Najwan Darwish
trans. by Kareem James Abu Zeid
Two POEMS
A Tune
“A dervish from the land of Meknes,”[1]
but how can he sing?
The cement of the colony, its walls and barbed wire,
the checkpoints and curfews.
A dervish from the land of Meknes
finds no people
and does not sing.
I Know Nothing
I know nothing.
My regret is light
like a murdered bird
still hovering in the air.
I know only my regret.
It was murdered, but doesn’t know it.
It fell
and forgot its song in space.
1 Author’s note: This is a line from a Sufi zajal song by Abi al-Hasan al-Shistari, who was born in 1213 AD in the Wadi Ash region near Granada, and who died inDamietta in Egypt in 1270 AD. The song’s chorus is: “A dervish from the land of Meknes sings in the middle of the souks, / ‘What do I have to do with the people? And what do the people have to do with me?’”
photo by Veronique Vercheval
Najwan Darwish, born in Jerusalem in 1978, is an acclaimed Palestinian poet who writes in Arabic. His work has been translated into over 20 languages, and his 2014 book Nothing More to Lose was listed as one of NPR’s best books of the year.
Kareem James Abu-Zeid is a translator of poets and novelists from across the Arab world. His work has earned him an NEA translation grant (2018), PEN Center USA’s Translation Award (2017), Poetry magazine’s translation prize (2014), and other honors. His website is kareemjamesabuzeid.com.