طواك الردى ورماك القدر — أحمد الكاشف

طواك الردى ورماك القدرْ

وسرت بلا موعد منتظرْ

Death enfolded you, and fate cast you down.

And you departed with no expected appointment.

وسافرت بالزاد من وحشة

بلا رجعة بعد هذا السفرْ

And you journeyed with loneliness for provisions,

with no return after this journey.

وصرت إلى منتهى الراحلين

وإن كثرت سبْلُهم والسِيَرْ

And you reached the end of all who depart,

though their paths and life stories are many.

وفي لحظة من مدار الزمان

هوى واختفى من علا واشتهرْ

And in a moment of time's turning,

he who rose and won renown fell and vanished.

وأمسى الذي كان ملء العيو

ن في قومه أثراً أو خبرْ

And he who once filled the eyes became,

among his people, a trace or a tale.

فهل عرض الموت أسبابَه

فآثرت أقربها المختصرْ

Did death then offer up its means,

so you chose the nearest—the short way?

وهل أنت بعد النوى تارك

هنا وطراً أم قضيت الوطرْ

And after parting, are you leaving

some wish here, or have you fulfilled your wish?

وهل أنا باق وراء الرفاق

أشيع أفواجهم والزمرْ

And am I to remain behind my companions,

escorting their companies and bands to the grave?

وفي كل يوم يراع الحمى

بفقد الحمى أسداً أو قمرْ

And each day the homeland is shaken

by its loss of a lion or a moon.

فمن غاب عن جانبي أو نأى

سيتبعه من دنا أو حضرْ

So whoever vanished from my side or went afar

will be followed by whoever drew near or was present.

تولوا وحولي تماثيلهم

تحدثني عنهمُ والصورْ

They departed; their statues surround me,

telling me of them, and their portraits too.

أعبد الحميد وما بالمجي

بِ بعد القصور دفين الحفرْ

O Abd al-Hamid! No answer comes from

one buried in pits after dwelling in palaces.

لك العبرات جرت من دمي

وفيها العظات وفيها العبرْ

For you, tears have flowed from my blood,

and in them are admonitions, and in them lessons.

غضبت لحرية الكاتبين

وليس على الغيظ من مصطبرْ

You grew angry for the freedom of writers,

and no one can patiently endure wrath.

وإنَّ على الحر ثقل الحدي

دِ أهون من ضيقه والضجرْ

Indeed, for a free man, the weight of iron

is lighter than his distress and vexation.

وإن نزاع القوى في الحيا

ةِ أكبر منه نزاع الفِكَرْ

Indeed, the clash of forces in life—

greater than it is the clash of ideas.

وحرص الأبي على رأيه

كحرصِ الغني على ما ادخرْ

And the unbowed man's attachment to his opinion

is like the rich man's attachment to what he has saved.

وما حجة المرء في مذهب

سوى عدة المرء في مشتجرْ

And a man's argument for a doctrine

is but his armament in a conflict.

وما الظافر العف غير الذي

أصر على عهده واستمرْ

And the virtuous victor is none but he

who stood firm in his pledge and persevered.

تلقاك إذ ملتَ صدر الرفيق

ولو كان من حجر لانفطرْ

A comrade's breast received you as you leaned;

had it been of stone, it would have split.

وأغنى سكوتك بين الضجيج

عن القول مرتجلاً مبتكرْ

And your silence amid the uproar sufficed

in place of speech, improvised and original.

ولو نزلت كلمات الشهيد

على جبل ثائر لاستقرْ

Had the martyr's words descended

upon a raging mountain, it would have grown still.

ولو كان للدهر فيما جرى

لسان وقلب إليك اعتذرْ

Had Time, for what befell,

a tongue and a heart, it would have apologized to you.

وقد يغسل الجرح دمع الجريح

ولا يغسل الجرح سيل المطرْ

And the wounded one's tears may wash the wound,

but a torrent of rain cannot wash the wound.

يعزُّ على العرب اليوم أن

خلا المنتدى منك والمؤتمرْ

It pains the Arabs today that

the forum and the congress are bereft of you.

وأنت إليهم من الأقربين

كأنك من هاشم أو مضرْ

And you are among their closest kin,

as though you were of Hashim or Mudar.

تناول شيبَهم والشبا

بَ خطبُك بدوَهُمُ والحضرْ

Their gray-haired and their young were touched

by your calamity, as were their nomads and townspeople.

أبوك أبو الأُوَلِ الأصفياء

فأنت أخو الأصفياء الأُخَرْ

Your father was father to the earlier loyal friends,

and you are brother to the later loyal friends.

كلا الكابرين الفتى الشيخ في

قبيلته والزعيم الأبرْ

Both great men—each a gallant elder in

his tribe, and a most righteous leader.

وقد كان لي من فؤاديكما

مكان الرضى وهو ملء البصرْ

And in the hearts of you both I had

a place of favor, filling the eye.

علائق صادقة لم تهن

لكرِّ العوادي ومرِّ الغِيَرْ

True bonds that never weakened

under adversity's assaults and changing fortune's course.

ذكرتك في ملتقى الذاكرين

وليل الأسى غير ليل السمرْ

I remembered you among those gathered to remember,

and sorrow's night is not a night of convivial talk.

وأبَّنْتُ فيك أعز السراة

وعزَّيتُ فيك أجل الأُسَرْ

And in you I eulogized the dearest of the nobles,

and for your loss consoled the most honored families.

سئمتُ الحياة التي ما لقي

تُ غير مرارتها والكدرْ

I am weary of life, in which I have met

nothing but its bitterness and gloom.

وكنتُ قنوعاً بأشواكها

إذا فاتني زهرها والثمرْ

And I was content with its thorns

when its blossoms and fruit eluded me.

وما ناء بي حمله في الصبا

أيمكنني حمله في الكبرْ

And what was heavy for me to bear in youth—

can I bear it in old age?

إذا دهم المرء ما لا يطيق

فسيان تسليمه والحذرْ

When a man is assailed by what he cannot bear,

then his surrender and caution are alike.

وحسبيَ في محنتي أنني

تبينت من بر ممن فجرْ

And it is enough, amid my ordeal, that I

have distinguished the upright from the wicked.

وهذي القيامة في هولها

فكيف النجاة وأين المفرْ

And this is the Resurrection in its terror—

so how may we be saved, and where can we flee?

وهل تضع الحرب أوزارها

ويمحو الظلامَ الصباحُ الأغرْ

And will war lay down its burdens,

and the radiant morning erase the darkness,

ويظفر من خاضها فارتمى

برحمة من خاضها وانتصرْ

and those who fought it and fell gain

mercy from those who fought it and triumphed,

ويستقبل البشرُ العالمَ ال

جديدَ سلاماً لخير البشرْ

and humankind welcome the new world

in peace, for the good of humankind?