peinture abandonnée - اللوحة المهجورة وفيضان نهر ابو علي - abandoned painting
Beit Mery, Lebanon.
As Khadisha River crosses the city of Tripoli, Lebanon, this painting bridges me with the memory of my grandparents living room. It was dispalyed on the wall since my father painted it at the age of 18, after a photograph by his uncle Joseph. I found it in 2003, dusty and buried on the attic among an amat of furniture and other items; ruins of my childhood, and probably, the painting itself, ruins of his own childhood…
Tripoli 1954. Vue du pont sur la rivière Abu Ali avant l'inondation.
Comme le fleuve Khadicha Ali traverse la ville de Tripoli, Liban, cette peinture fait pont avec le souvenir du salon de mes grand-parents. Elle était accrochée au mur depuis que mon père la peint à l’âge de 18 ans d’après une photo de son oncle Joseph. Je l’ai retrouvée en 2003, poussiéreuse et enfouie dans le grenier parmi un amat de meubles et d’objets; ruines de mon enfance, et peut être cette peinture elle même ruines de son propre enfance …
And the postcard of a colored B/W photo, became the scenery for one out of the tales from the thousand and one nights.
Et la carte postale d’une photo N/B colorée, devint le décor d’un des contes des mille et une nuits.
Then one day the river flooded and swallowed the bridge.
Puis un jour, la rivière inondée a engloutit le pont.
أصاح ترى برقا أريك وميضه *** كلمع اليدين في حبي مكلل
يضيء سناه أو مصابيح راهب *** أمال السليط بالذبال المفتل
قعدت له و صحبتي بين ضارج *** وبين العذيب بعد ما متأمل
علا قطنا بالشيم أيمن صوبه *** و أيسره على الستار فيذبل
فأضحى يسح الماء حول كتيفة *** يكب على الأذقان دوح الكنهبل
و مر على القنان من نفيانه *** فأنزل منه العصم من كل منزل
و تيماء لم يترك بها جذع نخلة *** ولا أجما إلا مشيدا بجندل
كأن ثبيرا في عرانين وبله *** كبير أناس في بجاد مزمل
كأن ذرى رأس المجيمر غدوة *** من السيل و الغثاء فلكة مغزل
و ألقى بصحراء الغبيط بعاعه *** نزول اليماني ذي العياب المحمل
كأن مكاكي الجواء غدية *** صبحن سلافا من رحيق مفلفل
كأن السباع فيه غرقي عشية *** بأرجائه القصوى أنابيش عنصل
But come, my friends, as we stand here mourning, do you see the lightning?
See its glittering, like the flash of two moving hands, amid the thick gathering clouds.
Its glory shines like the lamps of a monk when he has dipped their wicks thick in oil.
I sat down with my companions and watched the lightning and the coming storm.
So wide-spread was the rain that its right end seemed over Quatan,
Yet we could see its left end pouring down on Satar, and beyond that over Yazbul.
So mighty was the storm that it hurled upon their faces the huge kanahbul trees,
The spray of it drove the wild goats down from the hills of Quanan.
In the gardens of Taimaa not a date-tree was left standing,
Nor a building, except those strengthened with heavy stones.
The mountain, at the first downpour of the rain, looked like a giant of our people draped in a striped cloak.
The peak of Mujaimir in the flood and rush of débris looked like a whirling spindle.
The clouds poured forth their gift on the desert of Ghabeet, till it blossomed
As though a Yemani merchant were spreading out all the rich clothes from his trunks,
As though the little birds of the valley of Jiwaa awakened in the morning
And burst forth in song after a morning draught of old, pure, spiced wine.
As though all the wild beasts had been covered with sand and mud, like the onion's root-bulbs.
They were drowned and lost in the depths of the desert at evening.
But come, my friends, as we stand here mourning, do you see the lightning?
See its glittering, like the flash of two moving hands, amid the thick gathering clouds.
Its glory shines like the lamps of a monk when he has dipped their wicks thick in oil.
I sat down with my companions and watched the lightning and the coming storm.
So wide-spread was the rain that its right end seemed over Quatan,
Yet we could see its left end pouring down on Satar, and beyond that over Yazbul.
So mighty was the storm that it hurled upon their faces the huge kanahbul trees,
The spray of it drove the wild goats down from the hills of Quanan.
In the gardens of Taimaa not a date-tree was left standing,
Nor a building, except those strengthened with heavy stones.
The mountain, at the first downpour of the rain, looked like a giant of our people draped in a striped cloak.
The peak of Mujaimir in the flood and rush of débris looked like a whirling spindle.
The clouds poured forth their gift on the desert of Ghabeet, till it blossomed
As though a Yemani merchant were spreading out all the rich clothes from his trunks,
As though the little birds of the valley of Jiwaa awakened in the morning
And burst forth in song after a morning draught of old, pure, spiced wine.
As though all the wild beasts had been covered with sand and mud, like the onion's root-bulbs.
They were drowned and lost in the depths of the desert at evening.
* This last part of Umru al Qais' poem قفا نبك qifā nabki, is more adequate metaphor to what happened after that torrential rainy day on the 17th of December 1955…
* Cette dernière partie du poème d'Umru al Qais قفا نبك qifā nabki, est une métaphore adéquate pour décrire ce qui s'est passé après ce jour de pluie torrentiel ce 17 décembre 1955…
The flood and its direct consequences were recorded, the following two days, by the witness Joseph Toufic Salameh. The research documents were produced by Mubadda Suwaydan, I found them in the archives of the American University of Beirut. It was only in 2019 that I discovered this pile of photographs where Joseph had taled in detail, his suffering city Tripoli, carefully collecting daily scenes of the disaster.
L'inondation et ses conséquences directes ont été enregistrées, les deux jours suivants, par le témoin Joseph Toufic Salameh (les documents de recherche ont été produites par Mubadda Suwaydan. Je les ai trouvés dans les archives de l'Université américaine de Beyrouth. Ce n'est qu'en 2019 que j'ai découvert cette pile de photographies où Joseph avait raconté, en détails, sa ville Tripoli, en souffrance, recueillant minutieusement des scènes quotidiennes de la catastrophe.
L'inondation et ses conséquences directes ont été enregistrées, les deux jours suivants, par le témoin Joseph Toufic Salameh (les documents de recherche ont été produites par Mubadda Suwaydan. Je les ai trouvés dans les archives de l'Université américaine de Beyrouth. Ce n'est qu'en 2019 que j'ai découvert cette pile de photographies où Joseph avait raconté, en détails, sa ville Tripoli, en souffrance, recueillant minutieusement des scènes quotidiennes de la catastrophe.
Almost no trace remained from that bridge probably from the Mamluk era.
Presque aucune trace n'est restée de ce pont probablement de l'ère mamelouke.
One storm over tripoli on the 17th of December 1955 and it ravaged the city. The damage mainly affects the historic center and the souks...
Une tempête sur Tripoli le 17 décembre 1955 et elle ravage la ville. Les dégats affectent surtout le centre historique et le souks...
Construction of the river's anti-flood canal began a few years later. These works to widen the Abu Ali river river bed have reshaped its view. Many houses and parts of the old souk near the river were demolished and the city's landscape changed irretrievably in the years to come ...
La construction du canal anti-inondation de la rivière a commencé quelques années plus tard. Ces travaux d'élargissement du lit de la rivière Abu Ali ont remodelé son point de vue. De nombreuses maisons et parties de l'ancien souk près du fleuve ont été démolies et le paysage de la ville a changé irrémediablement dans les années à venir ...
Kids walking down the canal in 2001.
Des enfants marchant dans le canal en 2001.