حتى متى تجف القلوب وتخفق — Assad Khalil

حتى متى تجف القلوب وتخفقُ

والى مَ تضطرب النفوس وتقلقُ

How long will hearts tremble and throb?

And how long will souls be troubled and anxious?

والخلق طراً في شقاءٍ شاملٍ

وبودهم لو أنهم لم يخلقوا

All creation is in all-encompassing misery,

Wishing that they had never been created.

سئموا اقتراناً بالحياة أمضهم

ولو انهم منحوا الخيار لطلقوا

They have wearied of a union with life that torments them;

Had they been given the choice, they would divorce it.

طمعوا بأن يلقوا أقلَّ مسوغ

في هذه الدنيا البقاءَ فما لقوا

They hoped to find the slightest justification

For remaining in this world, but found none.

والحرب فيها لا تني مشبوبة

وسعيرها يشوي الانام ويحرق

War within it never ceases to blaze,

And its inferno roasts mankind and burns them.

المالَ تُفني والرجال تبيدهم

ودماءهم هدراً تثجُّ وتهرق

It destroys wealth and annihilates men,

And pours out and spills their blood in vain.

بقذائف البارودِ تنثر هامهم

وجسومهم بظبى الاسنة تعرق

With gunpowder shells it scatters their heads,

And strips their bodies of flesh with spearhead edges.

قلب الحديد يذوب من اهوالها

ويشيب من رأس الوليد المفرق

The heart of iron melts at its horrors,

And the parting on an infant's head turns gray.

عمَّت رزاياها البرايا كلهم

كالسيل يجرف ما أصابَ ويغرقُ

Its calamities have engulfed all creation,

Like a flood that sweeps away and drowns whatever it strikes.

من قبلها شبت حروبٌ جَمة

والغرب ضجَّ لهولها والمشرقُ

Before it, many wars had blazed,

And West and East cried out at their horror.

لكنها في جنب هذي لم تكن

شيئاً به الذكرى تليقُ وتلبقُ

But beside this one they were not

Anything worthy or fitting to remember.

تلك الحروبُ على اشتداد سمومها

كانت لدى هذي بليلاً تنشقُ

Those wars, despite their fiercest scorching winds,

Were beside this one a cool breeze to inhale.

وسلاحها رمحٌ يحُدَّد نصلهُ

ومهندٌ ينضى وسهم يرشقُ

Their weapons were a spear whose point was sharpened,

An Indian-steel sword unsheathed, and an arrow loosed.

ومع الرصاص البندقي استنبطت

أُكرُ الحديد من المدافع تطلقُ

Alongside musket bullets were devised

Iron balls fired from cannons.

هذي هي العُدَد التي كانت بها

من قبلُ ناصية المعارق تمشقُ

These were the armaments with which

The forelock of battle was once struck.

وزمانها اذ ذاك مثلُ مجالها

مهما يطل ويسع قصيرٌ ضيقُ

Their duration then, like their reach,

However long or broad, was short and narrow.

وعلى فداحة ما جنت فخطوبها

سلعٌ باسواق التحمل تنفقُ

Despite the enormity of what they wrought, their woes

Were wares that sold in the markets of endurance.

لكنما هذي الكريهة شرها

سيل على كل الورى يتدفقُ

But this dreadful war—its evil

Is a flood pouring over all mankind.

ومثيرها غليوم لا يرثي لمن

في غمرها غرقوا ولا يترفق

Its instigator, Guillaume, has no pity for those

Drowned in its depths, nor treats them gently.

ورجالهُ كلٌّ يسير على هوى

مولاه شيطان الوغى لا يشفقُ

Each of his men follows the whims

Of his master, the merciless devil of war.

أذكى شرارتها وأمَّل أنهُ

فيها على الحلفاء نصراً يُرزقُ

He fanned its spark, hoping that

He would be granted victory over the Allies in it.

ومضى عليه الف يومٍ وهو من

دَمِ شعبه فيها يعبُّ وينفق

A thousand days have passed over him while he

Gulps down and squanders his people's blood in it.

ما زال يُحضئهُا ويضرمُ نارها

ويطيش من كرّ الحبوط وينزق

He keeps stoking it and kindling its fire,

And grows reckless and rash at repeated failure.

ويواصل الحرب التي الحلفا سعوا

في منعها قبل الشبوب فأخفقوا

He carries on the war that the Allies strove

To avert before it blazed, but failed.

ويجدُّ في توسيع شقتها ولا

ينفك منها يحتويهِ مأزقُ

He strives to widen its reach, and never

Does a predicament within it cease to engulf him.

لم يرعَ فيها قط حرمة شرعة

وعن المحارم لم يذدهُ موثق

Never in it has he respected the sanctity of a law,

Nor has a covenant kept him from forbidden acts.

بل هبَّ ينتهك الشرائع كلها

ويجزُّ لباتِ العهود ويخرقُ

Rather, he rushed to violate every law,

Slitting the throats of covenants and tearing them apart.

فأباح تخريب الكنائس مرسلاً

في أنفس الآثار سهماً يمرقُ

He sanctioned the destruction of churches, loosing

A dart that pierces the most precious monuments.

وأحلَّ قتل الأبريا بقذائفٍ

سفن الهوا ترمي بها وتحلقُ

He permitted the killing of innocents with projectiles

That ships of the air cast down as they soar.

ولأنتِ يالوفان أ صدق شاهدٍ

بفظائع الالمان جهراً ينطقُ

And you, Louvain, are indeed the truest witness,

Speaking openly of the Germans' atrocities.

كم غارة شنت على باريس بل

كم من جراها أهل لندن أُقلقوا

How many raids were launched on Paris—indeed,

How many Londoners were alarmed because of them!

بل كم قتيلاً فيهما وسواهما

قتلت وليس به غبارٌ يلصق

Indeed, how many victims, there and elsewhere,

Were killed, though no dust of blame clung to them!

ذا بعض ما اجترحته طياراتهُ

والى بيان الكل لا أتطرقُ

This is some of what his aircraft perpetrated;

I shall not attempt to set forth it all.

لكنما حوت الفظائع لم يزل

يشكو الصدى وفؤاده يتحرق

But the whale of atrocities still

Complains of thirst, its heart burning.

فرمى بغواصاته حتى غدا

حلق المحيط بها يغص ويشرق

So he unleashed his submarines, until

The ocean's throat choked and gagged upon them.

وتسابقت تجري أوامر ربها

وتجد في تنفيذها وتدقق

They raced to carry out their master's orders,

Striving to execute them precisely.

ولها بإِغراق السفين وركبها

تفويضهُ من كل قيد مطلقُ

To sink ships and their passengers, they had

His authorization, free of every restraint.

فاتت جرائم سجَّلت فيها على

المانيا عاراً به تتمنطقُ

So they committed crimes that inscribed upon

Germany a shame she wears as a girdle.

وأقامت الدنيا عليها وهي لا

تنفك ركب المنشئات تغرقُ

They set the world against her, yet never

Ceased drowning those aboard the lofty ships.

وحكومة الدكتور ولسن هالها

هذا البلاءُ المستطير الموبق

Dr. Wilson's government was appalled by

This far-spreading, deadly calamity.

وعلى التلافي حضَّت الالمان وال

إنذار يرعد بالوعيد ويبرق

It urged the Germans to make amends, and the

Warning thundered and flashed with threats.

لكنهم لم يأبهوا لوعيدها

وعلى التمادي في جرائرهم بقوا

But they paid no heed to its warning,

And persisted in carrying on their crimes.

سخروا بصولتها وعدُّوا شهرها

للحرب هبهُ اذيع لا يتحقق

They mocked its might, reckoning its declaration

Of war, even if announced, would never be fulfilled.

وغرامها بالسلم يوصد دونها

باب الجنوح الى الكفاح ويغلق

Its love of peace shuts against it

The door of turning toward combat, and locks it.

وإذا أرادَت أن تمد بجيشها ال

حلفا الذين لها عَنوا وتملقوا

And if it wished to reinforce with its army the

Allies who bowed to it and flattered it,

فجنودها في كل شهرٍ عدُّهم

مهما تزده ففرقة أو فيلقُ

Its soldiers, in each month, would number,

However much it added, a division or a corps.

ولهم بعرض البحر غواصاتهم

فتصدها عن قصدها وتعوّق

And they have their submarines on the open sea,

To bar it from its purpose and obstruct it.

هذي الأقاويل التي الالمان في

ما بينهم هذروا بها وتشدقوا

These are the claims the Germans, among

Themselves, babbled and mouthed pompously.

واستدرجوا حلفاءَهم فتسابقوا

وبهم على الفور اقتدوا وتخلقوا

They drew in their allies, who raced

At once to follow them and adopt their ways.

والى اقتراف المنكرات جميعهم

خفُّوا واتيان الكبائر نسَّقوا

All of them, toward committing abominations,

Hastened, and coordinated the committing of grave sins.

نصبوا مشانق أبرياءَ وحقهم

أن يوثقوا هم كالجناة ويُشنقوا

They set up gallows for innocents, though they deserved

Themselves to be bound like criminals and hanged.

وتفننوا في الموبقات فأطلقوا أل

غازات تحرق والسوائل تخنق

They devised ever more ruinous acts, unleashing the

Gases that burn and the liquids that choke.

واستخدموا للقتل والتعذيب آ

لاتٍ بها أغراضهم تتحقق

And for killing and torture they employed

Instruments by which their aims are achieved.

أما الألى لا يوردون بها الردى

فتسومهم ما لا يطاق وترهق

As for those not brought by them to death,

They inflict on them the unbearable and wear them down.

ولهم بأصناف الرزايا تبتلي

وتجمُّ كاسات العذاب وتدهقُ

They afflict them with every kind of calamity,

And fill the cups of torment to the brim.

وتذيقهم ثكلاً وتيتيماً وتر

ميلاً تجاح به النفوس وتزهقُ

They make them taste bereavement, orphanhood, and

Widowhood, which ravages souls and snuffs them out.

بأميركا هزأوا وقوة جيشها

حقروا وشدةَ بأسها لم يتقوا

They mocked America and the strength of her army,

Belittled it, and did not fear her fierce might.

فتحفزت للحرب تُثبت أنها

بوعيدها صدقت وهم لم يصدقوا

So she readied herself for war, to prove that

She meant her threats, though they had not believed.

واستصرخت ابناءَها فتراكضوا

كلٌّ اخاه الى التطوع يسبق

She cried to her sons for aid, and they raced forward,

Each outstripping his brother to volunteer.

تسعون مليوناً بها بروا ولم

يك واحد منهم يعقُّ يأبق

Ninety million were dutiful to her, and not

One among them was disobedient or fled.

صرخوا بصوتٍ واحدٍ لبيَّكِ يا

أمَّ الرجال وكالسحاب تبعقوا

They cried with one voice, 'At your service, O

Mother of men!' and poured forth like rainclouds.

وعلى مشيئتها ورهن رئيسها ال

دكتور ولسن كل شيءٍ علقوا

To her will and at the disposal of her president,

Dr. Wilson, they committed everything.

أموالهم وعقولهم ودماءَهم

وقفوا على سعة ولم يتضيقوا

Their wealth, their minds, and their blood

They devoted unstintingly, without holding back.

نهضوا للاستعداد نهضة امة

جدَّت ففازت والاجدُّ الاسبق

They rose to prepare with the resolve of a nation

That strove and triumphed—the most diligent leads.

في حالتي سلم وحربٍ أدهشوا ال

دنيا بما فيه سموا وتفوَّقوا

In both peace and war they astonished the

World with all in which they rose high and excelled.

في السلم راعوا ما اقتضاه مقامهم

فجروَا على سنن الحياد ودققوا

In peace they observed the duties of their standing;

They followed the path of neutrality with precision.

وقفوا امام بني الوغى ولو أنهم

ظفروا بأسباب الوفاق لوفقوا

They stood before the sons of war; had they

Found a means to concord, they would have brought it about.

وتجنبوهم لم يحابوا واحداً

منهم وسووا بينهم لم يفرقوا

They kept apart from them, favoring none

Of them, treating them alike without distinction.

شملوا فريقيهم بإِحساناتهم

كالغيث من كرمائهم تتدفق

They embraced both sides with their acts of kindness,

Which flowed like rain from their generous people.

وتعهدوا الجرحى بجمعياتهم

نسماتها في كل صقع تعبق

They tended the wounded through their associations,

Whose breezes spread fragrance in every region.

وعلى الألى نكبوا بهذي الحرب قد

بسطوا اكف سخائهم وتصدقوا

And to those stricken by this war they

Stretched out generous palms and gave in charity.

سل عن مآثرها العظيمة شرقنا

ينطق ومنه بها أوربا أنطق

Ask our East about her great benefactions:

It will speak, and Europe speaks of them still more.

فلها حديثٌ في فرنسا شائق

وصداه في البلجيك منه اشوق

Her story in France is captivating,

And its echo in Belgium is more captivating still.

لزموا الحياد فزادهم ربحاً ومن

جرائه لم يبق فيهم مُملق

They kept neutral, increasing their profits, and as

A result, not one of them remained impoverished.

لكنه لم يُرضهم ان ينعموا

والبؤس عمَّ عَلى البرية يطبق

Yet they were not content to prosper

While misery spread, closing over all creation,

وفظائع الالمان يسبق بعضها

بعضاً لها في كل يوم ملحق

And the Germans' atrocities outstripped one

Another, with new additions every day.

ولذاك ما نبذوا الحياد وانكروا

أرباحه وعلى الكريهة أطبقوا

And for that reason they cast off neutrality and renounced

Its profits, and threw themselves into war.

في السلم لم يتمكنوا أن يحبسوا

شراً له الالمان عمداً أطلقوا

In peace they had been unable to restrain

An evil the Germans had deliberately unleashed.

فتذرعوا بالحرب يتخذونها

وهقاً يُغَلُّ به العدو ويوثق

So they armed themselves with war, making it

A noose with which the enemy is shackled and bound.

والحرب اكبر وازع للحرب إِذ

بسعيرها يكوى المثير ويحرق

War is war's strongest deterrent, for

Its instigator is seared and burned in its blaze.

في السلم راعوا العالمين بما على ال

عافين من بدر المعونة أغدقوا

In peace they awed the world with what they lavished upon the

Needy from their purses of aid.

والحرب فيها أدهشوا الدنيا بأن

نهضوا لها وتوقلوا وتسلقوا

In war they astonished the world by

Rising to it, ascending and scaling the heights,

بعزيمةٍ تفري الحديد وهمةٍ

نفَّاذةٍ هام المصاعب تفلق

With a resolve that cleaves iron and a spirit

So piercing it splits the heads of hardships.

لم ينصرمعامٌ على استعدادهم

الا الخناقَ على الاعادي ضيقوا

Not a year had passed in their preparations

Before they tightened the noose upon their enemies.

وعليهم انقضَّت مئات الوفهم

عبر المحيط كما الصواعق تصعق

Hundreds of their thousands swooped down upon them

Across the ocean, striking like thunderbolts.

لم يعبأُوا بوعيد غوَّاصاتهم

بل جاوزوا اخطارها وتدفقوا

They paid no heed to the threat of their submarines;

They passed their dangers and poured onward.

عبروا الخضم كانهم ساروا على

يبس لهم عضدُ الامان مطوق

They crossed the deep as though walking on

Dry land, with safety's arm encircling them.

فيهِ استقلوا الباخرات فابحرت

والدارعات بها تحف وتحدق

There they boarded steamships, which sailed,

With armored vessels surrounding and encircling them.

وكأنها جسر كبير ممتطٍ

لليمّ او هو فوقهُ متعلق

As though they were a mighty bridge bestriding

The sea, or hanging suspended above it.

هذا هو الشعب الذي البوش ازدروا

وله على رغم التجلد أحنقوا

This is the people whom the Boche despised,

And against whom they seethed despite their show of fortitude.

ولسوف يلقون العقاب معجَّلاً

يهوي عليهم كالقضاءِ ويطبق

They will surely meet swift punishment,

Crashing upon them like fate and engulfing them.

يهوي وعندئذ الوف الوفهم

تهوي وشمل صفوفهم يتمزقُ

It will fall, and then their thousands upon thousands

Will fall, and their united ranks be torn apart.

ونفوسهم بلظى العذاب تذوب وال

أسنانُ من حنق تصرُّ وتحرقُ

Their souls will melt in torment's blaze, and their

Teeth will grind and gnash in rage.