Nizar Sartawi is a poet, translator, essayist, and columnist. He was born in Sarta, Palestine, in 1951. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Jordan, Amman, and a Master’s degree in Human Resources Development from the University of Minnesota, U.S. Sartawi is a member of the Jordanian Writers Association, General Union of Arab Writers, and Asian-African Writers Union. He is also a member of the Poetry Posse, and an organizing member of C.O.P.s for World Healing, World Peace Poetry in the U.S. He has participated in poetry readings and international forums and festivals in Jordan, Lebanon, Kosovo, Palestine and Morocco.
Sartawi’s first poetry collection Between Two Eras was published in Beirut, Lebanon in 2011. His poetry translations into Arabic include: The Prayers of the Nightingale, selected poems by Indian poet Sarojini Naidu (2013); Fragments of the Moon, selected poems by Italian poet Mario Rigli (2013); The Souls Dances in its Cradle, selected poems by Danish poet Niels Hav (2015); Searching for Bridges, selected poems by American poet Margaret Saine (2016); and The Talhamiya, selected poems by Palestinian poet Nathalie Handal (2016). Sartawi’s Arabic poetry translations into English include Contemporary Jordanian Poets, Volume I (2013); The Eyes of the Wind, selected poems by Tunisian poet Fadhila Masaai (2014); The Birth of a Poet, selected poems by Lebanese poet Mohammad Ikbal Harb (2015, 2016); Haifa and other Poems, selected poems by Palestinian poet Samih Masaud (2016); and The Pearls of Grief, selected poems by Lebanese poet Abdulkarim Baalbaki (2016).
Sartawi has been working for the last four years on a translation project, “Arab Contemporary Poets Series.” So far he has completed 13 books. He also has translated poems for a number of international poets including: American poets Veronica Golos and Elaine Equi; American-African Poet William S. Peters; American-Indian poet Kalpna Singh-Chitnis; American Palestinian Naomi Shihab Nye; Afghanistani poet Zohra Saed; Canadian poet Candice James; Canadian-Indian poet Ashok Bhargava; Filipino poets Santiago Villafania and Virginia Jasmin Pasalo; Iranian poet Rosa Jamali; Italian poet Maria Concetta Arezzi; Japanese poet Taro Aizu; Kosovar poets FahredinSheho, Jeton Kelmendi and SaliBytyqi; Macedonian poet Pande Manoylov. Sartawi’s poems have been translated into several languages. His poetry has been anthologized and published in books, journals, and newspapers in Arab countries, the U.S., Australia, Indonesia, Bosnia, Italy, the Philippines, and India. He writes a monthly column for Inner Child Magazines under “International Poetry Affairs.”
Land of the Vineyards
For Fahredin Shehu
Rahovec O Rahovec
blessed child of Dardania
to you I came
with my naïve poems
and simple dreams.
And there I was… in your bosom
as my eyes wandered
among the hills
and vales
that girded your slim waist
with vineyards –
the vineyards
where the Maenads dwelt
and turned every vine
into a little shrine.
My eyes fell
on the hanging grapes
that glittered like pearls
under the September sun
And there and then
I found me drunken,
and the whole world turning
before my eyes
into a giant poem
The Cunning Angelle… A song for Rahovec
O Rahovec,
little cunning angel that you are!
Didn’t you in the days of old
invite the reckless son of
mortal Semele
into your sacred land
to wine and dine
amidst your divine
vines
and take the secret recipe
back to Olympus?
And didn’t the Gods,
drunken with your hallowed
nectar,
crowned him god of viticulture
and holy wine?
On the Road to Freedom
But you, Kosovo, though you’re small
among the clans of Illyria,
though your body was perforated
your bare feet lacerated
bathing in your own blood,
you marched on the road to freedom
stepping on thorns and barbs.
And now:
The boisterous drums
that terrified your little ones…
NO MORE
The heavy boots
that on your silent roads
trod…
NO MORE
The alien winds
that broke the limbs of your
grapevines…
NO MORE
Asclepius
has healed your wounds
The angels
are singing your praises
Your glory
to heaven will rise
And your wine
will forever and ever flow.
Poems in English and Arabic
My Shadow
Oh how you tire me out my shadow
you, a deformed ghost
of the pain dwelling within my ribs…!
How you push me to hide in the dark for fear
Of you…!
When your gloomy ominous
attenuated image
chases me
or your clumsy shape
painted on my path
gets ahead of me
I feel I’m trotting
in front of you
or behind you
against my will
that you are pricking my neck
or pulling me from my nose
And if you beside me walk
I feel you are a monster lying in wait for me
about
to
rise up
on his feet
like a ghoul,
and leap
upon me
and put me
to death
All day long I tell
myself:
When my hour comes tomorrow
or after tomorrow
no doubt the angel of death will come
for me alone
and will forget you…
and you will attend my funeral
and take part in my burial
And when I am laid to rest inside the earth
and all my friends leave
you’ll linger a while above my grave
to gloat over my misfortune
and laugh out loud
then go away
Who knows whom you will accompany
after me!
to whom the bad luck will be passed!
a human like me, haunted with his premonitions
or a ferocious monster…?
îîî
ظلّي
كم ترهقني يا ظلّي
يا هذا الشبحُ الشائِهُ
للوجعِ الساكنِ بين ضلوعي…!
كم تدفعني أن أتوارى في العتمة فَزَعاً
منكْ…!
حين تلاحقُني
صورتُكَ الناحلةُ السوداءُ
المشؤومةُ
أو تسبقُني هيأتكُ الخرقاءُ
المرسومةُ
فوق طريقي
أشعرُ أني أعدو
قُدّامَكَ
أو خلفَكَ
رغمًا عني
أنّك تنخزُني في عنقي
أو تسحبُني من أنفي
وإذا بمحاذاتي سرتَ
أحسُّ بأنّك وحشٌ يتربّص بي
يوشكُ
أنْ
ينهضَ
منتصبًا
كالغولِ
وينقَضَّ
عليَّ
ويُزهقَ
روحي
طوالَ اليومِ أحدّث
نفسي:
حين يحينُ الحَيْنُ غدًا
أو بعد غدٍ
حتماً سيجيءُ ملاكُ الموتِ
إليّ أنا وحدي
وسينساكَ…
وأنّكَ سوف تُشَيّع جثماني
وتشارك في دفني
أنّك حين أُوارى في بطن الأرض
ويرحلُ كلُّ الأصحاب
ستمكثُ فوق القبرِ قليلًا
كي تشمتَ بي
وتقهقهَ سخريةً مني
ثم تغادرُ مبتعدًا
مَنْ يدري مَنْ ستُرافقُ
من بعدي!
مَنْ سَيؤولُ إليه الحظُّ العاثرُ!
إنسانٌ مثلي مسكونٌ بهواجسه
أم وحشٌ كاسر…؟
The Poem
How long will you keep hiding
in the womb of the unknown
a sheepish shadow
haunted with perplexed agitation
with whom the sun no secrets shares
nor is she seduced with the sparks of stars
or with the murmurs of the moon
And how could you stay in retreat
a phantom
without a breathing body
a lump of flesh
within the walls of a cocoon
a form
whose composition has no details
in the tome of destiny
How long will you remain a blurred voice?
a mumbling
unknown by alphabets
a humming
without
the dance of strings
And how could you endure to be
a subject
waiting for
the predicate
القصيدة
إلامَ اختباؤكِ
في رَحِم الغيب
ظِلًّا خجولًا
يخامره قلقٌ حائرٌ،
شَبَحًا تائهًا
لا تشاطره الشمسُ أسرارها،
لاتراوده خلجاتُ النجوم
ولا همساتُ القمرْ؟
علامَ اعتكافك ِ
طيفًا
بلا جسدٍ تتصاعد أنفاسُه
مضغةً
بين جدران شرنقةٍ
هيئةً
لم تُدوّن تفاصيلُ تكوينها
في سجلِّ القدرْ
إلامَ تظلّين صوتًا خفيَّ الملامح
همهمةً
لا تميزّها الأبجديةُ
دندنةً
لا ترافقها
رقصاتُ الوترْ
علامَ بقاؤُك
مبتدأً
يتلبّث علّ يجيءُ
الخبرْ
Stars
Oh these stars that
linger
a while
before they go away
to regard me with their glitters
so shy
Are they secretly
reproaching me
or sly
making a date with me
or bidding my mournful heart
goodbye
îîî
نجوم
يا لهذي النجوم التي
تتريّثُ
قبل الرحيلِ
ببضعِ ثوانٍ
لترمقَني بوميضٍ
ضنينْ
أتراها تعاتبُني
خِفيةً
أم تواعدُني
خِلسةً
أم تراها تودّعُ قلبي
الحزينْ
Containment
My sails are wandering aimlessly.
I’ve never thought my passion would be lost
for the sands of the shore
hidden in the grip of fate,
that the waves would rob me of my sensibility
the spray would capture my eyesight
my memory would go obscure
and all my nostalgia will melt
for swords and bridges,
for shops, for taverns and women,
for terrains,
fields
seasons
moons
and ancient monuments.
And I’ve never reckoned
as the engulfing hurricanes swooped on the boat
that I’d I feel numb,
my limbs would shrink thus,
my features would be erased,
and I’d be contained by the moment of mist
the moment of presence
between the soaring of seabirds over my head
and the swirling of whales under my skeleton
îîî
احتواء
أشرعتي تهيمُ
ما ظننتُ
أن تضيع لهفتي
إلى رمال الشاطئِ
المخبوءْ
في قبضةِ القدرْ
أن تسلبَ الأمواجُ
خاطري
ويأسرَ الرذاذُ
ناطري
وأن تغيب الذاكرةْ
وأن يذوبَ عنديَ
الحنين كُلُّهُ
إلى السيوفِ
والجسورْ
إلى الحوانيتِ،
إلى الحانات والنساء
إلى التضاريسِ
إلى الحقولِ
والفصولِ
والأقمارِ
والمعالمِ القديمةْ
وما حسبتُ –
والأعاصيرُ المحيقاتُ
قد انقضّت على المركبِ –
أن أحسَّ بالخدرْ
أن تضمحلَّ هكذا
جوارحي
وتمّحي ملامحي
وتحتويني
لحظةُ السديمِ
لحظةُ الحضورْ
ما بين تحليقِ طيورِ البحرِ
فوق هامتي
وحومة الحيتانِ
تحت هيكلي
Leaf
Little lonely leaf
knocking on the glass door
with your whole feeble
form
gaping at me
begging for
refuge!
Poor purplish fragile fugitive
Tired –
of running away
from nook to nook?
Threatened –
by the ruthless autumn wind
and unheralded rain?
Frightened –
by the heavy plodding pedestrian feet
the hideous hooves
and horrendous hoops?
Come in
tiny timid tramp!
Let’s sit
side by side
to tell silently our sad story
and voicelessly lull each other
to sleep.
… For I too
am but a deciduous
leaf
counting the days
before its fall
îîî
ورقة
أيتها الورقة الصغيرة المتوحدة
تطرقين الباب الزجاجي
بجسدك الواهن كله
تحدقين بي
ملتمسةً ملجأً يأويك
أيتها الهاربة الأرجوانية الضئيلة المسكينة
أمتعبة أنت
من الفرار
من زاوية إلى أخرى
تحت تهديد
رياح الخريف القاسية
والمطر الذي يأتي بلا استئذان؟
أخائفة أنت
من أقدام المشاة الغليظة المتثاقلة
الحوافر البشعة
والعجلات المرعبة؟
ادخلي
أيتها المتشردة الخجولةّ
هلمّ بنا لنجلس
معًاجنبًا إلى جنب
لنحكي بصمت قصتنا الحزينة
ونهدهد بعضنا بعضًا
إلى أن نغفو
… فأنا أيضًا
لست سوى ورقةٍ
متساقطة
تّعُدُّ الأيام
قبل أن يحين سقوطها.
Words
Words wordswords
Here and there
I walk
They walk
I hop
They hop
I run
They run
I slow
They slow
I stop
They stop
I stretch my hand
to catch them
they flap their wings
and fly away
îîî
كلمات
كلمات كلمات كلمات
تتناثر من حولي
أمشي…
تمشي
أقفز…
تقفز
أعدو…
تعدو
أبطئ…
تبطئ
أتوقف
تتوقف
وأمد يدي كي ألقفها
فيرفّ جناحاها
وتطير محلقة في الآفاق
Lovers
Upon the saddle of passion wewere
together
wandering
your fragrance filling my soul
my hands afloat
among you velvet thickets
relaxed in your alabaster
courtyards
yielding to your bouncing
pomegranates
and losing themselves
I throw my sail
amidst the waves of
doom
and there we are
two blazing phantoms
beyond the mist
that dwells
upon the lip of scarlet
twilight
Lightenings flashed
Thunders crashed
The earth was shaken in a final
quake
and then we died
îîî
عاشقان
على صهوة الوجد كنّا
معاً
تائهَيْنِ
عبيرُكِ يحتلُّ روحي
يدايَ تَطوفان بين خمائلِك المخمليةِ
تسترخيان بباحاتك المرمرية
تستسلمان لرمّانِك المتوثب
ثمّ تضيعانِ
أُلقي بساريتي
في عُباب الهلاكِ
ونحن هناك
خيالان يشتعلانِ
وراءالسديمِ المقيمِ
على شفة الشفق القرمزي
ولاحت بروق
ودوت رعود
وزلزلت الأرض زلزالها
ثم متنا
Messenger pigeon
A messenger pigeon
shuttles
between us
taking from me
a kiss
a sigh
a tear
for you beloved
and brings me
nothing but
rebuff
îîî
زاجلةٌ
زاجلةٌ
تسرحُ فيما بيننا
تحملُ مني قبلةً
أو آهةً
أو دمعةً
إليكِ يا حبيبتي
ومنكِ تحملُ
الصدودْ
îîî
