أنا من بدل بالكتب الصحابا — Ahmed Shawqi

أَنا مَن بَدَّلَ بِالكُتبِ الصِحابا

لَم أَجِد لي وافِياً إِلّا الكِتابا

I am the one who traded companions for books.

I found no faithful friend for myself except a book.

صاحِبٌ إِن عِبتَهُ أَو لَم تَعِب

لَيسَ بِالواجِدِ لِلصاحِبِ عابا

A companion: whether you fault it or not,

It never finds a fault in its companion.

كُلَّما أَخلَقتُهُ جَدَّدَني

وَكَساني مِن حِلى الفَضلِ ثِيابا

Whenever I wore it out, it renewed me,

And clothed me in robes adorned with virtue.

صُحبَةٌ لَم أَشكُ مِنها ريبَةً

وَوِدادٌ لَم يُكَلِّفني عِتابا

A companionship that gave me no misgivings,

And an affection that never cost me reproach.

رُبَّ لَيلٍ لَم نُقَصِّر فيهِ عَن

سَمَرٍ طالَ عَلى الصَمتِ وَطابا

Many a night we never stinted on

Conversation that lingered in silence and was sweet.

كانَ مِن هَمِّ نَهاري راحَتي

وَنَدامايَ وَنَقلِيَ وَالشَرابا

It was my respite from the cares of my day,

And my boon companions, my refreshments, and my drink.

إِن يَجِدني يَتَحَدَّث أَو يَجِد

مَلَلاً يَطوي الأَحاديثَ اِقتِضابا

If it finds me, it speaks; or if it finds

Boredom, it folds away its tales, cutting them short.

تَجِدُ الكُتبَ عَلى النَقدِ كَما

تَجِدُ الإِخوانَ صِدقاً وَكِذابا

Under scrutiny, you find books just as

You find friends: truthful and false.

فَتَخَيَّرها كَما تَختارُهُ

وَاِدَّخِر في الصَحبِ وَالكُتبِ اللُبابا

So choose them as you choose a friend,

And treasure the choicest among companions and books.

صالِحُ الإِخوانِ يَبغيكَ التُقى

وَرَشيدُ الكُتبِ يَبغيكَ الصَوابا

A virtuous friend seeks piety for you,

And a wise book seeks what is right for you.

غالِ بِالتاريخِ وَاِجعَل صُحفَهُ

مِن كِتابِ اللَهِ في الإِجلالِ قابا

Prize history highly, and place its pages

A span from God's Book in reverence.

قَلِّبِ الإِنجيلَ وَاِنظُر في الهُدى

تَلقَ لِلتاريخِ وَزناً وَحِسابا

Leaf through the Gospel and look into guidance;

You will find history given weight and regard.

رُبَّ مَن سافَرَ في أَسفارِهِ

بِلَيالي الدَهرِ وَالأَيّامِ آبا

Many a one who journeyed through its volumes

Returned bearing time's nights and days.

وَاِطلُبِ الخُلدَ وَرُمهُ مَنزِلاً

تَجِدِ الخُلدَ مِنَ التاريخِ بابا

Seek immortality, and aim to make it your dwelling;

You will find in history a door to immortality.

عاشَ خَلقٌ وَمَضَوا ما نَقَصوا

رُقعَةَ الأَرضِ وَلا زادوا التُرابا

Multitudes lived and passed away; they neither diminished

Earth's expanse nor added to its dust.

أَخَذَ التاريخُ مِمّا تَرَكوا

عَمَلاً أَحسَنَ أَو قَولاً أَصابا

History took from what they left behind

A deed done well or a word that hit the mark.

وَمِنَ الإِحسانِ أَو مِن ضِدِّهِ

نَجَحَ الراغِبُ في الذِكرِ وَخابا

Through goodness or its opposite,

The seeker of remembrance met success and failure.

مَثَلُ القَومِ نَسوا تاريخَهُم

كَلَقيطٍ عَيَّ في الناسِ اِنتِسابا

A people who forgot their history are like

A foundling unable to claim a lineage among others,

أَو كَمَغلوبٍ عَلى ذاكِرَةٍ

يَشتَكي مِن صِلَةِ الماضي اِنقِضابا

Or one deprived of memory,

Lamenting a severed connection with the past.

يا أَبا الحُفّاظِ قَد بَلَّغتَنا

طِلبَةً بَلَّغَكَ اللَهُ الرِغابا

O Abu al-Huffaz, you have fulfilled for us

A wish—may God fulfill your desires.

لَكَ في الفَتحِ وَفي أَحداثِهِ

فَتَحَ اللَهُ حَديثاً وَخِطابا

For you, in the conquest and its events,

God has opened up narrative and discourse.

مَن يُطالِعهُ وَيَستَأنِس بِهِ

يَجِدُ الجِدَّ وَلا يَعدَم دِعابا

Whoever reads it and enjoys its company

Finds seriousness, yet does not lack humor.

صُحُفٌ أَلَّفَتها في شِدَّةٍ

يَتَلاشى دونَها الفِكرُ اِنتِهابا

Pages you composed amid hardship

Before which thought dissolves, ravaged.

لُغَةُ الكامِلِ في اِستِرسالِهِ

وَاِبنُ خَلدونَ إِذا صَحَّ وَصابا

Al-Kamil's language in its fluent ease,

And Ibn Khaldun's, when he is sound and on the mark.

إِنَّ لِلفُصحى زِماماً وَيَداً

تَجنِبُ السَهلَ وَتَقتادُ الصَعابا

Indeed, Classical Arabic has reins and a hand

That lead the docile alongside and draw the unruly along.

لُغَةُ الذِكرِ لِسانُ المُجتَبى

كَيفَ تَعيا بِالمُنادينَ جَوابا

The language of the Revelation, the tongue of the Chosen One—

How could she fail to answer those who call?

كُلُّ عَصرٍ دارُها إِن صادَفَت

مَنزِلاً رَحباً وَأَهلاً وَجَنابا

Every age is her home, if she finds

A spacious dwelling, a household, and a haven.

إِئتِ بِالعُمرانِ رَوضاً يانِعاً

وَاِدعُها تَجرِ يَنابيعَ عِذابا

Bring civilization forth as a flourishing garden,

And summon her to flow as sweet springs.

لا تَجِئها بِالمَتاعِ المُقتَنى

سَرَقاً مِن كُلِّ قَومٍ وَنِهابا

Do not approach her with possessions acquired

As theft and plunder from every people.

سَل بِها أَندَلُساً هَل قَصَّرَت

دونَ مِضمارِ العُلى حينَ أَهابا

Ask al-Andalus about her: did she fall short

Of greatness's racecourse when it called?

غُرِسَت في كُلِّ تُربٍ أَعجَمٍ

فَزَكَت أَصلاً كَما طابَت نِصابا

She was planted in every foreign soil,

And flourished at the root, as her stock was sound.

وَمَشَت مِشيَتَها لَم تَرتَكِب

غَيرَ رِجلَيها وَلَم تَحجِل غُرابا

She walked her own gait; she did not ride on

Any legs but her own, nor hop like a crow.

إِنَّ عَصراً قُمتَ تَجلوهُ لَنا

لَبِسَ الأَيّامَ دَجناً وَضَبابا

Indeed, the age you set about unveiling for us

Was clad through its days in gloom and fog.

المَماليكُ تَمَشّى ظُلمُهُم

ظُلُماتٍ كَدُجى اللَيلِ حِجابا

The Mamluks—their tyranny crept abroad,

As darkness, a veil like the gloom of night.

كُلُّهُم كافورُ أَو عَبدُ الخَنا

غَيرَ أَنَّ المُتَنَبّي عَنهُ خابا

Each was a Kafur, or a slave to depravity,

Except that al-Mutanabbi failed him.

وَلِكُلٍّ شيعَةٌ مِن جِنسِهِ

إِنَّ لِلشَرِّ إِلى الشَرِّ اِنجِذابا

And each had followers of his own kind;

Evil is indeed drawn toward evil.

ظُلُماتٌ لا تَرى في جُنحِها

غَيرَ هَذا الأَزهَرِ السَمحِ شِهابا

Darkness in whose cover you see

No bright flame but this gracious al-Azhar.

زيدَتِ الأَخلاقُ فيهِ حائِطاً

فَاِحتَمى فيها رِواقاً وَقِبابا

Virtues were added to it as a wall,

So its arcade and domes took shelter within them.

وَتَرى الأَعزالَ مِن أَشياخِهِ

صَيَّروهُ بِسِلاحِ الحَقِّ غابا

And you see the unarmed among its elders

Have made it a forest with the weapon of truth.

قَسَماً لَولاهُ لَم يَبقَ بِها

رَجُلٌ يَقرَأُ أَو يَدري الكِتابا

I swear: but for it, there would not have remained

A man there who could read or knew the Book.

حَفِظَ الدينَ مَلِيّاً وَمَضى

يُنقِذُ الدُنيا فَلَم يَملِك ذَهابا

It guarded religion for a long while, then went forth

To rescue the world, but could not advance.

أوذِيَت هَيبَتُهُ مِن عَجزِهِ

وَقُصارى عاجِزٍ أَن لا يُهابا

Its dignity was injured by its helplessness;

And the helpless end by inspiring no awe.

لَم تُغادِر قَلَماً في راحَةٍ

دَولَةٌ ما عَرَفَت إِلّا الحِرابا

No pen was left in any palm

By a state that knew nothing but spears.

أَقعَدَ اللَهُ الجَبرَتِيَّ لَها

قَلَماً عَن غائِبِ الأَقلامِ نابا

God appointed al-Jabarti for it,

A pen standing in for the absent pens.

خَبَّأَ الشَيخُ لَها في رُدنِهِ

مِرقَماً أَدهى مِنَ الصِلِّ اِنسِيابا

The shaykh concealed for it, within his sleeve,

A pen more cunning in its glide than an asp.

مَلِكٌ لَم يُغضِ عَن سَيِّئَةٍ

يا لَهُ مِن مَلَكٍ يَهوى السِبابا

A king who never overlooked a misdeed—

What an angel, enamored of invective!

لا يَراهُ الظُلمُ في كاهِلِهِ

وَهوَ يَكوي كاهِلَ الظُلمِ عِقابا

Tyranny does not see him upon its back,

While he brands tyranny's back in punishment.

صُحُفُ الشَيخِ وَيَومِيّاتُهُ

كَزَمانِ الشَيخِ سُقماً وَاِضطِرابا

The shaykh's pages and his diaries

Are like the shaykh's age in sickness and turmoil.

مِن حَواشٍ كَجَليدٍ لَم يَذُب

وَفُصولٍ تُشبِهُ التِبرَ المُذابا

With marginal notes like ice that never melted,

And chapters resembling molten gold.

وَالجَبَرتِيُّ عَلى فِطنَتِهِ

مَرَّةً يَغبى وَحيناً يَتَغابى

And al-Jabarti, despite his shrewdness,

Is sometimes obtuse, and sometimes feigns obtuseness.

مُنصِفٌ ما لَم يَرُض عاطِفَةً

أَو يُعالِجُ لِهَوى النَفسِ غِلابا

Impartial, unless he has an emotion to tame

Or struggles against his own desires.

وَإِذا الحَيُّ تَوَلّى بِالهَوى

سيرَةَ الحَيِّ بَغى فيها وَحابى

And when a living man, moved by passion, undertakes

A living man's biography, he is unjust and partial.

وَقعَةُ الأَهرامِ جَلَّت مَوقِعاً

وَتَعالَت في المَغازي أَن تُرابا

The Battle of the Pyramids was mighty in its impact,

And stood, among campaigns, beyond question.

عِظَةُ الماضي وَمُلقى دَرسِهِ

لِعُقولٍ تَجعَلُ الماضي مَثابا

The past's admonition, and where its lesson is given,

For minds that make the past their place of return.

مِن بَناتِ الدَهرِ إِلّا أَنَّها

تَنشُرُ الدَهرَ وَتَطويهِ كَعابا

A daughter of time, yet one that

Unfolds time and folds it up, a budding maiden.

وَمِنَ الأَيّامِ ما يَبقى وَإِن

أَمعَنَ الأَبطالُ في الدَهرِ اِحتِجابا

Some days endure, even if

Heroes retreat ever deeper into time's concealment.

هِيَ مِن أَيِّ سَبيلٍ جِئتَها

غايَةٌ في المَجدِ لا تَدنو طِلابا

From whichever path you approach it, it is

A summit of glory that pursuit cannot bring near.

اُنظُرِ الشَرقَ تَجِدها صَرَّفَت

دَولَةَ الشَرقِ اِستِواءً وَاِنقِلابا

Look at the East: you will find it has altered

The East's dominion through stability and upheaval.

جَلَبَت خَيراً وَشَرّاً وَسَقَت

أُمَماً في مَهدِهِم شُهداً وَصابا

It brought good and evil, and gave

Peoples in their cradle honey and bitter sap to drink.

في نَصيبينَ لَبِسنا حُسنَها

وَعَلى التَلِّ لَبِسناها مَعابا

At Nisibis we wore its beauty,

And on the Hill we wore it as disgrace.

إِنَّ سِرباً زَحَفَ النَسرُ بِهِ

قَطَعَ الأَرضَ بِطاحاً وَهِضابا

Indeed, a flock with which the eagle advanced

Crossed the earth, plains and highlands.

إِن تَرامَت بَلَداً عِقبانُهُ

خَطَفَت تاجاً وَاِصطادَت عُقابا

If its eagles swooped upon a land,

They snatched a crown and hunted an eagle.

شَهِدَ الجَيزِيُّ مِنهُم عُصبَةً

لَبِسوا الغارَ عَلى الغارِ اِغتِصابا

Al-Jizi witnessed a band among them

Who seized and wore laurel upon laurel.

كَذِئابِ القَفرِ مِن طولِ الوَغى

وَاِختِلافِ النَقعِ لَوناً وَإِهابا

Like desert wolves from long warfare

And shifting dust, in hue and hide.

قادَهُم لِلفَتحِ في الأَرضِ فَتىً

لَو تَأَنّى حَظَّهُ قادَ الصَحابا

A young man led them to conquest across the earth;

Had he waited for his fortune, he would have led the companions.

غَرَّتِ الناسَ بِهِ نَكبَتُهُ

جَمَعَ الجُرحُ عَلى اللَيثِ الذُبابا

His downfall deceived people about him;

The wound gathered flies upon the lion.

بَرَزَت بِالمَنظَرِ الضاحي لَهُم

فَيلَقٌ كَالزَهرِ حُسناً وَاِلتِهابا

Out in full view there appeared before them

A legion like blossoms in beauty and blaze.

حُلِّيَ الفُرسانُ فيها جَوهَراً

وَجَلالُ الخَيلِ دُرّاً وَذَهابا

Its horsemen were adorned with jewels,

And the horses' caparisons with pearls and gold.

في سِلاحٍ كَحُلِيِّ الغيدِ ما

لَمَسَت طَعناً وَلا مَسَّت ضِرابا

In arms like the ornaments of graceful women, which never

Felt a thrust nor touched sword-blows.

طَرِحَت مِصرٌ فَكانَت مومِيا

بَينَ لِصَّينِ أَراداها جُذابا

Egypt was cast down and became a mummy

Between two thieves who sought to tug her apart.

نالَها الأَعرَضُ ظَفَراً مِنهُما

مِن ذِئابِ الحَربِ وَالأَطوَلُ نابا

The broader-clawed of the two won her—

The longer-fanged among those wolves of war.

وَبَنو الوادي رِجالاتُ الحِمى

وَقَفوا مِن ساقِهِ الجَيشَ ذُنابى

And the sons of the valley, the men of the homeland,

Stood at the army's heels, a trailing tail:

مَوقِفَ العاجِزِ مِن حِلفِ الوَغى

يَحرُسُ الأَحمالَ أَو يَسقي مُصابا

The helpless one's stance in the alliance of war,

Guarding the baggage or giving a wounded man drink.