Poem
Bijan Elahi
For Two Weeks I have been in this Palace. Nothing has Happened
Baghdad’s arches and the arches of the Tigris—The story left unfinished
may turn into a poem and a poem
finished can make a story. That’s why poets
always break the lines of their poems. And I want
from among those pointless walks around Baghdad
to break the line on a house in the bazaar
carpeted with many marbled stones in The Thousand and one Nights, where the ceilings
are painted turquoise and gold.
“Ten dinars a month for rent!”
“Are you kidding?”
“I’m not kidding,” the doorkeeper said, “but whoever enters the house
gets sick and within two weeks dies.”
For two weeks
I’ve been in this palace and nothing has happened.
I’ve only seen sunsets of gold:
you can hear them!
“Hey, boy, you haven’t seen the palace belvedere?” the doorkeeper’s wife said.
But what is on the roof
other than Baghdad’s arches and the arches of the Tigris—
© Translation: 2019, Rebecca Ruth Gould and Kayvan Tahmasebian
This poem offers a poetic retelling of a story in the Arabic A Thousand and One Nights, “The House and the Belvedere” (night 599). Elahi’s poem reproduces the phrasing of the Persian translation of A Thousand and One Nights by ʻAbd al-Laṭif Tasuji Tabrizi (1858).
یکی دو هفته می‌شود که توی این قصرم و هیچ اتفاق نیافتاده
یکی دو هفته می‌شود که توی این قصرم و هیچ اتفاق نیافتاده
تاقهای ضربی‌ی بغداد و تاقهای ضربی دجله ...
قصه اگر ناتمام می‌ماند
یحتمل که شعر می‌شد و شعر
در تمامیّتِ خود قصه می‌شود . به همین دلیل ، شاعران
همیشه ، جخت ، تقطیع می‌کنند و من می‌خواهم
ازان گشتهای بی‌حوصله در بغداد
تقطیع کنم روی خانه‌یی در بازار
که ، در الف لیل ، زمینش را
گونه گونه رخام گسترده‌اند و سقفهای غرفه‌ها
به لاجورد و آبِ زر نقش کرده‌اند :
اجرتش ماهی ده دینار !
واقعاً راسته یا مسخره‌ام می‌کنید ؟ دربان گفت :
واقعاً راسته امّا هر که توی خانه بیاید
یکی دو هفته بیشتر نمی‌کشد مریض می‌شود می‌میرد .
یکی دو هفته می‌شود
که توی قصرم و هیچ اتفاق نیافتاده است ؛
فقط غروبها طلایی‌ست : می‌شود شنفت !
واقعاً چه غفلتی ! پسرم ! مگر هنوز
به بام قصر نرفته‌ای ؟ زنِ دربان گفت .
مگر از بامِ قصر چیست
جز همین تاقهای ضربی‌ی بغداد و تاقهای ضربی‌ی دجله ...
© 2015, Bijan Elahi
From: Vision
Publisher: Bidgol, Tehran
From: Vision
Publisher: Bidgol, Tehran
Poems
Poems of Bijan Elahi
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For Two Weeks I have been in this Palace. Nothing has Happened
Baghdad’s arches and the arches of the Tigris—The story left unfinished
may turn into a poem and a poem
finished can make a story. That’s why poets
always break the lines of their poems. And I want
from among those pointless walks around Baghdad
to break the line on a house in the bazaar
carpeted with many marbled stones in The Thousand and one Nights, where the ceilings
are painted turquoise and gold.
“Ten dinars a month for rent!”
“Are you kidding?”
“I’m not kidding,” the doorkeeper said, “but whoever enters the house
gets sick and within two weeks dies.”
For two weeks
I’ve been in this palace and nothing has happened.
I’ve only seen sunsets of gold:
you can hear them!
“Hey, boy, you haven’t seen the palace belvedere?” the doorkeeper’s wife said.
But what is on the roof
other than Baghdad’s arches and the arches of the Tigris—
© 2019, Rebecca Ruth Gould and Kayvan Tahmasebian
From: Vision
From: Vision
For Two Weeks I have been in this Palace. Nothing has Happened
Baghdad’s arches and the arches of the Tigris—The story left unfinished
may turn into a poem and a poem
finished can make a story. That’s why poets
always break the lines of their poems. And I want
from among those pointless walks around Baghdad
to break the line on a house in the bazaar
carpeted with many marbled stones in The Thousand and one Nights, where the ceilings
are painted turquoise and gold.
“Ten dinars a month for rent!”
“Are you kidding?”
“I’m not kidding,” the doorkeeper said, “but whoever enters the house
gets sick and within two weeks dies.”
For two weeks
I’ve been in this palace and nothing has happened.
I’ve only seen sunsets of gold:
you can hear them!
“Hey, boy, you haven’t seen the palace belvedere?” the doorkeeper’s wife said.
But what is on the roof
other than Baghdad’s arches and the arches of the Tigris—
© 2019, Rebecca Ruth Gould and Kayvan Tahmasebian
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