{"id":16145,"date":"2018-06-09T06:58:09","date_gmt":"2018-06-09T10:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/?p=16145"},"modified":"2018-06-09T07:22:52","modified_gmt":"2018-06-09T11:22:52","slug":"poet-galal-el-behairys-letter-from-tora-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/poet-galal-el-behairys-letter-from-tora-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Poet Galal El-Behairy\u2019s \u2018Letter from Tora Prison\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

via ArabLit<\/a>:\u00a0Ahead of the expected verdict for imprisoned Egyptian poet Galal El-Behairy, ArabLit \u2014 like PEN centers around the world \u2014 is sharing a work El-Behairy wrote in prison:<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"El-Behairy was arrested more than three months ago, on March 3, 2018, on charges related to his most recent book of poems, \u062e\u064a\u0631 \u0646\u0633\u0648\u0627\u0646 \u0627\u0644\u0623\u0631\u0636,\u00a0The Finest Women on Earth\u00a0<\/em>(2018) and lyrics he wrote for\u00a0Ramy Essam\u2019s song \u201cBalaha.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0A campaign against him called him a spy, and called for his citizenship to be revoked.<\/p>\n

In a statement, El-Behairy responded to the charges against his poems<\/a>.<\/p>\n

El-Behairy was held for a week without family or friends knowing his whereabouts before he appeared on March 10, reportedly showing signs of torture. While Egyptian prosecution did order a medical examination, according to PEN, the results have neither been made public nor shared with El-Behairy\u2019s lawyer.<\/p>\n

El-Behairy\u2019s first court appearance was May 6, and he faced\u00a0charges of being a member of a terrorist group, spreading false news, abuse of social-media networks, blasphemy, contempt of religion, and insulting the military. The verdict was initially to be handed down May 9. It was postponed to May 16, and is now expected June 27.<\/p>\n

English PEN has urged \u201cthe Egyptian authorities to release him and the many other writers and activists unlawfully detained in Egypt immediately and unconditionally.\u201d PEN International has also written an open letter to the Egyptian government,<\/a> signed by PEN directors around the world.<\/p>\n

To draw international attention to the case, several PEN centers, as well as Artists at Risk an ArabLit, are publishing a new poem El-Behairy wrote in detention. The translator wishes to remain unnamed, due to potential repercussions against himself and his family.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

A Letter from Tora Prison<\/strong><\/h3>\n

By Galal El-Behairy<\/em><\/p>\n

From the Tora Prison in Cairo<\/p>\n

May 2018<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>You, something<\/p>\n

in the heart, unspoken,<\/p>\n

something<\/p>\n

in the throat, the last wish<\/p>\n

of a man on the gallows<\/p>\n

when the hour of hanging comes,<\/p>\n

the great need<\/p>\n

for oblivion; you, prison<\/p>\n

and death, free of charge;<\/p>\n

you, the truest meaning of man,<\/p>\n

the word \u201cno\u201d\u2014<\/p>\n

I kiss your hand<\/p>\n

and, preparing for the trial,<\/p>\n

put on a suit and pray<\/p>\n

for your Eid to come.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m the one<\/p>\n

who escaped from the Mamluks,<\/p>\n

I\u2019m the child<\/p>\n

whose father\u2019s name is Zahran,<\/p>\n

and I swim in your name, addiction.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m the companion of outlawed poets.<\/p>\n

O my oblivion, I\u2019m the clay<\/p>\n

that precedes the law of concrete.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the heart of this night<\/p>\n

I own nothing<\/p>\n

but my smile.<\/p>\n

I take my country in my arms<\/p>\n

and talk to her<\/p>\n

about all the prisoners\u2019 lives\u2026 out there<\/p>\n

beyond the prison\u2019s borders,<\/p>\n

beyond the jailer\u2019s grasp,<\/p>\n

and about man\u2019s need\u2026 for his fellow man,<\/p>\n

about a dream<\/p>\n

that was licit<\/p>\n

and possible,<\/p>\n

about a burden<\/p>\n

that could be borne<\/p>\n

if everyone took part in it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I laugh at a song<\/p>\n

they call \u201ccriminal,\u201d<\/p>\n

which provoked them<\/p>\n

to erect a hundred barricades.<\/p>\n

On our account, they block out the sun<\/p>\n

and the thoughts in the head.<\/p>\n

They want to hide the past<\/p>\n

behind locks and bolts,<\/p>\n

preventing him from whispering<\/p>\n

about how things once were.<\/p>\n

They want to hide him<\/p>\n

by appointing guards\u2014<\/p>\n

weak-minded foreigners<\/p>\n

estranged from the people.<\/p>\n

But what wonder is this?<\/p>\n

His fate is written<\/p>\n

in all the prison cells.<\/p>\n

His cell has neither bricks<\/p>\n

nor steel,<\/p>\n

and he was not defeated<\/p>\n

within it.<\/p>\n

Outside\u2026 a squadron of slaves.<\/p>\n

Inside\u2026 a crucified messiah.<\/p>\n

The thorns above his brow<\/p>\n

are witnesses: You betrayed his revolution<\/p>\n

with your own hands.<\/p>\n

With shame in your eyes, you<\/p>\n

are the Judases of the past,<\/p>\n

whatever your religion, whatever<\/p>\n

miniscule vision you have.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve come back<\/p>\n

and we see you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You who imprisoned<\/p>\n

the light, that naked groaning.<\/p>\n

The light doesn\u2019t care<\/p>\n

how tall the fence is;<\/p>\n

it\u2019s not hemmed in<\/p>\n

by steel bars<\/p>\n

or officers\u2019 uniforms.<\/p>\n

It cannot be forgotten.<\/p>\n

You can take a public square away from us,<\/p>\n

but there are thousands and thousands of others,<\/p>\n

and I\u2019ll be there, waiting for you.<\/p>\n

Our land will not betray us.<\/p>\n

With each olive branch<\/p>\n

we\u2019re weaving your shrouds.<\/p>\n

And the young man you killed<\/p>\n

has come back, awake now<\/p>\n

and angry.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s got a bone to pick<\/p>\n

with his killer.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s got a bone to pick<\/p>\n

with the one who betrayed him,<\/p>\n

the one who, on that night of hope,<\/p>\n

acquiesced, fell silent, and slept.<\/p>\n

His wound has healed; he\u2019s come back,<\/p>\n

a knight<\/p>\n

without a bridle;<\/p>\n

he\u2019s setting up the trial<\/p>\n

while an imam prays among us<\/p>\n

and illumines the one who was blind;<\/p>\n

he\u2019s rolling up his sleeves, preparing<\/p>\n

for a fight;<\/p>\n

he was killed\u2014yes, it\u2019s true\u2014and yet<\/p>\n

he has his role in this epic;<\/p>\n

he stands there now<\/p>\n

and holds his ground.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We\u2019ve returned<\/p>\n

to call on God<\/p>\n

and proclaim it: \u201cWe\u2019ve come back,<\/p>\n

come back<\/p>\n

hand in hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Again we proclaim it: \u201cWe\u2019ve come back,<\/p>\n

and we vow<\/p>\n

to spread the light,<\/p>\n

the new dawn,<\/p>\n

the keen-sighted conscience.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve come back, and we can smell<\/p>\n

the fear in in your veins;<\/p>\n

and our cheers tonight<\/p>\n

are the sweetest of all:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not afraid.<\/p>\n

We are not afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We saw a country<\/p>\n

rise from sleep<\/p>\n

to trample a pharaoh<\/p>\n

and cleanse the age<\/p>\n

of the cane and cudgel.<\/p>\n

We saw a country sing:<\/p>\n

those were no slave songs,<\/p>\n

no harbingers of doom, rather<\/p>\n

songs fitting<\/p>\n

for a new kind of steel.<\/p>\n

We saw it.<\/p>\n

We saw a country<\/p>\n

where no one is oppressed.<\/p>\n

Suggested actions:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Readers can add their support to the petition for Galal\u2019s release.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

via ArabLit:\u00a0Ahead of the expected verdict for imprisoned Egyptian poet Galal El-Behairy, ArabLit \u2014 like PEN centers around the world \u2014 is sharing a work El-Behairy wrote in prison: El-Behairy was arrested more than...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,29,940,47,52,55,1442,91],"tags":[1991],"class_list":["post-16145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arab-culture","category-censorship","category-egypt","category-freedom-of-speech","category-human-rights","category-intellectuals","category-mashreq","category-poetry","tag-galal-el-behairy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16145"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16147,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16145\/revisions\/16147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}