The Key of Life

The Key of Life

Civilisation springs from a river:
the brilliant glint of an amulet
permits this story to be told
Who came first – a God or a King?
Who opens the door
Who holds the key to the mystery of eternity?    
 
. . .     . . .
 
The firstborn is an enigma
    an amulet
        a mirror 
    fused from burnished copper
    an icon of the sun buried in a grave
a grave in a riverbed in the grave of a river
 
 
The Key of Life
 
Pottery offering tray, with internal walls in a Meroitic form of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyph for the word ‘ankh ‘life’. The upper surface bears traces of red paint. 500 bc–ad 100. uc43990
 

The key of life (The Ankh Key)

1
 
To mature, there must be a river
An amulet is a prerequisite for the essence to shine
For the allegory to conclude
Is it the God - King or the King - God?!
Which one is first?
Which one of the two holding the door knob in his hand?
Or which one is custodian to the code of eternity?
 
2
 
Half the truth is on the dark side
Immersed in riddles and in keys (encryptions, codes) infected (infested) with eternal oblivion
The aching - lonesome - handsome half
Awakened the Apple
By the flirty mouth of perpetuity
One half (of the Apple) managed to lose its lost half
 
3
 
The ancient-one is still an enigma
It was an Amulet
Was a metal mirror
Gilded or polished copper
An icon of a sun within older graves
The Ancient-one is a river-bed (gulch) of an Archaic River
 

Original Poem by

Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi

Translated by

Atef Alshaer, Rashid El Sheikh with Sarah Maguire Language

Arabic

Country

Sudan