Indian expat translates Emirati poet Dr Shihab Ghanem’s Arabic poems in Bengali

Gulf News

As a parting tribute to the UAE, an Indian expatriate who has spent 17 years in Dubai, has translated the poems of well-known Emirati poet Dr Shihab Ghanem into Bengali before leaving for India.  Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3aZz3Hm  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  #UAEnews #Bengali #Indian

Transcript

00:00Poetry, in my opinion, is the soul of a nation, therefore, if you want to get to know a nation

00:20deeply, just go and read the poetry of its best poets.

00:26And poetry builds bridges between nations, between cultures.

00:32I have written 86 books, many of them also are translations of poetry from different

00:41languages, and my poetry has been translated into 20 international languages.

00:48This is the book called Udbodham, the compilation of 25 poems of Dr. Shehab Ghanim, translated

01:00into Bangla, being the 18th language that has been done.

01:06This book, which is in Bengali and English, translations of my poems, translated 25 of

01:16them by Sumantha, and he called it Infusion, after the name of one of my poems.

01:25I will recite one of his very heart-touching poems, which happens in our life, everybody

01:33must have passed through, English version of the poetry, titled Eye Language.

01:42When our eyes meet mine, I feel my heart fluttering.

01:49I see her face blushed with shyness, and her cheeks flushed with emotions.

01:58Her eyelids drop with deep dark lashes over lustrous eyes, and I feel my heart bursting

02:09against my ribs.

02:12Can I too slyly look away, and do not speak the words I wish to say?

02:20She passes by without a word between us, yet our silence fills the air like long speeches.

02:32She passes by without a word between us, yet our silence fills the air like long speeches.

02:59Allow me to read to you one of my poems in Arabic, and then a translation in English.

03:29This poem is called Bakhbukh, which means like Abracadabra, making things vanish.

03:59Now I will read a translation of this poem in Arabic, and then a translation in English.

04:26Now I will read a translation of this poem.

04:30It's called Bakhbukh, and it is dedicated to my granddaughter, Hanuf, when she was just

04:38under two years old.

04:39I was playing with her this game of vanishing things.

04:44So I centered the coin on my left palm, and blew on it.

04:51Then covered it with my other palm, and said to her, say Bakhbukh.

04:58She said, Bakhbukh.

05:01I opened my eyes, where is the coin, where?

05:05Is vanished in a wink.

05:07She laughed.

05:08Astonishment gleamed in her eyes.

05:10She was, may Allah protect her, less than two years old.

05:16Bakhbukh?

05:18And our blown coin vanished.

05:21She went and fetched her big doll with the velvet dress.

05:27She put it in my hands and said, Bakhbukh.

05:31I said with a hoarse voice, this doll is too beautiful to be made disappear, O soul of

05:40my soul.

Category

Transcript

Recommended