مصاب بني الدنيا عظيم بأدهم — Ahmed Shawqi

مُصابُ بَني الدُنيا عَظيمٌ بِأَدهَمِ

وَأَعظَمُ مِنهُ حَيرَةُ الشِعرِ في فَمي

The loss of Adham is grievous for the people of this world;

and greater still is poetry's bewilderment in my mouth.

أَأَنطُقُ وَالأَنباءُ تَترى بِطَيِّبٍ

وَأَسكُتُ وَالأَنباءُ تَترى بِمُؤلِمِ

Shall I speak when tidings of joy come in succession,

and fall silent when tidings of pain come in succession?

أَتَيتُ بِغالٍ في الثَناءِ مُنَضَّدٍ

فَمَن لي بِغالٍ في الرِثاءِ مُنَظَّمِ

I came with precious verse arrayed in praise;

who, then, can give me precious verse strung into lament?

عَسى الشِعرُ أَن يَجزي جَريئاً لِفَقدِهِ

بَكى التُركُ وَاليونانُ بِالدَمعِ وَالدَمِ

May poetry repay a valiant man, for whose loss

the Turks and the Greeks wept with tears and blood.

وَكَم مِن شُجاعٍ في العِداةِ مُكَرَّمٍ

وَكَم مِن جَبانٍ في اللِداتِ مُذَمَّمِ

And how many a brave man is honored among his foes,

and how many a coward is reviled among his peers.

وَهَل نافِعٌ جَريُ القَوافي لِغايَةٍ

وَقَد فَتَكَت دُهمُ المَنايا بِأَدهَمِ

And can the racing of rhymes toward a goal avail,

when the black steeds of death have slain Adham?

رَمَت فَأَصابَت خَيرَ رامٍ بِها العِدى

وَما السَهمُ إِلّا لِلقَضاءِ المُحَتَّمِ

They shot and struck the finest archer to loose death upon his foes;

and the arrow serves only inexorable fate.

فَتىً كانَ سَيفَ الهِندِ في صورَةِ اِمرِئٍ

وَكانَ فَتى الفِتيانِ في مَسكِ ضَيغَمِ

A hero who was an Indian sword in human form,

and was the hero of heroes in a lion's hide.

لَحاهُ عَلى الإِقدامِ حُسّادُ مَجدِهِ

وَما خُلِقَ الإِقبالُ إِلّا لِمُقدِمِ

Those envious of his glory reproached him for his daring,

yet good fortune was created only for the bold.

مُزَعزَعُ أَجيالٍ وَغاشي مَعاقِلٍ

وَقائِدُ جَرّارٍ وَمُزجي عَرمرَمِ

A shaker of peoples and a stormer of strongholds,

and a leader of a vast army and a driver of a mighty host.

سَلوا عَنهُ ميلونا وَما في شِعابِهِ

وَفي ذِروَتَيهِ مِن نُسورٍ وَأَعظُمِ

Ask Milouna about him, and what lies in its ravines

and on its twin peaks—vultures and bones—

لَيالِيَ باتَ الدينُ في غَيرِ قَبضَةٍ

وَزُلزِلَ في إيمانِهِ كُلُّ مُسلِمِ

on nights when the faith was held in no firm grasp,

and every Muslim was shaken in his faith.

وَقالَ أُناسٌ آخِرُ العَهدِ بِالمَلا

وَهَمَّت ظُنونٌ بِالتُراثِ المُقَسَّمِ

And some said, 'We have seen the last of the leaders,'

and conjectures turned to the partitioned inheritance.

فَأَطلَعَ لِلإِسلامِ وَالمُلكِ كَوكَباً

مِنَ النَصرِ في داجٍ مِنَ الشَكِّ مُظلِمِ

Then he raised for Islam and the kingdom a star

of victory in a pitch-dark night of doubt.

وَرُحنا نُباهي الشَرقَ وَالغَربَ عِزَّةً

وَكُنّا حَديثَ الشامِتِ المُتَرَحِّمِ

And we went forth vying with East and West in glory,

though we had been the talk of the gloating and the pitying.

مَفاخِرُ لِلتاريخِ تُحصى لِأَدهَمٍ

وَمَن يُقرِضِ التاريخَ يَربَح وَيَغنَمِ

Glorious deeds are recorded in history to Adham's credit,

and whoever lends to history profits and reaps rewards.

أَلا أَيُّها الساعونَ هَل لَبِسَ الصَفا

سَواداً وَقَد غَصَّ الوُرودُ بِزَمزَمِ

O you making the ritual walk, has al-Safa donned

black, while those coming to drink have choked on Zamzam's water?

وَهَل أَقبَلَ الرُكبانُ يَنعونَ خالِداً

إِلى كُلِّ رامٍ بِالجِمارِ وَمُحرِمِ

And have the riders come announcing Khalid's death

to every caster of ritual pebbles and pilgrim in ihram?

وَهَل مَسجِدٌ تَتلونَ فيهِ رِثاءَهُ

فَكَم قَد تَلَوتُم مَدحَهُ بِالتَرَنُّمِ

And is there a mosque where you recite his elegy?

For how often you have chanted his praise!

وَكانَ إِذا خاضَ الأَسِنَّةَ وَالظُبى

تَنَحَّت إِلى أَن يَعبُرَ الفارِسُ الكَمي

And when he waded among spearheads and sword-blades,

they drew aside until the armored knight had passed.

وَمَن يُعطَ في هَذي الدَنِيَّةِ فُسحَةً

يُعَمَّر وَإِن لاقى الحُروبَ وَيَسلَمِ

And whoever is granted a respite in this lowly world

lives long, even if he faces wars, and remains unharmed.

عَلِيٌّ أَبو الزَهراءِ داهِيَةُ الوَغى

دَهاهُ بِبابِ الدارِ سَيفُ اِبنِ مُلجَمِ

Ali, Abu al-Zahra, the master of battle,

was struck at the house's door by Ibn Muljam's sword.

فَروقُ اِضحَكي وَاِبكي فَخاراً وَلَوعَةً

وَقومي إِلى نَعشِ الفَقيدِ المُعَظَّمِ

Faruq, laugh and weep with pride and anguish,

and rise to the bier of the revered departed,

كَأُمِّ شَهيدٍ قَد أَتاها نَعيُّهُ

فَخَفَّت لَهُ بَينَ البُكا وَالتَبَسُّمِ

like a martyr's mother who received news of his death,

and so hastened to him between weeping and smiling.

وَخُطّي لَهُ بَينَ السَلاطينِ مَضجَعاً

وَقَبراً بِجَنبِ الفاتِحِ المُتَقَدِّمِ

And mark out for him a resting place among the sultans,

and a grave beside the Conqueror who went before.

بَخِلتِ عَلَيهِ في الحَياةِ بِمَوكِبٍ

فَتوبي إِلَيهِ في المَماتِ بِمَأتَمِ

You withheld a procession from him in life;

so make amends to him in death with a mourning assembly.

وَيا داءُ ما أَنصَفتَ إِذ رُعتَ صَدرَهُ

وَقَد كانَ فيهِ المُلكُ إِن ريعَ يَحتَمي

And O disease, you were unjust when you terrified his breast,

though the kingdom sought refuge there whenever it was alarmed.

وَيا أَيُّها الماشونَ حَولَ سَريرِهِ

أَحَطتُم بِتاريخٍ فَصيحِ التَكَلُّمِ

And O you walking around his bier,

you have surrounded a history that speaks eloquently.

وَيا مِصرُ مَن شَيَّعتِ أَعلى هَمامَةٍ

وَأَثبَتُ قَلباً مِن رَواسي المُقَطَّمِ

And O Egypt, he whom you escorted to burial was loftiest in resolve,

and firmer of heart than the immovable heights of al-Muqattam.

وَيا قَومُ هَذا مَن يُقامُ لِمِثلِهِ

مِثالٌ لِباغي قُدوَةٍ مُتَعَلِّمِ

And O people, this is one for whose like they erect

a statue for the learner seeking a model.

وَيا بَحرُ تَدري قَدرَ مَن أَنتَ حامِلٌ

وَيا أَرضُ صونيهِ وَيا رَبّي اِرحَمِ

And O sea, you know the worth of the one you bear;

and O earth, guard him; and O my Lord, have mercy.