Gentlemen:
Yes, yesterday has ended.
The sun ended the joys of our weddings,
our circumstances have deteriorated
our thoughts retarded
wolves have torn off our flesh
Gentlemen:
The fruits of our fields are dried up,
the heaven’s produce drained,
no single rose
no single cloud
only night’s darkness remained
and a fragment of a mirage...
Gentlemen:
Yesterday has ended.
The sun has set
the birds flown away,
the crows occupied our homes
dreaming of crippling us
extinguishing the flame of youth in our spirits.
Alas, should cave–dwellers take over
allowing the gouging of the eyes,
amputating the noses,
burying women alive
subjecting us to the rule of the sword
Gentlemen:
What will remain here?
If they fetter the nightingale,
disturb the day
restrict speech,
cut strings,
and tear apart the drums of our weddings?
Gentlemen:
What will remain
if tumors spread,
tunes are stilled
pens are broken
if the best of literature is burned?
What will remain, O’homeland
abundant in wealth,
lightened by the stars?
The sparrows which became hawks
deny us joy
confiscate our morning
and close the doors to guests.
Attention Gentlemen:
They plant thorns in women’s ways
counter enlightenment with darkness
spread in our country as a plague.
Come together and cooperate brothers.
Protect “the country of light” from the evil of misfortune
Translated from the Arabic by the late Noel Abdulahad.
This text by Laila al-Othman is part of her response to the charges leveled against her by Kuwaiti prosecutors.(For more on the case against the Kuwaiti author see Al Jadid, Vol. 5, no. 29, 1999.) The Arabic text appeared in the Lebanese daily As Safir.
This poem appeared in Al Jadid Magazine, Vol. 7, No. 36, Summer 2001.
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