“Beyond the Echo” and “Closer in Absence” are presented alongside their Arabic originals. The first poem, “Beyond the Echo,” draws on the imagery of the Arabic ghazal as a metaphor for our attachment to what we love and hold dear in life, as well as loss and the journey of finding ourselves again. The second, “Closer in Absence,” explores the paradoxical relationship between memory, distance, and healing.
Why did I deceive my own heart
into believing she was mine,
when my heart stayed asleep
as she departed?
Had I known the road that led to her,
I would have followed her path,
like a lone rider crossing the night,
counting every step
toward the trace she left behind.
Perhaps the horses’ distant call
might have reached her ears,
and she might turn with mercy
toward the heart she once held close.
The clouds above
would pour their rain,
carrying the rubies
of tears that once shimmered.
Yet halfway down that road,
I understood:
I had not lost her.
I was the one who wandered
within the echo of her voice.
And when the echo finally faded,
I drew nearer to myself,
gathering the scattered pieces
of my own becoming.
لِمَ أوهمتُ نفسي أنني قد ملكتُها،
وما أيقظتُ قلبي حينَ رحيلها؟
فلو عرفتُ الطريقَ إليها
لشدَدتُ الرحالَ خلفها،
كفارسٍ يمتطي الخيلَ في الدجى،
يعدُّ الخطى لبلوغِ أثرها.
لعلَّ صهيلَ الخيلِ يُبلغُ سمعها
فتحنو على قلبٍ مِلكُ يمينها،
ويقطرُ الغيمُ غيثًا مُسرجًا
بياقوتِ دمعٍ تلألأ.
لكنني، في نصفِ الطريق،
أدركتُ أنني لم أُضعها،
بل كنتُ أنا من تاهَ في صدى صوتها.
فلمّا توقّفَ الصدى،
دنوتُ من نفسي لأحضنَ شتاتها.
* * *
A memory that dwelt within my being
has disappeared,
yet whenever I withdraw
from where it lingers,
it vividly manifests again.
It makes me weep,
flooding my heart with tears,
overwhelming its frail pulses
that labor to heal.
Yet, how strange —
the nearer you are to a memory,
the closer you are
to healing the wound that bleeds.
And the farther you move away,
the more fiercely it clings
to your imprisoned heart.
توارى عن خاطري طيفٌ تجلّى
كلما جلستُ في موضعٍ ناءٍ
عن كلِّ ذكرى،
فاضَ الدمعُ من عيني،
فأبكى
ذاك القلبَ الذي
ما زال يشقى،
لعلَّه من السقمِ يشفى.
ولكن عجبًا،
ففي جوارِ كلِّ ذكرى
يلتحمُ الجرحُ، فيطيب،
وما إن نأيتُ عنه
حتى أصرَّ
أن يرافقَ
قلبي الأسير.
Translated from the Arabic by the poet.