3DEPICSThe Last Epic of Hanna Mina
ملحمة حنا مينه الأخيرة
He asked for no flowers, no speeches and no announcement, only an ordinary grave and the books that would keep speaking.
By Architect Imad DarouichUpdated 2 min read
This short poem honors Hanna Mina, the novelist who asked that his death not be announced: no flowers on the coffin, no speeches at the grave, no tears for display. Imad reads that request as a final novel without heroes or applause, the humility of a writer who knew that true glory lives between the pages of books, and that the sea needs no applause.
لم يكتب وصية موت.He did not write a will of death.
بل كتب روايته الأخيرة.He wrote his final novel.
رواية بلا أبطال.A novel without heroes.
ورواية بلا تصفيق.A novel without applause.
قال: لا تعلنوا موتي.He said: Do not announce my death.
دعوا الصمت يتكلم.Let silence do the speaking.
دعوا التراب يقوم بعمله.Let the earth do its work.
لا زهور فوق النعش.No flowers upon the coffin.
ولا خطب فوق القبر.No speeches above the grave.
ولا دموع للاستعراض.No tears for display.
فما سيقال بعد موتي،For what will be said after my death,
قد سمعته في حياتي.I already heard during my life.
أي حكمة هذه؟What wisdom is this?
وأي زهد هذا؟What humility is this?
أن يهرب الإنسان من المديح،To flee from praise,
وهو قادر على جمعه.While fully capable of gathering it.
كان يعرف أن المجد الحقيقيHe knew that true glory
يسكن بين صفحات الكتب.Lives between the pages of books.
لا بين أكاليل الورود.Not among wreaths of flowers.
كان يعرف أن البحرHe knew that the sea
لا يحتاج إلى من يصفق له.Needs no applause.
ولا تحتاج العاصفة إلى شاهد.Nor does a storm need a witness.
لذلك طلب قبراً عادياً.So he asked for an ordinary grave.
كما عاش حياة استثنائية.Just as he lived an extraordinary life.
رحل الجسد.The body departed.
وبقيت الروايات.But the novels remained.
رحل الكاتب.The writer departed.
وبقي البحر يتكلم.But the sea kept speaking.
رحل حنا مينه.Hanna Mina departed.
وبقي صوته في الكتب.Yet his voice remained in the books.
فبعض الرجال حين يموتونFor some men, when they die,
يصغر حضورهم.Their presence grows smaller.
أما هو،But he,
فصار أكبر من الغياب.Became larger than absence.
بقلم المهندس المعماري عماد درويشBy Architect Imad Darouich · New York
For more on writers and their legacies, read Flowers of Evil: The Epic of Beauty and Ruin and The Epic of Al-Nazarat, both in the literature and art collection.
Written by
بقلم المهندس المعماري عماد درويش
Architect and author based in New York. He writes contemporary epics: long-form books about architects, buildings, cities and faith, in Arabic and English.