ترجمات أدبية
د. إبراهيم السعافين: كأَنْ مدّ رجليه فوقَ السّحاب
بقلم: د. إبراهيم السعافين
ترجمة: نزار سرطاوي
***
قال لي صاحبي
لهمُ كلً شيءٍ،
لَهُمْ كلّ صنفٍ من الأطعمة
ولهمْ ما تعالى من الأوسمة
ولهمْ ما يشاؤون من أُعطياتٍ
ومنْ مكرمة
ولهم من رفيع المراتب دومًا
ولهمْ شارة العزُّ والتّقدمة
قُلْتُ يا صاحبي،
لم الآن يا صاحبي؟!
قد رضيتَ زمانًا، فلا، لا تمدنّ طرفكَ
خلف الحجابْ
فهل تقف اليوم ( عبدًا ) بباب الموالي
ولم تطرق، العمر، يا صاحبي
أيّ بابٌ
لهمْ ما يشاؤون يا صاحبي،
ولك المكرمات جميعًا
وحسبكَ من عزّةِ النّفس عند ازدحامِ
الموائدِ،
عند ارتعاشِ الأيادي، وعندَ تهاوي
الخطابْ
تنهّدَ، حينئذٍ، صاحبي، واستراح ،
كأنّْ مدّ رجليْهِ فوقَ السّحابْ
.....................
As If He’d Stretched His Legs Above The Clouds
Ibrahim Alsaafin
Translated by Nizar Sartawi
***
They own everything,
my friend told me,
they own all sorts of delicacies
accolades of the highest order
All gifts or honors that they desire
they acquire
They always hold the highest ranks
The badge of glory to them goes;
and only theirs are the forefront rows
*
I said: My friend
why now?!
For long you’ve been content
Do Not, Do Not ever cast your eyes
on what’s behind the curtain
*
Would you now stand like a humble slave
at the doors of the serfs
Never ever have you my friend knocked
on any door
Yours are all honors
Sustained you are by pride and self-esteem
when feasts are attended by the crowds
when hands quiver and
speeches fall
*
My friend then sighed in great relief
as if he’d stretched his legs above the clouds
.......................
Ibrahim Al-Saafin Bio
Ibrahim Alsaafin, a Jordanian poet, critic essayist, novelist, playwright, and academician, received his PhD from Cairo University in Arabic literature in 1978. After graduation he worked at different universities, including Yarmouk university (Jordan), the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (USA), King Saud University (Saudi Arabia), UAE University (UAE), and Sharjah University (UAE). Currently he is a professor of modern Arabic literature and criticism at the University of Jordan. He also serves as a chair and member of numerous editorial boards, a member of the board of trustees at several universities and cultural institutions, and a member of the Jordan academy of Arabic.
Alsaafin has to his credit six collections of poetry, two plays, and two novels, as well as a few unpublished MS’s. He also has penned 35 books of literary studies and literary criticism, and hundreds of literary articles published in prestigious literary journals in different Arab countries. Moreover, he has supervised more than a hundred M.A theses and Ph.D. dissertations in Jordanian and Arab universities.
Alsaafin has received several literary awards, including Jordan State Award (1993), King Faisal International Prize (2001), and Palestine State Award for Literature (2020).
