Language: Arabic
Poet: Saadi Youssef
Translator: Khaled Mattawa
Region: Iraq
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the last communist
Two poems by Saadi Youssef, translated from Arabic by Khaled Mattawa
The Last Communist Kids Himself
The last communist was deep in love!
He spent three months
between his village near London and the suburbs of Amsterdam
chasing deer.
He thought that love would come with the summer sky!
What a fool!
How many trains he’d missed just waiting?
How many caravans or herds of wild buffalo
have left him and disappeared in the sand
or on the shores.
I said,
patience, comrade.
You who are called the last communist,
be steadfast, as is your habit!
What’s the use of complaining?
Wake up,
enter the lobby, elegantly,
and look towards the staircase in the corner.
Now, rub your silver earring:
…………….
…………….
…………….
The one you desire will come down any minute now!
الشيوعيّ الأخيرُ يَـتـمازَحُ
أمضى ثلاثةَ أشهُرٍ
… ما بينَ قريتِهِ بلندنَ ، والضواحي من أمستردامَ
وهو يُطاردُ الغزلانَ ؛
! كان يظنُّ أنّ الـحُبَّ يأتي من سماءِ الصيفِ
! كم هوَ ساذَجٌ
كم من قطارٍ فاتهُ في الإنتظارِ
وكم قوافلَ أو جآذرَ غادرتْ حتى اختفتْ في الرملِ
… أو عند الشــواطيءِ
: قلتُ
صبراً ، يا رفيقي
… أيُّها الـمُـسْـمى شيوعيّاً أخيراً
! كُنْ ، كعهدِكَ ، صامداً
ما نفْعُ أن تشكو إذا نابتْكَ نائبةٌ ؟
أفِقْ
وادخُلْ ، بكل أناقةٍ ، في البهوِ
وانظُرْ نحوَ سُـلَّـمِـهِ الذي في الرُّكْنِ ؛
: وادعَكْ قِرطَكَ الفضّيَّ
……………
……………
……………
! سوف تجيء مَن تهوى
The Last Communist Wants to Have Lunch
The last communist was walking his favorite route
in the alleys of Tangier
coming down from the old market to the harbor cafes.
One day, she whom he’d thought was fancying him,
or merely curious about him, agreed to meet.
Today, he is walking towards her.
In the maritime office, he tells himself,
she may linger with him
in a corner in her restaurant by the sea.
The sky is peculiar in March!
The last communist is almost drowned under March flash floods.
His clothes (new and suitable for a love song) become threadbare under the torrent.
So,
my friend,
whom I’ve called the last communist,
you must solve this dilemma!
Are you going to walk on to the one you fancy?
Will you go on through this downpour?
Or will you return like a snail to your snug shell?
Answer now!
You must decide!
My friend decides to limit his hopes
and enters this common eatery
to eat with gusto, a bowl of lentils.
The city will recover its beauty tomorrow
and then he’ll head to the one he loves, there at the pier
for the Tarifa crossing.
……………..
……………..
……………..
Perhaps his beloved will agree to see him again!
الشيوعيّ الأخير يريد أن يتغدّى
كان الشيوعيُّ الأخيرُ يجولُ جولتَهُ الأثيرةَ
… في أزقّةِ طنجةَ
هابطاً من هضْبةِ السوقِ القديمِ إلى مقاهي المرفأِ ؛
انتظرتْهُ ، يوماً ، مَن توهَّمَ أنها استهوَتْهُ
! أو هوِيَتْهُ
وهو ، اليومَ ، ماضٍ نحوَها ، في المكتب البحريّ
: كان يقول
. قد تأتي معي ، لنكون في رُكْنٍ ، بمطعمِها ، على البحرِ
! السماءُ عجيبةٌ في شهر آذارَ
… الشيوعيُّ الأخيرُ يكادُ يغرقُ تحتَ سيلٍ دافقٍ من غيثِ آذارَ
! الملابسُ ( وهي شِبْهُ جديدةٍ حتى لأغنية الغرامِ ) غدتْ من الزخّاتِ ، أسمالاً
إذاً
يا صاحبي
يا مَن أُسَمِّيكَ الشيوعيَّ الأخيرَ
! عليكَ أن تلقى حلولاً للتناقُضِ
هل ستمضي نحوَ مَن تهوى؟
أتمضي تحتَ هذا السيلِ ؟
امْ ترتدُّ كالحلَزونِ في مُلتَفِّ قوقعةٍ ؟
! أجِبْ في لحظةٍ
! قَرِّرْ
وقَرَّرَ صاحبي أن يكتفي بالنزْرِ
ولْيدخُلْ هنا … في المطعمِ الشعبيّ
! ولْيأكلْ هنيئاً : طاسةَ العدَسِ
المدينةُ سوف تعودُ مُغريةً غداً
ولسوف يذهب نحوَ مَن يهوى … هنالك عند أرصفةِ العبورِ
إلى ” طريفةَ “
……………
……………
……………
! ربما رضِيَتْ صديقتُهُ أخيراً
Saadi Youssef (1934-2021) is considered one of the most important contemporary poets in the Arab world. He was born near Basra, Iraq. Following his experience as a political prisoner in Iraq, he has spent most of his life in exile, working as a teacher and literary journalist throughout North Africa and the Middle East. He is the author of over forty books of poetry. Youssef has also published two novels and a book of short stories, and several books of essay and memoir. Youssef, who spent the last two decades of his life in London, was a leading translator to Arabic of works by Walt Whitman, Ngugi wa Thiongo, and Federico García Lorca, among many others.
Khaled Mattawa is the William Wilhartz Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan. His latest book of poems is Fugitive Atlas (Graywolf, 2020). A MacArthur Fellow, he is the current editor of Michigan Quarterly Review.
