Live Encounters Arab Poetry & Writing April 2025
A Woman of Rain, poem by Ashraf Aboul-Yazid.
Translated from Arabic by Dr. Salwa Gouda.
A Woman of Rain
In the desolate journey
We lean on a mountain
Hiding in its cave hearts that await revelation
Long is our wilderness
And the women hide in the clouds:
We plead with prayers for rain.
I wrap myself in a face that emerges from the mirage’s pool
A wave of salt and absence overwhelms me
Dancing, smiling in the palm of the scorching heat.
I dream of a woman of rain
I dry my mirage in her gardens
And she pours her oasis into the sand of my chest.
The caravan passes through imaginary gates
We draw maps on the sand, and the wind is our compass…
And the cameleer never stops singing.
A song of awakening for the caravan until it moves on
A song of stumbling until it halts
A song of slumber until it sleeps.
A song for the merchant
And for the leading camel
A thousand songs and one for the prince.
With us,
A Bedouin who lost his mother at the well
Asks mountains and sorcerers about her
He wants to quench his thirst.
And an old woman selling with us
In her basket
Two withered pomegranates
Their color was red a thousand wars ago.
A vagabond dreaming of kingship
Sold his armor and horses
He remembers nothing but the name of the maiden and the shape of the palace.
A blind astrologer feels for stars in the trousers of dreams
Before a dancer who hides pimps in a checkbook…
And the caravan moves on.
And the ascetic prays devoutly:
With me is the key to the house and the mosque’s beads
So why can’t I find them?
The cameleer said:
Do not dream of a woman of rain in summer
A flock of rocs will soon take flight
So hide in the tent of the captives.
Whenever the shadow draws near
Pillars of fire precede it:
The desert devours both soul and body
The merchant sold the dancer (or married her, I don’t remember)
And as the fire consumed the tent
The desert of night opened its arms to us.
© Ashraf Aboul-Yazid
Translated from Arabic by Dr Salwa Gouda. She is an accomplished Egyptian literary translator, critic, and academic affiliated with the English Language and Literature Department at Ain Shams University. Holding a PhD in English literature and criticism, Dr. Gouda pursued her education at both Ain Shams University and California State University, San Bernardino. She has authored several academic works, including Lectures in English Poetry and Introduction to Modern Literary Criticism, among others. Dr. Gouda also played a significant role in translating The Arab Encyclopedia for Pioneers, a comprehensive project featuring poets, philosophers, historians, and literary figures, conducted under the auspices of UNESCO. Recently, her poetry translations have been featured in a poetry anthology published by Alien Buddha Press in Arizona, USA. Her work has also appeared in numerous international literary magazines, further solidifying her contributions to the field of literary translation and criticism.
Ashraf Aboul-Yazid (1963) is an Egyptian novelist, translator and poet who has published five poetry collections. He is also a journalist in national and international institutions. His books have been translated into several languages, including English, Spanish, Persian, German, Sindhi and Russian. In addition, He won many local and international awards.