The Song of Ezra
Majid Naficy
The god of Babylonia
Forced us into exile,
Destroyed our temple,
Put our women in servitude,
Cut off our men's heads,
And gave our dead to vultures.
The Jewish God turned His back on us
And called Nebuchadnezzer
The whip of His wrath.
Now we build a New Jerusalem
And shouts of our joy
Mingle with cries of our grief.
No matter if Jews
Have married Gentiles.
Let us all gather at this tall wall
And cry out in one voice
Towards the dark sky:
“Oh, you blood-shedding gods,
We do not want you.
Stay on your heavenly thrones
And leave alone the soil of the earth.”
Only our gentle hands
Can rebuild this wall.*
From “Seven Sacred Songs”
January 4, 1991
*- Ezra was a Jewish prophet after the return of the Jewish people from the Babylonian Captivity to Jerusalem.
ترانهي عِزرا
مجید نفیسی
خداي بابل، ما را آواره كرد
معبد ما را ويران ساخت
زنان ما را بهبردگي برد
مردان ما را سربريد
و مردگان ما را
به كركسان سپرد.
خداي يهود به ما پشت كرد
و بختالنصر را
تازيانهي خشم خود خواند.
اكنون اورشليمِ نو را بنا میكنيم
و فريادهايِ شاديمان
با نالههايِ اندوهمان
درهمميآميزند.
ناروا نيست اگر يهوديان
همسرانِ نايهود گرفته باشند.
بگذار همگان
در زير اين ديوار بلند گرد آئيم
و يك صدا بسوي آسمان، غريو كشيم
كه اي خدايانِ خونريز!
شما را نخواستيم
در كرسيهاي عرشتان بمانيد
و زمينِ خاكي را رها كنيد.
تنها دستهاي مهربان ماست
كه ميتواند اين ديوار را پي افكند.*
از "هفت ترانهی مقدس"
چهارم ژانویه 1991
*- عزرا پیامبر یهودی پس از بازگشت یهودیان به اورشلیم و پایان دوران اسارت در بابل.
Jahangir:
Majid jaan;
I am not clear if this was a “translation” of an original poem by Ezra, a rendition by you, or your own in its entirety.
In any case, I for one, enjoyed it, admired it, and tipped my hat to you. Not only as a born Jew, but as a believer that “solidarity “ among people of the earth is the only way to salvation!
Bravo.
Majid Naficy:
Thanks for your comment. In 1991 after reading the Old Testament in its entirety I wrote "Seven Sacred Songs" about seven characters including Ezra in which I presented a humanist interpretation of these characters instead of bigotry and brutality reflected in the Old Testament, New Testament , Quran and the like.