Poet of the Week from Syria/Egypt: Khalil Mutran

Poet of the Week from Syria/Egypt: Khalil Mutran


 Mutran Khalil Mutran is my poet of the week!  Please check out this link for a little historical background.  It's interesting that Mutran originally came to Egypt to escape the Sultan's reach (and Cairo specifically).    I love his final two lines where he limits the oppresors' reach to corporeal ones:

For that is the extent of your powers
And in it lays our salvation. Thank you.

Some random interesting links:
http://blogs.dickinson.edu/arabiclitproject/tag/khalil-mutran/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Khalil-Mutran/139673729383915?sk=info  He's got 8 (now 9) 'likes'. 


NOTE: If you'd like to read it in the original arabic click on this blog post's title to be taken to The Moor Next Door's excellent blog.

BOYCOTT

Displace our best by land and by sea!
And kill our free, freedman after freedman [one by one]!
But in the long run good will remain good
And evil will remain evil.
Snap our pens! Will breaking them
Stop our hands from carving into stones?
Cut off our hands! Will hacking them off
Keep our eyes from casting our glare upon you?
Poke out our eyes! Will blinding us
Stop our chest(s) from breathing exasperated sighs?
Smother our breathing!
For that is the extent of your powers [For that is your effort or power] –
And in it lays our salvation. Thank you.