fresh leaves in a withered branch

Romantic Arabic poem

poem’s name: fresh leaves in a withered branch 

(أوراق يانعة في غصن ذابل)

Poet's name: Mahmoud Al-Sayed Muhammad

(محمود السيد محمد)

Date of writing the poem:  1 September 1995 

 →  listen to the poem

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تبسمت فارتسمت في الوجود.. لشتى البدائع أبهى صور

I smiled so the brightest pictures of the different wonders were painted in existence

فذلك صبح بإشراقه.. صفت أنفس وتجلت فكر 

So that is a morning, and with its sunrise souls become pure and new ideas appear

وذاك ربيع يطل علينا.. بيانع زهر عطر

And that is a spring that appears to us with fresh and fragrant flowers 

وتلك بشائر للعاشقين بقرب اللقاء تزف الخبر

And that is good news for the lovers about a close meeting that is heralded with happiness

تبسمت فانقشعت غيمة.. بأفق الهوى وتولى الكدر 

I smile so a cloud was cleared in the horizon of love and the sorrow turned away

صفت من بهاها سماء المنى.. وتلألأ فيها ضياء القمر

The sky of wishes was cleared, and the brightness of the moon sparkled due to her beauty

نأيت فكل أشيائي هباء.. وكل عرائس الشعر انزواء

I kept away so all my things became like dust... and all the brides of poetry disappeared   

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فلا ليلتي بمنسيتي شجوني.. ولا سلوى يكون بها عزاء 

My night could not make me forget my sadness nor there was a reason for consolation 

وليس لدي إلا طيف حلم.. بأنا سوف يجمعنا لقاء 

And I only had a specter of a dream about a meeting that will bring us together

أصوره بأبهى ما أراه.. من الدنيا فأنت بها البهاء 

 So, I am capturing it with the most beautiful things that I can see from life cause you are the splendor

وأنت بها الجمال.. وكل ليل.. يمر علي أنت له الضياء

And you are the beauty... and every day that passes you are the light

وحسبك أنني في البعاد أحيا.. شريدا كل أحوالي سواء

And I live like a homeless far away from you, and all my conditions are the same 

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أنت والشعر والهوى والغرام.. وابتسام اللقاء والإلهام 

You, poetry, love, the smile of the meeting and inspiration

انسجام الحياة في منطقي.. هل بعد ذياك الانسجام انسجام 

They all together are the harmony of life in my mind... so is there more harmony after that?

نظرة منك تبعث الشعر نبضا.. في فؤاد تميته الأوهام

A look from you makes poetry live... in a heart that has died from the delusions

أما لهذا القلب من شافي.. أم قد أراد البين إتلافي 

Is there a cure for this heart... or does the parting want me to get damaged?

قد أسرفت في الهجر محبوبتي.. فياله من طول إسراف

You leave me alone for a long time, my love, so how bad this extravagant time!

حبيبتي طال بآلامه.. ليلي وكان الصاحب الوافي

My night became longer, my love. And it was the loyal friend.

يقض نومي أنني لم أعد.. ألقاك إلا بعض أطياف

I can only see you in shadows, so I can’t sleep well

An explanation of this piece from the arabic poems:

It's a wonderful poem that expresses love in a nice tune. The poet, Mahmoud Al-Sayed Muhammad, sees love as part of “the harmony of life in his mind”, the spring gives him these strong feelings of conflict between his sad inside and this happy world outside.

 Like most Arabic poems, this poem has a lot of explosive expressions; it seems  that tendency to exaggerate is part of the Arabic culture in general. This thing really fits poetry: The first Arabic art.

 There are a lot of good expressions such as: “a heart that has died from the delusions”, “My night... The loyal friend...” The date of the poet 1995 is quite late so we can see how love become an important issue after the disappear of the political projects that was in 1950s and 1960s in the Arabic world.