Oh, I was not born yesterday

Oh, I was not born yesterday

By: Ahmad Shamlou

Translation: Mohammad Rajabpur

Oh, I was not born yesterday,

Oh, no!

I’ve lived the age of the world.

My fresh memory is the memory of the centuries.

Many a time they shed our blood.

Oh, heed

The only outcome of murder

Was the stale piece of bread on our graceless tablecloth.

The Arabs deluded me,

I opened them the gates of the tower of the ants

With my own wrinkled hands.

They made us sit on the black gallows

And they cut off our head.

We said prayers and we were massacred

Because we were labeled atheists.

We said prayers and we were massacred

Because we were labeled pagans.

Then they decided

We and our brothers had to slay each other

As this was the closest path to heaven.

Oh, heed!

The only outcome of murder

Was the rags to hide our genitals.

Your brother’s credulousness called the Turks here,

They beheaded you and me.

My recklessness called the Mongols here,

They beheaded you and everybody.

They put yokes on our necks.

They tied us to a plough

And sat on our back.

They ploughed such a limitless cemetery

That even today

The mourners’ eyes are full of tears of blood.

Oh, heed

The sad escape

From one exile to another

Looking for faith as our mere virtue.

Oh, heed!

Our history was restlessness

With no belief

And with no home.

Oh, no!

I was not born yesterday!