The Visaالتأشيرة

Hisham Al-Gakh

اسبح باسمك الله

I praise you God in your name

وليس سواك اخشاه

And I fear none but you

واعلم انى لى قدرا سألقاه .. سألقاه

And I know I have a destiny that I will inevitably meet

وقد علمت فى صغرى بان عروبتى شرفى

I was taught in childhood that my Arabness is my honor

وناصيتى وعنوانى

My badge and my banner

وكنا فى مدارسنا نردد بعض الحان

And in school we would repeat these rhymes

نغنى بيننا مثلا

And sing amongst ourselves

بلاد العرب أوطانى – وكل العرب اخوانى

The Arab world is my homeland/And all Arabs are my siblings

وكنا نرسم العربى ممشوقا بهامته

We would draw the Arab tall and strong

له صدر يصد الريح اذ تعوى

With a chest that would block the wind if it howled

مهابا فى عبائته

Powerful in his mantle

وكنا محض اطفال

We were just children

تحركنا مشاعرنا

Moved by our feelings

ونسرح فى الحكايات التى تروى بطولاتنا

Lost in tales told of our heroism

وان بلادنا تمتد من أقصى الى أقصى

Believing that our land stretches from one end to another

وان حروبنا كانت لاجل المسجد الاقصى

And that our wars were for the Aqsa

وان عدونا صهيون

And that our enemy the Zionist

شيطان له ذيل

Is a devil with a tail

وان جيوش امتنا

And that the armies of our nation

لها فعل كما السيل

Are a force to be reckoned with…

سأبحر عندما اكبر

I will set sail when I grow up

امر بشاطىء البحرين فى ليبيا

I’ll pass by Bahrain’s beach in Libya

واجنى التمر من بغداد فى سوريا

And pick the dates of Baghdad in Syria

واعبر من موريتانيا الى السودان

And pass from Mauritania to Sudan

اسافر عبر مقديشيو الى لبنان

And travel through Mogadishu to Lebanon

وكنت اخبىء الاشعار فى قلبى ووجدانى

And I hid these rhymes in my heart and soul:

بلاد العرب اوطانى وكل العرب اخوانى

The Arab world is my homeland/And all Arabs are my siblings

وحين كبرت

And when I grew up

لم احصل على تأشيرة للبحر

I did not get a visa to the sea

لم ابحر

I did not set sail

وأوقفنى جواز غير مختوم على الشباك

I was stopped by the unstamped passport at the window

لم اعبر

I did not cross the border

حين كبرت

When I grew up

لم ابحر ولم اعبر

I did not set sail and I did not cross the border

كبرت انا

I grew up

وهذا الطفل لم يكبر

But this child did not grow up

تقاتلنا طفولتنا

Our childhood is at war with us

وافكار تعلمنا مبادئنا على يدكم ايا حكام امتنا

And ideas we learned the principles of at your hands oh rulers of our nation

تعذبنا طفولتنا

Our childhood torments us

وافكار تعلمنا مبادئها على يدكم ايا حكام امتنا

And ideas whose principles we learned at your hands oh rulers of our nation

الستم من نشأنا فى مدارسكم

Were we not brought up in your schools?

تعلمنا مناهجكم

Did we not learn your curriculums?

الستم من تعلمنا على يدكم بان الثعلب المكار منتظر سيأكل نعجة الحمقى اذا للنوم ما خلدوا

Didn’t you teach us that the sly fox is waiting to eat the sheep of the naive if they fall into slumber?

الستم من تعلمنا على يدكم بان العود محمى بحزمته ضعيف حين ينفرد

Didn’t you teach us that sticks are protected when in a bundle and weak when separated?

لماذا الفرقة الحمقاء تحكمنا

Why then does foolish division rule us?

الستم من تعلمنا على يدكم ان اعتصموا بحبل الله واتحدوا

Aren’t you the ones who taught us “hold fast to faith in God and unite?”

لماذا تحجبون الشمس بالاعلام

Why do you cover the sun over with your flags?

تقاسمتم عروبتنا ودخلم بينكم صرنا كما الانعام

You’ve divided our Arabness between yourselves and among you we have become like animals

سيبقى الطفل فى صدرى يعاديكم

The child in my heart will remain your enemy

تقسمنا على يدكم فتبت كل ايديكم

We have been divided at your hands, may all your hands perish (references the Quran, Surat Abu Lahab)

انا العربى لا اخجل

I am an Arab, unashamed

ولدت بتونس الخضراء من اصل عمانى

Born in green Tunisia of Omani origins

وعمرى زاد عن الف وامى ماتزل تحبل

I am more than a thousand years old and my mother still gets pregnant

انا العربى فى بغداد لى نخل

I am an Arab, I have palm trees in Baghdad

وفى السودان شريانى

And arteries in Sudan

انا مصرى موريتانيا وجيبوتى وعمانى

I’m an Egyptian of Mauritania, Djibouti and Oman

مسيحى وسنى وشيعى و كردى ودرزى وعلوى

Christian and Sunni and Shia and Kurd and Druze and Alawi

انا لا احفظ الاسماء والحكام اذ ترحل

I do not learn the names of the rulers as they leave

تشتتنا على يدكم

We have been scattered at your hands

وكل الناس تتكتل

As other people are gathering

سئمنا من تشتتنا وكل الناس تتكتل

We are sick of being scattered as other people gather

ملئتم فكرنا كذبا ووتزيرا وتأليفا

You have filled our thoughts with lies, forgery and falsehood

اتجمعنا يد الله وتبعدنا يد الفيفا

Does God’s hand unite us and FIFA’s hand divide us?

هجرنا ديننا عمدا

We have deliberately forsaken our religion

فعدنا الاوس والخزرج

We have returned to being the Aws and the Khazraj

نولى جهلنا فينا

Our ignorance looms within us

وننتظر الغبا مخرج

So we see stupidity as a way out

ايا حكام امتنا يبقى الطفل فى صدرى يعاديكم

Oh rulers of our nation the child in my heart will remain your enemy

يقاضيكم

Your judge

ويعلن شعبنا العربى متحدا

Declaring our Arab nation unified

فلا السودان منقسم

Sudan is not divided

ولا الجولان محتل

Golan is not occupied

ولا لبنان منكسر يدواى الجرح منفردا

Nor is Lebanon broken, treating its wounds alone

سيجمع لؤلؤات خلجينا العربى فى السودان يزرعها

Our Arabian Gulf’s pearls will be gathered and planted in the Sudan

فينبت حبها فى المغرب العربى قمحا

And their seeds will grow as wheat in the Maghreb

يعصرون الناس زيتا فى فلسطين الابيه

The people will press oil in proud Palestine

يشربون الاهل فى الصومال ابدا

And families will drink in Somalia forever

سيخرج من عبائتكم رعاها الله

Emerge from your mantles, God protect them

للجمهور متقدا

For public burning

هو الجمهور لا انتم

He is the public not you

هو الحكام لا انتم

He is the ruler not you

اتسمعنى جحافلكم

Do your retainers hear me?

اتسمعنى دواوين المعاقل فى حكومتكم

Do the diwans and strongholds of your government hear me?

هو الحكام لا انتم ولا اخشى لكم احدا

He is the ruler not you, and I fear none of you

هو الاسلام لا انتم فكفوا عن تجارتكم

He is Islam and not you so quit your trading (with religion)

والا صار مرتدا

Or he’ll become an apostate

وخافوا ان هذا الشعب حمال

And be afraid, for this nation is patient

وان النوق ان صرمت

But if the camel is cut

فلن تجدوا لها لبنا ولن تجدوا ولدا

You will not get its milk nor get its calf

انا باق وشرعى فى الهوا باق

I will remain and my poetry remains in the air

سقينا الظلم اوعية

We have been given droughts of injustice in jugs

سقينا الجهل ادعية

We have been been given droughts of ignorance in prayers

مللنا السقى والساقى

We have become tired of the drink and those who pour it

احذركم

I warn you

سنبقى رغم فتنتكم

We will remain despite your seditions

فهذا الشعب موصول

For this nation is connected

حبائلكم وان ضعفت

If your ropes are weak

فحبل الله مفتول

God’s rope is steadfast

ساكبر تاركا للطفل

I’ll grow up and leave the child

فرشاتى والوانى

My brush and my paints

ويبقى يرسم العربى

And he will remain painting the Arab

ممشوقا بهامته

tall and strong

ويبقى صوت الحانى

And the sound of my rhymes will remain

بلاد العرب اوطانى

The Arab world is my homeland

وكل العرب اخوانى

And all Arabs are my siblings

Hisham Kamel Abbas Mahmood Algakh, an Egyptian poet born in Sohag, Egypt in October 1978, has been instrumental in making Egyptian poetry more accessible, especially to young people and children. With over 55 poems predominantly written in an informal Egyptian dialect, Algakh's work is characterized by its spoken form and its focus on blending music and rhythmic movements on stage.