Tamim AL-BARGHOUTI (Palestine) is a poet widely read throughout the Arab world through new and old media. His poetry readings are attended by thousands in stadiums and amphitheaters. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Boston University in 2004. Since 2007, Tamim’s work “Fil Quds” became a household poem in Jerusalem. Palestinian newspapers dubbed him “The Poet of Jerusalem”. During the Egyptian uprising of January 2011, a television recording of Tamim’s lyrical poem “Hanet” was projected in Cairo’s Tahrir Square every couple of hours on makeshift screens, despite the ban on the Internet and regional news channels. Born in Cairo in 1977, Tamim published seven poetry collections in both colloquial and classical Arabic and two academic books on Arab politics and history.
In the Arab world, live
In the Arab world, live
Like a cat that lives under a car
Shoes are all you see of life
In the Arab world, live
Like a circus clown
A clown stands on your head
You stand on the next clown’s
Everyone stands with utmost respect
Serious and very well dressed
In the Arab world, live
Through a football match
That has been going on for a thousand years
Players dash here and there
And the ball always remains
In the hands of the referee
In the Arab world, live
To tell a girl you love her
And, if she loves you back,
she’ll slap you in the face!
In the Arab world, live
To curse the taste of water, falafel,
The coffee-shop and its customers
Your wife and her children
The crowd and the heat in the bus
The tricks of Satan
Being broke
And when you’re asked about all that
You say:
“We thank God
May He keep showering us with His blessings”
In the Arab world, live
Like a school boy
Who has to salute the flag in the school yard every morning
While longing for the street outside
In the Arab world, live
Like a hesitant tear in the eyes of the dignified
Pain exiles you
Dignity holds you back
In the Arab world live
Watching the time
Lest you miss the news on TV
Only to see
How people
In the Arab world, die.
(Translated from Arabic by Tamim Al-Barghouti)
塔明．阿爾巴霍迪（巴勒斯坦）的詩歌在阿拉伯語世界通過新舊媒體得到廣泛傳播和誦讀。他多次在體育館和露天劇場舉辦詩歌朗誦會，入場觀眾數以千計。在2004年，巴霍迪獲得波斯頓大學政治學博士學位。在2007年，巴霍迪的詩作〈在耶路撒冷〉成為當地家喻戶曉的作品，他因此獲巴勒斯坦報紙譽為「耶路撒冷詩人」。在2011年1月埃及革命期間，網路截斷，地區電視遭禁播，他用視頻錄製的詩作〈在望〉每隔兩個小時就投射到開羅解放廣場。阿爾-巴霍迪生於埃及開羅，著有七本通俗及古典阿拉伯語詩集，以及兩本關於阿拉伯世界政治和歷史的學術類書籍。
你活在阿拉伯世界
你活在阿拉伯世界，
就像住在汽車底盤下的貓，
鞋底是雙眼唯一看到的世界。
你活在阿拉伯世界，
像個馬戲團的小丑，
你踩在一個小丑的頭上，
另一個小丑踩在你的頭上，
所有人畢恭畢敬直直挺立。
你活在阿拉伯世界，
就像加入一場踢了上千年的球賽，
球員們左突右進，
球卻始終被裁判拿在手中。
在阿拉伯世界，
你對一個女孩說愛她，
若她也愛你愛到痴狂，
會搧你一個耳光。
你活在阿拉伯世界，
咒罵水的味道、炸豆丸子的味道、咖啡館和𥚃面
的顧客，
咒罵老婆、孩子、公交車的悶熱和擁擠，
咒罵魔鬼伊布里斯的行徑，咒罵破產。
可當你被問起這一切，你會說﹕
「讚頌全歸真主，願福澤長存。」
你活在阿拉伯世界，像有尊嚴的人眼中的淚水，
苦難把你趕走，尊嚴又拽你回來。
你活在阿拉伯世界，像清晨校園𥚃的小學生，
一邊向國旗敬禮，一邊瞧著校外的街。
你活在阿拉伯世界，盯著時間，生怕錯過新聞，
為了看到屏幕𥚃阿拉伯世界的人們
死去。
(翻譯﹕唐珺）