The Poem “I Wept for My Youth with Tears in My Eyes”
Abu Al-Atahiyah expressed his feelings:
I wept for my youth with tears from my eyes,
But neither crying nor lamentation could ease my sorrow.
Oh, how I regret the loss of my youth,
As gray hair mourns the head once adorned with rich locks.
I have been stripped of my youth, which once was fresh,
Like leaves stripped from a branch.
If only youth could return one day,
So I could tell it of what old age has wrought.
The Poem “Embrace Me”
At last, it is time for the lost to find their way,
The wanderer, seeking the dawn beyond their eyes,
It is time to return to the beloved land and home.
It is time for the weary to lay under the comforting shade,
Resting body and soul amid fragrances and comforts.
So wait for me, oh you who are absent from my side,
Do not drift away from my heart,
For I will sing when the shores draw close to me;
A bird soaring above wings that glide through the infinite sky,
Thunderous as lightning, racing like a meteor,
Swimming above the clouds, cutting through the vastness,
Listening to the romantic whispers among the stars and the joyful moon.
Oh my beloved, I, the seagull, the clouds, and the gentle breezes have come to you,
Carrying joy and a great deal of longing.
Oh, you who are distant from me, I will sing when the shores draw near,
Returning to my precious homeland to bask in love,
And rest my weary body upon the comforting beds of safety,
Holding back the flow of tears in my eyes,
And I reach out for reunion,
Embrace me at that moment and crush my heart in a hug,
And savor all my love and yearning.
Oh my beloved.
The Poem “I Long for My Childhood”
I yearn for my childhood,
To revisit the days of my past through the pages of memory.
How beautiful the days seem after they have passed!
Memories return to the heart with their affectionate whispers,
Once, the heart tasted the pangs of longing,
In the twilight of days long gone from the spring of our lives.
Within its embrace, how delightful the moments were!
We celebrated and rejoiced, happiness surrounding us.
How genuine our smiles and laughter were,
As we ran and ran, unaware of how time was slipping away,
Playing joyfully in the light rain when it came,
Raindrops falling gently on our hands.
We laughed and cried – such was the essence of childhood,
As we believed wholeheartedly in actions and words.
How beautiful those days passed unnoticed,
A time of purity racing through the wheels of time.
The Poem “Behind the Walls of Sorrow”
Behind the walls of sorrow, a sorrowful complainant weeps,
Shedding tears for the years gone by.
He recalls yesterday, and the longing intensifies,
As the echoes of his pain shatter the silence.
In the darkness of the night, restful sleep eludes him,
For a wound has pierced the heart.
In vain, he has struggled to find what he desires,
But when he endured the longing, he returned.
Oh heart, that has suffered agony,
What hope do you hold for the duration of absence?
You conceal your yearning, hiding your sadness,
Cease this; how sweet is the return!
Memories linger on in imagination,
And hopes remain uncertain: will they be fulfilled?
Or have they become bound by impossibilities,
Lost behind the mountains?
The Poem “To My Mother”
Mourid Barghouthi penned these words:
I long for my mother’s bread,
For my mother’s coffee,
And my mother’s touch,
As childhood grows within me,
Day by day, on the breast of time,
And I cherish my life because,
When I die, I am ashamed of my mother’s tears!
Take me, if I return one day,
As a shawl for your eyelids,
And cover my bones with grass,
Wet with the purity of your soles,
And bind me tightly with a lock of hair,
A thread fluttering from the hem of your dress.
Perhaps I shall become a deity,
A deity indeed,
If I touch the depth of your heart!
Place me, if I return,
As fuel in your oven,
And a clothing line upon your roof,
For I have lost the ability to stand,
Without the prayers of your afternoons.
I have aged, so bring back the stars of my childhood,
So I can join the young sparrows
On the path back to your waiting nest!
The Poem “The Most Beautiful Memories”
My friend, today I wish to share with you the most beautiful memories.
I searched for them in every thicket and open space,
In the dense dark of the night and its shadows,
In paths far from the light of feeling,
And even amidst graves.
I dug through the dusty recesses of time,
Yet I found them nowhere.
Then, as slumber overtook me,
Dreams welcomed me without delay,
Enveloping them in thick smoke,
As fragrance preceded them.
They sat before me on carpets made of flowers,
Hailing me with tears,
Falling like sorrow upon my cheeks.
Where are the rose and berry,
With a fragrance soft and intoxicating!
Silence prevailed as though enchanted by the encounter,
For my longing for them mirrored their thirst for me.
And I began to narrate to them what I had encountered,
And what I had felt post-separation.
They embraced me with sighs and breaths,
They shared with me what I have not forgotten,
And promised never to part from me as long as I live.
Indeed, my friend, these are the beautiful memories,
And though they lie behind the silence of feelings,
They do not perish:
Years of schooling, the verdant age,
The spring of life and its blossoming garden
Are now the shaded oasis of my journey,
And how often I have described them as the weight of despair!
Have you not remembered?
They were but moments of severe hardship,
Nightmare and distress,
Straining beneath the weight of words,
As pounding headaches haunted me morning and evening.
All this passed unnoticed,
As if it were no chapter of life.