Live Encounters Arab Women Poets & Writers June 2025
Children of Adam, poems by Rand Al-Rifai.
Translated from Arabic by Dr. Salwa Gouda.
Children of Adam
The mosquito may hate me,
May feel insulted to be killed by a shoe.
One who witnessed her brutal death may lie in wait for me,
May come for vengeance—blood for blood is the law of the tribes.
The ants of the earth may resent me,
Because I destroy all their homes
And wipe out their entire colonies.
To them, I am a blind slaughterer,
Who coldly burned their young alive.
Yet I wore a sheer shirt,
Sang like a sparrow,
Danced like a field butterfly,
Drunk on the scent of roses,
Drowned in pleasure—
Until it died like a martyr.
For I am Adam of this earth,
The one who broke its virginity to plant wheat,
The one who betrayed its affection.
I beg when it resists,
But when it yields,
My soul turns disgusted.
I am Adam of this earth,
The heir and the master.
I am Adam of this earth,
Come for a time as punishment,
And in the end, I return as I descended—
With no briefcase,
And no throne.
Death
And the worst of death
Is to dissolve like shapeless clay in a potter’s hand,
Without meaning,
To become just a memory
Murdered by time, then forgotten…
To venture alone into the boundless unknown.
Death is the last one you meet,
Your final covenant with disappointments,
Your last pact with questions,
The last thread binding you to sunlight,
The end of all covenants.
Death is the closing reel of your path—
Whether you were first or last,
A prince or a bastard,
An angel or a devil,
Great or small—
It makes no difference.
Alone, in your naked body, you will return.
Your death reduces you to a grain of sand—
Weightless, faceless, nameless—
Just a number among the counted.
Death is the first to answer you:
Who are you?
How did you go?
How did you return?
How will you move on?
It is your first step toward Paradise—
Alone, without companions.
The first unseen you comprehend,
The first unknown you truly live,
Without pretense.
It is your great awakening,
While people bear witness.
It is the death of power and the executioner,
The death of darkness,
The death of pain and regret,
The death of chains.
For though loss is sorrow,
Loss is a matter for the living—
It means nothing to the lost.
It is the death of death itself—so do not fear.
Walk your path with love,
And let death be your friend.
© Rand Al-Rifai
Dr Salwa Gouda 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.
Rand Al-Rifai, a Jordanian born on October 6, 1977, holds a master’s degree in accounting and finance and is currently pursuing a PhD in the same field. She has worked as a lecturer in accounting and finance at various universities and community colleges. An active cultural and social figure, she is a member of several professional and literary associations, including the Jordanian and Arab Trainers’ Unions and the Council of Arab Writers, Literati, and Intellectuals. Her first poetry collection, “With a Serious Heart” (2021), was supported by Jordan’s Ministry of Culture, followed by a second collection, Cuneiform Tablets (2024). She is preparing a third poetry manuscript and a novel titled Hala 30 and has published critical articles in Jordanian and Arab cultural magazines while participating in numerous literary festivals and events.