Sol 6.1

  1. يُحَيّيكَ مِن أَرضِ الكِنانَةِ شاعِرٌ

    شَغوفٌ بِقَولِ العَبقَرِيّينَ مُغرَمُ

    A poet greets you from Egypt, the land of the Quiver,

    Passionate, enamored of the words of geniuses.

  2. وَيُطرِبُهِ في يَومِ ذِكراكَ أَن مَشَت

    إِلَيكَ مُلوكُ القَولِ عُربٌ وَأَعجَمُ

    And on your day of remembrance, it delights him that there have come

    To you the kings of speech, Arab and non-Arab.

  3. نَظَرتَ بِعَينِ الغَيبِ في كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ

    وَفي كُلِّ عَصرٍ ثُمَّ أَنشَأتَ تَحكُمُ

    You gazed with the eye of the unseen into every nation,

    And into every age, then began to judge.

  4. فَلَم تُخطِئِ المَرمى وَلا غَروَ أَن دَنَت

    لَكَ الغايَةُ القُصوى فَإِنَّكَ مُلهَمُ

    You never missed the mark; no wonder there drew near

    To you the utmost goal, for you are inspired.

  5. أَفِق ساعَةً وَاُنظُر إِلى الخَلقِ نَظرَةً

    تَجِدهُم وَإِن راقَ الطِلاءُ هُمُ هُمُ

    Awake an hour, and cast a glance upon mankind:

    You will find them, though the varnish charms, still what they were.

  6. عَلى ظَهرِها مِن شَرِّ أَطماعِهِم دَمٌ

    وَفَوقَ عُبابِ البَحرِ مِن صُنعِهِم دَمُ

    On her back lies blood from their wicked ambitions,

    And upon the sea's swelling waves, blood of their own making.

  7. تَفانَوا عَلى دُنيا تَغُرُّ وَباطِلٍ

    يَزولُ إِلى أَن ضَجَّتِ الأَرضُ مِنهُمُ

    They destroyed one another over a world that beguiles, and falsehood

    That vanishes, until the earth cried out against them.

  8. فَلَيتَكَ تَحيا يا أَبا الشِعرِ ساعَةً

    لِتَنظُرَ ما يُصمى وَيُدمى وَيُؤلِمُ

    Would that you could live an hour, O father of poetry,

    To see what strikes dead, draws blood, and brings pain:

  9. وَقائِعَ حَربٍ أَجَّجَ العِلمُ نارَها

    فَكادَ بِها عَهدُ الحَضارَةِ يُختَمُ

    Battles of a war whose fire science has stoked,

    Through which the age of civilization nearly came to an end.

  10. وَتَعلَمُ أَنَّ الطَبعَ لازالَ غالِباً

    سَواءَ جَهولُ القَومِ وَالمُتَعَلِّمُ

    And know that human nature still prevails,

    In the ignorant among mankind and the learned alike.

  11. فَما بَلَغَت مِنهُ الحَضارَةُ مَأرَباً

    وَلا نالَ مِنهُ العِلمُ ما كانَ يَزعُمُ

    Civilization has achieved no purpose with it,

    Nor has science gained from it what it once claimed.

  12. أَهَبتَ بِهَذا مِن قُرونٍ ثَلاثَةٍ

    وَكُنتَ عَلى تِلكَ الطَبائِعِ تَنقِمُ

    You sounded this warning three centuries ago,

    And condemned those very natures.

  13. وَما هَدَمَ التَجريبُ رَأياً بَنَيتَهُ

    وَلا زالَتِ الآراءُ تُبنى وَتُهدَمُ

    Experience has demolished no opinion you built,

    Though opinions continue to be built and demolished.

  14. أَلا إِنَّ ذِكرى شِكسِبيرَ بَدَت لَنا

    بَشيرَ سَلامٍ ثَغرُهُ يَتَبَسَّمُ

    Behold, Shakespeare's remembrance has appeared to us

    As a herald of peace with a smiling mouth.

  15. فَلَو أَنصَفوا أَبطالَهُم لَتَهادَنوا

    قَليلاً وَحَيَّوا شِعرَهُ وَتَرَنَّموا

    Had they done justice to their heroes, they would have made a truce

    For a little while, and saluted his poetry and sung.

  16. وَلَم يُطلِقوا في يَومِ ذِكراهُ مِدفَعاً

    وَلَم يُزهِقوا نَفساً وَلَم يَتَقَحَّموا

    They would have fired no cannon on his day of remembrance,

    Nor taken a life, nor rushed headlong into battle.

  17. لَهُ قَلَمٌ ماضي الشَباةِ كَأَنَّما

    أَقامَ بِشِقَّيهِ القَضاءُ المُحَتَّمُ

    He has a pen keen of point, as though

    Inexorable fate had made its home in its two halves.

  18. طَهورٌ إِذا ما دُنِّسَت كَفُّ كاتِبٍ

    وَثَوبٌ إِذا ما قَرَّ في الطِرسِ مِرقَمُ

    Pure when a writer's palm is sullied,

    Darting when another pen rests upon the page.

  19. وَلوعٌ بِتَصويرِ الطِباعِ فَلَم يَجُز

    بِعاطِفَةٍ إِلّا حَسِبناهُ يَرسُمُ

    Devoted to depicting human natures, he never passed

    An emotion without our thinking he was drawing it.

  20. أَرانِيَ في ماكبيثَ لِلحِقدِ صورَةً

    تَكادُ بِها أَحشاؤُهُ تَتَضَرَّمُ

    In Macbeth he showed me an image of rancor,

    His very entrails almost bursting into flame with it.

  21. وَمَثَّلَ في شَيلوكَ لِلبُخلِ سِحنَةً

    عَلَيها غُبارُ الهونِ وَالوَجهُ أَقتَمُ

    And in Shylock he portrayed a countenance of avarice,

    Upon it the dust of abasement, and the face is dark.

  22. وَأَقعَدَني عَن وَصفِ هَمليتَ حُسنُها

    وَفي مِثلِها تَعيا اليَراعَةُ وَالفَمُ

    And Hamlet's beauty left me powerless to describe it,

    Before the like of it, both reed pen and mouth are helpless.

  23. دَعِ السِحرَ في رُميو وَجوليتَ إِنَّما

    يُحِسُّ بِما فيها الأَديبُ المُتَيَّمُ

    Leave aside the magic in Romeo and Juliet: only

    The lovestruck man of letters feels what lies within it.

  24. أَتاهُم بِشِعرٍ عَبقَرِيٍّ كَأَنَّهُ

    سُطورٌ مِنَ الإِنجيلِ تُتلى وَتُكرَمُ

    He brought them poetry of genius, as though it were

    Lines from the Gospel, recited and revered,

  25. نَدِيٍّ عَلى الأَيّامِ يَزدادُ نَضرَةً

    وَيَزدادُ فيها جِدَّةً وَهوَ يَقدُمُ

    Dew-fresh, gaining bloom through the passing days,

    And growing newer through them even as it grows old.

  26. يُؤَتّى إِلى قُرّائِهِ أَنَّ نَسجَهُ

    لِيَومٍ وَأَنَّ الحائِكَ اليَومَ فيهِمُ

    Its readers are led to believe that its weaving is

    Only a day old, and that the weaver is among them today.

  27. كَتِلكَ النُقوشِ الزاهِياتِ بِمَعبَدٍ

    لِفِرعَونَ لا زالَت عَلى الدَهرِ تَسلَمُ

    Like those radiant inscriptions in a temple

    Of Pharaoh, still unscathed through the ages.

  28. فَلَم يَدنُ مِن إِحسانِهِ مُتَأَخِّرٌ

    وَلَم يَجرِ في مَيدانِهِ مُتَقَدِّمُ

    No successor has approached his excellence,

    Nor has any predecessor run in his arena.

  29. أَطَلَّ عَلَيهِم مِن سَماءِ خَيالِهِ

    وَحَلَّقَ حَيثُ الوَهمُ لا يَتَجَشَّمُ

    He looked down upon them from the heaven of his imagination,

    And soared where fancy does not venture.

  30. وَجاءَ بِما فَوقَ الطَبيعَةِ وَقعُهُ

    فَأَكبَرَ قَومٌ ما أَتاهُ وَأَعظَموا

    And brought forth what was supernatural in its effect,

    So some held what he had done in awe and wonder.

  31. وَقالوا تَحَدّانا بِما يُعجِزُ النُهى

    فَلَسنا إِذَن آثارَهُ نَتَرَسَّمُ

    They said, “He has challenged us with what baffles reason;

    So then we shall not follow in his footsteps.”

  32. وَلَم يَتَحَدَّ الناسَ لَكِنَّهُ اِمرُؤٌ

    بِما كانَ في مَقدورِهِ يَتَكَلَّمُ

    Yet he did not challenge mankind; he was merely a man

    Who spoke as his own powers allowed.

  33. لَقَد جَهِلوهُ حِقبَةً ثُمَّ رَدَّهُم

    إِلَيهِ الهُدى فَاِستَغفَروا وَتَرَحَّموا

    They misunderstood him for an age, then guidance brought them

    Back to him; they sought forgiveness and prayed for mercy upon him.

  34. كَذاكَ رِجالُ الشَرقِ لَو يُنصِفونَهُم

    لَقامَ لَهُم في الشَرقِ وَالغَربِ مَوسِمُ

    So too the men of the East: if they were treated justly,

    A festival would be held for them in East and West.

  35. أَضاءَ بِهِم بَطنُ الثَرى بَعدَ مَوتِهِم

    وَأَعقابُهُم عَن نورِ آياتِهِم عَموا

    Through them the earth's depths shone after their deaths,

    Yet their descendants were blind to the light of their masterworks.

  36. فَقُل لِبَني التاميزِ وَالجَمعُ حافِلٌ

    بِهِ يُنثَرُ الدُرُّ الثَمينُ وَيُنظَمُ

    So tell the sons of the Thames, while the gathering is thronged,

    In which precious pearls are scattered and strung:

  37. لَئِن كانَ في ضَخمِ الأَساطيلِ فَخرُكُم

    لَفَخرُكُمُ بِالشاعِرِ الفَردِ أَعظَمُ

    If your glory lies in the vastness of your fleets,

    Surely your glory in the peerless poet is greater.