ما عملش حاجة تستحق الذكر Nothing of Note

ما عملش حاجة تستحق الذكر

ما عملش حاجة تستحق الذكر
موظف عادي في هيئة حكومية
إجمالي ما يحصل عليه
ألف تلتمية وحاجة جنيه
لا يعول
وغير مسؤول إلا عن نفسه
لا يبوح للأصدقاء العابرين عن أمله أو يأسه
كان عادي جدًا مضمونًا وشكل
مش شرير ومش طيب
مش موهوب ومش غبي
مش مجذوب ومش نبي
ولا حتى عاش قصة كفاح ع اللقمة في بلد أجنبي
تلهم بتوع السيما يحوّلوها لفيلم
أو حتى يوحش حد ساعة الأكل
م النوع اللي تستغرب لو جه لحد في حلم
بس النهارده في المنام جالي
واقف على الشعرة اللي بين الوجود والعدم
فاتح عينيه
ماشي ف شارعهم المليان تراب
خطاويه ما بتعلّمش ورا منه
وكأنه من غير قدم.. ع الأرض وكأنه
كان ماشي بس الزمن هو اللي ما بيمشيش
كان ماشي واحنا متسمّرين حواليه
لحد ما بلعه الضباب بشويش
يشبه بطل أسطوري وخيالي
ما عملش حاجة  تستحق الذكر
غير إنه واقف لسه على رجليه
 

Nothing of Note

He did nothing of note.
Just another government employee.
His monthly take-home: a measly
One thousand three hundred and something Livre Égyptienne.
No dependents.
Responsible only for himself.
Didn’t share his hope or despair with those he calls friends.
Unremarkable inside and out.
Neither evil, nor good.
Neither gifted, nor dull.
Neither possessed, nor a prophet.
Not even a good tale of eking out a living abroad
That might have inspired a film of his struggles
Or left someone missing him at mealtimes.
The type you’d be surprised to see in a dream –
Yet today he turned up in mine,
Standing on the fine line between Being and Nothing,
His eyes open,
Walking down the dust-duned street,
His feet leaving no print
As if he made no impact on the earth –
Like time would not walk with him.
And while he walked, we remained transfixed.
Then the fog slowly swallowed him up
Like a legendary hero
Who did nothing of note,
Except stay standing on his own two feet.
 

We had more than one Arabic speaker working with us on this translation, so enjoyed the benefit of some deep discussion on the connotations and double-meanings of many of the words in the original. In the line that we have translated as ‘Neither possessed, nor a prophet’, for example, the first adjective in Arabic implies a mesmerised, almost fanatical follower of a religious leader, while the second relates to the leader himself. So it could be literally translated as ‘Neither a follower nor a leader’, but we wanted to use words with connotations of religious reverence. We were also eager to maintain a mostly casual register, as in the original and as required by the theme and content of the poem (which insists that there is nothing special about its subject). We did allow ourselves ‘dust-duned street’, so as to suggest a thick covering where footprints ought to be visible, and also what is probably my favourite line: “like time would not walk with him.”

Jon Stone

Workshop Facilitator

Nothing Worth Mentioning

He did nothing worth mentioning
An ordinary employee at a public institution
The sum of what he makes
One thousand three hundred and something pounds
He has no dependants
Not responsible for anyone but himself
He doesn’t confide to passing friends his hope or despair
He was very ordinary in content and in form
Not evil and not good
Not talented and not stupid
Not a lunatic and not a saint
Nor did he even have a story of fighting for livelihood in a foreign country
Which might have inspired cinema folk to make a film
Or at least made someone miss him at meals
He’s the type that you’d be surprised to see in a dream
Yet today he visited mine
Stood on the thin line (hair) between being and nothingness
With his eyes open
Walking down their/his dusty street
His footsteps leaving no trace behind him
Like he has no footfall.. On the ground/earth, it was like
He was moving but time was not
He was walking while we (all) stood fixed/frozen/nailed around him
Until the fog slowly swallowed him
Like the fictional hero of a legend
He did nothing worth mentioning
Except that he’s still standing on his (own) two legs
 

Original Poem by

Mostafa Ibrahim

Translated by

Nariman Youssef with The Poetry Translation Workshop Language

Arabic

Country

Egypt