أمن البحر صائغ عبقري — Ahmed Shawqi

أَمِنَ البَحرِ صائِغٌ عَبقَرِيٌّ

بِالرِمالِ النَواعِمِ البيضِ مُغرى

Is there a master goldsmith from the sea,

Enamored of the soft white sands?

طافَ تَحتَ الضُحى عَلَيهُنَّ وَالجَو

هَرُ في سوقِهِ يُباعُ وَيُشرى

He wandered over them beneath the morning sun, while gems

Were sold and bought in his market.

جِئنَهُ في مَعاصِمٍ وَنُحورٍ

فَكَسا مِعصَماً وَآخَرَ عَرّى

They came to him as wrists and necks,

So he clothed one wrist and bared another.

وَأَبى أَن يُقَلِّدَ الدُرَّ وَاليا

قوتَ نَحراً وَقَلَّدَ الماسَ نَحرا

And he refused to hang pearls and rubies

Around one neck, yet hung diamonds around another.

وَتَرى خاتماً وَراءَ بَنانٍ

وَبَناناً مِنَ الخَواتِمِ صِفرا

And you see a ring behind fingers,

And fingers bare of rings,

وَسِواراً يَزينُ زَندَ كَعابٍ

وَسِواراً مِن زَندِ حَسناءَ فَرّا

And a bracelet adorning a full-breasted maiden's wrist,

And a bracelet that fled a beauty's wrist.

وَتَرى الغيدَ لُؤلُؤاً ثَمَّ رَطباً

وَجُماناً حَوالِيَ الماءِ نَثرا

And you see the graceful maidens there as moist pearls,

And as pearl beads scattered around the water.

وَكَأَنَّ السَماءَ وَالماءَ شِقّا

صَدَفٍ حُمِّلا رَفيفاً وَدُرّا

And it is as though sky and water were two halves

Of a shell, both laden with shimmer and pearls.

وَكَأَنَّ السَماءَ وَالماءَ عُرسٌ

مُترَعُ المَهرَجانِ لَمحاً وَعِطرا

And it is as though sky and water were a wedding feast,

Its festival brimming with glitter and fragrance.

أَو رَبيعٌ مِن ريشَةِ الفَنِّ أَبهى

مِن رَبيعِ الرُبى وَأَفتَنُ زَهرا

Or a spring from art's brush, more radiant

Than the hills' spring, and more enchanting in bloom;

أَو تَهاويلُ شاعِرٍ عَبقَرِيٍّ

طارَحَ البَحرَ وَالطَبيعَةَ شِعرا

Or the wondrous visions of a poet of genius,

Who exchanged verse with the sea and nature.

يا سِوارَي فَيروزَجٍ وَلُجَينٍ

بِهِما حُلِّيَت مَعاصِمُ مِصرا

O two bracelets of turquoise and silver,

With which Egypt's wrists were adorned!

في شُعاعِ الضُحى يَعودانِ ماساً

وَعَلى لَمحَةِ الأَصائِلِ تِبرا

In the morning sunlight they turn to diamond,

And in the gleam of late afternoon, to gold.

وَمَشَت فيهِما النُجومُ فَكانَت

في حَواشِيهِما يَواقيتَ زُهرا

And the stars walked within them, becoming

Radiant rubies along their edges.

لَكَ في الأَرضِ مَوكِبٌ لَيسَ يَألو الر

ريحَ وَالطَيرَ وَالشَياطينَ حَشرا

You have a procession on earth that spares no effort

In mustering the wind, the birds, and the demons.

سِرتَ فيهِ عَلى كُنوزِ سُلَيما

نَ تَعُدُّ الخُطى اِختِيالاً وَكِبرا

You marched in it over Solomon's treasures,

Counting your steps in swagger and pride.

وَتَرَنَّمتَ في الرِكابِ فَقُلنا

راهِبٌ طافَ في الأَناجيلِ يَقرا

And you sang among the mounted company, and we said:

'A monk roaming through the Gospels, reading.'

هُوَ لَحنٌ مُضَيَّعٌ لا جَواباً

قَد عَرَفنا لَهُ وَلا مُستَقَرّا

It is a lost melody; no answer

Have we known for it, nor any resting place.

لَكَ في طَيِّهِ حَديثُ غَرامٍ

ظَلَّ في خاطِرِ المُلَحِّنِ سِرّا

Within its folds is a tale of love for you,

That remained a secret in the composer's mind.

قَد بَعَثنا تَحِيَّةً وَثَناءً

لَكَ يا أَرفَعَ الزَواخِرِ ذِكرا

We have sent a greeting and praise

To you, O most renowned of surging seas.

وَغَشيناكَ ساعَةً تَنبُشُ الما

ضِيَ نَبشاً وَتَقتُلُ الأَمسَ فِكرا

And we visited you for an hour, as you dug up the past,

Digging deep, and dissecting yesterday in thought.

وَفَتَحنا القَديمَ فيكَ كِتاباً

وَقَرَأنا الكِتابَ سَطراً فَسَطرا

And in you we opened antiquity as a book,

And read the book line after line.

وَنَشَرنا مِن طَيِّهِنَّ اللَيالي

فَلَمَحنا مِنَ الحَضارَةِ فَجرا

And from their folds we unfolded the nights,

And glimpsed a dawn of civilization.

وَرَأَينا مِصراً تُعَلِّمُ يونا

نَ وَيونانَ تَقبِسُ العِلمَ مِصرا

And we saw Egypt teaching Greece,

And Greece drawing knowledge from Egypt.

تِلكَ تَأتيكَ بِالبَيانِ نَبِيّاً

عَبقَرِيّاً وَتِلكَ بِالفَنِّ سِحرا

One comes to you with eloquence, as a prophet

Of genius; the other, with art, as enchantment.

وَرَأَينا المَنارَ في مَطلَعِ النَج

مِ عَلى بَرقِهِ المُلَمَّحِ يُسرى

And we saw the lighthouse at the star's rising,

By its glimmering flash, one journeys through the night.

شاطِئٌ مِثلُ رُقعَةِ الخُلدِ حُسناً

وَأَديمِ الشَبابِ طيباً وَبِشرا

A shore as lovely as a patch of Paradise,

And as fresh and radiant as the skin of youth.

جَرَّ فَيروزَجاً عَلى فِضَّةِ الما

ءِ وَجَرَّ الأَصيلُ وَالصُبحُ تِبرا

It trailed turquoise over the water's silver,

And late afternoon and dawn trailed gold.

كُلَّما جِئتَهُ تَهَلَّلَ بِشراً

مِن جَميعِ الجِهاتِ وَاِفتَرَّ ثَغرا

Whenever you come to it, it beams with joy

From every side, and parts its lips in a smile.

اِنثَنى مَوجَةً وَأَقبَلَ يُرخي

كِلَّةً تارَةً وَيَرفَعُ سِترا

It curved into a wave and came forward, lowering

A gauzy veil at times, and raising a curtain.

شَبَّ وَاِنحَطَّ مِثلَ أَسرابِ طَيرٍ

ماضِياتٍ تَلُفُّ بِالسَهلِ وَعرا

It surged up and sank like flocks of birds

Flying onward, folding rugged ground into the plain.

رُبَّما جاءَ وَهدَةً فَتَرَدّى

في المَهاوي وَقامَ يَطفُرُ صَخرا

At times it came as a hollow, then tumbled

Into the chasms, and rose, leaping over rocks.

وَتَرى الرَملَ وَالقُصورَ كَأَيكٍ

رَكِبَ الوَكرُ في نَواحيهِ وَكرا

And you see al-Raml and the palaces like a grove,

With nest piled upon nest throughout its reaches.

وَتَرى جَوسَقاً يُزَيِّنُ رَوضاً

وَتَرى رَبوَةً تُزَيِّنُ مِصرا

And you see a pavilion adorning a garden,

And you see a hill adorning Egypt.

سَيِّدَ الماءِ كَم لَنا مِن صَلاحٍ

وَعَلِيٍّ وَراءَ مائِكَ ذِكرى

Lord of the water, how many memories we have of Salah

And Ali, beyond your waters!

كَم مَلَأناكَ بِالسَفينِ مَواقيـ

ـرَ كَشُمِّ الجِبالِ جُنداً وَوَفرا

How often we filled you with laden ships,

Like lofty mountains, with troops and plentiful stores.

شاكِياتِ السِلاحِ يَخرُجنَ مِن مِصـ

ـرٍ بِمَلومَةٍ وَيَدخُلنَ مِصرا

Bristling with weapons, they sail out of Egypt

With reproach, and sail into Egypt.

شارِعاتِ الجَناحِ في ثَبَجِ الما

ءِ كَنَسرٍ يَشُدُّ في السُحبِ نَسرا

With wings spread over the midst of the water,

Like an eagle attacking an eagle in the clouds.

وَكَأَنَّ اللُجاجَ حينَ تَنَزّى

وَتَسُدُّ الفِجاجَ كَرّاً وَفَرّا

And it is as though the deep waters, when they leap

And block the passages, charging and retreating,

أَجمٌ بَعضُهُ لِبَعضٍ عَدُوٌّ

زَحَفَت غابَةٌ لِتَمزيقِ أُخرى

Were thickets, each at enmity with the other:

One forest advanced to tear another apart.

قَذَفَت هَهُنا زَئيراً وَناباً

وَرَمَت هَهُنا عُواءٌ وَظُفرا

Here it hurled a roar and a fang,

And here it flung a howl and a claw.

أَنتَ تَغلي إِلى القِيامَةِ كَالقِد

رِ فَلا حَطَّ يَومُها لَكَ قِدرا

You boil like a cauldron until the Resurrection:

May its day never lower your standing!