I wish I can live life  by Abu Al Qassim Al Shabbi

 

I wish I can live this life in my solitude and isolation

spending my days in the mountains and the woods

between the pine trees, not having worldly cares that

can shift the self from listening to the soul

I’d await death and life, and I’d attentively listen to

the speech of forever and more

I’d sing with the robins in the woods and listen to

the lapping rivers in the valleys

I’d speak lovingly to the stars and the dawn,

the birds and the river and the calm sunlight

A life lived for beauty and art, away from my

people and my country, not weary with the cares of people,

for they live a life of the still lifeless objects 

and to live with what lays within me whether

sorrow or novel joy, away from the city and its people away

from the jargon of their societies, for they only descend from lies,

naivety, and common nonsense 

where is this life for which I long?

where I can hear the lands barmaid singing and lapping,

and the echoes of the heart and the song of the singer    

and the sounds and rustling of tree branches in their shade

and the scent of flowers, this is the life I praise,

I call for its glory and call for its brilliance

 

Highlighted points:

• First I should note that every line in the original Arabic poem ends with a rhyme, each line ends with the equivalent of the letter ‘y’ to give the poem rhythm and music, this is a tradition and is still required in modern Arabic poetry.

• The repetition of some words is evident in this poem, words such as: river, lapping, song, woods. This is a common practice and by it the poet can emphasize the importance of an image, a person, a feeling or an object in his poem.

• Also the exaggeration that the poem reflects of the writer’s dissatisfaction and displeasure with life, and the longing for another life more close to nature, unshackled by worries or worldly concerns, this dimness could be blamed on Abu Qassim’s life long suffering of heart disease of which he also died just 25 years old, however exaggerating love, loss, and sorrow is a base on which Arabic poetry rests.

• Expansion in description: we find here that the poet is not satisfied by only saying e.g. ‘I grow weary of people and their jargon’ but he describes further when he adds: 

‘away from the city and its people, away from the jargon of their societies, for they only descend from lies, naivety, and common nonsense’ (line 15).

Although he had mentioned this point before when he states: ‘a life... away from my   people and my country, not weary with the cares of people, for they live a life of the still lifeless objects’ (line 11). Thus here we say an emphasis and extended description, which many might argue that the poem can do without. Again this is an Arabic method to highlight and stress on certain emotions which the poet wants its reader to.

Notes on Arabic styles of Poetry

 

Fatima Al Matar

http://www.writeoutloud.net/poets/fatimaalmatar