رسالة إلى فرعون مصر — Abdulrahman Ashmawi

فرعونُ ، عقلك لم يزل مخدوعا

وزمام حكمك لم يزل مقطوعا

Pharaoh, your mind remains deceived,

And the reins of your rule remain severed.

مازلت يا فرعون غراً تابعًا

وتظن نفسك قائدًا متبوعا

You are still, O Pharaoh, a naive follower,

Yet you think yourself a leader whom others follow.

فرعون ، أنتَ الرَّمْزُ سُمُّكَ لم يزل

يجري بأفئدة الطغاةِ نقيعا

Pharaoh, you are the symbol; your poison still

Courses through tyrants' hearts, deadly.

خضِّب يمينك بالدماءِ ، وقلْ لنا :

إني أنفِّذ أمريَ المشروعا

Stain your right hand with blood, and tell us:

"I am carrying out my lawful command."

قطِّعْ رؤوس المصلحين فإنهم

يبغون منك إلى الإله رجوعا

Sever the heads of reformers, for they

Seek your return to God.

واملأْ سجونك ، ثم قُلْ :إني هنا

لأحارب الإرهابَ والتقطيعا

And fill your prisons, then say: "I am here

To fight terrorism and dismemberment."

طاردْ بجندك كلَّ صاحب مبدءٍ

يأبى لقانون الضلال خضوعا

Hunt down with your troops every person of principle

Who refuses submission to the law of falsehood.

واركض وراءَ شبابِ "مصرَ" لأنهم

رفعوا الجباهَ وحاربوا التطبيعا

And chase after Egypt's youth, because they

Held their foreheads high and fought normalization.

هم يصعدون إلى السماءِ وأنتَ في

أوحال وهمِك ما تزال وَضيعا

They ascend to heaven, while you, in

The mire of your delusion, remain base.

هم يلجؤون إلى الإله وأنت لا

يرضيك إلاَّ أن تسوق قطيعا

They seek refuge in God, while you are not

Pleased by anything but driving a herd.

هم ينظرون بأَعيُنٍ مجلوَّةٍ

فيرون فعلك في العباد شنيعا

They look with clear eyes,

And see your conduct toward the people as vile.

عرفوا حقيقةَ سحرِ مَنْ جمَّعْتَهم

ورأوا عصا موسى تُخيف جموعا

They knew the true nature of the magic of those you gathered,

And saw Moses' staff terrify crowds.

ورأوا جباه الساحرين تعفَّرتْ

سجدوا لربّ العالمين خشوعا

And saw the sorcerers' foreheads covered in dust;

They prostrated themselves to the Lord of the worlds in reverence.

ورأوك تستبقي النساء رهائناً

وتُدير قتلاً في الرجال فظيعا

And saw you keep the women alive as hostages,

And orchestrate a horrific slaughter among the men.

ورأوك في غيِّ التطاول سادراً

فتبرؤوا مما جنيتَ جميعا

And saw you heedlessly persisting in arrogant error,

So they all disavowed what you had perpetrated.

نظروا إليك فأنكروكَ لأنـّهم

عرفوكَ في طرق الخداع ضليعا

They looked at you and rejected you, because they

Knew you to be well versed in the ways of deceit.

لكَ كلَّ يومٍ قَوْلةٌ تُلغي بها

ما قلتَ أمسِ ، وتحسن الترقيعا

Each day you have a pronouncement with which you annul

What you said yesterday, and you excel at patching things up.

ما مصرُ يا فرعونُ إلاَّ حرَّةٌ

تأبى إلى غير العَفافِ نزوعا

Egypt, O Pharaoh, is nothing but a free woman,

Who refuses to incline toward anything but chastity.

لكنّها سُلِبَتْ عباءةَ طُهرها

وخلعْتَ أنتَ حجابها لتضيعا

But she was robbed of the cloak of her purity,

And you yourself stripped off her veil so she would be lost.

وأكلْتَ أصناف الطعام ، ومصرُ في

ضَنْكٍ شديد لا تنال ضريعا

And you ate all kinds of food, while Egypt was in

Severe hardship, unable to obtain even thorny fodder.

عجباً ، متى تبني لنفسكَ منزلاً

في الحقِّ ، تملأ مقلتيك دموعا؟!

How strange! When will you build yourself a dwelling

In truth, filling your eyes with tears?

أتظنُّ هامان الذي استنجدتَه

مازال يُوقد للولاءِ شموعا؟!

Do you think Haman, whose help you sought,

Still lights candles for loyalty?

أتظنّه مازال يبني صرحَه

حتى تُطيق إلى السماءِ طلوعا؟!

Do you think he is still building his tower,

So that you can ascend to heaven?

أنسيتَ قارونَ الذي زرع الهوى

في قلبه حتى استطال فروعا؟!

Have you forgotten Qarun, who planted desire

In his heart until its branches grew tall?

خُسِفَتْ به الأرضُ التي أبدى لها

خُيَلاَءَه ، وغدا بها مخدوعا

The earth swallowed him—the earth to which he showed

His arrogance, and by which he was deceived.

ضاعت مفاتيح الخزائن واختفى

قارونُ ، لم يرَ في العباد شفيعا

The keys to the treasuries were lost, and gone was

Qarun, who found no intercessor among the people.

سلْ عنه أرضك حين لم تترك له

أثراً ، ولا للصوت منه سميعا

Ask your land about him, when it left him no

Trace, nor anyone to hear a sound from him.

أنسيتَ يا فرعون أنك غارقٌ

في اليَمِّ تعصر قلبكَ المفجوعا

Have you forgotten, O Pharaoh, that you are drowning

In the sea, wringing your grief-stricken heart?

أنسيت رَهْوَ البحر حين ولجْتَه

فرأيتَ نفسك في الخضمِّ صريعا

Have you forgotten the sea's stillness when you entered it,

And saw yourself laid low in the deep?

شرِّق وغرّبْ كيف شِئْتَ فإننا

لا نجهل التطبيل والتلميعا

Go east and west as you wish, for we

Are not ignorant of sycophantic drum-beating and image-polishing.

أبشرْ فإن الفجر سوف يُريق من

كأسِ الظلامِ شرابَك المنقوعا

Rejoice, for dawn will spill from

The cup of darkness your steeped drink.

ولسوف تفتح مصرُ صَفْحة عزِّها

ولسوف يغدو رأسها مرفوعا

And Egypt shall open the page of her glory,

And her head shall be held high.

فرعونُ ، لا يخدعْك وهمْك إنني

أبصرتُ طفلاً في حماكَ رضيعا

Pharaoh, let not your delusion deceive you; I

Have seen a suckling child within your protected domain.