مضى الدهر بابن إمام اليمن — Ahmed Shawqi

مَضى الدَهرُ بِاِبنِ إِمامِ اليَمَن

وَأَودى بِزَينِ شَبابِ الزَمَن

Time carried away the son of Yemen's Imam,

And claimed the pride of the youth of the age.

وَباتَت بِصَنعاءَ تَبكي السُيوفُ

عَلَيهِ وَتَبكي القَنا في عَدَن

And in Sana'a the swords spent the night weeping

For him, and in Aden the spears weep.

وَأَعوَلَ نَجدٌ وَضَجَّ الحِجازُ

وَمالَ الحُسَينُ فَعَزَّ الحَسَن

And Najd wailed, and the Hijaz cried out,

And al-Husayn fell, so al-Hasan grew dear.

وَغَصَّت مَناحاتُهُ في الخِيامِ

وَغَصَّت مَآتِمُهُ في المُدُن

And his mourning gatherings were thronged in the tents,

And his funeral gatherings were thronged in the cities.

وَلَو أَنَّ مَيتاً مَشى لِلعَزاءِ

مَشى في مَآتِمِهِ ذو يَزَن

And if a dead man could walk to offer condolences,

Dhu Yazan would have walked at his funeral gatherings.

فَتىً كَاِسمِهِ كانَ سَيفَ الإِلَه

وَسَيفَ الرَسولِ وَسَيفَ الوَطَن

A youth who, true to his name, was God's sword,

And the Messenger's sword, and the homeland's sword.

وَلُقِّبَ بِالبَدرِ مِن حُسنِهِ

وَما البَدرُ ما قَدرُهُ وَاِبنُ مَن

And for his beauty he was called the Full Moon;

Yet what is the full moon—what is its worth, and whose son is it?

عَزاءً جَميلاً إِمامَ الحِمى

وَهَوِّن جَليلَ الرَزايا يَهُن

Take noble consolation, Imam of the guarded realm,

And ease the weight of grave calamities; it will ease.

وَأَنتَ المُعانُ بِإيمانِهِ

وَظَنُّكَ في اللَهِ ظَنٌّ حَسَن

And you are the man whom his faith sustains,

And your expectation of God is a good one.

وَلَكِن مَتى رَقَّ قَلبُ القَضاءِ

وَمِن أَينَ لِلمَوتِ عَقلٌ يَزِن

But when did fate's heart ever soften?

And whence has death a mind that weighs?

يُجامِلُكَ العُربُ النازِحون

وَما العَرَبِيَّةُ إِلّا وَطَن

The far-off Arabs offer you sympathy,

And the Arabic tongue is but a homeland.

وَيَجمَعُ قَومَكَ بِالمُسلِمينَ

عَظيمَ الفُروضِ وَسَمحُ السُنَن

And what binds your people to the Muslims

Are the weighty duties and gracious traditions,

وَأَنَّ نَبِيَّهُمُ واحِدٌ

نَبِيُّ الصَوابِ نَبِيُّ اللَسَن

And the fact that their prophet is one—

The prophet of right guidance, the prophet of eloquence.

وَمِصرُ الَّتي تَجمَعُ المُسلِمينَ

كَما اِجتَمَعوا في ظِلالِ الرُكُن

And Egypt, which gathers the Muslims

As they gathered in the shade of the Corner,

تُعَزّي اليَمانينَ في سَيفِهِم

وَتَأخُذُ حِصَّتَها في الحَزَن

Consoles the Yemenis for their Sword,

And takes her share in grief.

وَتَقعُدُ في مَأتَمِ اِبنِ الإِمامِ

وَتَبكيهِ بِالعَبَراتِ الهُتُن

And sits in the funeral gathering of the Imam's son,

And mourns him with streaming tears.

وَتَنشُرُ رَيحانَتَي زَنبَقٍ

مِنَ الشِعرِ في رَبَواتِ اليَمَن

And spreads two fragrant lily blossoms

Of poetry upon the hills of Yemen.

تَرِفّانِ فَوقَ رُفاتِ الفَقيدِ

رَفيفَ الجِنى في أَعالي الغُصُن

The two flutter above the departed's remains

As ripe fruit flutters high upon the boughs.

قَضى واجِباً فَقَضى دونَهُ

فَتىً خالِصَ السِرِّ صافي العَلَن

He fulfilled a duty, then died in its defense—

A youth sincere in secret, pure in public.

تَطَوَّحَ في لُجَجٍ كَالجِبالِ

عِراضِ الأَواسي طِوالِ القُنَن

He plunged into surging depths like mountains,

Broad of base and lofty of summit.

مَشى مِشيَةَ اللَيثِ لا في السِلاحِ

وَلا في الدُروعِ وَلا في الجُنَن

He strode with a lion's stride, without weapons,

Nor armor, nor shields.

مَتى صِرتَ يا بَحرُ غُمدَ السُيوفِ

وَكُنّا عَهِدناكَ غِمدَ السُفُن

When did you become, O sea, the sheath of swords,

Though we had known you as the sheath of ships?

وَكُنتَ صِوانَ الجُمانِ الكَريمِ

فَكَيفَ أُزيلَ وَلِم لَم يُصَن

And you were a casket for precious pearls;

How, then, was it taken away, and why was it not preserved?

ظَفِرَت بِجَوهَرَةٍ فَذَّةٍ

مِنَ الشَرَفِ العَبقَرِيِّ اليُمُن

You won a peerless jewel

Of wondrous, auspicious nobility:

فَتىً بَذَلَ الروحَ دونَ الرِفاقِ

إِلَيكَ وَأَعطى التُرابَ البَدَن

A youth who yielded his soul for his companions

To you, and gave his body to the dust.

وَهانَت عَلَيهِ مَلاهي الشَبابِ

وَلَولا حُقوقُ العُلا لَم تَهُن

And youth's diversions grew trivial in his eyes,

And but for high honor's claims, they would not have grown trivial.

وَخاضَكَ يُنقِذُ أَترابَهُ

وَكانَ القَضاءُ لَهُ قَد كَمَن

And he plunged into you to rescue his peers,

And fate had already lain in wait for him.

غَدَرتَ فَتىً لَيسَ في الغادِرينَ

وَخُنتَ اِمرأً وافِياً لَم يَخُن

You betrayed a youth who was not among betrayers,

And you betrayed a faithful man who had never betrayed.

وَما في الشَجاعَةِ حَتفُ الشُجاعِ

وَلا مَدَّ عُمرَ الجَبانِ الجُبُن

A brave man's death is not caused by courage,

Nor has cowardice prolonged the coward's life.

وَلَكِن إِذا حانَ حَينُ الفَتى

قَضى وَيَعيشُ إِذا لَم يَحِن

But when a youth's appointed hour arrives,

He dies; and he lives if it has not yet come.

أَلا أَيُّها ذا الشَريفُ الرَضي

أَبو السُجَرِ الرَماحِ اللُدُن

Ah, you noble and worthy man,

Father of the ruddy, supple spears,

شَهيدُ المُروءَةِ كانَ البَقيعُ

أَحَقَّ بِهِ مِن تُرابِ اليَمَن

The martyr of gallantry: al-Baqi' was

More deserving of him than Yemen's soil.

فَهَل غَسَّلوهُ بِدَمعِ العُفاةِ

وَفي كُلِّ قَلبِ حَزينٍ سَكَن

Did they wash him, then, with the tears of those seeking bounty?

And he dwelt in every grieving heart.

لَقَد أَغرَقَ اِبنَكَ صَرفُ الزَمانِ

وَأَغرَقتَ أَبناءَهُ بِالمِنَن

Indeed, time's vicissitudes drowned your son,

And you drowned its children in favors.

أَتَذكُرُ إِذ هُوَ يَطوي الشُهورَ

وَإِذ هُوَ كَالخِشفِ حُلوٌ أَغَن

Do you remember when he folded away the months,

And when he was like a fawn, sweet, with a mellow nasal voice,

وَإِذ هُوَ حَولَكَ حَسَنُ القُصورِ

وَطيبُ الرِياضِ وَصَفوُ الزَمَن

And when around you he was the palaces' beauty,

And the gardens' fragrance and the serenity of time?

بَشاشَتُهُ لَذَّةٌ في العُيونِ

وَنَغمَتُهُ لَذَّةٌ في الأُذُن

His cheerful smile was a delight to the eyes,

And his voice's melody a delight to the ear.

يُلاعِبُ طُرَّتَهُ في يَدَيكَ

كَما لاعَبَ المُهرُ فَضلَ الرَسَن

He played with his forelock between your hands,

As a colt played with the slack of its rein.

وَإِذ هُوَ كَالشِبلِ يَحكي الأُسودَ

أَدَلَّ بِمِخلَبِهِ وَاِفتَتَن

And when, like a lion cub, he imitated lions,

He took pride in his claw and was enchanted by it.

فَشَبَّ فَقامَ وَراءَ العَرينِ

يَشُبُّ الحُروبَ وَيُطفي الفِتَن

Then he grew up and took his stand behind the lair,

Kindling wars and extinguishing strife.

فَما بالُهُ صارَ في الهامِدينَ

وَأَمسى عَفاءً كَأَن لَم يَكُن

Why, then, has he become one of the lifeless,

And turned to dust, as though he had never been?

نَظَمتُ الدُموعَ رِثاءً لَهُ

وَفَصَّلتُها بِالأَسى وَالشَجَن

I strung tears into an elegy for him,

And interspersed them with sorrow and grief.