One Poem

Translator’s Note:
Existing translations of this poem appear to be based on varied versions of the source text. The discrepancies may relate to the lack of clarity surrounding the poem’s origins mentioned in the author’s bio below. I used the version of the source text found in Abdullah al-Udhari’s collection of translations, titled Classical Poems by Arab Women. The poem is often referred to as “The Song of Maysun” or “The Lament of Maysun,” but the version in al-Udhari’s book does not have a title so I did not include one.There are many 19th century translations of this poem that, in my opinion, overly exoticize its highly relatable content.While I took some of my own liberties with the translation, I did so with the intent of capturing in English the thematic essence of the original. I used my own style of repetition and line breaks to make up for the lost rhyme, rhythm, and musical qualities in the source poem. I also included some descriptive details to help convey the contextual meaning that would otherwise be unapparent in English. My hope is that in completing this translation, I’ve done justice to the purity and simplicity of Maysun’s words as she expressed her yearnings for a home that she saw as free from the complications of life in the city.

This work is usually attributed to Maysun bint Bahdal, who was the wife of the Umayyad caliph Mu’awiya I and the mother of his successor, Yazid I. She grew up in a rural part of Syria and relocated to Damascus upon marrying Mu’awiya. She missed the countryside and supposedly wrote several works lamenting village life. Some believe this poem was written by a different woman from the countryside who was also named Maysun.

Reem Hazboun Taşyakan is a PhD candidate in the Literature Department at University of California, San Diego. She conducts research on socio-political themes in contemporary Arab-American fiction. Reem obtained her BA in Creative Writing and her MA in Near Eastern Studies from University of Arizona, then went on to become a lecturer of Arab literature and culture at San Diego State and University of San Diego prior to beginning her doctoral studies. Her original prose and poetry pieces have been published in Other People, Eclectica, and Grist.