شخبارك [shikhbarak] [English translation]

Where are you and how have you been?

You, who has left their home

Everyday, I kohl my eyes with your home 1

I walk in the market and look at your abandoned home

Where are you, lantern of this house?

After you, the whole world has turned off

There’s no lights in the streets

Where are you?

My love, my love, I remember you well 2

I see you as green pastures and I can smell your scent of nowairs3

The flowers have withered after the gardener has left - who’ll water it?

Come, come back - if there’s any time left in my life, I want to see you then

Where are you, lantern of this house?

After you, the whole world has turned off

There’s no light in the streets

Where are you?

A year has finished and a new one begins

And you’ve forgotten us, definitely

Oh God, in this world, we never get any letters or mail

And you’re so far, you avoid the street and I’m the only one on it

And all that’s left is a steel door

Where are you, lantern of this house?

After you, the whole world has turned off

There’s no light in the streets

Where are you?

1. In Arabic, to kohl your eyes with something means to look at it and enjoy its beauty2. This literally is ‘I remember you good’ which actually means I remember that you were good or I remember our good times. It doesn’t mean I remember you well but I ask you put this down to poetic license or perhaps suggest a better translation3. The nowair or nowwair is a small flowering plant found in the desert and is considered the national flower of Kuwait. It looks like a little yellow daisy. I assume it smells nice

• Artist:Abdul Kareem Abdul Qader