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Birds – الطيور

Poetry, Translations
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by Ahmad Shafie, translated from the arabic by Humphrey Davies

The poem is by Egyptian writer Ahmad Shafei and comes from his verse collection: 77 (Cairo: Kutubkhan, 2017), where it is untitled but numbered 51. Translated by Humphrey Davies

Birds

have no hands.

They don’t expect a crutch

in old age

Or a pat on the back

in their moment of weakness

Or rings

Or keys

Or a goodbye wave.

 

Poetry?

They sing it and don’t care.

History?

They shit in the air.

Life?

They wing it.

Death?

They die alone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

الطيور

                       لا يدي لها

لا تنتظر في شيخوختها

سندًا

ولا في ضعفها

،تربيتةً

بلا خواتمَ

لا مفاتيحَ

                                           .لا تلويحة في وداع

 

والقصائد؟

.تزقزقها ولا تبالي

والتاريخ؟

.تخرأ من أعلى

والحياة؟

.تَطِيرها

والموت؟

.تموت فرادى

Contributor
Humphrey Davies

Humphrey Davies was an award-winning translator of some twenty works of modern Arabic literature, among them Alaa Al-Aswany’sThe Yacoubian Building, four novels by Elias Khoury, includingGate of the Sun, and Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq’sLeg over Leg. His awards included the inaugural Banipal Prize for Arabic literary translation forGate of the Sun.

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<span id="docs-internal-guid-d0714ea3-7fff-9cb9-99f2-6ae589af6ac4" style="caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Humphrey Davies was an award-winning translator of some twenty works of modern Arabic literature, among them Alaa Al-Aswany’s </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Yacoubian Building</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, four novels by Elias Khoury, including </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Gate of the Sun</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq’s </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Leg over Leg</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. His awards included the inaugural Banipal Prize for Arabic literary translation for </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Gate of the Sun.</span></span>

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Rusted Radishes: Beirut Literary and Art Journal was founded in the English Department of the American University of Beirut in 2012 with the intention of creating a space for both emerging and established writers who have a connection to Lebanon.
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