When the Shadow Resigned from Its Owner: A Poem About a Shadow

When the Shadow Resigned from Its Owner is a poem about a shadow, a short fable Imad Darouich wrote in Arabic and English. A man arrives at a small house with an eviction order, and as he points at the door his shadow leaves him to shade the mother and baby he came to remove. The fable follows him, exposed and unshaded, until he tears up the order and pays to mend the roof.

تنويه: ملحمة تخييلية عن ظلٍّ يرفض مرافقة صاحبه إلى ظلمٍ جديد؛ فتغدو العتمةُ قادرةً على موقفٍ عجز عنه الإنسان.Note: A fictional epic about a shadow that refuses to accompany its owner into another act of cruelty; darkness takes a stand its human could not.

في الظهيرة، تأخّر ظلُّه عن خطوته.At noon, his shadow lagged behind his step.

شدَّ كتفيه، ظانّاً أنّ التعبَ أصابه.He straightened his shoulders, thinking fatigue had struck it.

لكنَّ السوادَ بقي ملتصقاً بحجر الرصيف.But the darkness stayed pressed against the pavement.

رفع قدمه، فلم ترتفع القدمُ الأخرى.He lifted his foot; the other foot did not rise.

كان يحمل أمراً بإخلاء بيتٍ صغير.He carried an order to empty a small home.

وفي جيبه مفتاحُ سيارةٍ واسعةٍ وفاخرة.In his pocket lay the key to a spacious luxury car.

أمام البيت، وقفت امرأةٌ تحمل رضيعاً.Before the house stood a woman holding an infant.

وخلفها، عاملٌ ينتظر إشارةً لكسر القفل.Behind her, a worker awaited the signal to break the lock.

مدَّ الرجلُ إصبعه نحو الباب المغلق.The man pointed toward the locked door.

عندها، انفصل الظلُّ من تحت حذائه.Then the shadow detached itself from beneath his shoe.

عبر الشارعَ دون أن يعبره أحد.It crossed the street with no one crossing.

واستلقى تحت المرأة، ساتراً قدمي طفلها.It settled beneath the woman, shading her child’s feet.

بقي الرجلُ واقفاً في الضوء عارياً.The man remained standing, naked in the light.

كانت الشمسُ تمرُّ خلاله إلى الأرض.Sunlight passed through him to the ground.

نظر العاملُ، ثم وضع المطرقةَ جانباً.The worker looked, then put his hammer aside.

للمرّة الأولى، خاف من رجلٍ مضاء.For the first time, he feared a man illuminated.

انسحب الرجلُ، والورقةُ ترتجف بين أصابعه.The man withdrew, the paper trembling between his fingers.

عند المقهى، وقف تحت مظلّةٍ كبيرة.At the café, he stood beneath a broad umbrella.

لكنَّ ظلَّها انكمش بعيداً عن حذائه.But its shade shrank away from his shoes.

دخل نفقاً، فانشقَّ الظلامُ على جانبيه.He entered a tunnel; darkness parted on either side.

صار مضيئاً كجرحٍ في بطن الليل.He shone like a wound in the night’s belly.

وفي المساء، أحاط نفسه بمصابيح كثيرة.That evening, he surrounded himself with many lamps.

غيّر مواضعها، ورفعها، وخفضها، وانتظر.He moved them, raised them, lowered them, and waited.

ظهرت ظلالُ الأثاث، وظلَّ مكانُه فارغاً.The furniture cast shadows; his place remained empty.

حتى الكأسُ امتلك عتمةً تخصُّه وحده.Even the glass possessed a darkness of its own.

أما هو، فلم يستطع إخفاء إصبع.He could not conceal a single finger.

في الطرف الآخر، هدأ الطفلُ قليلاً.Across town, the child grew calmer.

كانت المرأةُ تلفُّه بمعطفها القديم.The woman wrapped him in her old coat.

والظلُّ يصعد الجدارَ ليصدَّ حرارةَ الشمس.The shadow climbed the wall to block the sun’s heat.

كلّما تحرّكت، اتّسع حولها دون أوامر.Whenever she moved, it widened around her without instruction.

لم يأخذ شكلَها، ولم ينتحل جسدها.It neither took her shape nor borrowed her body.

احتفظ بهيئة الرجل الذي غادره.It kept the shape of the man it had left.

كأنّه يريها ما كان يستطيع فعله.As though showing her what he could have done.

بعد أيامٍ، عاد الرجلُ إلى البيت.Days later, the man returned to the house.

رأى ظلَّه يحمل هيئةَ كتفين منحنيتين.He saw his shadow shaped into bent shoulders.

كانت المرأةُ تنشر ثيابَ طفلها فوقه.The woman was hanging her child’s clothes above it.

فهم أخيراً أين ذهب ثقلُ جسده.At last, he understood where his body’s weight had gone.

أخرج أمرَ الإخلاء، ومزّقه أمامها.He took out the eviction order and tore it before her.

ثم دفع أجرةَ إصلاح السقف المتصدّع.Then paid to repair the cracked roof.

انتظر أن ينهض الظلُّ ويلحق به.He waited for the shadow to rise and follow him.

لكنّه بقي حتى جفَّ قميصُ الطفل.But it stayed until the child’s shirt had dried.

خرج الرجلُ من الزقاق دون موكبه الأسود.The man left the alley without his dark attendant.

وخلفه، ظلَّت العتمةُ تؤدّي عملاً نافعاً.Behind him, darkness continued doing something useful.

لم يعد يسأل: متى يرجع ظلّي؟He no longer asked: When will my shadow return?

صار يسأل: أين يجب أن أقف؟He began asking: Where should I stand?

Imad's fables of conscience continue with the man whose conscience walked out of his body and the house that spat out its owner. For another fable of shadow and light, read The City of Shadows.