The Byzantine Poems of Abu Firas
by: 'Abd al-Wahhab al-Bayati

            1

A female demon was on the shores of the Mediterranean

Crying, and I was lying down,  feverish

On the sand of the shore at dawn

She was lying on the rocks awaiting the dead sailors

Extending her braid to the sea gull 

Writing what I say on the sand

I embraced her on the shores of the Mediterranean

As she floated naked

The night was extinguished and the Owl hooted

Oh Soothsayer

Do not write what I say on the sand of the shore

The Master of Pain is in the cave

Waiting for a sign

            2

Nay, the knight did not hail from Damascus

Nor did the lightening illuminate the face of the singer

3

I have suffered the death of the spirit

In this land where a barren thunder rumbles on its mountains

The wind hungers and

The Messiah is crucified

4 

I wrote on the rocks and on the waves of the sea

Your name, my Beloved,

But the winds erased what I had written

The Diviner did not see what I beheld

Nor did the singer grasp the meaning of the poem as I wept

For he was lifeless chanting for death

And here I am in captivity

Writing your name again on the marble sepulcher

5

Here he is at dawn

Carrying two handfuls of dust from her tomb

On the shores of the Mediterranean

While the spears of light pierce his eyes

Along with the witches of the underworld and the bygone ages

He dreams of resurrecting the ashes of the mythical bird

He waters the roots of this willow tree

With his blood, so it may be reborn or die

“Jonah” shall not split open the belly of the whale

Because the sea has dried up since you took me sailing

And you said unto me do not write

What I say on the sand of the shore

6 

Oh, woman, you who die giving birth

Deserting her newborn in captivity

Thou shall not be resurrected

For the Master of Pain

Has folded his two wings over his wounds and slept

7

I wrote on the rocks and on the waves of the sea

Your name, my Beloved,

But the winds erased what I had written

While here I am in captivity

Writing your name again on the marble sepulcher

8

Night on the shore

Its stars carry me on the stallions of the wind

Oh, corpse, screaming

In its grave, Oh nocturnal journey in daylight

When will you lay down your rod?

9

I have written above the wall

My final elegy

So my Princess

If you happen to pass tomorrow

By this island

You must carry a small leaf from this willow

And a feather from the mythical bird

And a drop of light

To the deserts of my forsaken homeland

Perhaps the horses of conquest, my princes, at daybreak,

Will wipe out the shame of our wound

10 

A Persian wheel laments on the Euphrates

Its moaning awakened me on the Eve of the “Mi’raaj” ¹

I found myself free on the waves,

Walking, a lantern in my hand

And a flower floating on the waters

In front of God’s gate

¹The night of Prophet Muhammad’s ascension from Jerusalem
to the seven heavens at midnight on the 27^th of Rajab.