Night, I love you: poem’s name
(أحبك يا ليل)
Poet’s name: ghazi kanafani
(غازي كنفاني)
Date of writing the poem: 1 February 1953

→ listen to the poem
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أنت يا ليلي.. كمثلي.. مظلم.. تائه.. حائر
Night, you are like me, dark, lost and uncertain
فدعني أناجيك..
Let me talk to you
حتى أسلو عن بعض ما بي..
To be consoled with some of what makes me sad
أحبك يا ليل وأحب سكونك الجميل الساحر
I love you, night. And I love your magical beautiful stillness
أحبك أحب نجومك المنبسطة على سطحك كأنها ستار جميل
I love you, night and I love your expanded stars on your surface like a beautiful cover
وهذا القمر يشع من بين ثناياك
And this is the moon that shines from your folds
ساحرا جميلا مدهشا
In a stunning, beautiful, magical way
أحبك موسيقى شاجية تصدحها نجومك ويعزفها قمرك
I like your sad music that was sung by your stars and was composed by your moon
أحبك ولا أحبك..
I like you and I don’t like you
فحنانك يذكرني بحنان غيرك الذي افتقدته
Cause your kindness reminds me of the missing kindliness of someone else
وجمالك يذكرني ويعود بذكراي إلى محاولة حب فشلت
And your beauty reminds me of a failed try of love
أحبك.. عندما أسير منتشيا بخمر العاطفة
I like you when I walk and get high with the wine of emotion
وبقربي زمجرة الأمواج العاتية
Near the noise of the harsh waves
تفتح فاها وتطلب المزيد
These waves open their mouth and ask for more
أحبك عندما تلفني وأحزاني وهمومي بستارك المخيف
I like you when you wrap me, my sorrows and my worries with your fearful cover
فنصبح أنا وهمومي وأحزاني واحدا في خضمك
So, I, my sorrows and my worries become one thing in your vast sea
****
أكرهك يا ليل عندما تنهزم من أفواج الضوء الجميل
I hate you, night when you lose to the rays of the beautiful light
وتبدأ نجومك الساحرة بالتباعد
And your magical stars start to get far
تاركة مكانها لشمس تسطع
…leaving their place to a bright sun
أكرهك عندما تذهب وتتركني وهمومي تصارعني وأصارعها
I hate you when you go and leave me with my worries that struggle with me and I struggle with them
أحبك.. أتسمعني أم أنك لاهٍ عن دنيانا
I like you, night, do you hear me, or you don’t worry about our life?
وأكرهك أتسمعني أم أنك كمثلي تنتشي من أول وهلة فتصم أذنك عن ذمك
And I hate you, night, do you hear me or you, like me, feel happy from the first moment unwilling to hear about your blame?
أحبك وأكرهك.. وسأظل هكذا إلى الأبد لا أدري أأنا أحبك أم أكرهك
I like you and I hate you... and I remain forever unable to
Know whether I like you or I hate you
An explanation of this piece from the arabic poems :
This poem is an imaginary conversation between the poet and the night, ghazi kanafani, the writer of this rich piece of art, has conflicting feelings about the night. Part of him loves the night and the other one not. The meaning here is deeper than that. the poet uses this to express his uncertain inner voice about life, his incomplete love.
In some parts you can see that he is in love with night like a one-side relationship. Of course, the dialogue here is from one side, but the poet succeeded in making the poem full of dynamism as if it were a two-sided conversation.
We can find some interesting expressions: “with the wine of emotion”, “your sad music that was sung by your stars and was composed by your moon” and “my sorrows and my worries become one thing in your vast sea”.
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