شيء كأنه شيء ما — مصطفى الشليح — Saqi

1.
قبلَ القراءةِ
1.
Before reading,
رُشَّ بعضَ الضَّوءِ
ثمَّ اسكنْ إليكْ.
sprinkle some light,
then find repose in yourself.
***
2.
***
2.
لا تعْدُ قولكَ،
فالعبارةُ هشَّةٌ
Do not go beyond your words,
for the phrase is fragile,
تُرمَى عليكْ.
***
flung at you.
***
3.
لا تبدُ حولكَ
3.
Do not appear around yourself
إلا مرَّةً لا تنقضي
تركتْ يديك.
except once—a time that never ends,
that has left your hands.
***
4.
***
4.
اخفضْ جناحَكَ
وانتبذْ جهةً هُناكَ
Lower your wing,
and withdraw to a place over there,
بأصغريكْ.
***
with your two smallest organs—heart and tongue.
***
5.
للوقتِ أسماءٌ
5.
Time has names,
ولكنْ ليسَ لاسمكَ
ما ترى
and yet your name does not have
what you see.
***
6.
***
6.
ولهُ النِّداءُ
كأنَّه منْ وهمكَ
And the call belongs to it,
as though, from your illusion, it were
الأرضُ التي عبرَا،
***
the earth it crossed,
***
7.
أما العراءُ
7.
As for the bare expanse,
فحكمةٌ بيضاءٌ
تلهثُ في الثَّرى.
it is a white wisdom
that pants in the earth.
***
8.
***
8.
لولا ارتباكُ الفجر
هلْ أدركتَ بعضَ الفجر
Were it not for dawn's confusion,
would you have caught some of the dawn
في ليل السُّرى ؟
***
in the night of nocturnal travel?
***
9.
الضَّوءُ، ذاكَ الضَّوءٌ
9.
The light, that light,
ليلٌ شابَ، أو المسافة
للغُرابِ بناظريكْ.
is a night gone gray, or the distance
for the raven in your eyes.
***
10.
***
10.
بعدَ القراءةِ
قُمْ توضَّأ باختلافكَ؛
After reading,
rise, perform your ablutions with your difference,
غيرِ وثَّابٍ إليكْ ..
which does not leap toward you ...