Scattered Spectra

Original by Ahmed Abu Hazem
Translated, from the Arabic, by Essam M. Al-Jassim

“Oh Allah, drown me in your divine love so that nothing will distract me from you.”

Rabi’a al-ʻAdawiyya*

Penetrating obscurity consumes the universe. He shatters into infinitesimal slivers of cinder, his essence soaring high, nebulous and downy, as he crosses, barefoot, into the sacred sanctuary. He lightly touches the shrine with his right hand as he enters, sensing the pinewood-saturated air, heavy with the musk and frankincense emanating from the spheres resting within the ornate censer he holds in his left hand. The pungent contents splinter and rupture angrily in a bizarre, primeval manner, smoke writhing upwards in a caricature of ethereal agony until it vanishes into nihility.

Before now, he had not been worthy of comment. Yet now, he places himself between the hands of the sheikh and narrates his vague visions.

“Your heart is as barren as a basalt boulder,” the sheikh assured him. “You are captive to the desires of the body and its fleeting whims. To overcome this darkness, you must give praise and prayers to Allah. These blessed endeavors are the only pathway to the assuagement of your trials and mollification of your heart.”

To no avail, he strives to recollect the contents of his reveries. Yet, remembrance is elusive, tenuous, derelict, and decayed. It merely conceals corroded artifices and delusions.

_______________________

*Rabi’a al-ʻAdawiyya is a Muslim saint and Sufi mystic.

أطياف مبعثرة

“إلهي، أغرقني في حبّك حتى لا يشغلني عنك شيء”

رابعة العدوية

الحلكة تغطى الكون، هو وحده يتشظى إلى نثار من رماد. بروح
خفيفة مثل العهن المتطاير، ولج إلى المزار حافياً، يتمسح بصنوبر
الضريح، ويزرو حبات المسك، واللبان على المجمرة، فتطقطق مادته
العطرية متوجعة، وتتقد بعنفوان عجيب، يتلوى على إثر ذلك الدخان
.كأنه يحاكي الألم، صاعداً حيث يذوي، ويتلاشى في العدم حيث ك
لم يكن قبل ذلك شيئاً يذكر. حين حكى للشيخ ما رأى، قال له
الشيخ:”إن قلبك مازال جافاً، وصلداً كحجر البازلت، يركن إلى
،سلطة الجسد الآنية، وشهواته الزائلة. عليك أن تقهر الليل بالتسبيح
“.والصلاة والدعاء، ذلك يلين القلب، ويرطب سويداءه
،يحاول استذكار ما رأى، ولكن من دون جدوى، فإن الذاكرة هشة
.وخائبة، خربة، ومتهدّمة، لا تستكين إلا إلى رؤى نحاسية صدئة

Ahmed Abu Hazem is a Sudanese short story writer, novelist, and media figure. He’s one of the founders of the Sudanese Story Club. Mr Abu Hazem is a key figure in establishing the Sudanese Writers Union. He’s also the Secretary-General of the Narrative and Criticism Forum.

Essam M. Al-Jassim is a Saudi writer and translator based in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. He taught English for many years at Royal Commission schools in Jubail. Mr. Al-Jassim received his bachelor’s degree in foreign languages and education from King Faisal University, Hofuf. His writings and translations have appeared in a variety of print and online literary Arabic and English-language journals. Essam compiled and translated the recently published anthology of flash fiction, Furtive Glimpses: Flash Fiction from The Arab World.

Translator’s Note:
Scattered Spectra is a short Sufi mystic text from Mr. Abu Hazem’s collection of short stories January Is the House of Winter. The collection won the Tayeb Salih International Award for Creative Writing in 2011. Mr. Abu Hazem is an exceptional and sensitive writer. His profound and unique aesthetic experience attempts to express things that are difficult to reveal through insightful philosophical stories. The stories of the collection based on the metaphysical and ontological issues and concepts, as reflected by the Sufi vision. Scattered Spectra is a part of a sequential narrative consisting of four detached spiritual texts. I chose translating the first tale, because it outlines the key existential concepts of Ahmed Abu Hazem’s world.