أدمشق أين بنو أمية قولي — Abu Fadl Alwaleed

أدِمَشقُ أينَ بنو أميّةَ قولي

لِيَقوا نضارةَ حسنكِ المبذولِ

O Damascus, where are the sons of Umayya? Tell me,

That they may shield the freshness of your freely offered beauty.

بجلالِ جامِعهم ورونق ملكِهم

صوني الجمالَ بشعركِ المحلول

By the majesty of their mosque and the splendor of their rule,

Guard your beauty with your unbound hair.

ما حالُ غوطتِكِ التي فُجِعت بهم

فغدا لها ثأرٌ على القاطول

What is the state of your Ghouta, bereaved of them,

So that she now has a blood-claim against al-Qatul?

الحقدُ زالَ على الشقاوةِ والأسى

فجميعُنا عربٌ كرامُ أُصول

Hatred has faded, despite misery and sorrow;

For we are all Arabs of noble lineage.

وأولئك الخلفاءُ عن عصبيةٍ

عربيّةٍ ذادوا بكلِّ أصيل

And those caliphs, in defense of a loyalty

That was Arab, fought with every noble man.

فتشرّفوا بينَ الملوكِ وشرّفوا

ملكاً تقاصرَ عنهُ باعُ دخيل

They gained honor among kings, and honored

A sovereignty beyond an outsider's reach.

بسطوا سيادَتَهم وظلّوا سادةً

حتى انكسارِ الصارم المسلول

They extended their sovereignty and remained masters

Until the drawn, sharp sword broke.

أهوى خلافتَهم وأحفظُ عهدَها

ولذكرِها أبكي على تأميل

I love their caliphate and preserve its covenant,

And at its remembrance I weep in hope.

ظلّت عروباً لم تُمسَّ ولم تَهُن

وعلى الصواهِلِ آذنت برحيل

She remained a loving bride, untouched and unbowed,

And on neighing steeds announced her departure.

ما شوَّهَ الدخلاءُ يوماً حسنَها

فهي التي سقطَت بلا تذليل

Outsiders never marred her beauty;

For she fell without being humbled.

لبني أُميةَ في النفوسِ مكانةٌ

بالبأسِ والإحسانِ والتعديل

The sons of Umayya hold a place in souls

Through valor, beneficence, and justice.

ملكوا القلوبَ بحلمِهم وسخائهم

ورعوا ذمامَ عشيرةٍ وقبيل

They won hearts through their forbearance and generosity,

And safeguarded the covenant of clan and tribe.

ماتوا كما عاشوا ملوكاً بُسَّلاً

لم يؤخذوا بالقهرِ والتنكيل

They died as they lived: valiant kings,

Not seized through coercion and punitive abuse.

قتلوا من الأكفاءِ لا من سوقةٍ

ومضوا على مجدٍ أغرَّ أثيل

They were slain by equals, not by commoners,

And passed away in radiant, ancient glory.

في ظلِّ دولتهم وظلِّ بنودهم

قد تمّ فتحُ العالمِ المأهول

Beneath their state's shelter and their banners' shade,

The conquest of the inhabited world was completed.

فلهم على العرب الأيادي ما صبت

نفسٌ إلى التكبير والتهليل

They have bestowed favors upon the Arabs, so long as

A soul yearns to proclaim God's greatness and oneness.

إني أجلُّ وفاءَهم وبلاءَهم

فلهم على الأحرارِ كلُّ جميل

I esteem their loyalty and their proven valor;

They have bestowed every kindness upon free men.

نصرُ بنُ سيارٍ تكسّر سيفُه

في نصرهم إذ ملكهم لمهيل

Nasr ibn Sayyar's sword shattered

In their defense, when their sovereignty was crumbling.

أكرم بهِ بطلاً شريفاً ماجداً

لحفاظهِ أودى أعزّ قتيل

How noble he was: a hero, honorable and glorious!

For his loyalty he perished, the noblest of the slain.

معنُ بنُ زائدةِ الهمامُ رفيقُهُ

في الذودِ عن عربيّةٍ عطبول

The valiant Ma'n ibn Za'ida was his companion

In defending a slender-necked Arab beauty.

دفعتهما عصبيّةٌ وحفيظةٌ

والفرسُ يدفعُها شفاءُ غليل

Tribal solidarity and protective zeal impelled them both,

While the Persians are driven by the slaking of rancor.

أدمشقُ أنتِ أميرةٌ أمويةٌ

بالقصرِ والكرسيّ والإكليل

O Damascus, you are an Umayyad princess,

With palace, throne, and crown.

فابكي معاويةَ الذي بدهائهِ

جعلَ الخلافةَ فيكِ بين نصول

So weep for Mu'awiya, who through his cunning

Established the caliphate in you amid blades.

فغدوتِ من سلطانهِ سلطانةً

للأرض بالتعظيمِ والتبجيلِ

Through his dominion you became a sovereign queen

Over the earth, in reverence and exaltation.

ورأيتِ من قسطنطِنِيَّةَ ضرَّةً

فرميتها بالجيشِ والأسطول

You saw Constantinople as a rival wife,

And assailed her with army and fleet.

زعزعتِ ثمتَ ملكَ قسطنطينَ إذ

فرَّت شراذمُ جيشهِ المفلول

There you shook Constantine's sovereignty, when

The scattered remnants of his routed army fled.

قد كان جباراً وفي جبروته

ما يُنهضُ الأقوامَ بعدَ خمول

He was a mighty ruler, and in his might

Was what roused peoples after torpor.

فهو الذي وضعَ الأساسَ موطّداً

للملكِ بينَ الهونِ والتهويل

He was the one who laid a firm foundation

For sovereignty, between mildness and intimidation.

فرآك تحتَ حسامهِ ونظامِهِ

قطبَ الورى في بكرةٍ وأصيل

He saw you, beneath his sword and his order,

As the world's axis, morning and evening.

أبداً عليكِ يلوحُ ظلُّ خيالهِ

فتذكّري عهداً لقيلِ قيول

Forever the shadow of his image looms over you;

So remember the age of a king of kings.

هيهات تَرجعُ دولةٌ أمويةٌ

أبقت من الآثار كلَّ جليلِ

Far beyond hope is the return of an Umayyad dynasty

That left behind every grand monument.

بيضاءُ راياتٍ وأعمالٍ هوت

تَحتَ الحجابِ الأسود المسدول

White in banners and deeds, it fell

Beneath the drawn black veil.

الجامعُ الأمويُّ من آثارها

فلكم رمى متأملاً بذهول

The Umayyad Mosque is among her monuments;

How often it has struck a beholder with astonishment!

جمعَ الفخامةَ والمحاسنَ والهُدى

وعلى المكارمِ ظلَّ خيرَ دليل

It combined grandeur, beauties, and guidance,

And remained the finest guide to noble virtues.

والمسجدُ الأقصى إلى حسناتِها

يصبو وهذا العهدُ عهدُ بخيل

And al-Aqsa Mosque, for her benefactions,

Yearns; this age is a miser's age.

عَزَّت بأهليها وفي أيامِها

سادوا الشعوبَ وطوّفوا كسيول

She grew mighty through her people, and in her days

They ruled the peoples and swept abroad like torrents.

فلها البريةُ دوّخوا ولأجلِها

ضربوا مناكبَ عرضِها والطول

For her they subdued the world, and for her sake

They traversed its reaches, its breadth and length.

التركُ من أسدِ بنِ عبدِ الله قد

سحقوا بِضَربةِ ساعدٍ مفتول

The Turks, at Asad ibn Abd Allah's hands,

Were crushed by a blow from a sinewy arm.

كثرت غنائمُهُ وقتلاهم إِلى

إيمانِهم بالله والتنزيل

His spoils and their dead multiplied, alongside

Their faith in God and the Revelation.

ومحمدُ القسريُّ أوردَ خيلَهُ

في الهندِ ماءَ الغنجِ بعدَ النيل

And Muhammad al-Qasri brought his horses to drink

In India, the Ganges' waters after the Nile.

فاستصغَر الهنديُّ ذا القرنينِ في

إعجابهِ بالفاتحِ البهلول

The Indian thought little of Dhu al-Qarnayn in

His admiration for the magnanimous conqueror.

واحتلّ أندلسَ الجميلةَ طارقٌ

في وقعةٍ غراءَ ذات حجول

And Tariq occupied beautiful al-Andalus

In a radiant battle, white-ankleted.

لَذريقُ لاقي في شريشَ حِمامَهُ

إذ فرّ في الهيجاءِ كالإجفيل

Roderic met his doom at Sherrish,

As he fled the battle like a panic-stricken fugitive.

والقوطُ من حرِّ السيوفِ تساقطوا

في النهرِ كالأوراقِ بعد ذبول

And the Goths, from the swords' burning heat, tumbled

Into the river like leaves after withering.

غرقاً وقتلاً قد مضوا لسبيلهم

والعربُ قد سلكوا أعزّ سبيل

Drowned or slain, they went their way,

While the Arabs took the noblest path.

وبسيف مسلمةٍ وسيف قتيبةٍ

وبصارمِ الحجّاجِ ذاك الغول

By Maslama's sword and Qutayba's sword,

And al-Hajjaj's sharp blade—that ghoul—

خضع العصاةُ وقد تفاقَم شرُّهم

وتفرّقوا عن ثائر مغلول

The rebels bowed, though their evil had grown grave,

And scattered away from a fettered rebel.

وكذا العداةُ تصرّعت أمراؤهم

وجبالهم موطوءَةٌ كسهول

Likewise the foes: their princes were felled,

And their mountains were trodden like plains.

أعظِم بقوّادٍ كآسادِ الشرى

فلّوا جيوشاً أدبرت بفلول

How great were commanders like the lions of al-Shara!

They routed armies that retreated in broken remnants.

شدوا الحبالَ على الخصومِ وشدّدوا

وأتوا بجزيةِ عاهلٍ مخذول

They bound their foes with ropes and drew them tight,

And brought tribute from a forsaken monarch.

ولحسنِ نجدتِهم وشدة بأسهم

حكموا على التصعيبِ بالتسهيل

Through their fine valor and the strength of their might,

They decreed that difficulty give way to ease.

فكأنهم ولدوا لعزةِ أُمةٍ

نجبت بأكرمِ نسوةٍ وبعول

It was as though they were born for a nation's glory,

Of noble stock, with the finest women and husbands.

تذكارهم منهُ الحياةُ لنسلها

وبه الهُدى كالنجمِ والقنديل

Their remembrance gives life to her offspring,

And in it is guidance, like a star and a lamp.

غزواتهم كانت لهم نُزهاً بها

حلّوا بلادَ الرومِ خيرَ حلول

Their campaigns were outings for them, through which

They entered the Romans' lands most nobly.

كم للمفاخرِ أنجبت عربية

حسناءُ غيرَ سقيمةٍ وملول

How many sons for glory an Arab woman has borne,

Beautiful, neither sickly nor easily wearied!

لم يُولدِ العربيُّ إلا فارساً

أو شاعراً أو ضائفاً لنزيل

An Arab was born only as a horseman,

Or a poet, or a host to a guest.

أدمشقُ كنتِ مليكةً حرّاسُها

عربٌ مضاجِعهُم متونُ خيول

O Damascus, you were a queen whose guards

Were Arabs, their beds the backs of horses.

وسيوفُهم قد أنكرت أغمادَها

من كثرةِ التجريدِ والتقتيل

Their swords had disowned their sheaths

From so much unsheathing and slaughter.

فغدوتِ ثكلى لا يقالُ عثارُها

إِلا بضربةِ فيصلِ مصقول

Then you became bereaved; your fall cannot be redressed

Except by a stroke of a polished, decisive sword,

في غارةِ عربيةٍ تُمحى بها

آثارُ حكم الرومِ والمنغول

In an Arab raid that effaces

The traces of Roman and Mongol rule.

فتكونُ سيلاً للفساد مطهّراً

والحزمُ في التصميمِ والتعجيل

It would become a torrent purging corruption;

Resolve lies in determination and haste.

البطشُ في قذّافةٍ قصّافةٍ

تمشي إلى الهيجاءِ مشيَ الفيل

Might lies in a hurling, shattering power,

Advancing into battle with an elephant's tread.

والنصرُ من وثّابةٍ نهّابةٍ

بين الكتائب كاللظى في الغيل

And victory comes from a leaping, plundering power,

Among the battalions like flame in the thickets.

باللهِ أيتها المنازلُ خبّري

هل فيكِ وصلُ العاشقِ الممطول

By God, O dwellings, tell me:

Is there in you reunion for the lover kept waiting?

أبداً أزورك باكياً مستبكياً

أو ذاكراً ومذكراً كدليل

Forever I visit you, weeping and seeking tears,

Or remembering and reminding, like a guide.

وعليكِ أشعاري ترنُ شجية

حتى انبثاقِ نعيمك المأمول

Over you my poems ring out sorrowfully

Until your hoped-for bliss breaks forth.

ما كان أتعس مولدي متأخراً

لأكون شاعرَ نكبةٍ وطلول

How wretched was my birth, coming so late,

That I should be a poet of calamity and ruins!

خلفي وقدامي بلاقعُ أربُعٍ

وحطامُ عرشِ خلافةٍ مثلول

Behind and before me lie desolate dwelling-sites,

And the wreckage of a caliphate's toppled throne,

وخرائبُ اندثرت وما فيها سِوى

حدِّ فليلٍ أو دمٍ مطلول

And vanished ruins containing nothing but

A chipped blade-edge, or blood left unavenged.

لكنني في الضعفِ أطلبُ قوَّةً

وأعيشُ بالتذكيرِ والتعليل

Yet in weakness I seek strength,

And live by remembrance and consolation.

زَخرَفتُ حلمَ شبيبةٍ عربية

ورفعتُ مشعالاً لكلّ ضليل

I adorned the dream of Arab youth,

And raised a torch for everyone astray.

فكأنني نبّاشُ مقبرةٍ بهِ

طربٌ لرنَّةِ مِعولٍ وعويل

It is as though I were a grave-robber, possessed by

Delight at a pickaxe's clang and wailing,

يرجو العمارةَ والحياةَ لأمةٍ

برفاتِ أجداثٍ ورسمِ محيل

Hoping for rebuilding and life for a nation

From bones in graves and a weathered vestige.

أدمشقُ لا سكنى لشاميٍّ إذا

لم يرحلِ الروميُّ بعدَ نزول

O Damascus, no dwelling for a Syrian if

The Roman does not leave after settling.

فيك الوليدُ تقطّعت أوتارهُ

وكؤوسُه انكسرت لدى التقبيل

In you al-Walid's strings were snapped,

And his cups shattered at the kiss.

فله جميلٌ لستُ أنسى عهدَه

إذ كانَ عَشَّاقاً لكلّ جميل

He has a kindness whose memory I do not forget,

For he was passionately in love with all that was beautiful.

أنا شاعرٌ يبكي عليهِ لِشعرهِ

ويفي حقوق الشاعرِ المقتول

I am a poet who weeps for him, for his poetry,

And pays the slain poet his due.

أو لا تحبينَ الخليفةَ شاعراً

ما بين ترنيمٍ وجرّ ذيول

Or do you not love the caliph as a poet,

Amid singing and the trailing of robes?

أم لا ترينَ من العدالةِ قتلُهُ

لسماعِ ألحانِ وشربِ شمول

Or do you not regard his killing as just,

For hearing melodies and drinking wine?

فعلى كلا الحالين أبكي والهوى

أعمى عن التحريمِ والتحليل

In either case I weep, and love

Is blind to what is forbidden and permitted.

أعليكِ لابن أبي ربيعة وقفةٌ

وقصيدةٌ من قلبه المتبول

Did Ibn Abi Rabi'a pause beside you,

With a poem from his love-smitten heart?

أم أنتِ باكيةٌ لشعرِ كثيّرٍ

حيناً ومنشدةٌ لشعرِ جميل

Or do you weep for Kuthayyir's poetry

At times, and recite Jamil's poetry?

برَدى يرجّعُ لي غناءً مطرباً

فيه نواحُ الثكلِ والترميل

Barada echoes back to me a stirring song,

Filled with the lament of child-loss and widowhood.

هذا لعمركِ ما يُذيبُ حشاشتي

تبكي نعيماً تحتَ ظلّ مقيل

This, by your life, is what melts my inmost soul;

It weeps for bliss beneath the shade of a noonday resting-place.

وكأنّ يونسَ لا يزالُ مغنياً

عند الوليد بصوتِه المعسول

As though Yunus were still singing

Beside al-Walid in his honeyed voice,

والأخطلُ المختالُ يترعُ كأسَهُ

ويقولُ يا دنيا لشعريَ ميلي

And swaggering al-Akhtal fills his cup

And says, 'O world, incline toward my poetry!'

ويجرّرُ الأذيالَ عند خليفة

قد رصَّعَ الإكليلَ بالإكليل

And trails his robes beside a caliph

Who has studded crown with crown.

الشامُ بنتُ للعروبةِ برّةٌ

وفروعُها موصولةٌ بأصول

Syria is a dutiful daughter of Arabhood,

And her branches are joined to roots.

عرفت أمومتها برضعِ ثديّها

فالروحُ واحدةٌ على التحليل

She knew her as a mother by suckling at her breast;

So the spirit, under examination, is one.

أبداً تحنُّ إلى حضانةِ أمها

واللهِ تلكَ الأمُّ غيرُ خذول

Forever she longs for her mother's embrace,

And, by God, that mother does not forsake her.

من عهد فارعةٍ وعهدِ جدودها

حتى اهتدى غسانُ بالإنجيل

From the age of Fari'a and the age of her forebears

Until Ghassan found guidance through the Gospel,

كانت وظلت بقعةً عربيةً

والجيلُ يُثبتُ ذاك بعد الجيل

She was, and has remained, an Arab land,

And generation after generation confirms it.

الدينُ والدمُ واللسانُ شهودُها

وكفى بحكمِ الطبعِ والمعقول

Religion, blood, and language are her witnesses;

The judgment of nature and reason suffices.

قل للأعاجم والخوارجِ مَهلَكم

لن تفصلوا ما ليسَ بالمفصول

Tell the non-Arabs and the rebels: 'Restrain yourselves!

You shall not sever what is not divided.'

عربيةٌ هذي القلوبُ فحبُّها

أقوى من التّضليلِ والتّدجيل

These hearts are Arab, and their love

Is stronger than misguidance and imposture.

فمن العراقِ إِلى الشآمِ الى الحجا

زِ إلى سَبأ بلاد نخيل

So from Iraq to Syria, to the Hija-

z, to Saba, the land of palms,

والغربُ من مصرٍ الى مرّاكشٍ

مع كل قُطرٍ بالهدى مشمول

And the West, from Egypt to Marrakesh,

With every land embraced by guidance—

أغصانُ جذعٍ أو مرازحُ كرمةٍ

وجميعُها صلةٌ من الموصول

Branches of a trunk, or props for a grapevine,

All of them links within a connected whole.

في عدّها تصريفُ فعلٍ لازمٍ

وتجانسٌ من فاعلٍ وفعيل

In listing them is the conjugation of an intransitive verb,

And affinity between the patterns fāʿil and faʿīl.

بُنِيَت على القرآنِ فهو أساسُها

لتعاونٍ ما بينَها مجعول

They were founded on the Qur'an, which is their foundation,

For cooperation instituted among them.

والملكُ فيها واحدٌ وموحّدٌ

لا خوفَ من غبنٍ ومن تفضيل

Sovereignty within them is one and unified,

With no fear of unfairness or favoritism.

أدمشقُ شرّفَكِ الخلائفُ مدةً

وزمانُهم حسَنٌ كظلِّ خضيل

O Damascus, the caliphs honored you for a time,

And their age was lovely as lush shade.

هل أنتِ راضيةٌ بعلجٍ بعدهم

أو رائشٍ متذلِّلٍ لذليل

Are you content with an uncouth foreigner after them,

Or a bribe-broker groveling before a base man?

العربُ حكامُ الشآمِ وأهلُها

وقبورُهم ختمٌ على تسجيل

The Arabs are Syria's rulers and her people,

And their graves are a seal upon the record.

منهم لها خلفاءُ أو أمراءُ أو

علماءُ ليسَ عديدُهم بقليل

From them came her caliphs, or princes, or

Scholars, whose number is not small.

فعلى المآثرِ والرمامِ سلامُها

وعلى ثرى بدمائهم مجبول

So her peace be upon their glories and moldering bones,

And upon earth kneaded with their blood.