پدر پدران – بیست‌و‌یک شعر برای پدرم / مجید نفیسی (۱)

The Father of Fathers

        Twenty-One Poems for My Father

One:

Sword at the Ablution Pool

by

Majid Naficy

There is a sword in this house

Which Father says is a souvenir

From the time of his service.

I saw it at the sanctuary of the ablution pool

And thought that it was a harmless emblem

On the rich green banner of Allah.

One evening when breaking the fast

We went downstairs to the ablution room.

It was a holy Night of Power.*

The little fountain was whispering to itself.

Father performed ablution at the pool

stood toward the House of God

And pressed his forehead to the prayer seal.

I stood before the boiling samovar

And the dining cloth which displayed

The plate of fried walnuts and dates,

And the dish of basil and mint with bread.

A godly vapor was rising

From the cup of hot sugar water

Ready to pass through his parched lips,

And a  hymn of brotherhood could be heard

As he was chanting verses

From his prayer book.  

His eyes were shining from abstention

And everything he looked at

He would mesmerize.

I surrendered myself to all this beauty.

If my prayers were heard that night

What more could I have desired

Than this open cloth of happiness?

Then, against my will

I laid my head on his lap

And went to sleep with a heavenly dream.

Suddenly, the naked sword came to life

A holy warrior fast and clever

Whirled it around

In an unending dance

And from the edge of his long robe

An army of the faithful rose up.

The soothing murmur of the samovar

Turned into fearful cries of holy raids;

The rich colored tea, to blood;

And the lustful pieces of date,

To the people’s living hearts.

In this great clamor

I recognized Father’s voice

Shouting at this time:

“Fight in the name of Allah!

Fight in the name of Allah!”

I trembled

And my dream was over.

Leaning against the velvet cushion

Father seemed to be asleep.

I took a date and left him alone

In his nightmare.

At this ablution pool

There hangs a sword.

Father says it is a souvenir

From the time of his service.

January 4, 1987

*- A night or nights in the fasting month of Ramadan in which prayers are heard.