Tamadir bint Amr, better known as al-Khansa (575-645), is one of the Arab world’s famous female poets...
Farewell misery
By Hanifa Majid
Rusted heart that anguished my peace
Ached till my soul was no longer at ease
These metallic links tethered my abilities
Till my timid self suffocated in
morbidities
Refusing to share, I concealed my
troubles
Worries heaped up like mounds of hurdles
That gnawing pain left my body tarnished
Self loathing began, deserted me done and dusted
A light sparks in people who have endured enough
Who don’t lose faith and are determined to be tough
Situations are never alike one has to keep believing
Trust in God He is the one relieving
Hardships are part of life so don’t lose sanity
The power to face it defines real
potentiality
Life is tough and that’s the hard bitter reality
Dreams come true for those who struggle, that’s a guarantee
Patience and tolerance will be my saviour
Prove the world my strength much clearer
This is the time I set myself guilt free
Remoulding my suffering heart into pure glee
Black dragon
Ali Asghar Ghani
I am holding
a fire breathing black dragon
inside the impenetrable forest
behind my eyes
Classic Arab poetry
Elegy for Sakhr
By al-Khansa
Be generous, my eyes, with shedding copious tears
and weep a stream of tears
for Sakhr!
I could not sleep and was awake all night;
it was as if my eyes were rubbed with grit.
I watched the stars, though it was not my task to watch;
at times I wrapped myself in my remaining rags.
He would protect his
comrade in a fight, a match
for those who fight with weapons, tooth, or claw
Amidst a troupe of horses straining at their bridles
eagerly,
like lions that arrive in
pastures lush.
****
Tamadir bint Amr, better known as al-Khansa (575-645), is one of the Arab world’s famous female poets, converting to Islam during the lifetime of the Prophet Mohammed (S.A.W). Her verses are full of fine metaphors about loss, life, love and departure. Four of her children were martyred during battles against the Romans and Persians, but
al-Khansa refused to write any eulogies to them, saying that Islam had taught her not to wail for the dead.
Her masterpiece is her eulogy to her brother Sakhr, a tribal chief who was severely wounded and later died after a raid against the rival Bani Assad tribe.
Translation by Geert Jan Van Gelder from Classical Arabic Literature: A Library of Arabic Literature Anthology
