لو كان للأفلاك نطق أو فم — Germanus Farhat

لو كان للأفلاكِ نطقٌ أو فمُ

لترنموا بمديحكِ يا مريمُ

If the celestial spheres had speech or a mouth,

They would sing in your praise, O Mary.

أنت التي ورَدَ الإلهُ مؤنَّساً

منها وفيها شانُها يتعظم

You are she: God came, made human,

From her and within her; her dignity is magnified.

وبروح قدسٍ حاز منها جسمَه

متقدساً وبقدسه يتجسم

And through the Holy Spirit he took his body from her,

Sanctified, and through his holiness he takes bodily form.

أمَّ الإلهِ به غدوتِ حقيقةً

من شكَّ يكفر والكفور سيندم

Through him you truly became the Mother of God;

Whoever doubts disbelieves, and the unbeliever will regret it.

فالإبن يأخذ من أبيه وأمه

سرّاً وطبعاً فيهما يَتقنَّم

For a son receives from his father and his mother,

In mystery and by nature, subsisting as a person in both.

أخذ المسيح من الإله أبيه ما

لأبيه من لاهوته إذ يَحكم

Christ took from God his Father what

Belongs to his Father of divinity, as he rules.

وله من البِكر البتولةِ أمِّه

ناسوتُه المتجسد المتجسم

And from the virgin maiden, his mother, he has

His human nature, incarnate and embodied.

فنراه مثل أبيه ربّاً قادراً

هدمَ الأنامَ وعرشُه لا يُهدَم

Thus we see him, like his Father, an almighty Lord,

Who destroyed humankind, while his throne cannot be destroyed.

ونراه يحمل ما لمريم أمِّه

متألماً وبجسمه يتألم

And we see him bearing what belongs to Mary, his mother,

Suffering, and feeling pain in his body.

بمشيئَتَيه غدا الورى متدبّراً

ثُمَّتْ نجا بطبيعتيه آدم

With his two wills he came to govern humankind,

And then through his two natures Adam was saved.

فإذا نظرنا في يسوع وأمه

فنراه فيها طابَعاً إذ يَختم

So when we contemplate Jesus and his mother,

We see him imprinting himself in her as he sets his seal:

فهمٌ وعقلٌ ثم حسنٌ فائقٌ

هذا بتلك وتلك فيه تُرسَم

Understanding and reason, then surpassing beauty—

He is reflected in her, and she is portrayed in him.

فبأي مقدارٍ أشبِّه عِظمَها

حتى يشبِّهَها الإلهُ الأعظم

By what measure can I liken her greatness,

When even the greatest God resembles her?

إن قلتُ شمساً فالكسوف يَعيبها

أما بَهاكِ فكلَّ يومٍ يعظُم

If I call her a sun, eclipse mars it;

But your splendor grows with every day.

أو قلت بدراً فالخسوف يَشينه

أما سناكِ فكلَّ يومٍ يُضرَم

Or if I call her a full moon, eclipse blemishes it;

But your radiance is kindled every day.

أو قلت نجماً فالكواكب كلها

تجثو لديكِ بإحتشامٍ يَكرُم

Or if I call her a star, all the stars

Kneel before you in noble reverence.

أو قلت كاروبيمَ عرشِ إلهِنا

فسموُّهم بسمو شانك يُهضَم

Or if I name the cherubim of our God's throne,

Their loftiness is diminished by your exalted station.

أو قلت ساروفيمَ طُغماتِ السما

لولا وليدُك ما سموا وتعظموا

Or if I name the seraphim, the ranks of heaven,

Without your newborn son they would not rise or be exalted.

أو قلت جبرائيلَ بين جنوده

فنراه نحوك بالرسالة يَخدِم

Or if I name Gabriel among his hosts,

We see him serving you with his message.

أو قلت مخائيلَ يوم قِراعِه

إبليسَ لكن من علاك يترجم

Or if I name Michael on the day of his battle

With Satan—yet he speaks from your exalted height.

أو قلت طُغماتِ الملائك كلهم

لكن سناهم مع بهائك مظلم

Or if I name all the ranks of angels,

Yet their radiance is dark beside your splendor.

لسنا نرى شِبهاً يوازي حسنَها

إلّا ابنَها ذاك الإلهُ الأعظم

We see no likeness that can match her beauty,

Except her son, that greatest God.

لا غرو أنَّ الإبن يُشبه أمَّه

إن أشبه الإبنُ اُمَّهُ لا يَظلِم

No wonder that the Son resembles his mother;

If the Son resembles his mother, he does no wrong.

لاقت لهم أُمّاً ولاقَ ابناً لها

إذ منطق المعلول علَّتُه الفم

She suited them as a mother, and he suited her as a son,

For speech is the effect, and the mouth its cause.

لمّا بنعمته كساها فاكتسَى

منها بجسمٍ كاملٍ يُستَعظم

When he clothed her in his grace, he was clothed in turn

By her in a perfect body held in awe.

هي بالطبيعة أمُّه حقّاً وهوْ

منها بنعمته أبوها المُنعِم

She is truly his mother by nature, and he,

Though born of her, is by his grace her beneficent father.

فمتى تناديه بإبني يا أبي

فكذا يناديها بعكسٍ يُفهَم

Whenever she calls him, 'My son, O my father,'

So he calls her likewise, reversing the terms, as is understood.

بالإتضاع مشبهٌ فيه كما

قد أشبهته بنعمةٍ لو تعلم

Through humility he is made like her, just as

She has resembled him through grace, if you but knew.

وتظاهر متشابهين فأذهلا

نسطورَ ذيّاك اللعينُ المُجرم

They appeared alike and confounded

Nestorius, that accursed criminal.

والمبدعون تمزَّقت آراؤهم

وبدا الردى بهلاكهم يترنّم

And the innovators' opinions were torn apart,

And Death appeared, singing at their destruction.

لا يسلم الشرف الرفيع من الأذى

حتى يراق على جونبه الدم

Lofty honor is not safe from harm

Until blood is spilled along its sides.

سكن الإله بعرشها فكأنه

في عرشه العالي سود ويحكم

God dwelt upon her throne, as though

He were enthroned upon his lofty throne and ruling.

فرشت له من قلبها وفؤادها

إستبرقاً ونمارقاً تَتَسوَّم

She spread for him, from her heart and inmost heart,

Brocade and richly adorned cushions.

جعلت كُلاها وِسادةً من تحته

كيلا ينامَ على وسادٍ يؤلم

She made her kidneys a pillow beneath him,

Lest he sleep upon a pillow that causes pain.

وحنوُّها أحنى حَنِيِّ ضلوعِها

منها بمنزلة السرير يهوِّم

And her tenderness bent the arches of her ribs;

Within her, as upon a bed, he dozes.

حتى إذا ولدته طفلاً مرضعاً

بحليبها وهو المقيت المنعِم

Until, when she bore him as an infant nursed

On her milk—he, the Sustainer, the Benefactor—

كانت تقبِّله ويلزمُ صدرَها

متلازمين لزومَ ما هو ألزَم

She would kiss him, and he clung to her breast,

Clinging together with the tightest of bonds.

فإذا رصدتَ بأوج عقلك صوتَها

يُشجيك لحنُ هديرها المتنعم

So if, at your mind's highest reach, you attend to her voice,

The melody of her blissful cooing moves you to longing.

قد سلَّمته نفسها وفؤادَها

مُلْكاً له وبملكه يتنعم

She surrendered herself and her heart to him

As his possession, and he delights in what is his.

فإذا رأيت الإبن يدعو أمه

عجباً لجهلك كيف لا يتعلم

So when you see the Son calling his mother,

How strange that your ignorance does not learn!

وإذا رأيت اللَه فيها ساكناً

عجباً لكفرك كيف لا يتألم

And when you see God dwelling within her,

How strange that your unbelief feels no pain!

وإذا رأيت الصمَّ تسمعُ مدحها

عجباً لشعرك كيف لا يترنم

And when you see the deaf hearing her praise,

How strange that your verse does not sing!

وإذا رأيت المدح فيها واجباً

عجباً لقلبك كيف لا يتكلم

And when you see that praising her is a duty,

How strange that your heart does not speak!

طوباكِ يا تاج الخلائق كلهم

فبدونك الإنسان لا يتحكم

Blessed are you, O crown of all creatures!

For without you humankind cannot exercise dominion.

وبدونك الساعي المُجِدُّ مقصّرٌ

وبدونك الخاطي أسيرٌ ملجَم

And without you the earnest striver falls short;

And without you the sinner is a captive, bridled.

لا علم لي ماذا أُجيدُ لكِ الثنا

وبمدحك المنطيق ألكنُ أبكم

I do not know how to offer you worthy praise;

And in praising you, the eloquent speaker is tongue-tied and mute.

هذا أقول ولست فيه كاذباً

وجزا الكذوبِ بما يقول جهنم

This I say, and I am not lying in it;

And the liar's recompense for what he says is Hell.

فيكِ أعاد اللَه ثانيَ مرّةٍ

ما قد براه والدليل هُمُ هم

In you God made anew a second time

What he had created; they themselves are the proof.

لولاك قد باد الورى من شره

لكن بفضلك ليس حقّاً يُعدِم

Without you, humankind would have perished from its own evil;

Yet through your merit he does not, in truth, annihilate it.

ندم الإله الآب حين برا الورى

لكن لأجلك عَوْضُ لا يتندَّم

God the Father regretted it when he created humankind,

But for your sake he will never regret it again.

فلذاك صرتِ للخلائق موئلاً

يرقون نحوك والمديح السُلَّم

Thus you became a refuge for all creatures;

They ascend toward you, and praise is the ladder.

قد جئت نحوك خاضعاً ومسلماً

مذ جاك جبرائيل وهو يسلِّم

I have come to you, humble and offering greetings,

Since Gabriel came to you, offering his greeting.