أتنقم ما يريبك من خلالي — Ahmad Muharram

أَتَنقِمُ ما يُريبُكَ مِن خِلالي

وَتُنكِرُ ما يَروعُكَ مِن مَقالي

Do you resent what troubles you in my character,

And reject what alarms you in my speech?

وَما ذَنبي إِلَيكَ إِذا تَعامَت

عُيونُ الناقِصينَ عَنِ الكَمالِ

And what is my fault before you, if they feign blindness—

The eyes of the deficient—to perfection?

وَما بي غَيرُ جَهلِكَ مِن خَفاءٍ

وَما بِكَ غَيرُ عِلمي مِن ضَلالِ

There is no obscurity in me but your ignorance,

And no error in you but my knowledge.

كِرامُ الناسِ أَكثَرُ مَن تُعادي

بَنو الدُنيا وَأَتعَبُ مَن تُوالي

The noblest people are those most opposed

By the sons of the world, and most wearied by their friendship.

وَما يَنفَكُّ ذو أَدَبٍ يُعاني

جَفاءَ عَشيرَةٍ وَصُدودَ آلِ

A cultivated man never ceases to suffer

The harshness of his kin and his family's aversion.

أُعادى بِالمَوَدَّةِ مِن أُناسٍ

وَأُنكَبُ بِالكَرامَةِ مِن رِجالِ

I am met with hostility by some for my affection,

And brought to grief by men for my graciousness.

كَفى بِالمَرءِ شَرّاً أَن تَراهُ

بَعيدَ الوُدِّ مُقتَرِبَ الحِبالِ

It is evil enough in a man that you find him

Distant in affection, though his bonds are close.

أَمِنتُ بَني الزَمانِ فَعاقَبوني

بِداءٍ مِن خِيانَتِهِم عُضالِ

I trusted the sons of time, and they punished me

With an incurable disease born of their treachery.

وَرُمتُ شِفاءَهُم فَرُميتُ مِنهُم

بِما أَعيا الطَبيبَ مِنَ الخَبالِ

I sought their healing, but was struck by them

With derangement that defeated the physician.

وَمَن يَصحَب بَني الدُنيا يَجِدهُم

وَإِن صَحِبَ السَلامَةَ كَالسُلالِ

Whoever keeps company with the sons of the world will find them

Like consumption, even when he enjoys good health.

صَبَرتُ عَلى المَكارِهِ صَبرَ حُرٍّ

تَميلُ بِهِ الأَناةُ عَنِ المَلالِ

I bore hardships with a free man's patience,

Whose forbearance turns him away from weariness.

فَلَم أَجهَل لِخَلقٍ جاهِلِيٍّ

وَلَم أَجزَع لِحادِثَةِ اللَيالي

I did not meet an ignorant creature with folly,

Nor lose heart at a calamity of the nights.

وَفي الأَخلاقِ إِن عَظُمَت دَليلٌ

عَلى عِظَمِ المَكانَةِ وَالجَلالِ

In character, when it is great, lies proof

Of high standing and majesty.

وَلَولا مَوقِفٌ لِلنَفسِ عالٍ

لَما سيقَت لِأَهليها المَعالي

Were it not for a lofty stance of the soul,

High honors would not be brought to those worthy of them.

تَخَلَّ عَنِ الدَنِيَّةِ وَاِجتَنِبها

وَلا تُؤثِر سِوى شَرَفِ الفِعالِ

Abandon baseness and shun it,

And prefer nothing but nobility of deeds.

وَنَفسَكَ لا تَبِع إِن كُنتَ حُرّاً

بِزائِلِ مَنصِبٍ وَخَسيسِ مالِ

And do not sell your soul, if you are free,

For a fleeting office and paltry wealth.

لَكَ الوَيلاتُ إِنَّ العَيشَ فانٍ

وَإِنَّ الحَيَّ يُؤذِنُ بِاِرتِحالِ

Woe to you! Life is fleeting,

And the living herald their departure.

وَما أَبقَت عَوادي الدَهرِ إِلّا

بَقايا الذِكرِ لِلأُمَمِ الخَوالي

The ravages of time have left nothing but

Remnants of renown for nations long gone.

مَتى تُؤثِر حَياةَ السوءِ تَعلَق

جِنايَتُها بِعَظمٍ مِنكَ بالِ

Whenever you choose a life of evil, there clings

Its guilt to a decaying bone of yours.

تَأَمَّل في نَواحي الدَهرِ وَاِنظُر

وَقِف بَينَ الحَقيقَةِ وَالخَيالِ

Contemplate the reaches of time and look,

And stand between reality and imagination.

وَسَل عَمّا يُريبُكَ مِن خَفايا

يُجيبُكَ وَحيُها قَبلَ السُؤالِ

And ask about the hidden things that trouble you;

Their revelation answers you before the question.

إِذا ما اِرتابَ فَهمُكَ فَاِتَّهِمهُ

بِنَقصٍ في التَبَيُّنِ وَاِختِلالِ

If your understanding doubts, then suspect it

Of deficient discernment and disorder.

وَما خَفِيَ الصَوابُ عَلى عَليمٍ

وَلا اِحتاجَ الضِياءُ إِلى مِثالِ

What is right is not hidden from one who knows,

Nor does light need an illustration.

وَلَكِنَّ الحَقائِقَ عائِذاتٌ

بِرَأسِ مُمَنَّعٍ صَعبِ المَنالِ

Yet truths seek refuge

In a well-defended head, hard to reach.

يَرُدُّ يَدَ الفَتى التِنبالِ كَلمي

وَيَشدَخُ هامَةَ الرجلِ الطِوالِ

My words repel the hand of the short-statured youth,

And smash the crown of the towering man.

تَعاطى شَأوَها قَومٌ فَخَرّوا

وَلَمّا يُدرِكوا شَأوَ التِلالِ

Some people strove for their heights and fell,

Not yet having reached even the height of hills.

تَبيتُ حَقائِقُ الأَشياءِ وَلهَى

تَضُجُّ حِيالَها الحِكَمُ الغَوالي

The truths of things pass the night distraught;

Precious maxims cry aloud before them.

تُعاني المَوتَ مِن زَمَنٍ ضَلالٍ

وَتَشكو البَثَّ مِن ناسٍ مُحالِ

They suffer death from a misguided age,

And lament anguish caused by deceitful people.

أُراعُ لِخَطبِها وَالدَهرُ أَمنٌ

وَنُعمى العَيشِ وارِفَةُ الظِلالِ

I am alarmed at their plight, though time is tranquil,

And life's bliss spreads luxuriant shade.

كَأَنَّ رُماتَها تَفري فُؤادي

بِأَنفَذ ما تَريشُ مِنَ النِبالِ

As though the archers shooting at them cleaved my heart

With the most piercing of the arrows they fletch.

إِذا اِنكَفَأَت قَوارِبُها ظِماءً

غَضِبتُ لَها عَلى الشَبِمِ الزُلالِ

When their water-seeking camels turn back thirsty,

I rage for them against the cold, limpid water.

وَإِن وَجَدَت قِلىً وَرَأَت صُدوداً

صَدَدتُ عَنِ الحَياةِ صُدودَ قالِ

And if they encounter hatred and see rejection,

I turn from life as one who hates it turns away.

خَلَعتُ شَبيبَتي وَلَبِستُ شَيبي

وَسُستُ الدَهرَ حالاً بَعدَ حالِ

I cast off my youth and donned my gray hair,

And governed time, state after state.

فَلَم أَجِدِ الهَوى إِلّا نَذيراً

يُؤَذِّنُ في المَمالِكِ بِالزَوالِ

I found passion to be nothing but a warner,

Proclaiming downfall throughout the kingdoms.

يَصونُ الشَعبُ سُؤدُدَهُ فَيَبقى

وَلا يَبقى عَلى طولِ اِبتِذالِ

A people guards its greatness and endures,

But does not survive prolonged abasement.

وَإِن صَغَتِ القُلوبُ إِلى شِقاقٍ

فَإِنَّ قُوى الشُعوبِ إِلى اِنحِلالِ

And if hearts incline toward discord,

Then the strength of peoples tends toward dissolution.

تَعادى الناسُ في مِصرٍ جَميعاً

وَخاضَ الكُلُّ في قيلٍ وَقالِ

All the people in Egypt became foes of one another,

And everyone plunged into hearsay and gossip.

فَما بَينَ المَذاهِبِ مِن وِفاقٍ

وَلا بَينَ القُلوبِ مِنِ اِتِّصالِ

There is no concord among the schools of thought,

Nor any bond between hearts.

وَما لِلقَومِ إِن طَلَبوا حَياةً

سِوى مَوتٍ يُلَقَّبُ بِاِحتِلالِ

And if the people seek life, they have nothing

But a death called occupation.

أَرى في مِصرَ شَعباً لَيسَ يَدري

أَفي سِلمٍ يُغامِرُ أَم قِتالِ

I see in Egypt a people that does not know

Whether it ventures in peace or combat.

تُمَزِّقُهُ السِهامُ فَلا يَراها

وَتَأخُذُهُ السُيوفُ فَلا يُبالي

Arrows tear it apart, yet it does not see them,

And swords strike it, yet it pays no heed.

تَثاقَلَ إِذ رَفَعتُ إِلَيهِ صَوتي

وَخَفَّ لَهُ الرَكينُ مِنَ الجِبالِ

It hung back when I raised my voice to it,

While even the steadfast mountains stirred at it.

فَلَولا اللَهُ وَالبَعثُ المُرَجّى

نَفَضتُ يَدَيَّ مِن أُمَمِ الهِلالِ

Were it not for God and the hoped-for rebirth,

I would have shaken my hands free of the nations of the crescent.

نَظَرتُ فَلَم أَجِد لِلقَومِ شَيئاً

سِوى الأَطلالِ وَالدِمَنِ البَوالي

I looked, but found nothing for the people

Except ruins and timeworn traces of camps.

وَشَمَّرَ غَيرُهُم فَبَنى وَأَعلى

وَناضَلَ بِاليَمينِ وَبالشِمالِ

Others rolled up their sleeves, then built and raised high,

And strove with the right hand and the left.

سَما بِالعَزمِ يَبتَعِثُ المَطايا

فَجازَ النَجمَ مَشدودَ الرِحالِ

They rose high through resolve, urging their mounts onward,

And passed beyond the star, their saddles bound tight.

وَحَلَّ بِحَيثُ يَنتَعِلُ الثُرَيّا

وَكانَ مَحَلُّهُ تَحتَ النِعالِ

And settled where they wear the Pleiades as sandals,

Though their place had once been beneath sandals.

فَتِلكَ شَكِيَّتي وَعَذابُ نَفسي

وَحَرُّ جَوانِحي وَشَقاءُ بالي

That is my complaint and my soul's torment,

And the heat within my ribs and my mind's misery.

تَعَزّى مِن بَني الآدابِ قَومٌ

سَهِرتُ وَنامَ هاجِعُهُم حِيالي

Some of the sons of letters found consolation;

I stayed awake while their sleeper slept before me.

فَلا كَبِدٌ لِطولِ الشَوقِ وَلهى

وَلا قَلبٌ بِنارِ الوَجدِ صالِ

No liver is distraught with long yearning,

Nor any heart burning in the fire of passion.

فَما أَنا إِن صَحا كَلِفٌ بِصاحٍ

وَلا أَنا إِن سَلا دَنِفٌ بِسالِ

So if he grows sober, I am not enamored of the sober,

Nor, if he grows indifferent, am I lovesick for the indifferent.

جَعَلتُ وِلايَةَ الآدابِ شُغلي

وَكانَت أُمَّةً مِن غَيرِ والِ

I made the stewardship of letters my occupation,

And they were a nation without a guardian.

كَأَنّي إِذ عَطَفتُ يَدي عَلَيها

عَطَفتُ يَدي عَلى بَعضِ العِيالِ

As though, when I turned my hand toward them,

I turned my hand toward some of my dependents.

حَمَلتُ هُمومَها وَنَهَضتُ مِنها

بِأَعباءٍ مُلَملَمَةٍ ثِقالِ

I bore their cares and took up from them

Burdens gathered together, heavy.

وَلَم أَبخَل بِذي خَطَرٍ عَلَيها

وَإِن بَخِلَت بِمَنزورِ النَوالِ

And I withheld nothing of value from them,

Though they were miserly with even scant bounty.

إِذا ما رُمتَ لِلشُعَراءِ ذِكراً

فَلا تَحفِل بِتَضليلِ المُغالي

If you wish to make mention of poets,

Then pay no heed to the exaggerator's misguidance.

وَلا تَذكُر سِوى نَفَرٍ قَليلٍ

وَإِن هُم جاوَزوا عَدَدَ الرِمالِ

And mention only a small handful,

Even if they outnumber the grains of sand.