translate not only the meanings of the word, but also the feelings the poet wants to convey. My task as a translator has been made easier by my love of writing poetry. I have, therefore, endeavoured to be as true as possible to the original text in the hope that the reader will understand Charbel’s “Rubaiyat” as the poet meant them to be understood.
Dr. Emile Chidiac
**
MAY YOUR CLORY REMAIN
O my country, I planted, for your sake,
Poetry and flowers in my exile,
And I kept yelling all time you remain
In glory, and my heart was wrenched the while.
**
POETRY
… And poetry, it does not yet exist
Without me, it would not stir up at all
Man’s feeling, if my tears fell not on
The thirsty, quenching them with such a fall.
**
REMEMBER MY POETRY
How beautiful the evening with you,
You are the dearest people in my eyes,
My poetry caresses all of you,
Remember it; forget me, as time flies.
**
MY POETRY IS A PRAYER
In order that you understand my trend,
My poetry is like all mother’s prayer;
With every verse speaks years of my own life,
And every word bespeaks all mothers’ care.
**
BLOOD AND WOE
Your eyes are closed; you are lost in the night,
And your road knows injustice and hardship,
Wake up from this dream, Lebanon, wake up;
Of blood and woe you’ve suffered enough whip.
**
A FOREIGNER
Let us get rid of any foreigner
Who speaks resentment in our household, who
Darkened our sky with all his poison, and
The neighbour to kill neighbour, sad but true.
**
I TRIED
I tried to describe you but I could not,
I gathered my thoughts, many worlds I flew,
The genius which took as a friend
Deserted me, since I have painted you.
**
THEY SLAUGHTERED YOUR CHILDREN
O Cedar, you were so insulted by
Deceitful people without conscience, they
Pretended to be friends, and do believe,
They slaughtered children as in bed they lay.
**
A PROUD MAN
If on the ground a proud man dropped his heart
He would not stoop down even to retrieve,
But yet the nasty man, unloved, would not steal
His mother’s heart to save himself, to grieve.
**
DRUNK
Away from my home I am drunk alone,
I close my doors in any person’s face;
I speak unto the chairs and walls at home,
And argue with my cup to my disgrace.
**
DON'T GO AWAY
You are but purity, a candle in
A monast'ry, a lily envied by
The flowers and your presence brought me joy
And blessing, so don’t go I need you nigh.
**
THE THIEVES OF THE DISTRICT
The gallows, if erected for a while,
For two of three months and, of course, not more,
We would get rid of all the district’s thieves
Who had been stabbing all oppressed of yore?
**
SECRETS
What did the bird reveal to that lily?
About our love, and rashness of our youth?
What business such of the bird to tell
Of secrets, to reveal the very truth?
**
THEY STOLE HER
They, treacherously, stole her from my arms,
And her eyes were dimmed by her flowing tears,
And I said to her quietly, my love,
Shall we yet meet again, I have my fears!
**
ADDICT
An addict who drinks poison and madness
And gets merry and dreams then of the world,
Is like a monkey, licking a file then
And chokes with blood, such foolishness unfurled.
**
AN ANGEL
I love you just as much as sea and space,
As much as moon, as much as the great sun,
Or darkness, I saw you when I saw light,
As in a dream. I still dream, angel one.
**
CEDARS
Our houses are well built on rocks, and our
Own families, protected cedars thus;
You simply cannot with a word destroy
These in a million tales the likes of us.
**
THE MELODIES OF MY LIFE
Don’t say to me you are annoyed with me.
It’s hard for me my melody to be
Of life, with sirens singing their sweet songs
All stolen from my book of poetry.
**
PARADISE
I spoke to you against my will, and I
Was then confused by what I said to you;
I thought a fire had flared up close by,
But paradise, not fire, near, it’s true.
**
THE CEMETRY OF MEN
History alone the cemetery
Of men, and very fortunate is he
Interred therein, and pages telling tales
Of heroes, hardly turned by destiny.
**
WHAT IS THE MATTER?
What is the matter, tell me what you want?
Just say now what produces great sighs;
You want the moon; I’ll plant it by your side,
And water it with tears from shy eyes.
**
IF ONLY I COULD
If I could only have some wings to fly
Up in the sky and land, just for a while,
On my own terrace, visit my vineyard
Which I had planted, I could hardly sigh.
**
FEAST DAY
I am disgusted with you, feast day, and
Disgusted with your look, in each new dress,
Because the child is naked in our land
And greeting feast days always with distress.
**
A MATTRESS OF FLOWERS
I waited for you at the corner of
Your home long nights, and just when minutes creep
This life, to paint you, hang it in my mind,
And close my eyes, and on the flowers sleep.
**
BAALBECK
Baalbeck, once worshipped by gods, and where
The sun kneels in its universal fear,
The very city wails. What is its woe?
I hear the children’s moaning, even here.
**
CHILDREN
Children, so homeless in the universe,
Talk of oppression by their parents, who
Were born oblivious of purpose here-
Though planted in the womb, life lacked a clue.
**
MOSLEMS AND CHRISTIANS
In order to be able to sleep nights
And my eyes to become as great as then
The universe, Islam my right eyes is,
And my left eye beliefs of Christian men.
**
WHY
Why did we in this world become a curse?
And so uprooted from our fertile soil?
And so degraded in this universe?
And exiled in some land since our turmoil?
**
TEARS AND BLOOD
My country so consists of blood and tears
Combined with mother’s cries of children lost;
She stands at her window, waiting years,
Her shadow being with her to her cost.
**
THE CHRISTMAS TREE
A Christmas tree, bouquets of carols and
The joy of children, such festivity!
All feast days are festivity and glad,
Except the Cedars' country presently.
**
BASKET OF FLOWERS
Why did they call you a New Year while my
Loved country is at present suffering?
The flowers shrivelled in my hand, and you
Closed all doors in my face, the gravest thing!
**
I MISSED YOU, LEBANON
I miss your countryside, my Lebanon
Your land so sacred with the children’s blood;
If all your candles were out you’d still shine
Like stars, the scene with brightness would yet flood.
**
WE MUST RESIST
..And to be stronger than the wildest wind
That reaped our ears of wheat which was yet green;
We must resist vile habits and instead
At crossroads grow bright flowers to be seen.
**
PEOPLE’S TALE
I am a poet, poetry speaks from
My lips a people’s tale, in whom confide?
We were nailed on Calvary, our captors
Just drank our tears, applauded as we cried.
**
WHERE IS REDEMPTION?
O God, do not deprive our Lebanon
Of decorations, of feasts everywhere;
You sent Your Son to save us, where is that
Redemption? Yet our people now despair.
**
A PERFECT PAST
We had a homeland in a perfect past
That there was nothing like it but in dreams,
It has become a ruin, much loved ones
Now scattered by ordeals and children’s screams.
**
FIVE
Had only God Created five like me
And put one in each five great continents,
All paper would become the people’s bread,
Their cups filled by the sun’s rays so immense.
**
LONGING
Do not say you are far away from me
The distance is too short. Now realise,
Close as the bird’s own eagerness you are,
Close as the stars above now in my eyes.
**
HOPE
I send a letter but get no reply.
I stand and wait. The postman passes by,
The letterbox left empty, and a cloud
Wraps up my heart on fresh dreams to rely.
**
FLOATING
So many years have passed, O dearest land
Of glory, you’re ill-treated and I say,
I wish that I could use great Moses’ staff
To drown them all, and let you float away.
**
MADMAN
..And anyone who writes two little words
Becomes a writer in this exile, but
The writer whose words cause mighty fire
Is seen as mad and small, from senses shut.
**
MY MOTHER
Your eyes are shedding tears, mother, thus
About a country you were forced to leave;
God, with his gift of Christmas, will yet lift
Your country’s poverty, bright lights retrieve.
**
IT IS ALL AIR
..And I have heard a lot about your greed,
That you would slaughter someone for a cent;
You’re putting air into a pail, indeed,
And paying a grim piece; your life is meant.
**
A LIAR
The people know you lie, yet you remain
The same, you would not change your present state;
When you inhale, the blow of air has doubts,
When you exhale. Truth's seas evaporate.
**
A NIGHTINGALE
O nightingale, you have a lovely voice
When to the garden you then choose to fly;
Your sweet song echoes in the valleys, and
Your tune lights up and brightens all the sky.
**
A CHAMELEON
Prepare a rod for your son, and then say,
“Behave, be not like a chameleon”
It would be better to cut him in bits
Than subject him to vile condemnation.
**
I LOVE YOU
Why is the war now stealing you from me
And planting all the sighs within my heart?
No one can keep you from me, I love you
As much as the sky that sets us apart.
**
A VILLAIN
You are a villain killing little ones,
A district-leader, the source of all sin;
I swear to God and all prophets that we
Can build lands from your grave-stones to begin.
**
IT IS BETTER FOR YOU
You would be better single than be wed,
You can no longer trust a woman who
You give to her your heart, your misery
Will make her whinge, and graceless she leaves you.
**
YOU ARE THE INSPIRATION
My sheer discarding of all women makes
You angry, those I once gave flowers, you
Who are my eyes, my paradise, and then
Inspiring a million verses too.
**
LIKE WITCHCRAFT
Each drop of blood that fell into the soil,
A dream much greater than the mighty earth
Had birth, so let our country lose her pain
Thus to rebuild, like witchcraft, her true worth.
**
MY STORY
Publish my story in book-form I shall,
That it may be a lesson from the first
For mankind; Loss and suffering for months,
And such oppression! My heart could have burst!
**
MY FATHER
O father, we remember you so well,
Your name engraved in our hearts down the years.
You brought us up in piety: You should
Not fret, for faith should remove your fears.
**
THE DOOR OF HOPE
If Noah’s Ark had not been built at all
What would have happened to our goodly earth?
To have the door of hope still open, we
Must now repent, and pray for all our worth.
**
HOW FORTUNATE I AM
How fortunate I am, my heart delights;
I fell in love with such a lovely blonde
With eyes of blue, a relic in her face
Existing, as in jade, myself in bond.
**
TO BE PROUD
My country must exist just as it should,
And fearing only God, and being proud,
With not a soul determining its lot,
No matter where the people go to crowd.
**
JESUS
A cold night with no stars or candles in
A manger; wherein hay, and most forlorn,
Upon a bed of straw, the Virgin lay
Her baby Jesus who, that night, was born.
**
A DREAM
I had a great dream, O my Lebanon,
That you were laughing and delighted in
The mountains and the coast where peace prevailed,
And those who left returned unto their kin.
**
LIKE A POOR MAN
I have been feeling pretty roses are
Too thirsty in the garden of my life,
Because of snow and cold they shiver there,
Just like a beggar who is doomed to strife.
**
YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND
You do not understand, no matter what
You claim and say, no matter how high you
Would fly you would then fall. But if you walked
The distance, you’d return so bored, it’s true!
**
A NOBLE GIRL
Where do you go? You do not say where you
Are destined, though I am your husband, say;
Return to dignity, do not still flirt;
For noble born do not stoop in this way.
**
LIBERTY
It is no wider than that of my sight,
No matter how big is the rolling sea?
Nor bigger than the heart that beats within,
Shedding its blood as price for liberty.
**
YOU ARE WRONG
You are so wrong when you have settled all
Our differences and then tell to all
What our hearts hold, so I now beg of you
To cherish our love, sentiments recall.
**
I GOT OLD
I have so aged, and snow is on my head,
But I would tell the story of my life;
I am forgetful and afraid, and what
I fear, of course, is this state reached in strife.
**
THEY SOLD ITS SOIL
The Cedar which is crying on the top
Of mountains, sees its branches dying, since
They sold its soil, and so the smile has gone
From all its little ones who know offence.
**
THE DESPERATION OF THE YEARS
I worry about you, my Lebanon
But tears have thus been cheapened by their flow,
And I am desperate, with a new year,
For years have burned my homeland, sadly so
**
THAT IS ENOUGH
You built a house, and then you do indulge
In your philosophy without restraint;
Enough of this, for now its bricks complain,
And would have you replace them, their complaint.
**
THEY HAVE TOLD ME
They have told me the stories that would make
A boy go grey, how you have simply sent
All men in town astray, when you returned,
And then divided hours, your body lent.
**
MY LOVE
Surely you were afraid of all my love
Which does not tolerate, can reprimand;
My love is fire, madness, dangerous,
For my heart’s love is missing, understand.
**
BEWARE
Do not advise your brother, understand,
In lands where bitterness and sweetness taste
The same, and do not lend your hand to save
Him, Let him sink, though fretting for his waste.
**
A BOAT
God gave me gifts, and then He said to me,
“Your poetry comes through my hand, you float
Though planted on a hill, for I pushed you
And drove you through the sea just like a boat.
**
IGNORANT
Now all of you are writers in exile
And teachers longing for authority,
You fail in tests, cannot with any ease
Dictate a letter in reality.
**
DO NOT WISH ME WELL
Do not now wish me well, for I do not
Desire such, your gifts well coloured then
A thousand times. For costs just send a cheque
To my land crucified out there by men.
**
A NECK AND A CHEEK
Whenever I smell roses I then find
Their fragrance disappears with every smell,
But if I smell a neck or even cheek
The fragrance will remain, I have to tell.
**
PAIN
Why is pain eating out my bones, and why
It follows me, forever with me stays?
I am afraid that suffering will cling
Throughout the calendar of all my days.
**
YOU WERE CRUCIFIED
They crucified you up on Calvary,
And form your tears and blood they lived afresh,
And when the blood had dropped so much in price,
They sharpened up their knives and cut your flesh.
**
MADMEN
Those who divided up the country to
Give key to others, they are really mad;
The country which had nurtured them, they tear
Away its heart, a wounded bird, fear-clad.
**
DESPOTIC
Despotic is she and she ruins homes,
She claims some knowledge, foolish is her bid;
Truth is so difficult to reach her brain,
Her head is sealed and does not have a lid.
**
I AM FASTING
Swear not before me for I am at fast,
For this month only fasting I must keep,
And be as one of poverty, and dream
Of Eden, and of happiness and sleep.
**
WOLVES
Indeed I am disgusted with myself
And cannot trust a soul on this grim earth;
I see all people as marauding wolves,
The nicest like a devil of no worth.
**
NO
Please do not flatter me, just tell the truth,
For truth alone can win no matter what;
I would prefer the word “No” rather than
Lies and deception which amount to rot.
**
GLORY
If anyone has perished in our land
Eyes will shed tears, our countryside to fill;
We’re people who have suckled glory, not
Like those who suckle, yet unsated still.
**
A PLEA
I have a plea to make before I go,
Do live in peace throughout your very life;
If ever there had been a heart to hurt,
A smile inspires sweetness, and not strife.
**
A DOOR
“You mean to kill me!” said the anguished liar
Who chooses to deceive, he, like a door;
It opens and it closes with the wind,
And not by conscious effort anymore.
**
O BEAUTIFUL
O beautiful, you spend your time at school,
And study things most difficult to heed;
But if you studied the great art of love
Then you would dance to my heart-beat indeed.
**
BLAME
I wish I could close all the doors of blame
And stand out on the road with sunset near;
And say to you, “Without your eyes, I would
Not be the same- no life without you, dear.”
**
ALL FOR THE LEADER
The neighbours fight because their leader does
Lack prudence, dignity, and conscience too;
He let the children who had nothing taste
Resentment, and to live in hell, it’s true!
**
WASTE OF TIME
What is this waste of time that we must know?
We walk like ghosts in streets, for heaven’s sake,
And when we go to bed we hardly sleep,
And when we sleep we find it hard to wake.
**
BE FAITHFUL
Be faithful and let truth be your one guide,
You, who have nurtured truth to full extent;
And do not lend your ears then to vain talk,
To heed the mischief which your foes have meant.
**
THE SOURCE OF POETRY
I am scared that my source of poetry
May dry up, then of course I’d deeply grieve;
If this should happen, my heart would farewell
All; in death my bed and pillow I’d leave.
**
THINK NOT
Think not you are free in this land and all
Your rights protected by society;
We’re people who don’t let the body smirch
Our dignity with sheer frivolity.
**
I HAVE FORGIVEN YOU
I have forgiven you since you have asked,
And so the sighs were calmed within your breast;
You had betrayed, so what? Such nature’s way,
Like light of day betrayed by night at best.
**
I HAVE BECOME A LIAR
I have become a liar harder than
A rock, because of how much I have been
Deceived by people. I thus have become
A moon in their eyes, night myself I’ve seen.
**
A DIFFERENT MAN
O God, I wish to be another man
Than I am now, and have great love to start;
To look about me on the troubled road
And feed the hungry as though from my heart.
**
EVERYBODY’S PROPHET
Mohammed, you are everybody’s seer,
I pray for you throughout the day and night,
You glorified God through your fine Koran
And thereby saved your people from hell’s blight.
**
A SIN
Why was Lord Jesus crucified for me?
And yet sin does not leave my spirit free;
It captivates my body’s fiber and
Just like an intuition lives in me.
**
THE FIRE OF PAIN
The fire of pain is burning in my ribs,
And I no longer see, injustice has
Thus blurred my vision, dimmed my candle lights,
Just like the spiteful, thankless one, alas!
**
A GROUP OF DEVILS
I do not want you to love me if you
Are like a snake beneath a heap of straw
With venom underneath your teeth, and then
Like groups of devils, decency ignore.
**
EDUCATION
It is your right to love your precious son,
To pour your blood into his very heart;
But let the brain, before love, plant the seeds
Of education from the very start!
**
A ROSE
I picked a pretty rose just for the scent,
But I went crazy when it said to me,
“O man, have pity, you now steal away
The baby from its mother’s lap you see!”
**
RIGHTS AND DREAMS
They are ill-treating you, O Lebanon,
Depriving you of your days, though you gave
To man his rights, you must achieve in time
Your very dreams, for which you so much crave.
**
LIFE IS A LAUGH
Life is a laugh, and if you fail to laugh
Your life will be so laden with remorse,
To pass without real meaning silently;
You shall be bored with life throughout, of course.
**
IT IS POSSIBLE
Achievable I find now all my hopes
To plant my feelings as stars in the sky,
But, O my heart, one thing impossible;
Forget my land, her precious soil deny!
**
O MY EYES
I must restrain from falsehood ever more,
And therefore say to you now, O my eyes!
I wish that we had never been at all
Rather than see your tears and your cries.
**
FLY O BIRD
Fly, fly O bird, and take my greetings home
To my loved ones, I spend my life away
In exile, and I am depressed indeed,
Like a lost butterfly where forests stay.
**
I AM AFRAID
I am afraid our children might yet sink
Into the mud of this world, purity
Becoming rare, mistaking thorns for flowers
Whilst walking in the forests that they see.
**
THE WICKED
Do not be nasty as to then deny
A good turn, but twofold make it return;
And do not turn your back when you have seen
Your brothers crave his hungry mouth to spurn.
**
THE MEANING OF PEACE
Each time the sun sets and the morning comes
Dreams follow dreams. We dream a cedar has
Dressed all the wounds, and taught the people peace
Completely, but these dreams are dreams, alas.
**
THERE IS NO WINTER
There is no winter, save us from your ire,
O god of heaven, do not strike us hence;
We must not get bored with our acts of prayer;
We need His Mercy and Benevolence.
**
THE PROPHETS
What would have happened if the prophets failed
To come? They planted verses in the earth,
And brought a thousand colours to the world,
Endowed all creatures with a life of worth.
**
WE MUST STARVE
We must go thirsty, hungry, and then cry,
And get cold, just to know your worth, O God;
You planned a smile on our lips whilst we
Were swearing, and this makes the matter odd.
**
WE PROMISE YOU
We promise you, o God, on this great day
To grow at last lead a decent life;
Foe we accept you with faith and respect,
So live in our hearts, give us grace, not strife.
**
SOME FEATHERS
Creator of the world, I only want
Your love, approval, everyone’s respect,
And then some feathers in my wings to fly
Home to the family in this way decked.
**
MASTERS AND SLAVES
If all creation was to be reborn
The world would still have masters and their slaves.
Some people fret after their little dog
Whilst their own brothers are chained like the waves.
**
LEADERS OF THE PACK
Do not believe the stories, they are lies,
For we have shed blood, and wars bring decease,
And thousands upon thousands have now died
While leaders of the pack at last made peace.
**
FRIENDSHIP
No permanency does exist at all
In friendship, we are toys in other hands,
For seasons follow seasons and again,
Since warmth we freeze through folks of other lands.
**
GO AWAY
Moslems and Christians we, call out loudly
With one voice, leave us go away, depart,
For it is wrong for you to occupy
Our land, and spread your shadow on our heart.
**
RELIGION FOR THE DEITY
Religion is for Deity not man,
Stop pouring oil upon the mounting fire;
No mosque or church will do you any good
If grudges enter in at your desire.
**
BEIRUT
A lot of people wished to see the death
Of that most pleasant city called Beirut;
Most cities are constructed form the rocks,
But rubies and sapphires are its repute.
**
A NUN
A nun had been betrothed to Lord Jesus
And walked the road of Calvary and death;
She left her country and she crossed the sea
To be the light in darkness, give life breath.
**
THE RIVER Of BITTERNESS
Do not dare turn your back when you would lick
All of your brother’s honey and, therefore,
The river of great bitterness starts where
The bees invade the flowers they adore.
**
A GRAVE
I travelled over all the world; I crossed
The seas, and I accrued wealth such to save,
I built a palace. Five letters I need,
If put together, they’ll build me a “grave”.
**
Festive Day
On this Festive Day
It shines with joy,
Spreading happiness over the world
The valley is awake,
The hill is lit up.
O Sun.. Our sun behind you sets,
And our hearts only pray for you,
Each time the festive face appears,
The world becomes sublime.
O Virgin Mary..
Enough humiliation and oppression
Done by the infidel,
Planting in our children’s chests tuberculosis
To have fun from our children’s tears
Decorate their chests with gardenia,
Remove the bombs,
And spread goodwill from your garment,
Say: The people of Lebanon
Will remain masters,
Protecting the cedar tree at all time;
They are the ones welcomed by God.
**
Lebanon
-1-
Lebanon..
The song of the nightingale,
Lebanon..
A laughter of love and happiness,
Lebanon..
The voice of the bells in the valley,
Lebanon..
A monastery and a mosque for worshipping,
Lebanon..
Blood of the heart,
Spirit of the soul,
And a door wide opened
To the faithful,
Lebanon..
Anointed with healing ointment;
Should the sick wander in its Mountains,
They will be healed and live longer;
God is the healer,
And our land the clinic
-2-
Lebanon!
What a fragrance of a plant
Unlike it anywhere
It seems eternity is its rocks
And fortresses from yonder years
Lebanon..
From the might of mount Sannine
Did build trenches of strength
And tenderness
And from the wood of cedar trees
Did set ships to sail towards eternal light!
**
Virgin Mary
Oh Virgin Mary
No matter what we say,
Words are washed away
For we are far from home.
We distanced ourselves from you,
Hence our misery
And the dream is dead
At your Annunciation,
The smiles to the child are returned.
We long for you
Forget us not
Give us your hand
And meet us all
You, most wonderful of all mothers.
**
The martyr’s blood
The martyr’s blood is wheat in the soil;
It grows to give flour to the people.
It grows to defy the army of hatred
That treads on the necks of believes.
We were a zero on the margin of life,
Too shy to carry our names
If it were not for the martyr in the trench
Ready to protect us,
There would not be an identity
For people in the universe
Without being sealed by a martyr’s finger;
He burnt out the candle of his youth
In the darkness
And on the altar of the Cedar of our Lebanon.
**
