[Four years before Eric Zemmour’s candidacy for the French presidential election, in April 2017, the Chinese government banned the adoption of 29 Muslim first names by Uyghurs, including Mohammed, under the threat of being denied the family record book (hukou)].

I lost my name
On the shores of Lake Balkhach
The train is filled with the ghosts of the Golden Horde
Tangerines fell from a truck
I walk on an uncertain road
In a wavering future
I am looking for a new name
Will it be
Arzu – The hope of the rising day?
Azab – The immeasurable pain?
Asman – The sky without mercy
εstayidil – The conscientious flight of birds?
εrkinlink – Freedom bought on the black market?
Boran-chapqun – The storm that rises over the Taklamakan desert?
Bicharε – The poor soul, kneeling in the sand?
Tεqdir – Destiny in wisps of pink smoke
Tεlεylik – The lucky one with his hands in his pockets
Tirishchan – The brave one with his hands in the mud
Tilεmchi – The beggar with outstretched hands
Yara – The scar on beaten, bruised hands
Yatlishish – To become a stranger in one’s own country
Héligεr – The swindler, the one who is seen as a thief by all
Urush – The war threatens, it knocks at the doors
Judun – The snowstorm is brewing
Düshmεn – The national enemy
Zar – The melancholy in my wife’s eyes
Sadaqεt – The loyalty to our language
Sirliq – Music and the mysterious reflection of culture
Shirkεt – The society’s hands on our neck
Shiwirghan – The blizzard that rumbles over the Tianchi lake
Yurt – The homeland disappeared under the raids
Uwal – Injustice in yellowed print
Ümüt – Hope, tomorrow in Yarkand a crystal sky
Iman – The faith I have not lost

None of these names suit me.
The snow has stained my cold eyelashes
I took as my name yazghuchi, the writer
I whispered it only once, for me alone
Tracing each name on my list,
No one must know this name
I am not called
My name is like snow,
It melts under the heat of military boots
The gate of the ancient city of Yarkand remained open
The sky has not moved, the stars are shining
I walk each of the names on my list
Wandering between my wounded compatriots
Like a bird in a blizzard