أمن عرش الشآم إلى أثينا — Ahmad Muharram

أَمِن عَرشِ الشَآمِ إِلى أَثينا

لَقَد هانَت عُروشُ المالِكينا

From Syria's throne to Athens?

Indeed, the thrones of rulers have been brought low.

أَفَيصَلُ في بَني الأَعرابِ آناً

وَفِنزيلوسُ في اليونانِ حينا

Is it Faisal among the sons of the Bedouins at one time,

and Venizelos in Greece at another?

لِكُلٍّ مَصرَعٌ جَلَلٌ وَخَطبٌ

يَرِنُّ صَداهُ في الدُنيا رَنينا

For each, a grievous downfall and a calamity

whose echo rings loudly throughout the world.

أَمِن مَلِكٍ يُطاعُ إِلى شَريدٍ

تُحَيّيهِ الخَلائِقُ ساخِرينا

From a king who is obeyed to a fugitive,

whom the people greet in mockery?

يَجوبُ الأَرضَ يَنشُدُ في بَنيها

أولي القُربى وَيَلتَمِسُ المُعينا

He roams the earth, seeking among its sons

kinsmen, and looking for a helper.

أَفَنزيلوسُ إِن تَنزِل بِمِصرٍ

فَقَد عَرَفَتكَ بَينَ النازِلينا

O Venizelos, if you alight in Egypt,

it has already known you among those who alight.

وَما جَهِلَت مَكانَكَ حينَ تُزجي

جُيوشَكَ في المَمالِكِ فاتِحينا

Nor was it unaware of your standing when you dispatched

your armies into kingdoms as conquerors.

أَبادَت في قُرى إِزميرَ قَوماً

وَغالَت في أَدَرنَةَ آخِرينا

They annihilated a people in the villages of Izmir,

and slew others in Edirne.

تُغيرُ على البِلادِ فَتَحتَويها

وَتَستَلِبُ المَعاقِلَ وَالحُصونا

They raid the lands and take possession of them,

and seize the strongholds and fortresses.

كَتائِبُ لَم تَدَع لِلتُركِ ذِكراً

بِفَرسالا وَلا جَبَلَي مَلونا

Battalions that left no trace of the Turks

at Pharsala, nor on the two mountains of Melouna.

فَمَن يَنسى الفُتوحَ مُحَجَّلاتٍ

بَلاريسا فَإِنّا ما نَسينا

So whoever forgets the white-marked conquests

at Larissa—we have not forgotten.

تُعيدُ بِها شَبابَ المُلكِ غَضّاً

وَتَمنَعُ أَن يَذِلَّ وَأَن يُهونا

Through them you restore the kingdom's youth afresh,

and prevent it from being abased and humiliated.

وَتَحمي مِن بِلادِكَ ما اِستَباحَت

بِحَدِّ السَيفِ أَيدي الغاصِبينا

And you protect those parts of your lands overrun

at the sword's edge by the hands of usurpers.

وَدائِعُ في بَني عُثمانَ حَلَّت

بِأَيدي الباسِلينَ حِمىً أَمينا

Trusts that settled among the sons of Osman,

in the hands of the valiant, under safe protection.

بَلَغتَ بِها المَدى وَطَلَبتَ شَأواً

يَفوتُ مَدى القَياصِرِ أَجمَعينا

Through them you reached the utmost, and sought a height

beyond the reach of all the Caesars.

فَلَم تَرَ غَيرَ مُلكِ النَجمِ شَيئاً

وَلَم تَرَ مِنكَ حينَ هَمَمتَ لينا

So you saw nothing but the dominion of the stars,

and saw no softness in yourself when you resolved.

تَظُنُّ مَنالَهُ أَمَلاً كَذوباً

وَتَطمَعُ أَنتَ وَحدَكَ أَن يَكونا

You deem its attainment a false hope,

yet you alone aspire for it to come true.

أَبَت وَأَبَيتَ فَاِقتَحَمَتكَ غَضبى

وَكانَ فِرارُكَ النَصرَ المُبينا

She refused, and you refused; then she stormed upon you in anger,

and your flight was the clear victory.

وَما بَرَحَ الغُزاةُ ذَوي فِرارٍ

إِذا كَرِهَت نُفوسُهُم المَنونا

And invaders have always been given to flight

when their souls loathe death.

يَرى الحُكَماءُ أَمضى الناسِ بَأساً

غَداةَ الحَربِ أَكثَرَهُم جُنونا

The sages deem the men most formidable in valor

on war's morning the maddest among them.

وَما مِن حِكمَةٍ في الأَرضِ إِلّا

لِقَومِكَ فَضلُها في العالَمينا

And there is no wisdom anywhere on earth but

your people have the credit for it among mankind.

فَدَع ما أَحدَثَ العُلَماءُ وَاِرجِع

إِلى عِلمِ الثِقاتِ الأَوَّلينا

So leave what scholars have newly devised, and return

to the learning of the trustworthy men of old.

وَلا تُؤمِن بِساسَتِهِ زَماناً

يَعُدُّ سِياسَةَ الجُهَلاءِ دينا

And do not trust, through its statesmen, an age

that makes a creed of the politics of fools.

شَهادَةُ مُفسِدِ الأَحداثِ مُؤذٍ

يَرى الإِصلاحَ دَأبَ المُفسِدينا

The testimony of a harmful corrupter of the young,

who sees reform as the practice of corrupters.

هُمُ السُمُّ المَشوبُ يُظَنُّ شَهداً

وَتَفضَحُهُ مَنايا الشارِبينا

They are blended poison, mistaken for honey,

and the deaths of those who drink it expose it.

أَلَم تَرَ لِلشُعوبِ وَكَيفَ أَمسَت

تُقَلِّبُهُم أَكُفُّ اللاعِبينا

Have you not seen the peoples, and how they have come to be

tossed about by the hands of players?

إِذا دارَت بِهِم ذَهَبوا وَجاءوا

أَذِلّاءَ النُفوسِ مُسخَّرينا

When those hands turn them, they go and come,

abased in soul, pressed into service.

إِذا كانَ السَلامُ بَقوا مَتاعاً

فَإِن تَكُنِ الوَغى ذَهَبوا طَحينا

When there is peace, they remain chattels;

but if there is war, they end up ground to flour.

إِذا نَظَرَ الفَتى شَعباً جَريحاً

أَصابَ حِيالَهُ شَعباً دَفينا

When a young man sees a wounded people,

he finds a buried people facing it.

جِنايَةُ مَعشَرٍ غَلَبَت عَلَيهِم

نُفوسُ جَبابِرٍ ما يَرعَوينا

It is the crime of a group dominated by

the souls of tyrants who never restrain themselves.

مَلَأنَ مَآتِمَ الهَلكى عَويلاً

وَزِدنَ مَصارِعَ الجَرحى أَنينا

They filled the mourning gatherings of the dead with wailing,

and increased the groaning where the wounded lay.

مَلَكنَ الأَرضَ فَاِستَعلَينَ فيها

وَأَحدَثنَ الحَوادِثَ وَالشُؤونا

They possessed the earth and grew haughty upon it,

and set events and affairs in motion.

كَأَنَّ اللَهَ لَيسَ بِذي مِحالٍ

يَهُدُّ عَزائِمَ المُتَجَبِّرينا

As though God had no overwhelming might

to shatter the resolves of the tyrannical.

لَهُ الآياتُ تَصدَعُ كُلَّ شَكٍّ

وَتَعصِفُ بِالأُلى جَهِلوا اليَقينا

His are the signs that shatter every doubt

and storm against those ignorant of certainty.

رَأَيتُ ذَوي العَمى في الناسِ هَلكى

وَلا مِثلَ القُلوبِ إِذا عَمينا

I have seen the blind among mankind ruined,

and none are like hearts when they grow blind.

وَمَن زَعَمَ الغَوائِلَ غافِلاتٍ

فَقَد ظَلَمَ المَزاعِمَ وَالظُنونا

And whoever supposes calamities to be heedless

has indeed wronged claims and conjectures.

وَإِنَّ حَقائِقَ الحِدثانِ تَأتي

فَتَدمَعُ تُرَّهاتِ الجاهِلينا

And indeed, the realities of time's vicissitudes come,

and weep over the follies of the ignorant.

سَلِ الدُنيا عَنِ الماضينَ وَاِنظُر

إِلى الدُوَلِ الخَوالي هَل بَقينا

Ask the world about those gone before, and look

at the bygone dynasties—have they endured?

وَقُل لِرِوايَةِ الأَجيالِ ماذا

وَعَيتِ عَنِ الكِرامِ الكاتِبينا

And say to the chronicle of the generations: what

have you preserved from the noble writers?

طَوَتهُم حادِثاتُ الدَهرِ فيها

فَهُم صُحُفٌ بِأَيدي القارِئينا

Time's calamities folded them within it,

so they are pages in the hands of readers.

كَذَلِكَ نَحنُ نُصبِحُ بَعدَ حينٍ

صَحائِفَ عِبرَةٍ لِلغابِرينا

Likewise, after a while, we shall become

pages of instruction for those who remain.

شَقينا بِالحَياةِ وَأَيُّ شَعبٍ

تَطيبُ لَهُ حَياةُ المُسلِمينا

We have suffered in life; and what people

would find the life of Muslims sweet?

أَنُنكَبُ في الشُعوبِ بِكُلِّ خَطبٍ

وَنَذهَبُ في البِلادِ مُشَرَّدينا

Are we to be stricken among the peoples by every calamity,

and roam the lands, driven into exile?

نَعوذُ بِباعِثِ المَوتى وَنَرجو

عَوارِفَهُ رَجاءَ العامِلينا

We seek refuge in the One who raises the dead, and hope

for His favors with the hope of those who act.

وَلَيسَ بِمُفلِحٍ شَعبٌ جَهولٌ

تُخادِعُهُ أَماني العاجِزينا

Nor does an ignorant people prosper,

deceived by the wishes of the helpless.

يَظَلُّ بِمُستَقَرِّ الهونِ مُلقىً

يُناجي الطَيرَ أَو يُحصي السِنينا

It remains cast down in the abode of humiliation,

confiding in the birds, or counting the years.

يُرَوِّعُهُ الذُبابُ فَإن تَمَنّى

رَمى الرِئبال وَاِستَلَبَ العَرينا

Flies terrify it; yet if it indulges in wishes,

it shoots the lion and seizes its lair;

وَسالَ البَرُّ مِن فَمِهِ جُنوداً

وَماج البَحرُ في يَدِهِ سَفينا

and the land flows from its mouth as armies,

and the sea surges in its hand as ships.

حَنانَكَ رَبَّنا إِنّا أَنَبنا

إِلَيكَ فَنَجِّنا مِمّا لَقينا

Your mercy, our Lord! Indeed, we have turned in repentance

to You; so save us from what we have suffered.