هات الأعاجيب يا عصر الأعاجيب — أحمد الكاشف

هات الأعاجيب يا عصر الأعاجيبِ

فما تزيد على علمي وتجريبي

Bring forth marvels, O age of marvels!

For you do not surpass my knowledge and experience.

مالي وماليَ إلا قريتي سكن

موزعاً بين تشريق وتغريب

Why am I—with no home but my village—

Torn between wandering east and west?

أدري بكل الذي في الأرض من حدثٍ

ولا أرى أحداً في الأرض يدري بي

I know of every event upon the earth,

Yet see no one on earth who knows of me.

وأفتدي الوطن الأغلى ويغفلني

قومي كأنيَ منهم غير محسوب

I sacrifice myself for the dearest homeland, yet I am overlooked

By my people, as though I were not counted among them.

أكابد اليوم منهم ما تكبَّده

أمسِ ابنُ يعقوب من أبناء يعقوب

Today I suffer at their hands what was suffered

Yesterday by Jacob's son at the hands of Jacob's sons.

فليت لي من دمي أو أدمعي نُذُراً

إليهمُ بعد ما هانت مكاتيبي

Would that I had warnings made of my blood or tears

To them, now that my letters are held cheap.

وليت شعري مذاع في الأعاجم من

بعد الذي ضاع منه في الأعاريب

And would that my verse were spread among non-Arabs,

After what was lost of it among the Arabs.

وليتني في ارتياد القطب أحمل ما

حملت في مصر من هم وتعذيب

And would that, exploring the Pole, I bore what

I bore in Egypt of anguish and torment.

وليتني من ضحاياه ولست أرى

نزاع شعب على أمرَيهِ مغلوب

And would that I were among its victims, and did not see

The strife of a people overpowered in both its affairs.

أقدس النيل في قومي وفي وطني

وإن يكن من سواه اليوم مشروبي

I revere the Nile among my people and in my homeland,

Though what I drink today comes from elsewhere.

وعنديَ البلسم الشافي جراحهم

من الحوادث من خلق ومن طيب

And I have the balm that heals their wounds

From calamities, made of character and goodness.

في ذمة الدهر والأقدار لي أمل

طلبته غير متبوع ومصحوب

In the keeping of time and fate, I have a hope

Which I have sought without followers or companions.

وليس لي غير وجدان أزوده

مني بأطهر موروث ومكسوب

I have nothing but a conscience, which I nourish

From myself, with the purest of what I inherit and acquire.

إني لأبحث بين القوم عن رجل

فلا أرى غير منقوص ومثلوب

Indeed, I search among the people for a man,

But see only the deficient and the discredited.

أيحرس الشاة أصحاب لها اقتتلوا

وهم وَشَاتُهُمُ في قبضة الذيب

Can owners who fought over the ewe guard her,

While they and their ewe are in the wolf's grip?

بأس الليالي عليهم صار أهون من

شحنائهم والأهاجي والأكاذيب

The nights' harshness has become easier for them than

Their rancor, lampoons, and lies.

أغنى العداة عن الجند اطلاعهم

فينا على كل مستور ومحجوب

The enemies are spared the need for troops by their knowledge

Of all that is concealed and hidden among us.

وإن رفقي بإخوان ليَ افترقوا

لمثل رفقي بمطعون ومضروب

And indeed, my compassion for my divided brothers

Is like my compassion for the stabbed and beaten.

وقد يهون على مثلي اختلافهمُ

لو لم يعد ضَغَناً بين الأصاحيب

Their disagreement might be easy for one like me to bear,

If it did not turn into rancor among friends.

سياستان رأيت الفرق بينهما

كالفرق ما بين تعمير وتخريب

Two policies—the difference I saw between them

Was like that between building and destruction.

وقد يشق على مثلي ويحزنه

لقاء رأي إليه غير محبوب

And it may burden and sadden one like me

To encounter an opinion he does not welcome.

عرفت كل فريق في سياسته

ولم يجئ نبأ السودان والنوب

I knew each faction by its policy,

And news of Sudan and the Nubians had not yet come.

أين الجلاء فإني ما سمعت له

بين الأحاديث ذكراً والمطاليب

Where is the withdrawal? I have heard no

Mention of it amid the talk and demands.

وأين ما كان يستهوي الغلاة به

أشياعهم من أهازيج وتطريب

And where is what the extremists used to captivate

Their followers with—the chants and stirring song?

أليس من نكد الدهر اضطرابهم

قبل الوغى بعد إعداد وتدريب

Is their disarray not one of time's afflictions,

Before battle, after preparation and training?

إن الجهاد بإيثار وتضحية

ليس الجهاد بتلقيب وتنصيب

Struggle is through selflessness and sacrifice;

Struggle is not through bestowing titles and making appointments.

مالاً وجاهاً أصابوا أمس أجرهم

من سائر الشعب أم أسلاب مسلوب

The wealth and prestige they gained yesterday—was it their reward

From all the people, or the spoils of one despoiled?

إن يذكروا النفي والتغريب تكرمة

فكم أثيبوا على نفيٍ وتغريب

If they invoke banishment and exile as an honor,

How richly they were rewarded for banishment and exile!

كانوا ملائكة لو أنهم زهدوا

في متعة حين تخيير وترغيب

They would have been angels had they shunned

Pleasure when offered choices and inducements.

حرصٌ على الحق بالبرهان أم حذرٌ

على غنيمتهم بين المخاليب

Is it zeal for truth, backed by proof—or fear

For their spoils amid the claws?

أتلبث الفتنة الهوجاء عاصفة

بكل حزب إليها غير منسوب

Will frenzied strife keep storming

Against every party not affiliated with it?

وهل من الشعب من يبني رياسته

على ثرىً بدماءِ الشعب مخضوب

And is there anyone among the people who builds his leadership

On soil stained with the people's blood?

وكل من يتولى الحكم دونهم

جزاؤه كل تعريض وتثريب

And whoever assumes rule in their place,

His reward is every insinuation and reproach.

قالوا خلافة سعد قلت مقدسة

ملء الميادين مني والمحاريب

They said, 'Succession to Saad.' I said, 'Sacred!'

My words filling the squares and prayer niches.

ليست مبادئهُ وقفاً على أحدٍ

لكنها للمناجيدِ المناجيب

His principles are not anyone's exclusive preserve,

But belong to the valiant and noble.

إن الرجال بتدبير وتبصرة

ليس الرجال بإكثارٍ وتغليب

True men are known by planning and insight,

Not by swelling numbers and imposing dominance.

فليتركوا الحكم للأولى به ولهم

في غيره كل تأهيل وترحيب

So let them leave rule to the one most fit for it; for them

In other roles there is every greeting and welcome.

عرفتك ابنَ سليمانٍ كمعرفتي

للحق من بعد تعليم وتهذيب

I have known you, son of Sulayman, as I have known

The truth, after instruction and refinement.

على السماء غضابٌ أم عليك همُ

وأنت أهدى إلى ربٍّ ومربوب

Are they angry at heaven, or at you,

Though you are a surer guide for ruler and ruled?

لقد حرصتَ على ميثاقهم وأبوا

إلا المصارع من تلك الألاعيب

You took pains to preserve their pact, but they would accept

Nothing but the fatal ends brought by those tricks.

وإن مثلك يرجوه ويرهبه

في قومه كل مرجوٍّ ومرهوب

And one like you is looked to with hope and fear

By all among his people who inspire hope and fear.

أنت الموفق في الميعاد ترقبه

مخيراً بين تبعيد وتقريب

You are the favored one, awaiting the appointed time,

Free to choose between putting it off and bringing it near.

وأنت أقوى على آت ومنتظر

بعد احتفاظ بمأخوذ وموهوب

And you are better able to face what comes and what is awaited,

After retaining what was taken and what was given.

وصاحبُ العرش راضٍ ما تدبره

والمصلحون من الشبان والشيب

And the master of the throne is pleased with what you plan,

As are the reformers among the young and the gray-haired.

وأنت أحفظ للدستور تنفذه

حرّاً بأفضل تفصيل وترتيب

And you are the better guardian of the constitution, implementing it

Freely, with the finest detail and arrangement.

وللقضية ما أنت الكفيل به

من الوسائل شتى والأساليب

And the cause has what you undertake to provide:

Varied means and methods.