Lesson From the Kama Sutra
Mahmoud Darwish
Wait for her with an azure cup.
Wait for her in the evening at the spring, among perfumed roses.
Wait for her with the patience of a horse trained for mountains.
Wait for her with the distinctive, aesthetic taste of a prince.
Wait for her with seven pillows of cloud.
Wait for her with strands of womanly incense wafting.
Wait for her with the manly scent of sandalwood on horseback.
Wait for her and do not rush.
If she arrives late, wait for her.
If she arrives early, wait for her.
Do not frighten the birds in her braided hair.
Wait for her to sit in a garden at the peak of its flowering.
Wait for her to lift her garment from her leg, cloud by cloud.
And wait for her.
Take her to the balcony to watch the moon drwoning in milk.
Wait for her and offer her water before wine.
Do not glance at the twin partridges sleeping on her chest.
Wait and gently touch her hand as she sets a cup on marble.
As if you are carrying the dew for her, wait.
Speak to her as a flute would to a frightened violin string,
as if you knew what tomorrow would bring.
Wait, and polish the night for her ring by ring.
Wait for her until Night speaks to you thus:
There is no one alive but the two of you.
So take her gently to the death you so desire,
and wait.
(To hear this pagan, sin/sex-encouraging poem read in Arabic by Mahmoud Darwish, go here, then click on number 3. Ironically, before his recitation Darwish jokingly asks President Abbas if it's ok to sing of love now. He should have asked our mullahs instead).
Update: Darwish has been awarded the Cairo Prize for Arabic poetry. "The committee unanimously voted for Mahmoud Darwish because he is a pillar of Arab poetry. He became a symbol for his ability to reach out to readers and his devotion to maintaining the Palestinian national identity," they said.
Mahmoud Darwish
Wait for her with an azure cup.
Wait for her in the evening at the spring, among perfumed roses.
Wait for her with the patience of a horse trained for mountains.
Wait for her with the distinctive, aesthetic taste of a prince.
Wait for her with seven pillows of cloud.
Wait for her with strands of womanly incense wafting.
Wait for her with the manly scent of sandalwood on horseback.
Wait for her and do not rush.
If she arrives late, wait for her.
If she arrives early, wait for her.
Do not frighten the birds in her braided hair.
Wait for her to sit in a garden at the peak of its flowering.
Wait for her to lift her garment from her leg, cloud by cloud.
And wait for her.
Take her to the balcony to watch the moon drwoning in milk.
Wait for her and offer her water before wine.
Do not glance at the twin partridges sleeping on her chest.
Wait and gently touch her hand as she sets a cup on marble.
As if you are carrying the dew for her, wait.
Speak to her as a flute would to a frightened violin string,
as if you knew what tomorrow would bring.
Wait, and polish the night for her ring by ring.
Wait for her until Night speaks to you thus:
There is no one alive but the two of you.
So take her gently to the death you so desire,
and wait.
(To hear this pagan, sin/sex-encouraging poem read in Arabic by Mahmoud Darwish, go here, then click on number 3. Ironically, before his recitation Darwish jokingly asks President Abbas if it's ok to sing of love now. He should have asked our mullahs instead).
Update: Darwish has been awarded the Cairo Prize for Arabic poetry. "The committee unanimously voted for Mahmoud Darwish because he is a pillar of Arab poetry. He became a symbol for his ability to reach out to readers and his devotion to maintaining the Palestinian national identity," they said.
8 comments:
Amal I am unpacking my shelves, and I fell on article of yours "Between Complicity and Subversion"--now that's it, I am deferring it any further, and I enjoying reading it. You also discuss this poem and others there. I liked your discussion of Kanafani, but I felt you cut it short at the end: did you in fact castrate your train of thought which was reaching a crescendo? :) I just taught this novella last week together with excerpts form Darwish's State of Siege. It worked very well, and the opportunity to show students how writers envision lines of struggle through depictions of defeated individuals proved a challenge to prove to triumphalist American students, but I tried anyway!!
I will continue reading...
A+
ng
Hi ng,
There is another Palestinian poem by Abdel Latif Aqel called "Love Palestinian Style" (put into music by Sabreen). That's the poem I discuss in the article, not Darwish's. Ba3dain what is this "castrating" stuff? Are you trying to scare away my readers?
No, no, just semi-serious sometimes!
Respect... [as Ali G would say!
ng
I know!
After all, it's Kanafani who did the castrating, not me. I just mention it : )
Wow, that was incredibly sensual. No joke. I am going to save this ;) Just beautiful.
Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?
Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!
This was brilliant... I was just hunting around for stuff on Darwish after seeing this movie by Nasiri Hajjaj and found your blog.
Thank you for sharing this.
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