A Communique
Mohammad Lafi
Translated by Nizar Sartawi

(To my son Furat)


I swear by Him who created all beings

I have nothing to do, O Furat,

with the loss of footsteps, refraction of the path,

and the death of the guide

I have nothing to do with staying or departure

For I belong to a tribe * if it goes east

and I belong to a tribe if it goes west

and I belong to a tribe if it offers resistance

and I belong to a tribe if they go east it bargains

I have nothing to do with the decision to attack or

the decision to flee

I have nothing to do with the embargo

I have nothing to do with the diversion of the path to "Oslo." **

or with the building the "Wall" ***

I have nothing to do with the labyrinth of this dialogue

I have nothing to do with "Siffin" **** massacres running

from one house and another

I have nothing to do with the barren determination

I have nothing to do with what the elders deem right

For I am in the possession of the camp

All my life I've been an element,

a mere element

I have nothing to do with decision making

whether a guillotine is raised

or a guillotine is demolished

I have nothing to do with answers and questions

I have nothing to do with what the tribe

has been or what it will be

in the next journey

I have no problem whatsoever

But I hang a bottle of wine around my neck…

the bell of the stage!

_______________________________

* The reference is to a famous line of a poetry from an Arabic poem composed by Duraid bin As-Simmah, a pre-Islamic poet, in which he expresses his full loyalty to the tribe and blind adherence to tribal norms regardless of his own opinion: "I am not more than a tribesman; if the tribe goes astray / I go astray, and if the tribe follows the right bath, I follow the right path."
** The 1993 Oslo I Accord or Oslo I, between the government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
*** The Racial Segregation Wall being constructed by Israeli occupation along and with the West Bank.
**** The Battle of Siffin occurred in 657 CE. It was fought between Ali ibn Abi Talib, 4th Moslem Caliph, and Muawiyah I, the governor of Syria following the murder of the 3rd Caliph Uthman ibn Affan.





 
بيان
الشاعر الفلسطيني محمد لافي

(إلى ولدي فرات)


والذي فطر الكائناتْ

لا علاقة لي يا فراتْ

بضياع الخطى، وانكسار المسارِ،

وموت الدليلْ

لا علاقة لي بالنزول، ولا بالرحيلْ

فأنا من 'غزيّةَ' إن شرّقتْ

وأنا من 'غزيّة' إن غرّبت

وأنا من 'غزيّة' إن قاومتْ

وأنا من 'غزيّة' إن ساومتْ

لا علاقةَ لي بقرار الهجومِ، ولا

بقرار الفرارْ

لا علاقةَ لي بالحصار

لا علاقة لي بانعطاف الطريق لـ 'أوسلو'،

ولا ببناء 'الجدارْ'

لا علاقةَ لي بمتاهة هذا الحوارْ

لا علاقةَ لي بمذابح 'صِفّينَ' راكضةً

بين دارٍ ودارْ

لا علاقةَ لي بالمصيرِ البوارْ

لا علاقةَ لي بالذي يرتئيه الكبارْ

فأنا في ملاك المعسكرْ

طولَ عمريَ عُنصرْ

محضَ عنصرْ

لا علاقةَ لي باتخاذ القرارْ

رُفعت مقصلةْ

هُدمت مقصلةْ

لا علاقةَ لي بالإجاباتِ والأسئلةْ

لا علاقةَ لي بالذي كانَ،

أو ستكون عليه القبيلةُ

في الرحلة المقبلةْ

ليس لي، أبداً، مشكلةْ

غير أني أُعلّق قنينة الخمرِ في عنقي....

جرَسَ المرحلة!