Three Arabic Poems by Mohamed N Elramady

Translated by Nizar Sartawi

الإنســانُ A MAN 

Mohamed N Elramady

People swarmed at the door of the  dream
They scrambled to delve into the holy dream
I stood there to stop the unreasonable ones

In the halls of the dream
there was a man praying
muttering incomprehensible words
trying to penetrate the wall of time
and jumping over the walls of the universe
to get to the greatest secret

For thousands of years
he’s been trying
He has not arrived yet
but
the angels who guarded him
were amazed how he persisted
They were surprised
how ignorant was this rational man
this human being?!

أسطورةُ العشقِ الأبديةِ
THE MYTH OF ETERNAL LOVE

Rosy daughter of the moon
strike my heart with your rod
It will erupt with love in the face of the world
For I was born only to love
and you are love

Strike my heart with your heart
The World will be filled with fair women with large beautiful eyes
that whisper in the ears of darkness
hymns of freedom
and from the poem a rain falls
watering forgotten roses
so that you and I may remain
in the eyes of the world
a myth of eternal love
The angels of love inscribe our names
with golden letters

Nizar Sartawi

ســؤالٌ عصرِيٌّ
A modern question

Pens joined forces against me
I drew into myself like a shell.
Neither welcomes nor greetings for him
who leaves with me a poem
bleeding at the edge of the sky
calling on death
and none comes to her but universal nymphs
Has poetry been created but to fly without wings
and walk without feet
and go without a compass
to reside with a thousand identities
in the conscience of humanity?

Back to Table of Contents

Mohamed N. Elramady

An Egyptian American poet who lives in Alexandria, Egypt.

Publications
I Wash in the Light of Your Eyes, 2011.
Love after Deliberation], 2010
Ramadyat and Other Colors, 2009
When the Pulse Speaks, 2009
Songs of a Wayfarer, 2006

In 2013, Mohamed N Elramady have also published
 The Chain of Love: Adam and Noor, in four parts so far, to be continued:
- The love that I Wrote
- That Wrote Me
- That We Wrote
- That Wrote Us

A sixth collection has been submitted for publication with an English translation titled "The Mural of Passion and Pain" and an Italian translation titled "Il Murale di Passione e dolore," also ready for publication

Mohamed N Elramady's poems have been translated to Italian, English, Turkish, French, Indonesian, German, Farsi, Neplai and Hindi and I have read them in Egypt and in Lebanon.
Some of my poems were published in California State Poetry Society, and in the life and legends magazine.

Poem "The Funeral of Life" was selected for the anthology of modern poetry, "Necklaces of Arab Poetry".
Poem "I was not but fair with you" was published in Watan magazine, Bahrain, September 22nd, 2010 issue.
The poem titled "Shock and Love" was selected for publication in Basryatha, Iraq.  He has written many other poems published in online forums.

He is a member of the Lebanese Organization of Permanent Cultural Dialogue, whose mission it is to spread the culture of dialogue and tolerance.


Authors A-Z