In the presence of the one I love/في حضرة من أهوى
By Ali Abdulla Khalifa
I sit beside the sea of your light.
One evening in the silence of night,
An autumn of songs
Was spreading over the horizon, a thread of a smile, a wisp
of weeping.
A sob of age, it appears as laughter,
But it is not laughter, it is pain, it is bleeding.
You are a solemn vow, hidden in everything.
Shining like light, your sword brings light,
Brightening us, and your heart belongs to the face of a prophet.
Change in the bitterness of time, the taste of giving…
In the dark I open outlets to you
So I may contemplate your secret
Sometimes my soul is orphaned by agony
Other times, tormented by the pain of negligence
I listen in reverence while you play
A chord that never sleeps
I feint like a clever sword
I gaze, you are there calling
My heart is immersed in your light
I come awake,
Drawn to possibility
by a flock of steenboks
Content in Arabic to be added