Letter from Under the water

If you were my friend,
Help me to leave you..
Or if you were my beloved
Help me to be healed of you...

If I had known....
that the sea was so deep..
I would not have dove in...
If I had known
That Love was so dangerous,
I would not have fallen in love
If I had known my end,
I would not have begun

I Longed for you
So teach me not to crave...
Teach me
how to cut the roots of your love
From the depths
Teach me
how tears may die in the eyes
And love may pass away
And yearnings commit suicide
Teach me
How to rebel against you
And be saved from the sword of yearning

I remained after you
A book with torn papers...
You are all my past and present
And all the days of my living...
My love for you is my love for poetry
So why do you kill poetry in meâ?¦

I bestowed you the sun,
So why did you give me darkness in return...
I presented you the forests
So why did you give me the desert...
You tour in the land
While you let the tempest chew my flesh..
I am in the water
While your voice is coming to me
From under the water
And the resemblances of your face
Coming out for me like a giant
Coming from the depth of water...

The lines of your hand chase me
Even in water
Ah, if my memory would drown,
If your face and history would drown
If thousands of things would drown...
Ah how worn out I feel
If you were a prophet,
Cleanse me from this spell
Deliver me from this atheism...
Your love is atheism
So purify me from this atheism

O you who depicted life unto me a poem
And planted your wounds in my bosom
And took patience away...

If I were so dear unto you
then take my hand...
for lo! I am enthralled from my
head to my feet...

If you were strong,
Rescue me from this sea...
For I don\'t know the art of swimming

The blue waves in your eyes
drag me to the depths
nothing remains but the blue color
Blue...
Blue...
I do not have experience in love
Nor do I have a boat...

I am breathing under water!
I am drowning...
drowning...
drowning...

Poem by Nizar Qubbani

Translated By Munir Mezyed