دمعة على الشام — Badawi Al Jabal

حيّ الرئيس إذا نزلت بساحه

رحبا تهلّل للوفود فساحا

Greet the leader when you alight in his court,

spacious and expansive, beaming in welcome to delegations.

و اقرأ له شعري ترنّح عطفه

غرر البيان وجوّد الأمداحا

And recite my verse to him: his frame will be swayed

by eloquence's brightest gems; perfect your praises.

و اهتف إذا هدأ النديّ و لم تجد

إلاّ الأحبّة فيه و النصّاحا

And cry out, when the gathering falls quiet and you find

none there but loved ones and sincere advisers:

يا شارب الماء القراح : بجلّق

لم يشربوا إلاّ الدّموع قراحا

O drinker of pure water: in Jilliq

they have drunk nothing but tears, unmixed.

عرس الشام طغى عليه ظالم

فطوى البساط و حطّم الأقداحا

A tyrant overran Syria's wedding,

rolled up the carpet and shattered the goblets.

نكث العهود و راح يحمل غدرة

بلقاء فاجرة اليمين و قاحا

He broke the covenants and went about bearing a treachery,

piebald, false in its oath, and shameless.

قل للرّئيس تحيّة من شاعر

لم يقو بالبلوى فضجّ و باحا

Tell the leader: a greeting from a poet

who could not withstand affliction, so cried out and spoke openly.

جليت له الدنيا و زوّق حسنها

فزوى بحرّ جبينه و أشاحا

The world was unveiled before him, its beauty embellished,

but he furrowed his noble brow and turned away.

كتم الأباة دموعهم و أذعتها

حرقا مجلجلة البيان فصاحا

The unbowed concealed their tears, but I proclaimed them

as burning griefs, resounding in expression and eloquent.

و لأهتفنّ بها فأسمع فيصلا

و أحرّك المنصور و السفّاحا

And I shall cry it aloud, making Faisal hear,

and rouse al-Mansur and al-Saffah.

و أعزّ من عبد الإله بغضبة

لحمى أميّة بالشام مباحا

And I shall draw strength from Abd al-Ilah's wrath

for Umayya's violated sanctuary in Syria.

أمّا لداتك بالشام فإنّهم

حملوا الإباء سلاسلا و جراحا

As for your peers in Syria, they

bore their proud defiance as chains and wounds.

نزلوا السجون فعطّروا ظلماتها

أنفا و عزّا كالضحى و جماحا

They entered prisons and perfumed their darkness

with proud disdain, glory like forenoon, and untamable spirit.

يا نازلين على السجون فأصبحت

بهم أعزّ حمى و أكرم ساحا

O you who lodged in prisons, which became

through you the mightiest sanctuary and noblest court:

الله يعلم ما ذكرت عهودكم

إلا انفجرت تفجّعا و نواحا

God knows, I never recall my days with you

without bursting into grief and lamentation.

و إذا ذكرتكم شربت مدامعي

فكأنّني ثمل أعبّ الراحا

And when I remember you, I drink my tears,

as though I were drunk, gulping wine.

إنّي ليحملني الخيال إليكم

فأجوب فيه سباسبا و بطاحا

Indeed, imagination carries me to you,

and in it I traverse wastes and broad valleys.

و أخال أنّ البدر يحمل منكم

نبأ إليّ إذا أطلّ و لاحا

And I imagine that the full moon carries from you

news to me, whenever it appears and shines.

و أراكم و أكاد أسمع ضجّة

للديدبان و غدوة و رواحا

I see you, and almost hear the clamor

of the sentry, his morning and evening rounds.

حسّ أشارككم به آلامكم

و أكاد أحمل عنكم الأتراحا

A feeling through which I share your pain,

and almost bear your sorrows in your stead.

شيخ العروبة في القيود إباؤه

يخفي السنين و عبئها الفضّاحا

The elder of Arabism, in chains—his proud defiance

conceals the years and their telltale burden.

عنف الطغاة به و يسخر كبره

بالشامتين طلاقة و مراحا

The tyrants dealt harshly with him, yet his old age mocks

those who gloat, with cheerfulness and mirth.

حمل القضية و السنين فياله

من منكب زحم الردى و أزاحا

He bore the cause and the years—what

a shoulder, that jostled death and thrust it aside!

و إذا ذكرت أبا رياض عادني

شجن الغريب طغى هواه فناحا

And when I remember Abu Riyad, there returns to me

an exile's sorrow, whose longing surged until he wailed.

الذائد الحامي كأنّ بيانه

أي السماء تنزّلت ألواحا

The defender, the protector—as though his eloquence

were heaven's verses, sent down as tablets.

يا راكب الوجناء أخمل عهدها

إبلا ظماء في الفلاة طلاحا

O rider of the sturdy she-camel, whose era eclipsed

thirsty camels, exhausted in the desert:

مرّت كلامعة البروق فهجّنت

غرر العراب الشقر و الأوضاحا

She passed like a flash of lightning, putting to shame

the finest thoroughbreds, chestnuts and whites.

لا تعد عند اللاّذقيّة شاطئا

غزلا كضاحكة الصّبا ممراحا

At Latakia, do not pass by a shore

amorous and merry as a laughing girl in youth,

نديان من أشر الصّبا و جنونه

طلق الفتون مجانة و مزاحا

dewy with youth's exuberance and madness,

unbridled in its charms, in wanton play and jest.

بالله إن كحلت جفونك موجه

ضمّ الشراع و قبّل الملاّحا

By God, if you kohl your eyelids with its waves,

furl the sail and kiss the sailor.

و اسرق من الكنز المقدّس مغربا

حلو الأصيل و مشرقا لمّاحا

And steal from the sacred treasure a sunset

sweet in its evening glow, and a glittering sunrise.

و انزل على خير الأبوّة رحمة

تسع الحياة و عفّة و صلاحا

And visit the best of fathers, whose compassion

embraces life—a man of chastity and goodness.

يشكو السقام فإن هتفت أمامه

باسمي تهلّل وجهه و ارتاحا

He suffers illness; if you call out in his presence

my name, his face will beam and he will find comfort.

و أطل حديثك يستعده تعلّلا

بالذكر لا لتزيده إيضاحا

And prolong your account; he will ask for it again, seeking solace

in remembrance, not for you to make it clearer.

و إذا ألحّ فللحنان عذوبة

في مقلتيه تحبّب الإلحاحا

And if he insists, tenderness has a sweetness

in his eyes that makes insistence dear.

و الثم أحبّتي الصغار و رفّها

غررا نواعم كالورود صباحا

And kiss my little loved ones, and caress

their tender, radiant foreheads, like roses at morning.

و احمل لإخوان الجهاد تحيّة

كالروض رفّ عباهرا و أقاحا

And carry to my brothers in struggle a greeting

like a garden swaying with narcissi and daisies.

و إذا نزلت ببانياس فحيّها

عنّي و ضمّ عبيرها الفوّاحا

And when you alight in Baniyas, greet her

for me, and embrace her wafting fragrance.

و اسكب على قبر هناك معطّر

بالذكريات فؤادك الملتاحا

And pour out upon a grave there, perfumed

with memories, your parched heart.

و أنا الوفيّ و إن نزحت و ربّما

لجّ الحنين فأتلف النزّاحا

I remain faithful, though far away, and often

longing grows relentless and destroys those far from home.

إنّ الفراخ على نعومة ريشها

ريعت ففارق سربها الأوداحا

The fledglings, despite the softness of their feathers,

were frightened, and their flock forsook the spreading trees.

فتّ العدوّ بمهجتي و تركتهم

حنقا عليّ يقلّبون الرّاحا

I escaped the enemy with my life, and left them

furious with me, wringing their hands.

عزم فجأت به العدى لم أستشر

نجما عليه و لا أجلت قداحا

A resolve with which I surprised the foe; I consulted no

star about it, nor cast divining arrows.

مالي أكافح بالبيان و إنّه

جهد المقلّ عزيمة و كفاحا

Why do I fight with eloquence, when it is

a poor man's utmost effort in resolve and struggle?

و من الغضاضة أنّني أرضى به

بعد الظماء المرهفات سلاحا

And it is humiliating that I am content with it

as a weapon, after thirsty, finely sharpened swords.

فلئن سلمت لأهتفنّ بغارة

شعواء أحكمها ظبى و رماحا

But if I survive, I shall surely call for a raid

relentless, which I shall make decisive with blades and spears.

و لأشهدنّ بكل فجّ معقلا

للظلم زعزعه القضاء فطاحا

And in every pass I shall surely witness a stronghold

of tyranny, shaken by fate till it falls.

خلّوا جناحا في العراق لنسره

و تخوّفوه في الشام جناحا

They left its eagle a wing free in Iraq,

but feared its wing in Syria.

و لو أنّهم خلّوا عنان جناحه

لغدا به بين النّجوم و راحا

And had they but loosed the rein of its wing,

it would have soared on it among the stars, morning and evening.

أمّا اللواء فللعراق و ربّما

زحم الكواكب نجدة و طماحا

As for the banner, it is Iraq's; how often

has it jostled the stars in valor and ambition!

آسي الجراح الداميات حنانه

و هفا ورقّ طلاقة و سماحا

His compassion heals the bleeding wounds,

and he is moved and softened, all cheerfulness and generosity.

النازلون على العراق تفيّأوا

ظلّ العراق معطّرا نفّاحا

Those who alighted in Iraq have taken shelter

in Iraq's shade, perfumed and fragrant.

الله أطلع في مخائل فيصل

عند الخطوب الزّاحفات صباحا

God has brought forth in Faisal's features

a dawn amid advancing calamities.