تولستوي تجري آية العلم دمعها — Ahmed Shawqi

تولُستويُ تُجري آيَةُ العِلمِ دَمعَها

عَلَيكَ وَيَبكي بائِسٌ وَفَقيرُ

Tolstoy, the marvel of learning lets her tears flow

for you, and a wretched man and a poor man weep.

وَشَعبٌ ضَعيفُ الرُكنِ زالَ نَصيرُهُ

وَما كُلُّ يَومٍ لِلضَعيفِ نَصيرُ

And a people, weak in support, whose champion is gone;

not every day does the weak find a champion.

وَيَندُبُ فَلّاحونَ أَنتَ مَنارُهُم

وَأَنتَ سِراجٌ غَيَّبوهُ مُنيرُ

Peasants lament you; you are their beacon,

and you are a shining lamp they have hidden away.

يُعانونَ في الأَكواخِ ظُلماً وَظُلمَةً

وَلا يَملُكونَ البَثَّ وَهوَ يَسيرُ

They suffer injustice and darkness in their huts,

and cannot voice their grief, though it is easy.

تَطوفُ كَعيسى بِالحَنانِ وَبِالرِضى

عَلَيهِم وَتَغشى دورَهُم وَتَزورُ

You go about, like Jesus, with tenderness and goodwill,

among them, frequenting their homes and visiting.

وَيَأسى عَلَيكَ الدينُ إِذ لَكَ لُبُّهُ

وَلِلخادِمينَ الناقِمينَ قُشورُ

Religion grieves for you, for its essence is yours,

while its resentful servants have only husks.

أَيَكفُرُ بِالإِنجيلِ مَن تِلكَ كُتبُهُ

أَناجيلُ مِنها مُنذِرٌ وَبَشيرُ

Can one disbelieve in the Gospel whose books are those—

gospels, some warning and some bringing good tidings?

وَيَبكيكَ إِلفٌ فَوقَ لَيلى نَدامَةً

غَداةَ مَشى بِالعامِرِيِّ سَريرُ

And a companion weeps for you in remorse surpassing Layla's,

the morning a bier bore al-Amiri away.

تَناوَلَ ناعيكَ البِلادَ كَأَنَّهُ

يَراعٌ لَهُ في راحَتَيكَ صَريرُ

Your death's herald reached the lands, as though he were

a reed pen scratching in your two hands.

وَقيلَ تَوَلّى الشَيخُ في الأَرضِ هائِماً

وَقيلَ بِدَيرِ الراهِباتِ أَسيرُ

They said the old man had departed, wandering the earth;

and they said he was a captive in a convent of nuns.

وَقيلَ قَضى لَم يُغنِ عَنهُ طَبيبُهُ

وَلِلطِبِّ مَن بَطشِ القَضاءِ عَذيرُ

And they said he had died; his doctor could not save him,

and medicine has an excuse in fate's fierce assault.

إِذ أَنتَ جاوَرتَ المَعَرِّيَّ في الثَرى

وَجاوَرِ رَضوى في التُرابِ ثَبيرُ

Now you have become al-Ma'arri's neighbor in the dust,

and Thabir has become Radwa's neighbor in the earth.

وَأَقبَلَ جَمعُ الخالِدينَ عَلَيكُما

وَغالى بِمِقدارِ النَظيرِ نَظيرُ

The company of immortals has come to meet you both,

and each peer has exalted his fellow's worth.

جَماجِمُ تَحتَ الأَرضِ عَطَّرَها شَذىً

جَناهُنَّ مِسكٌ فَوقَها وَعَبيرُ

Skulls beneath the earth, perfumed by sweet fragrance—

their harvest above it is musk and perfume.

بِهِنَّ يُباهي بَطنُ حَوّاءَ وَاِحتَوى

عَلَيهُنَّ بَطنُ الأَرضِ وَهوَ فَخورُ

In them Eve's womb takes pride, and

earth's womb has enfolded them, itself proud.

فَقُل يا حَكيمَ الدَهرِ حَدِّث عَنِ البِلى

فَأَنتَ عَليمٌ بِالأُمورِ خَبيرُ

So speak, O sage of the age; tell of decay,

for you are learned in affairs, well informed.

أَحَطتَ مِنَ المَوتى قَديماً وَحادِثاً

بِما لَم يُحَصِّل مُنكِرٌ وَنَكيرُ

Of the dead, ancient and recent, you have learned

what neither Munkar nor Nakir has ascertained.

طَوانا الَّذي يَطوي السَمَواتِ في غَدٍ

وَيَنشُرُ بَعدَ الطَيِّ وَهوَ قَديرُ

He who will fold the heavens tomorrow has folded us away,

and unfolds after folding—He is all-powerful.

تَقادَمَ عَهدانا عَلى المَوتِ وَاِستَوى

طَويلُ زَمانٍ في البِلى وَقَصيرُ

Our two sojourns in death have grown old, and equal are

a long span in decay and a short one.

كَأَن لَم تَضِق بِالأَمسِ عِنّى كَنيسَةٌ

وَلَم يُؤوِني دَيرٌ هُناكَ طَهورُ

As though no church had grown too narrow for me yesterday,

and no pure monastery there had sheltered me.

أَرى راحَةً بَينَ الجَنادِلِ وَالحَصى

وَكُلُّ فِراشٍ قَد أَراحَ وَثيرُ

I find repose among the boulders and the pebbles,

and every bed that gives repose is soft.

نَظَرنا بِنورِ المَوتِ كُلَّ حَقيقَةٍ

وَكُنّا كِلانا في الحَياةِ ضَريرُ

By death's light we have seen every truth,

though both of us were blind in life.

إِلَيكَ اِعتِرافي لا لِقَسٍَّ وَكاهِنٍ

وَنَجوايَ بَعدَ اللَهِ وَهوَ غَفورُ

To you is my confession, not to a priest or a cleric,

and my confidences, after God, who is forgiving.

فَزُهدُكَ لَم يُنكِرهُ في الأَرضِ عارِفٌ

وَلا مُتَعالٍ في السَماءِ كَبيرُ

No discerning person on earth denied your asceticism,

nor any exalted, mighty one in heaven.

بَيانٌ يُشَمُّ الوَحيُ مِن نَفَحاتِهِ

وَعِلمٌ كَعِلمِ الأَنبِياءِ غَزيرُ

Eloquence whose fragrant breaths carry revelation's scent,

and abundant knowledge, like the knowledge of prophets.

سَلَكتُ سَبيلَ المُترَفينَ وَلَذَّ لي

بَنونَ وَمالٌ وَالحَياةُ غُرورُ

I followed the path of those living in luxury, and delighted in

sons and wealth—yet life is a delusion.

أَداةُ شِتائي الدِفءُ في ظِلِّ شاهِقٍ

وَعُدَّةُ صَيفي جَنَّةٌ وَغَديرُ

My winter provision was warmth in a lofty building's shelter,

and my summer provision a garden and a pool.

وَمُتِّعتُ بِالدُنيا ثَمانينَ حِجَّةً

وَنَضَّرَ أَيّامي غِنىً وَحُبورُ

I was granted enjoyment of the world for eighty years,

and wealth and joy made my days bloom,

وَذِكرٌ كَضَوءِ الشَمسِ في كُلِّ بَلدَةٍ

وَلا حَظَّ مِثلُ الشَمسِ حينَ تَسيرُ

and fame like sunlight in every town—

no fortune is like the sun's when it travels.

فَما راعَني إِلّا عَذارى أَجَرنَني

وَرُبَّ ضَعيفٍ تَحتَمي فَيُجيرُ

Then nothing amazed me but maidens who gave me refuge;

and many a weak one gives refuge when you seek protection.

أَرَدتُ جِوارَ اللَهِ وَالعُمرُ مُنقَضٍ

وَجاوَرتُهُ في العُمرِ وَهوَ نَضيرُ

I sought God's nearness when life was ending,

though I had dwelt near Him while life was fresh.

صِباً وَنَعيمٌ بَينَ أَهلٍ وَمَوطِنٍ

وَلَذّاتُ دُنيا كُلُّ ذاكَ نَزورُ

Youth and bliss among family and homeland,

and worldly pleasures—all that is scant.

بِهِنَّ وَما يَدرينَ ما الذَنبُ خَشيَةٌ

وَمِن عَجَبٍ تَخشى الخَطيئَةَ حورُ

Fear dwells in them, though they do not know what sin is;

how strange that houris should fear transgression!

أَوانِسُ في داجٍ مِنَ اللَيلِ موحِشٍ

وَلِلَّهِ أُنسٌ في القُلوبِ وَنورُ

Gentle maidens amid the night's desolate darkness,

and God's comfort and light dwell in their hearts.

وَأَشبَهُ طُهرٍ في النِساءِ بِمَريَمٍ

فَتاةٌ عَلى نَهجِ المَسيحِ تَسيرُ

And the woman most like Mary in purity

is a maiden walking in the path of Christ.

تُسائِلُني هَل غَيَّرَ الناسُ ما بِهِم

وَهَل حَدَثَت غَيرَ الأُمورِ أُمورُ

You ask me: have people changed what is within them?

And have new affairs arisen unlike the old?

وَهَل آثَرَ الإِحسانَ وَالرِفقَ عالَمٌ

دَواعي الأَذى وَالشَرِّ فيهِ كَثيرُ

And has a world chosen kindness and gentleness,

where the impulses to harm and evil are many?

وَهَل سَلَكوا سُبلَ المَحَبَّةِ بَينَهُم

كَما يَتَصافى أُسرَةٌ وَعَشيرُ

And have they walked the paths of mutual love,

as family and kin cherish one another?

وَهَل آنَ مِن أَهلِ الكِتابِ تَسامُحٌ

خَليقٌ بِآدابِ الكِتابِ جَديرُ

And has tolerance at last come from the People of the Book,

befitting, and worthy of, the Book's teachings?

وَهَل عالَجَ الأَحياءُ بُؤساً وَشِقوَةً

وَقَلَّ فَسادٌ بَينَهُم وَشُرورُ

And have the living remedied misery and wretchedness,

and have corruption and evils among them lessened?

قُمِ اِنظُر وَأَنتَ المالِئُ الأَرضَ حِكمَةً

أَأَجدى نَظيمٌ أَم أَفادَ نَثيرُ

Rise and see—you who fill the earth with wisdom—

has verse availed, or has prose done any good?

أُناسٌ كَما تَدري وَدُنيا بِحالِها

وَدَهرٌ رَخِيٌّ تارَةً وَعَسيرُ

People are as you know them, and the world is unchanged,

and time is sometimes easy, sometimes hard.

وَأَحوالُ خَلقٍ غابِرٍ مُتَجَدِّدٍ

تَشابَهَ فيها أَوَّلٌ وَأَخيرُ

And the fortunes of humankind, passing and ever renewed—

in them the first and the last are alike.

تَمُرُّ تِباعاً في الحَياةِ كَأَنَّها

مَلاعِبُ لا تُرخى لَهُنَّ سُتورُ

They pass in succession through life, as though they were

stages whose curtains are never lowered.

وَحِرصٌ عَلى الدُنيا وَمَيلٌ مَعَ الهَوى

وَغِشٌّ وَإِفكٌ في الحَياةِ وَزورُ

And greed for the world, and a leaning toward desire,

and deceit and lies in life, and falsehood.

وَقامَ مَقامَ الفَردِ في كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ

عَلى الحُكمِ جَمٌّ يَستَبِدُّ غَفيرُ

And in every nation, a single man has been replaced

in power by a vast multitude that rules despotically.

وَحُوِّرَ قَولُ الناسِ مَولىً وَعَبدُهُ

إِلى قَولِهِم مُستَأجِرٌ وَأَجيرُ

And people's words, 'a master and his slave,' were recast

as their words, 'an employer and a hired worker.'

وَأَضحى نُفوذُ المالِ لا أَمرَ في الوَرى

وَلا نَهيَ إِلّا ما يَرى وَيُشيرُ

And money's power is now such that no command among mortals

or prohibition holds except what it decides and directs.

تُساسُ حُكوماتٌ بِهِ وَمَمالِكٌ

وَيُذعِنُ أَقيالٌ لَهُ وَصُدورُ

Governments and kingdoms are governed by it,

and princes and dignitaries submit to it.

وَعَصرٌ بَنوهُ في السِلاحِ وَحِرصُهُ

عَلى السِلمِ يُجري ذِكرَهُ وَيُديرُ

And an age whose sons are under arms, while its zeal

for peace keeps talk of it endlessly circulating.

وَمِن عَجَبٍ في ظِلِّها وَهوَ وارِفٌ

يُصادِفُ شَعباً آمِناً فَيُغيرُ

And strangely, beneath its broad-spreading shade,

it meets a people living in safety, then raids them.

وَيَأخُذُ مِن قوتِ الفَقيرِ وَكَسبِهِ

وَيُؤوي جُيوشاً كَالحَصى وَيَميرُ

It takes from the poor man's sustenance and earnings,

and shelters and supplies armies countless as pebbles.

وَلَمّا اِستَقَلَّ البَرَّ وَالبَحرَ مَذهَباً

تَعَلَّقَ أَسبابَ السَماءِ يَطيرُ

And when it deemed land and sea too small for its course,

it clung to the cords of heaven and flew.