IN PRAISE OF ALI is one of Charbel Baini's books translated by from Arabic by Naji Mourad, Joseph G. Yamouni, Elias Shaanin

Psalm 17

-1-

Why were we born?

For sins are reaping us

With their sickle,

Is our pleasure solely

For the purpose of utilising

The womb,

To no avail?

-2-

Nine months,

Is our duration within,

Self sufficient of food

And drink,

We farewell Eve’s womb,

Only for it to carry us anew.

-3-

A paradise..

Without a sun or stars,

Within which the foetus is bored,

Upon its shores clouds compact,

Weary of the burden.

-4-

No sooner do we awaken,

We retire once again,

Hours racing hours,

Days stumbling over us,

To the delight of the tumbles.

-5-

We know not where

Our life will end

And we’ve forgotten our beginning.

Each time death dusts itself,

It conceals p[paths we’ve trodden.

-6-

We are not permitted

To live for long..

“Two of three days”

Then we die.

Who erased the fear of thinking?

Who forced us to love the coffin?

-7-

Another world we know not,

Tearfully,

We came to it,

Even with longevity,

We’re not satisfied,

While its hunger

Lingers in our stomachs.

-8-

Help me understand its secrets,

And through faith,

Accept its sentence,

Oh Ali..

My mind boggles;

Why were humans ever created!!?

**