By: Abdulhakim Kshad
Translated by: Abdulsalam Ghariani

a window, chaos touched by hand,
Named “Ghalnar,” flung wide to passing band.
Your transient heart,
the only one it knew,
As names were tossed like pebbles,
wild and new.
Perhaps the whales will whisper names unknown,
When ocean depths within your pupils drown.
Your lucky star proclaims a timeless age,
As days usurp the names that fill life’s page.
No morn’s the same,
and names like fish will shift,
With every wind that blows, a fleeting gift.
One name,
one woman,
one path’s guiding light,
One stream that flows, a single, pure delight.
A river’s course,
where our desires reside,
A sharpened glance, a sword where passions hide.
Other desires twist,
their necks inclined,
Towards us, a force both cruel and kind.
A hedgehog curls,
a spiny ball of fear,
Its hunter’s name, a silent, chilling cheer.
I’d search for pregnant names within your mind,
Like a policeman, seeking what’s unkind.
So why is your name yours,
and not another? Bewildered,
I ask, what name will you wear?
In scorching heat,
where snakes and crocodiles roam,
What name will suit you, where you’ll feel at home?
A name of lightness,
elegance, and grace,
A stray gazelle, a wild, untamed space.
Bewilderment floods seas,
the desert hisses,
Whatever names you bear,
life’s hidden kisses.
Your mother warned,
return the same old way,
Afraid of loss,
her fear would never sway.
Her embrace,
a trap, a nursing fear,
For years it flowed, a poison dark and drear.
Was your name yours when disobedience grew?
When paths diverged, and new horizons glew?
A fortune-teller,
valleys deep and still,
Your ears had never heard such wondrous thrill.
Layla’s fear, a wolf no longer feared,
Between your heart’s veil, and your devil’s jeered,
A fear-worshipper, paths and names you slew,
Blessing the steps that led you far and true.
No surrender to her prayers,
her veil of fright,
No warning words could dim your guiding light.
Are names commanded,
or a freely chosen art?

ترجمة لقصيدة (اسمك هو اسمك) للشاعر عبدالحكيم كشاد.