واگویه Recitation

واگویه

در گلوی مادر

"نازی"با هزار ناز
زنده زنده می سوزد
 
سینه سوراخ هم که باشد
صندوقچه ی هزار ناز نهفته است
 
 "لااااااااااا اله"
بیراه می رود قاری
کُرت نازبو
در هوا منتشر می شود
"لااله"در دهان قاری می ماسد 
 
انگشتان مادر
گیسوان آشفته را
تار تار
پس گوش دختر می خواباند
 
بر زانوانش
سر و گردن وارفته
یک دامن گل می شود
 
دست ها در هوا
گاه بر فرق سر
"نازی"می موید مادر
و در لای انگشت هایش
غُمچه غُمچه مو های جو گندمی می روید
 
ملافه ی سپید می سُرد
در زخم سینه و پستان های نورس عریان
داغ دل مادر واگویه می شود
 
"لااله"می گوید قاری
 
اسپندی
سرش می چرخد
 
بوی کافور
با اوراد مادر می آمیزد
 
نیست
 خدایی
نیست
خدایی
نیست
 خدایی
نیست
 
 

Recitation

Her name, Nazaneen, along
with a thousand other caresses,
burns in her mother's throat
like a flame, a flame.
 
Her chest may be pierced
but it's a treasure chest
of a thousand hidden endearments.
 
Laaa  ellah!  The mullah
has strayed from the path. 
A bed of sweet basil is spreading
its scent through the air and
La ella! ... his oath stops short.
 
Her mother's fingers
are smoothing her tangled curls
back behind her ears,
strand by strand.
 
Propped on her mother's knee,
her head and neck, lying limp,
meld in a lap of flowers.
 
Nazaneen! her mother wails,
throwing her hands up, hitting
her head as, clump by torn-out clump,
white hairs like wheat and barley
sprout between her fingers.
 
The white sheet slips.
The chest wound, the girlish breasts
laid bare, renew her mother's anguish.
 
La ellah! says the mullah.
 
The incense-thrower
turns her head.
 
The scent of camphor
mingles with the mother's plaints:
There is
no God,
there is
no God,
there is
no God,
no God.   
 

Recitation

In the mother's throat
"Nazi" with a thousand endearments
burns vividly, vividly.[1]
 
Even though her chest is pierced [has a hole in it],
it is the treasure chest [repository?] of a thousand hidden endearments.
 
"Laaaaa ellah!"[2]
The mullah strays off his path
The [scent of] the flowerbed of sweet basil
spreads through the air
and ‘la ellah' sticks in the mullah's throat.
 
The mother's fingers
smooth the tangled locks
strand by strand
into place behind the girl's ears.
 
[Lying] on her knees
The limp head and neck
become [are as lovely as] a flowery meadow.
 
[Now throwing her] hands up into the air,
now hitting the crown of her head,[3]
"Nazi" laments the mother
and between her fingers
bunches of salt-and-pepper hair grow.
 
The white sheet slips off.
In the wound of the chest and the newly-ripe bare breasts
the mother's anguish is repeated.
 
"La ellah!" says the mullah.
 
The espandi[4]
turns her head.
 
The scent of camphor
mingles with the mother's incantations:
There is no
God
There is no
God
There is no
God
 

Recitation: this poem alludes to the many girls killed during the civil war in Kabul, 1992-1996.

La ellah!: suggesting annoyance, an abbreviation of La ilaha illa Allah wa Muhammad rasoul Allah, ‘There is no God but God and Muhammad His Prophet’. Those who use the abbreviation, ‘There is no God’ are unintentionally blasphemous, though the mother here uses it literally.

Mimi Khalvati, Poet-translator

Notes on the literal translation:

[1] This poem describes a fictional mourning scene, but refers to one of the many girls killed during the civil war in Kabul from 1992-96. The girl’s name is Nazi. Shakila realises that Nazi has very different connotations to Europeans, so she says we might change it to Nazanin or something else, she will think about it.

[2] An interjection suggesting annoyance, the abbreviation of “La ilaha illa Allah wa Muhammad rasoul Allah” (the Muslim shahada, meaning ‘There is no God but God and Muhammad is His Prophet’). Most of those who say it don’t realise that the first part just means “There is no God” so in fact they are being blasphemous in their moment of annoyance; it is a very common phrase. In this poem, however, it is taken literally by the mother (and the poet) who are so distraught and angry because of the death of the girl that they are prepared to question the existence of God.

[3] This scene describes the typical mourning lament of an Afghan mother – throwing her hands up in anger at the world, hitting her own head, tearing her hair out.

[4] A reference to the person who is responsible for burning espand at the funeral, a herb believed to ward off the evil eye, disease and misfortune. It is usually circled around someone’s head but in this case, it is the head of the espandi woman which is turning.

Zuzanna Olszewska, Literal Translator

Original Poem by

Shakila Azizzada

Translated by

Zuzanna Olszewska with Mimi Khalvati Language

Dari

Country

Afghanistan