Ahmad Al Shahawy Alshahawy has published nine poetry collections. He works for the Egyptian daily al-Ahram and is also chief editor of the weekly Nisf al- Donya magazine. Although sometimes controversial, his poems fascinate for his innovation as well as for his modernity. Inspired by the Sufi poetic tradition, El-Shahawi takes up the topics of his ancestors: the passion, the trascendency of human emotions, the captivating omniprescence of the Female Being. His poem “Sayings from Exile” was read by Australian poet and sculptor Peter Latona .
Sayings from Exile
Translation by Nicolás Suescún
performed by Peter latona
Original Arabic text
Earth is a prison,
and the skies keep the falling stars.
Flee,
enter into the throne of love,
for death is a creature,
and your place is exile.
Your secret has been divulged,
and the duration of your time arises from a rose.
You will visit an isthmus
and you will be annihilated,
but your soul will remain indecipherable.
