قد كنت أوثر أن تقول رثائي — Ahmed Shawqi

قَد كُنتُ أوثِرُ أَن تَقولَ رِثائي

يا مُنصِفَ المَوتى مِنَ الأَحياءِ

I would have preferred that you recite my elegy,

O you who win the dead their due from the living.

لَكِن سَبَقتَ وَكُلُّ طولِ سَلامَةٍ

قَدَرٌ وَكُلُّ مَنِيَّةٍ بِقَضاءِ

But you went first; every length of life

Is allotted, and every death decreed.

الحَقُّ نادى فَاِستَجَبتَ وَلَم تَزَل

بِالحَقِّ تَحفِلُ عِندَ كُلِّ نِداءِ

Truth called, and you answered; you never ceased

To heed truth at every summons.

وَأَتَيتَ صَحراءَ الإِمامِ تَذوبُ مِن

طولِ الحَنينِ لِساكِنِ الصَحراءِ

And you came to the Imam's desert, melting from

Long yearning for the dweller in that desert.

فَلَقيتُ في الدارِ الإِمامَ مُحَمَّداً

في زُمرَةِ الأَبرارِ وَالحُنَفاءِ

Then I met Imam Muhammad in that abode,

Among the righteous and the upright in faith.

أَثَرُ النَعيمِ عَلى كَريمِ جَبينِهِ

وَمَراشِدُ التَفسيرِ وَالإِفتاءِ

The mark of bliss upon his noble brow,

And the guidance of exegesis and religious rulings.

فَشَكَوتُما الشَوقَ القَديمَ وَذُقتُما

طيبَ التَداني بَعدَ طولِ تَنائي

Then you both lamented your old yearning, and tasted

The sweetness of nearness after long separation.

إِن كانَتِ الأُلى مَنازِلَ فِرقَةٍ

فَالسَمحَةُ الأُخرى دِيارُ لِقاءِ

If the first life held abodes of separation,

The gracious afterlife has dwellings of reunion.

وَدِدتُ لَو أَنّي فِداكَ مِنَ الرَدى

وَالكاذِبونَ المُرجِفونَ فِدائي

I wished I could be your ransom from death,

And the lying alarmists be my ransom:

الناطِقونَ عَنِ الضَغينَةِ وَالهَوى

الموغِرو المَوتى عَلى الأَحياءِ

Those speaking from malice and caprice,

Inciting the dead against the living;

مِن كُلِّ هَدّامٍ وَيَبني مَجدَهُ

بِكَرائِمِ الأَنقاضِ وَالأُشَلاءِ

Each a destroyer, yet building his glory

With precious ruins and severed limbs.

ما حَطَّموكَ وَإِنَّما بِكَ حُطِّموا

مَن ذا يُحَطِّمُ رَفرَفَ الجَوزاءِ

They did not shatter you; through you they were shattered.

Who can shatter Orion's canopy?

أُنظُرُهُ فَأَنتَ كَأَمسِ شَأنُكَ باذِخٌ

في الشَرقِ وَاِسمُكَ أَرفَعُ الأَسماءِ

Look at it: as yesterday, your stature is lofty

In the East, and your name the highest of names.

بِالأَمسِ قَد حَلَّيتَني بِقَصيدَةٍ

غَرّاءَ تَحفَظُ كَاليَدِ البَيضاءِ

Yesterday you adorned me with a poem,

Radiant, remembered like a white hand's favor.

غيظَ الحَسودُ لَها وَقُمتُ بِشُكرِها

وَكَما عَلِمتَ مَوَدَّتي وَوَفائي

It enraged the envious, and I offered thanks for it,

And my affection and fidelity were as you knew.

في مَحفَلٍ بَشَّرتُ آمالي بِهِ

لَمّا رَفَعتَ إِلى السَماءِ لِوائي

In a gathering with which I gladdened my hopes,

When you raised my banner to the sky.

يا مانِحَ السودانِ شَرخَ شَبابِهِ

وَوَلِيَّهُ في السِلمِ وَالهَيجاءِ

O you who gave Sudan the prime of your youth,

And were its guardian in peace and war,

لَمّا نَزَلتَ عَلى خَمائِلِهِ ثَوى

نَبعُ البَيانِ وَراءَ نَبعِ الماءِ

When you alighted upon its groves, there dwelt

The spring of eloquence beyond the spring of water.

قَلَّدتَهُ السَيفَ الحُسامَ وَزُدتَهُ

قَلَماً كَصَدرِ الصَعدَةِ السَمراءِ

You girded it with the keen-edged sword, and gave it besides

A pen like the point of a tawny spear.

قَلَمٌ جَرى الحِقَبَ الطِوالَ فَما جَرى

يَوماً بِفاحِشَةٍ وَلا بِهِجاءِ

A pen that ran through long ages, yet never ran

A single day with obscenity or invective.

يَكسو بِمِدحَتِهِ الكِرامَ جَلالَةً

وَيُشَيِّعُ المَوتى بِحُسنِ ثَناءِ

It clothes the noble in majesty through its praise,

And escorts the dead with gracious eulogy.

إِسكَندَرِيَّةُ يا عَروسَ الماءِ

وَخَميلَةَ الحُكَماءِ وَالشُعَراءِ

Alexandria, O bride of the waters,

And grove of sages and poets,

نَشَأَت بِشاطِئِكَ الفُنونُ جَميلَةً

وَتَرَعرَعَت بِسَمائِكِ الزَهراءِ

The arts grew beautiful upon your shore,

And flourished beneath your radiant sky.

جاءَتكِ كَالطَيرِ الكَريمِ غَرائِباً

فَجَمَعتِها كَالرَبوَةِ الغَنّاءِ

They came to you like noble birds, rare wonders,

And you gathered them like a verdant hill.

قَد جَمَّلوكِ فَصِرتِ زَنبَقَةَ الثَرى

لِلوافِدينَ وَدُرَّةَ الدَأماءِ

They adorned you, and you became the earth's lily

For those who came, and the pearl of the sea.

غَرَسوا رُباكِ عَلى خَمائِلِ بابِلٍ

وَبَنَوا قُصورَكِ في سَنا الحَمراءِ

They planted your hills in the manner of Babylon's groves,

And built your palaces in the radiance of the Alhambra.

وَاِستَحدَثوا طُرقاً مُنَوَّرَةَ الهُدى

كَسَبيلِ عيسى في فِجاجِ الماءِ

And made new roads radiant with guidance,

Like Jesus' path through the water's broad ways.

فَخُذي كَأَمسِ مِنَ الثَقافَةِ زينَةً

وَتَجَمَّلي بِشَبابِكِ النُجَباءِ

So take, as yesterday, adornment from culture,

And beautify yourself with your noble young people.

وَتَقَلَّدي لُغَةَ الكِتابِ فَإِنَّها

حَجَرُ البِناءِ وَعُدَّةُ الإِنشاءِ

And wear the language of the Book, for it is

The stone of building and the tools of creation.

بَنَتِ الحَضارَةَ مَرَّتَينِ وَمَهَّدَت

لِلمُلكِ في بَغدادَ وَالفَيحاءِ

It built civilization twice, and paved the way

For sovereignty in Baghdad and al-Fayha.

وَسَمَت بِقُرطُبَةَ وَمِصرَ فَحَلَّتا

بَينَ المَمالِكِ ذِروَةَ العَلياءِ

And exalted Cordoba and Egypt, till both attained

The summit of glory among kingdoms.

ماذا حَشَدتِ مِنَ الدُموع لِحافِظٍ

وَذَخَرتِ مِن حُزنٍ لَهُ وَبُكاءِ

How many tears you gathered for Hafiz,

And what grief and weeping you stored for him!

وَوَجدتِ مِن وَقعِ البَلاءِ بِفَقدِهِ

إِنَّ البَلاءَ مَصارِعُ العُظَماءِ

And what blows of calamity you felt at losing him!

Calamity indeed is the deaths of the great.

اللَهُ يَشهَدُ قَد وَفيتِ سَخِيَّةً

بِالدَمعِ غَيرَ بَخيلَةِ الخُطَباءِ

God is witness: you fulfilled your duty, generous

With tears, and sparing none of your orators.

وَأَخَذتِ قِسطاً مِن مَناحَةِ ماجِدٍ

جَمِّ المَآثِرِ طَيِّبِ الأَنباءِ

And took your share in mourning a noble man,

Rich in great deeds, of good repute.

هَتَفَ الرُواةُ الحاضِرونَ بِشِعرِهِ

وَحَذا بِهِ البادونَ في البَيداءِ

The town-dwelling reciters chanted his verse,

And the nomads followed it in the wilderness.

لُبنانُ يَبكيهِ وَتَبكي الضادُ مِن

حَلَبٍ إِلى الفَيحاءِ إِلى صَنعاءِ

Lebanon weeps for him, and the letter Ḍād weeps, from

Aleppo to al-Fayha, to Sana'a.

عَرَبُ الوَفاءِ وَفَوا بِذِمَّةِ شاعِرٍ

باني الصُفوفِ مُؤَلَّفِ الأَجزاءِ

The faithful Arabs honored their pledge to a poet,

A builder of ranks, a uniter of their parts.

يا حافِظَ الفُصحى وَحارِسَ مَجدِها

وَإِمامَ مَن نَجَلَت مِنَ البُلَغاءِ

O preserver of classical Arabic, guardian of its glory,

And leader of the eloquent whom it has borne,

ما زِلتَ تَهتِفُ بِالقَديمِ وَفَضلِهِ

حَتّى حَمَيتَ أَمانَةَ القُدَماءِ

You never ceased acclaiming the old and its excellence,

Until you safeguarded the trust of the ancients.

جَدَّدتَ أُسلوبَ الوَليدِ وَلَفظِهِ

وَأَتَيتَ لِلدُنيا بِسِحرِ الطاءِ

You renewed al-Walid's style and his diction,

And brought the world the magic of al-Ta'i.

وَجَرَيتَ في طَلَبِ الجَديدِ إِلى المَدى

حَتّى اِقتَرَنتَ بِصاحِبِ البُؤَساءِ

And pursued the new to the farthest reach,

Until you stood beside the author of Les Misérables.

ماذا وَراءَ المَوتِ مِن سَلوى وَمِن

دَعَةٍ وَمِن كَرَمٍ وَمِن إِغضاءِ

What lies beyond death of solace, and of

Ease, and generosity, and forbearance?

اِشرَح حَقائِقَ ما رَأَيتَ وَلَم تَزَل

أَهلاً لِشَرحِ حَقائِقِ الأَشياءِ

Explain the truths of what you saw; you have always been

Worthy to explain the truths of things.

رُتَبُ الشَجاعَةِ في الرِجالِ جَلائِلٌ

وَأَجَلُّهُنَّ شَجاعَةُ الآراءِ

The degrees of courage in men are great,

And greatest of all is courage in one's views.

كَم ضِقتَ ذَرعاً بِالحَياةِ وَكَيدِها

وَهَتفتَ بِالشَكوى مِنَ الضَرّاءِ

How often you could not bear life and its scheming,

And cried out in complaint against adversity!

فَهَلُمَّ فارِق يَأسَ نَفسِكَ ساعَةً

وَاِطلُع عَلى الوادي شُعاعَ رَجاءِ

Come, then: leave your soul's despair for an hour,

And rise over the valley as a ray of hope.

وَأَشِر إِلى الدُنيا بِوَجهٍ ضاحِكٍ

خُلِقَت أَسِرَّتُهُ مِنَ السَرّاءِ

And signal to the world with a smiling face,

Whose features were fashioned from happiness.

يا طالَما مَلَأَ النَدِيَّ بَشاشَةً

وَهَدى إِلَيكَ حَوائِجَ الفُقَراءِ

Ah, how often it filled the gathering with cheer,

And brought the poor's petitions to you.

اليَومَ هادَنتَ الحَوادِثَ فَاِطَّرِح

عِبءَ السِنينِ وَأَلقِ عِبءَ الداءِ

Today you have made peace with misfortunes; lay down

The burden of years, and cast off the burden of illness.

خَلَّفتَ في الدُنيا بَياناً خالِداً

وَتَرَكتَ أَجيالاً مِنَ الأَبناءِ

You left immortal eloquence in the world,

And generations of sons behind.

وَغَداً سَيَذكُرُكَ الزَمانُ وَلَم يَزَل

لِلدَهرِ إِنصافٌ وَحُسنُ جَزاءِ

And tomorrow time will remember you; there has always been

Justice in the ages, and fair recompense.