Poems
Everything
by Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi
Let the wind blow from a fisherman's mouth,
from the span of a sail to the shell of a boat,
unlocking the mouth of the river -
So, shout, drowning man, when you founder
in treacherous waters
At dawn, the river embarks in silence
Riverbanks glean suns from the scales of dead fish
Jostled by eddies, the aroma of flotsam and jetsam
bakes in the shade
Becalmed, a breeze freights the stillness
Sails lazily unfurl
They sail all night from afar,
ploughing the river with ritual persistence,
staring darkness straight in the eye
You set sail at dawn,
infused with the tincture of a heart
that had beached your whole life ashore
And yet, another beloved
is offering you heaven on earth in her glance,
demanding only the perfection of poetry - 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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