عودي الى ماضيك يا بغداد — Abu Fadl Alwaleed

عودي الى ماضيكِ يا بغدادُ

والعربُ فيكِ الصيدُ والأسيادُ

Return to your past, O Baghdad,

When the Arabs within you were proud nobles and masters.

والأرضُ أنتِ لحكمِها ولعلمِها

والماءُ دجلةُ والورى ورّاد

You are the earth in its governance and learning,

And the water is the Tigris, with humankind coming to drink.

كل السيوفِ على ظباكِ تكسّرت

وتجاهَ مجدكِ زالتِ الأمجاد

All swords shattered against your blades,

And before your glory other glories vanished.

وكذا الملوكُ تساقطت تيجانُهم

لعمامةٍ خرَّت لها الأطواد

Likewise, kings saw their crowns fall

Before a turban to which mighty mountains bowed.

وعروشُهُم حملت سريرَ خلافةٍ

حفّت به الأملاكُ والأجناد

Their thrones bore the throne of a caliphate,

Surrounded by kings and soldiers.

أمدينةَ المنصورِ يا زوراء يا

بلدَ السلامِ سَلِمتِ يا بغداد

O city of al-Mansur, O Zawra, O

Abode of Peace, may you remain safe, O Baghdad.

أنتِ المقدسةُ التي لجلالِها

نحني الرؤوسَ وكلُّنا عبّاد

You are the sacred city before whose majesty

We bow our heads, all of us worshippers.

النار قد خمدت ونامت أمتي

وبذكركِ الإيقاظُ والإيقاد

The fire has died, and my nation has fallen asleep;

Remembrance of you brings awakening and rekindling.

فكأنهُ البوقُ الذي لدويّهِ

تذرى القبورُ وتُنشَرُ الأجساد

It is like the trumpet at whose thunder

Graves are scattered and bodies resurrected.

وكأنه النارُ التي منها الهُدى

للتائهينَ وكلّهم رُوَّاد

And like the fire from which guidance comes

For wanderers, all of them seekers.

كان الرشيدُ عليكِ يبسطُ ظلَّه

وإلى إشارتِه الورى ينقاد

Al-Rashid once spread his shadow over you,

And humankind obeyed his signal.

وعليهِ من عزِّ الخلافةِ هيبةٌ

يصفرُّ منها الكوكبُ الوقاد

From the caliphate's might he bore an awe

Before which the blazing star grew pale.

إن حجّ سارَ الشرقُ طراً خلفَهُ

وطريقُه الديباجُ والسجّاد

When he made pilgrimage, the whole East followed him,

His road laid with brocade and carpets.

وإذا غزا قادَ الجحافلَ ظافراً

والرومُ حليةُ جيشِها الأصفاد

When he campaigned, he led the hosts victorious,

And the Byzantine army wore fetters as its ornaments.

وزبيدةُالسلطانةُ العظمى التي

كانت لديها تَربُضُ الآساد

And Zubayda, the great sultana, before whom

Lions used to crouch,

بسقت سميراميسَ ربةَ نينوى

والكونُ تحتَ ذيولها ميّاد

Towered above Semiramis, mistress of Nineveh,

While the world swayed beneath her trailing robes.

أمُّ الأمين لها صنائعُ جمَّةٌ

حيثُ اعترى أهلَ الصلاحِ فساد

Al-Amin's mother bestowed abundant favors

When corruption afflicted the righteous.

شَملت مراحمُها رعيتَها ولم

تُرحم فطال على الأمينِ حداد

Her mercies embraced her subjects, yet she was not

Shown mercy, and her mourning for al-Amin lasted long.

حَسُنَ المثالُ بها لكلّ مليكةٍ

عربيةٍ جدُّ لها الهدهاد

In her was a fine example for every queen

Of Arab descent, with al-Hadhad as her forefather.

فيما مضى الخلفاءُ أو أولادهم

قادوا الجيوشَ وكلُّهم أجلاد

In former days, the caliphs or their sons

Led the armies, all of them stalwart.

كم زحفةٍ زحف الرشيدُ بجيشهِ

حتى الخليجِ ودونَه الإزباد

How many advances al-Rashid made with his army

As far as the gulf, with foaming waters before it!

ففدت أرينةُ بالهدايا نَفسها

وبلادها وسِلاحها الإرفاد

Irene ransomed herself with gifts,

And her lands, her weapon being largesse.

لما تمرّدَ نيقفورُ أذلَّه

ولجيشهِ التبديدُ لا الإبداد

When Nikephoros rebelled, he humbled him;

For his army came dispersal, not allotted gifts.

فُتحت هرقلةُ والخرابُ نصيبُها

وهي التي اعتزَّت بها الأضداد

Heraclea was captured, and devastation was its portion,

Though it had been the adversaries' pride.

ولفتح عموريّةِ اضطربَ الورى

والنارُ فيها المعتدون وقاد

At the conquest of Amorium, humankind trembled,

And within it the aggressors became fuel for the fire.

بغدادُ يا ثكلى الخلافةِ رجّعي

نَوحاً لهُ تتفتّت الأكباد

Baghdad, bereaved of the caliphate, repeat

A lament that tears hearts apart.

فلعلَّ ترجيعَ النواحِ وراءَه

هُوجُ الرياحِ وبَعدها الإرعاد

Perhaps behind the repeated lament will come

Raging winds, followed by thunder.

أتعود فيكِ خلافةٌ قرشيَّةٌ

كانت بياضاً والشعارُ سواد

Will a Qurayshi caliphate return within you,

Once radiant white, though its emblem was black?

أين المدارسُ والمكاتبُ رحبةً

والعلم فيها طارفُ وتلاد

Where are the spacious schools and libraries,

With learning both newly acquired and inherited?

أين الجحافلُ والمحافلُ والألى

سادوا وشادوا والشعوبُ تُفاد

Where are the hosts, the assemblies, and those who

Ruled and built while peoples benefited?

دَرست معاهدُكِ الفخيمةُ بعدَهم

فسقى عهودَكِ مدمعٌ وعهاد

Your splendid institutions fell into ruin after them;

May tears and recurring rains water your bygone days.

الدرُّ تُطرحُ بعدَهُ أصدافُه

والبيضُ تُكسرُ بعدَها الأغماد

Once the pearl is gone, its shells are discarded;

And after bright swords, their scabbards are broken.

طمسَ الزمانُ قصورَهم وقبورَهم

والمكرماتُ مع الكرامِ تُباد

Time erased their palaces and graves,

And noble deeds perish with noble people.

أين الذين تقلّدوا أسيافَهم

حتى شكا حملَ الحسامِ نِجاد

Where are those who girded on their swords

Until the baldric complained of bearing the blade?

ذهبوا وهذا نسلُهم متقاطعٌ

لا نجدةٌ منه ولا إنجاد

They departed, and their descendants are divided,

Offering neither valor nor aid.

إنّ المدائنَ والحصونَ تهدّمت

لبناءِ مجدكِ والرماحُ عماد

Cities and fortresses were demolished

To build your glory, with spears as its pillars.

وا حسرتاه على زمانٍ كلُّهُ

شرفٌ وعزُّ حيثُ تُلفَظُ ضاد

Alas for an age that was wholly

Honor and might wherever the letter dad was spoken.

العربُ بعدَ جهادِهم وجلادِهم

ألِفوا الخمولَ فما أفادَ جهاد

The Arabs, after their striving and fighting,

Grew accustomed to inactivity, so their striving availed nothing.

أجدادُهم هَرقوا على ميراثِهم

أزكى دمٍ حيثُ الحياةُ جلاد

Their forefathers poured out over their inheritance

The purest blood, where life was combat.

نادي أبا دُلفٍ وقولي يا أخا

عجلٍ أغثني فالخطوبُ شِداد

Call Abu Dulaf and say, "O brother of

'Ijl, help me, for calamities are dire.

قد كنتَ تغزو الرومَ خيرَ مجاهدٍ

ويدوسُ منكَ على الحصونِ جواد

You once fought the Byzantines as the finest warrior,

And your charger trampled their fortresses.

أسوارُ قسطنطينية شهدتكَ من

كثبٍ وملءَ جفونِها الإسهاد

The walls of Constantinople saw you from

Close at hand, their eyelids filled with sleeplessness.

بالنفسِ جدتَ لكي تصونَ مهابتي

وعلى جَلالي بالنفوسِ يُجاد

You gave your life freely to preserve my awe,

And for my majesty lives are freely given.

ورميتَ أبناءَ العلوجِ بجحفلٍ

لانت لوطأةِ خيلهِ الأصلاد

You hurled a host at the sons of foreign barbarians,

And hard rocks softened beneath its horses' tread.

ووراءَك العربيُّ سارَ مجاهداً

وأمامَهُ فتحٌ أو استِشهاد

Behind you the Arab marched as a warrior,

With conquest or martyrdom before him.

بعثوا إليكَ بفديةٍ أو جزيةٍ

وكذا العدوُّ بما يَكيدُ يُكاد

They sent you ransom or tribute;

Thus the enemy is outwitted by the very means he plots.

كم بطشةٍ لكَ في عساكرِ قيصرٍ

منها هوى تاجٌ وطارَ فؤاد

How many fierce blows you dealt Caesar's armies,

Making crowns fall and hearts take flight!

فاذا تردّدَ ذكرُها في مجلسٍ

يتضاءلُ البطريقُ والأشهاد

Whenever their memory is repeated in an assembly,

The patrician and the witnesses shrink."

هل لابن مزيدَ في ربوعِك صولةٌ

والمجدُ تحتَ لوائِهِ يزداد

Does Ibn Mazyad still charge through your lands,

With glory increasing beneath his banner?

قد كان أبسلَ قائدٍ وحِسامُهُ

لسيوفِ قوّادِ العدى نقّاد

He was the bravest commander, and his blade

An assayer of the enemy commanders' swords.

نالت به دارُ الخلافةِ عزّةً

ما نالها عادٌ ولا شدّاد

Through him the caliphate's abode attained a might

That neither 'Ad nor Shaddad attained.

وبسيفِ هرثمةِ بن أعينَ فاخري

كلّ السيوف فإنهُ مقداد

With Harthama ibn A'yan's sword, boast against

All swords, for it is a mighty cleaver.

ما استلَّه إِلا لِفَلقَةِ فَيلقٍ

أو دكّ حصنٍ فَتحُهُ ميعاد

He drew it only to split a legion

Or demolish a fortress whose conquest was appointed.

وأبو سعيدٍ للثغورِ وللعدى

ورماحُهُ في هامِهم تنآد

And Abu Sa'id stood for the frontiers and against the foes,

His spears swaying in their skulls.

وجوادُه العربيُّ يَقحَم بَحرَهم

ويودُّ دوسَ عروشِهِم فيكاد

His Arabian charger plunged into their sea,

Longing to trample their thrones, and nearly doing so.

وبنو حميدٍ قد حمدتِ بلاءَهم

وجميعُهم أبطالُكِ الأنجاد

You praised the sons of Humayd for their prowess,

All of them your valiant heroes.

قَدحت سنابكُ خيلهم أرضَ الألى

جحدوا الهدى ومن الرؤوسِ زناد

Their horses' hooves struck sparks from the earth of those

Who denied guidance, with heads serving as fire-strikers.

فتوشمت منها وعن آثارها

تتساءلُ الأغوارُ والأنجاد

The earth was tattooed by them, and about their traces

The lowlands and highlands ask one another.

ما لي أعدُّ من الرجالِ أشدَّهم

ولذكرِهم بين الورى تَرداد

Why should I enumerate the strongest among these men,

Whose remembrance is repeated throughout humankind?

الأرضُ والتاريخُ عن أخبارهم

وفتوحهم ضاقا فلا تعداد

The earth and history, before their tales

And conquests, grew too narrow: no enumeration suffices.

ذهبَ الرشيدُ وزالَ رشدُكِ بعدَه

فاليومَ لا رشدٌ ولا إرشاد

Al-Rashid departed, and your right guidance vanished after him;

Today there is neither right guidance nor a guide.

ذيالكَ الجبّارُ أصبحَ نسلُهُ

قزماً فضيّع مُلكَهُ الأحفاد

That mighty giant's offspring became

Dwarfs, and his grandchildren squandered his kingdom.

أودى بنو العباسِ فوقَ أسرَّةٍ

قتلى عليهم شُقَّتِ الأبراد

The sons of al-Abbas perished upon beds,

Slain, with cloaks torn over them.

وعبيدُهم متحكِّمونَ بِدَولةٍ

مع أهلِها ذهبَ الندى والآد

Their slaves lorded it over a state

Whose generosity and strength departed with its people.

أصلُ البلاءِ من الذي حرّاسُهُ

تُركٌ ولا عهدٌ لهم ووداد

The calamity began with him whose guards

Were Turks, possessing neither loyalty nor affection.

ضاقت بهم بغدادُ حتى ملّها

سكانُها ولدورِهم إيصاد

Baghdad was stifled by them until it wearied

Its inhabitants, and their homes were shut.

لا كان معتصمٌ به انفصمت عرى

ملكٍ عليه للرشيدِ رشاد

Would that al-Mu'tasim had never been! Through him broke the bonds

Of a kingdom rightly guided by al-Rashid.

من مصرَعِ المتوكّلِ ارتاعَ الورى

وتجرأ الغلمانُ والأوغاد

At al-Mutawakkil's killing, humankind was terrified,

And the slave boys and scoundrels grew bold.

لم تعصمِ الخلفاءَ منهم عصمةٌ

قرشيّةٌ ما مَسّها الأنداد

No inviolability shielded the caliphs from them—

Qurayshi sanctity that rivals had never touched.

والحكمُ للمملوكِ عندَ خليفةٍ

سَجَدت له الأمراء والعبّاد

Power belonged to the slave beside a caliph

Before whom princes and worshippers prostrated themselves.

دار الخلافةِ هل لإبراهيمَ أو

إسحاقَ صوتٌ يُشتَهى فيعاد

House of the Caliphate, does Ibrahim or

Ishaq have a voice longed for and heard again?

في رَبعِكِ الزاهي غناؤهما لهُ

ذابت قلوبٌ ثم لانَ جماد

In your radiant precinct, at their singing

Hearts melted, and then lifeless things grew soft.

قد كانتِ الأملاكُ تأخذُ عنهما

لحناً عليهِ تُنَطَّق الأعواد

Kings used to learn from those two

A melody to which the lutes were made to speak.

والوحشُ مصغيةٌ إلى ترنيمِها

وكأنما أوتارُها أقياد

Wild beasts listened to their melodies,

As though their strings were fetters.

لو عمّر الهادي بنى داريهما

من عَسجدِ فوقَ اللُّجينِ يُشادِ

Had al-Hadi lived longer, he would have built their homes

Of gold raised upon silver.

أيعود بشّارُ بنُ بردٍ منشداً

فيميلُ دجلةُ أو تميسُ سعاد

Will Bashshar ibn Burd return, reciting,

So that the Tigris sways or Su'ad walks gracefully?

وأبو العتاهيةِ الذي أشعارُه

طربت لها الأملاك والزهّاد

And Abu al-Atahiya, whose poems

Delighted kings and ascetics?

وأبو نؤاسٍ ضافرٌ أو ناظمٌ

والكأسُ منها الوحيُ والإمداد

And Abu Nuwas, weaving or composing verse,

His cup the source of inspiration and sustenance?

ولبسمهِ قصرُ الخلافةِ باسمٌ

ونصيبُه الإكرامُ والإسعاد

At his smile, the caliphate's palace smiled,

His portion being honor and happiness.

والخمرُ مشرقةٌ عليه وخلّه

ورفيقُه الخمَّارُ والصَّياد

Wine shone upon him; his intimate

And companion were the wine-seller and the hunter.

وعلى ثمالة كأسهِ وغرامهِ

تحنو جنانٌ والهوى استعباد

Over the dregs of his cup and his passion

Jinan bends tenderly, and love is enslavement.

تلك القلوبُ شريفةٌ وشجيّةٌ

كانت وفيها للمحاسنِ زاد

Those hearts were noble and tenderly sorrowful,

And held sustenance for beautiful things.

خمدت قلوبُ الأمسِ بعد تضرُّمٍ

أمّا قلوبُ اليومِ فهي رَماد

Yesterday's hearts were quenched after blazing;

As for today's hearts, they are ashes.

إن النفوسَ تقودُها ملكاتُها

والنفسُ عاشقةٌ لما تعتاد

Souls are led by their dispositions,

And the soul loves what it grows accustomed to.

هلا تُعيدينَ الخلافةَ والعلى

ليطيبَ فيكِ النظمُ والإنشاد

Will you not restore the caliphate and eminence,

So that poetry and recitation flourish within you?

وعلى المنابرِ يجلسُ العلماءُ في

ملكِ تقيهِ أسدّةٌ وسداد

And upon the pulpits scholars will sit within

A realm protected by bulwarks and sound judgment.

وعلى المحافلِ تطلعُ الخطباءُ أو

بينَ الجحافلِ تبررُ القواد

And at the assemblies orators will appear, or

Amid the hosts commanders will prove their worth.

ما أعظمَ المأمونَ يَطلعُ غازياً

حتى يكونَ لملكهِ إخلاد

How great al-Ma'mun was when setting out to war,

To make his kingdom endure forever!

وأُجلُّهُ يوم التناظرِ جالساً

كيما يزول العيُّ والإفناد

And I revere him seated on the day of disputation,

So that inarticulacy and unsound reasoning might vanish.

بغدادُ أنتِ مدينةٌ عربيّة

ومن الأمومة يُحرمُ الأولاد

Baghdad, you are an Arab city,

Yet children are deprived of motherhood.

الإنكليزُ جيوشُهم جرارةٌ

وجنودُهم تغتالُ أو تصطاد

The English have vast armies,

And their soldiers assassinate or hunt.

بغضُ الوجوهِ البرشِ فيكِ طبيعةٌ

العربُ سُمرٌ والعرابُ جياد

Hatred of freckled faces is natural in you;

The Arabs are brown-skinned, and Arabian horses are noble steeds.

إن العراقَ هو العريقُ عروبةً

وإلى عروبته لهُ إسناد

Iraq is deeply rooted in Arab identity,

And to its Arab identity it traces its affiliation.

من عهد حمّورٍ وعهدِ سميرةٍ

للعربِ فيهِ دقّتِ الأوتاد

Since the age of Hammur and the age of Samira,

Tent-pegs have been driven there for the Arabs.

والحيرةُ البيضاءُ تذكرُ عهدَهم

حيثُ المناذرةُ الأماجدُ سادوا

White al-Hira remembers their age,

When the illustrious Manadhira held sway.

وسما بنو ماءِ السماءِ بملكِهم

وعليهِ كِسرى حاسدٌ يرتاد

The sons of Ma' al-Sama' rose high through their kingship,

Which Kisra enviously sought.

وبمصرعِ النعمانَ عندَ عدوّه

درسَ الخورنقُ والسديرُ وبادوا

With al-Nu'man's death at his enemy's hands,

Al-Khawarnaq and al-Sadir fell into ruin, and they perished.

حتى إذا ما قومُه ثأروا له

في القادسيةِ والقتالُ طِرادُ

Until, when his people avenged him

At al-Qadisiyya, with battle in charges and countercharges,

ظهرت على الضفّاتِ بغدادُ التي

فيها لأفلاكِ العُلى مِرصاد

Baghdad appeared upon the banks, the city that

Holds a watchtower for the spheres of eminence.

لولا الأعاجمُ ما تداعت دولةٌ

عربيةٌ عَظمت بها الأمجاد

Had it not been for non-Arabs, no state would have collapsed—

An Arab state whose glories grew great.

ما حالُ ملكٍ خارجٍ من أهلهِ

ينزو عليهِ من الخصومِ لداد

What becomes of a kingdom passed out of its people's hands,

When implacable adversaries spring upon it?

سَبَبُ التأخُّرِ والسّقوطِ تخاذلٌ

للعزمِ فيهِ والنشاط نفاد

The cause of backwardness and downfall is mutual desertion,

In which resolve and vigor are exhausted.

فإلى الأجانبِ سلَّموا أحكامَهم

والأجدَرونَ بها لهم إبعاد

So they handed their governance over to foreigners,

While those most worthy of it were kept away.

ما كانَ أتعسَ أمّةٍ تشقى بهم

فيؤمَّر السجّانُ والجلّاد

How wretched a nation suffering through them,

When the jailer and executioner are made commanders!

العودُ لا يحييه غيرُ لحائهِ

والملكُ عنهُ بالصميمِ يُذاد

A tree-stem is kept alive only by its own bark,

And a kingdom is defended by its own core.

لا حقَّ إِلا للأصيلِ برتبةٍ

في دولةٍ دخلاؤُها أنكاد

None but the native-born has a right to rank

Within a state whose intruders bring misery.

إن المناصبَ في البلادِ لأهلِها

فمِنَ الأقاربِ صادقٌ وجَواد

Offices in a land belong to its own people;

Among kinsmen are the faithful and generous.

وعلى الأجانبِ حُرِّمت لوقايةٍ

ورعايةٍ حيثُ الفلاحُ يُراد

They were forbidden to foreigners for protection

And care, wherever prosperity is desired.

يا أيها العربُ الأحامسُ حاذروا

شرَّ الدّخيلِ فدأبُهُ الإفساد

O valiant Arabs, beware

The intruder's evil, for corruption is his habit.

وتجرَّدوا للمكرماتِ وجرّدوا

دونَ الحدودِ البيضَ وهي حِداد

Devote yourselves to noble deeds, and unsheathe

Bright blades to defend the borders, sharp as they are.

الصَّقلُ والإرهافُ من تجريدها

وكهومُها يأتي بهِ الإغماد

Polishing and sharpening come from unsheathing them,

And sheathing brings their bluntness.

لا خيرَ فيكم والأعاجم بينكم

يتحكّمونَ فتحكمُ الأحقادُ

There is no good in you while non-Arabs among you

Rule at will, so hatreds rule.

إن تغسلوا دونَ القلوبِ تُطَهِّروا

وطناً عليهِ من العلوجِ جرَاد

If you wash what is outside the hearts, you will cleanse

A homeland overrun by barbarian locusts.

وتجمّعوا أُمناء حولَ مؤمّرٍ

لتهونَ منكم طاعةٌ وقياد

Gather, loyal men, around an appointed ruler,

So that obedience and submission come easily from you.

الشعبُ يعظمُ قَدرُهُ من فَردِه

إنَّ الشعوبَ يسوسُها الأفراد

A people's stature grows through its individual;

Peoples are governed by individuals.

والملكُ بالأفرادِ والمجموعُ ما

عزّت وذلّتأمةٌ وبلاد

And sovereignty rests on individuals and the whole, as

A nation and lands rise to glory and sink into abasement.

شدّوا وشِيدوا دولة عربيّةً

يُرجى لها بعد الفناءِ معاد

Strive, and build an Arab state

For which a return after extinction is hoped.

ولحفظِ هيبتها يظلُّ خميسُها

شاكي السلاح بهِ يحفُّ عَتاد

To preserve its awe, let its army remain

Fully armed, with equipment surrounding it.

وعليهِ قوَّادٌ لردّ كريهةٍ

إعدادهم دُهشت لهُ الأعداد

Over it are commanders to repel danger,

Whose preparations bewilder numbers themselves.

وثغورُها عندَ الرّباطِ كأنها

جُمعٌ مِن الأيامِ أو آحاد

And its frontier posts, when garrisoned, are like

Fridays among the days, or Sundays.