Ahmad Ebrahimi
Common Knowledge
Counter-posed against Ghanoon, against the Canon
We fail to aspire to Shafaa, to the Recovery
Instead we seek a shafi’, a go-betweenAll future agonies
Veil themselves before
This moment of joyNobody stays awake until morning
To see the enlightened alchemy of death
Flushing off the star.
Note: Shafaa (in Hekmaat or philosophy/metaphysics) and Ghanoon (in Teb or medicine) are the titles of two major classic books written by Avicenna (Abu-ali Sina or Ebn-e Sina). Born in 980, Avicenna drew heavily on Aristotle but was a neo-platonist Islamic philosopher. In 1037, he died in Hamedaan where his mausoleum is today. The Canon which combined his own medical knowledge with Arabic and Roman medicine became a popular text in the Middle Ages. ‘Hameh-daan’ (All-know), the title of the poem in original Farsi (written in 1998), was deemed appropriate to convey this background.
Translated by Ahmad Ebrahimi
Page(s) 109
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