Foolish Woman

By Nizar Qabani

My dear lord
This is a letter
From a foolish woman
Has a foolish woman ever written to you before?
My name?
Let’s leave names aside
Rania or Zainab
Hind or Haifa
The silliest things we bear, my lord, are names
My lord
I fear of voicing my concern
I fear, if I did, the skies will burn
For your orient, my dear lord,
Confiscates blue letters
Seizes dreams from women’s dressers
Uses knives
And blades
To talk to women
Slaughters springs and yearnings
And black braids
Your orient, my dear lord,
Crafts sublime crowns of honor
Out of women’s skulls
Do not criticize me my lord
If my handwriting is poor
As I write with a swordsman behind my door
And outside my room winds howl and dogs growl
My lord
Antara the Brave is behind my door
He would slaughter me
Should he see my letter
He would behead me
Should I defy my fetter
He would behead me
Should my dress be unproper
For your honor, my dear lord,
Sieges women with spears
Appoints men as seers
And buries women
Do not be upset!
My dear lord…from my lines
Do not be upset
If I smash the bottle sealed for ages
If I break the iron stamp on my pages
If I run away
From the castles and the harem cages
If I revolt against my death
My grave
My roots
And the great slaughterhouse
Do not be upset my lord!
If I unveil my passions
For an oriental man
Does not care for poetry nor passion
An oriental man
Does not understand a woman except in bed
Pardon me…pardon me my lord
If I offend men’s kingdom
Great literature – surely men’s literature – and love
Have always been men’s share
And sex has always been
A drug sold to men
Women’s freedom in our country is a myth
For there is no freedom
Other than men’s freedom
My lord
Say what you please of me, I won’t mind – superficial, foolish, crazy, stupid - I no longer mind
Because she who writes about her woes
Is a foolish woman according to men’s logic
Didn’t I say earlier that I am
A foolish woman?

(My translation from the Arabic version)

Illustration by Virginia Frances Sterrett