الله يحكم في المدائن والقرى — Ahmed Shawqi

اللَهُ يَحكُمُ في المَدائِنِ وَالقُرى

يا ميتَ غَمرَ خُذي القَضاءَ كَما جَرى

God rules over cities and villages.

O Mit Ghamr, accept fate as it has unfolded.

ما جَلَّ خَطبٌ ثُمَّ قيسَ بِغَيرِهِ

إِلّا وَهَوَّنَهُ القِياسُ وَصَغَّرا

No calamity, however grave, was compared with another

but comparison eased it and made it smaller.

فَسَلي عَمورَةَ أَو سدونَ تَأَسِّياً

أَو مَرتَنيقَ غَداةَ وُورِيَتِ الثَرى

So ask Gomorrah or Sadun, seeking consolation,

or Martinique, the morning it was buried in the earth.

مُدنٌ لَقينَ مِنَ القَضاءِ وَنارِهِ

شَرَراً بِجَنبِ نَصيبِها مُستَصغَرا

Cities that received from fate and its fire

mere sparks, deemed small beside her share.

هَذي طُلولُكِ أَنفُساً وَحِجارَةً

هَل كُنتِ رُكناً مِن جَهَنَّمَ مُسعَرا

These are your ruins, souls and stones.

Were you a blazing corner of Hell?

قَد جِئتُ أَبكيها وَآخُذُ عِبرَةً

فَوَقَفتُ مُعتَبِراً بِها مُستَعبِرا

I have come to weep over them and learn a lesson;

so I stood, taking warning from them and shedding tears.

أَجِدُ الحَياةَ حَياةَ دَهرٍ ساعَةً

وَأَرى النَعيمَ نَعيمَ عُمرٍ مُقصِرا

I find life—a whole age's life—a single hour,

and see bliss—a lifetime's bliss—falling short.

وَأَعُدُّ مِن حَزمِ الأُمورِ وَعَزمِها

لِلنَفسِ أَن تَرضى وَأَلّا تَضجَرا

And I count it prudence and resolve in affairs

for the soul to be content and not grow fretful.

ما زِلتُ أَسمَعُ بِالشَقاءِ رِوايَةً

حَتّى رَأَيتُ بِكِ الشَقاءَ مُصَوَّرا

I had always heard of misery only through accounts,

until in you I saw misery embodied.

فَعَلَ الزَمانُ بِشَملِ أَهلِكِ فِعلَهُ

بِبَني أُمَيَّةَ أَو قَرابَةِ جَعفَرا

Time dealt with your people's unity as it dealt

with the sons of Umayya or Ja'far's kin.

بِالأَمسِ قَد سَكَنوا الدِيارَ فَأَصبَحوا

لا يَنظُرونَ وَلا مَساكِنُهُم تُرى

Yesterday they dwelt in their homes; now

they see no more, nor can their dwellings be seen.

فَإِذا لَقيتَ لَقيتَ حَيّاً بائِساً

وَإِذا رَأَيتَ رَأَيتَ مَيتاً مُنكَرا

Whenever you meet someone, you meet a wretched living soul;

whenever you look, you see an unrecognizable corpse.

وَالأُمَّهاتُ بِغَيرِ صَبرٍ هَذِهِ

تَبكي الصَغيرَ وَتِلكَ تَبكي الأَصغَرا

And the mothers, bereft of patience—this one

weeps for her little child, and that one for one still smaller.

مِن كُلِّ مودِعَةِ الطُلولِ دُموعَها

مِن أَجلِ طِفلٍ في الطُلولِ اِستَأخَرا

Each entrusting her tears to the ruins

for a child left behind amid the ruins.

كانَت تُؤَمِّلُ أَن تَطولَ حَياتُهُ

وَاليَومَ تَسأَلُ أَن يَعودَ فَيُقبَرا

She had hoped that his life would be long;

today she asks that he return to be buried.

طَلَعَت عَلَيكِ النارُ طَلعَةَ شُؤمِها

فَمَحَتكِ آساساً وَغَيَّرَتِ الذُرا

Fire rose upon you with its ill-omened rising,

so it erased you, foundations and all, and altered your heights.

مَلَكَت جِهاتِكِ لَيلَةً وَنَهارَها

حَمراءَ يَبدو المَوتُ مِنها أَحمَرا

It seized your quarters for a night and its day,

crimson, with death appearing crimson through it.

لا تَرهَبُ الطوفانَ في طُغيانِها

لَو قابَلَتهُ وَلا تَهابُ الأَبحُرا

In its raging it fears no deluge,

were it to face one, nor does it fear the seas.

لَو أَنَّ نيرونُ الجَمادَ فُؤادُهُ

يُدعى لِيَنظُرَها لَعافَ المَنظَرا

Were Nero, whose heart was lifeless stone,

called to behold it, he would loathe the sight.

أَو أَنَّهُ اِبتُلِيَ الخَليلُ بِمِثلِها

أَستَغفِرُ الرَحمَنَ وَلّى مُدبِرا

Or had God's Friend been tried by its like—

I seek the Most Merciful's forgiveness—he would have turned and fled.

أَو أَنَّ سَيلاً عاصِمٌ مِن شَرِّها

عَصَمَ الدِيارَ مِنَ المَدامِعِ ما جَرى

Or if a torrent could shield against its evil,

the tears that flowed would have saved the homes.

أَمسى بِها كُلُّ البُيوتِ مُبَوَّباً

وَمُطَنَّباً وَمُسَيَّجاً وَمُسَوَّرا

Through it, every house became gated,

and secured with ropes, fenced, and walled.

أَسَرَتهُمو وَتَمَلَّكَت طُرُقاتِهِم

مَن فَرَّ لَم يَجِدِ الطَريقَ مُيَسَّرا

It captured them and seized their roads;

whoever fled found no easy road.

خَفَّت عَلَيهِم يَومَ ذَلِكَ مَورِداً

وَأَضَلَّهُم قَدَرٌ فَضَّلوا المَصدَرا

That day it was easy for them to enter,

and fate misled them, so they lost the way out.

حَيثُ اِلتَفَتَّ تَرى الطَريقَ كَأَنَّها

ساحاتُ حاتِمَ غِبَّ نيرانِ القِرى

Wherever you turn, you see the road as though it were

Hatim's courtyards after the fires of hospitality.

وَتَرى الدَعائِمَ في السَوادِ كَهَيكَلٍ

خَمَدَت بِهِ نارُ المَجوسِ وَأَقفَرا

And you see the pillars in the blackness like a temple

where the Magi's fire has died, leaving it deserted.

وَتَشَمُّ رائِحَةَ الرُفاتِ كَريهَةً

وَتَشَمُّ مِنها الثاكِلاتُ العَنبَرا

You smell the foul odor of mortal remains,

yet bereaved mothers smell ambergris in it.

كَثُرَت عَلَيها الطَيرُ في حَوماتِها

يا طَيرُ كُلُّ الصَيدِ في جَوفِ الفَرا

Birds have gathered thick above it in their circling flights.

O birds, all the game is in the wild ass's belly!

هَل تَأمَنينَ طَوارِقَ الأَحداثِ أَن

تَغشى عَلَيكِ الوَكرَ في سِنَةِ الكَرى

Are you safe from sudden calamities that might

invade your nest in the drowsiness of sleep?

وَالناسُ مِن داني القُرى وَبَعيدِها

تَأتي لِتَمشِيَ في الطُلولِ وَتَخبُرا

And people from villages near and far

come to walk among the ruins and learn.

يَتَساءَلونَ عَنِ الحَريقِ وَهَولِهِ

وَأَرى الفَرائِسَ بِالتَساؤُلِ أَجدَرا

They ask about the fire and its terror,

yet I deem its victims worthier of inquiry.

يا رَبِّ قَد خَمَدَت وَلَيسَ سِواكَ مَن

يُطفي القُلوبَ المُشعَلاتِ تَحَسُّرا

O Lord, it has died out, and none but You

can quench the hearts set ablaze with grief.

فَتَحوا اِكتِتاباً لِلإِعانَةِ فَاِكتَتِب

بِالصَبرِ فَهوَ بِمالِهِم لا يُشتَرى

They have opened a relief subscription; contribute, then,

patience, for their money cannot buy it.

إِن لَم تَكُن لِلبائِسينَ فَمَن لَهُم

أَو لَم تَكُن لِلّاجِئينَ فَمَن تَرى

If You are not there for the wretched, who is there for them?

Or if You are not there for the refugees, who else could be?

فَتَوَلَّ جَمعاً في اليَبابِ مُشَتَّتاً

وَاِرحَم رَميماً في التُرابِ مُبَعثَرا

So care for a throng scattered in the wasteland,

and have mercy on decayed remains strewn in the dust.

فَعَلَت بِمِصرَ النارُ ما لَم تَأتِهِ

آياتُكَ السَبعُ القَديمَةُ في الوَرى

Fire has done to Egypt what was never wrought

among humankind by Your seven ancient signs.

أَوَ ما تَراها في البِلادِ كَقاهِرٍ

في كُلِّ ناحِيَةٍ يُسَيِّرُ عَسكَرا

Do You not see it in the land like a conqueror

sending an army into every quarter?

فَاِدفَع قَضاءَكَ أَو فَصَيِّر نارَهُ

بَرداً وَخُذ بِاللُطفِ فيما قُدِّرا

So avert Your decree, or turn its fire

to coolness, and deal gently in what has been decreed.

مُدّوا الأَكُفَّ سَخِيَّةً وَاِستَغفِري

يا أُمَّةً قَد آنَ أَن تَستَغفِرا

Stretch out generous hands, and seek forgiveness,

O nation, whose time has come to seek forgiveness.

أَولى بِعَطفِ الموسِرينَ وَبِرِّهِم

مَن كانَ مِثلَهُمو فَأَصبَحَ مُعسِرا

Most deserving of the wealthy's compassion and kindness

is one who was like them, then fell into hardship.

يا أَيُّها السُجَناءُ في أَموالِهِم

أَأَمِنتُمو الأَيّامَ أَن تَتَغَيَّرا

O you imprisoned within your wealth,

do you trust the days not to change?

لا يَملكُ الإِنسانُ مِن أَحوالِهِ

ما تَملكُ الأَقدارُ مَهما قَدَّرا

No human being controls his circumstances

as fate does, however much he plans.

لا يُبطِرَنَّكَ مِن حَريرٍ مَوطِئٌ

فَلَرُبَّ ماشٍ في الحَريرِ تَعَثَّرا

Let no silk beneath your feet make you arrogant;

for many a man walking in silk has stumbled.

وَإِذا الزَمانُ تَنَكَّرَت أَحداثُهُ

لِأَخيكَ فَاِذكُرهُ عَسى أَن تُذكَرا

And when time's events turn hostile

to your brother, remember him; perhaps you too will be remembered.