Poems
Every Thing
by Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi
Let the wind out of the mouth of the fisherman
To the temple/skeleton/ of the boat from the depth of the sail
And undo the lock from the mouth of the river
Shout
You drowning one
In the whirling depth of the water/waves
The river starts/begins usually calm
The shores begin with gathering the suns
From the mouths of dead fish
The cooking of shadows begins with the smell
The clearing/sweeping of the pebbles
But the calm, the wind, have the sound
Of those who ride the sails - but the stillness
They sail from a distant night
They dig the water with old customary patience/ persistence
And look darkness in the eye
When/while I sailed near the morning
From the erasing/erasers(?) of what in her chest/heart
Fixing the meaning
Arriving/ coming from it/her seeking the shore
The greenness of life and identity papers
While another one
Gives you the earth to rent
From between her eyes
And demands the serenity/tranquillity/of writing - everything!
The original version of this poem is written in Arabic. The literal translation of this poem was made by Sabry Hafez. The final translated version of the poem is by Sarah Maguire.
Other poems by Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi that we have helped to translate are Poem of the Nile, Dream, Weaving a World, A Monkey at the Window, Breathless, Song, Small Fox, In the Company of Michelangelo, Garden Statues and Horizon.
You can find out more about the translation process on this website. You can also add your own comments on this poem here.
We have media featuring the poet Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi. Additionally there are details available about New recordings and photographs from the 2008 World Poets' Tour , another one of our events that Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi was involved in.
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