بعزمك لذ إذا عز النصير — Ibrahim Al Yaziji

بِعَزمك لُذْ إِذا عَزَّ النَصيرُ

وَلا يَعبثْ بهمَّتِكَ الفُتورُ

Take refuge in your resolve when a helper is hard to find,

and let no languor toy with your ambition.

وَأُسهَرُ في ظَلام الخَطب جفناً

لَهُ مِن فكرِهِ قَمَرٌ مُنيرُ

And keep an eye awake in adversity's darkness,

with a shining moon drawn from its own thought.

وَلا تَكلِ الأُمورَ إِلى بَنانٍ

تَكون لِغَيرِها تِلكَ الأَمورُ

Do not entrust affairs to fingers

to which those affairs do not belong.

فَأَصدقُ مِن سَعى لَكَ أَنتَ فيما

تُحاولُه وَأَنتَ بِهِ الجَديرُ

For your most faithful worker is yourself in whatever

you attempt, and you are best fitted for it.

وَقَد تَلقَى الأُمور إِلى غيورٍ

وَلَكن رُبما سئمَ الغيورُ

Affairs may indeed be entrusted to a zealous man,

but even the zealous may grow weary.

أَتمَُّ مُناكَ ما تَسعى إَلَيهِ

بِنَفسكَ عامِداً لا تَستَعيرُ

Your hopes are best fulfilled by what you pursue

yourself, with purpose, borrowing no aid.

تَناوَلت البُدورُ ضياءَ شَمسٍ

فَلَم تَستَغنِ بِالشَّمسِ البُدورُ

The full moons took their radiance from a sun,

yet the sun did not make the full moons self-sufficient.

وَلَسنا الجاحِدينَ لَفَضلِ قَومٍ

لَهُم ما بَينَنا فَضلٌ شَهيرُ

We do not deny the merit of a people

whose merit among us is renowned:

رِجالٌ أَحسَنوا صُنعاً وَلَكِن

بِما في البَيتِ صاحِبهُ الخَبيرُ

men who have done good work—but

the house's owner knows best what is within it.

بَني أُمي أَفيقوا مِن سُباتٍ

لِطولِ زَمانِهِ سئمَ السَّريرُ

Sons of my mother, wake from a slumber

so long that the bed itself has wearied.

إِذا مَضَتِ الحَياةُ عَلى رُقادٍ

تَشابَهَتِ المَضاجعُ وَالقُبورُ

If life passes in sleep,

beds and graves become alike.

مَعاذَ اللَهِ مِن أَمرٍ عَظيمٍِ

بَغى إِدراكُهُ همٌّ صَغيرُ

God save us from a mighty undertaking

whose attainment a feeble resolve seeks.

فَإِن الأَمرَ حَيثُ غَدا خَطيراً

يُرامُ ازاءهُ الجُهدُ الخَطيرُ

For when an undertaking becomes momentous,

a mighty effort is required to match it.

فَقم بِالأَمرِ عَن قَلبٍ سَليمٍٍ

يُعاضدُ صِدقَهُ العَزمُ الجَسورُ

So undertake the task with a sound heart,

whose sincerity is upheld by dauntless resolve.

وَلا تَذهَبْ بِكَ الأَهواءُ يَوماً

فَراكِبُ سبلِها غاوٍ عَثورُ

Never let whims carry you away,

for whoever rides their paths goes astray and stumbles.

أَرانا بَاللسانِ قَد اِشتَبَهنا

وَما يُجدي إِذا اِختَلَفَ الضَميرُ

I see that we are indeed alike in tongue,

but what good is that if our inward purpose differs?

لِكُل الطَّير أَجنِحَةٌ وَريشٌ

وَلَكِن بَينَها ما لا يَطيرُ

All birds have wings and feathers,

but among them are those that do not fly.

وَإِن الحَقَّ بَينَ الناسِ شَمسٌ

عَلى أُفُقِ العُقولِ لَها ظُهورُ

Truth among people is indeed a sun

that rises on the horizon of minds.

فَمِنهُ لأَكبُدِ الجهلاءِ نارٌ

وَمِنهُ لِأَعيُنِ العُقلاءِ نُورُ

From it comes fire for the livers of the ignorant,

and from it light for the eyes of the wise.

فَهُبوا بِالتَّعاضُدِ يا لِقَومي

ليحسُنَ مِن عَواقِبِنا المَصيرُ

So rise in mutual support, O my people,

that our affairs may come to a good end,

وَنَظفَر بَعدَ طُولِ عَناً وَجُهدٍ

بِما سلَبتَهُ أَيدينا الدُّهورُ

and after long hardship and toil, win back

what the ages have wrested from our hands.

وَنَرفَعُ لِلحَضارةِ كُلَّ صَرحٍ

تَمرُّ بِهِ السَّحائبُ إِذ تَسيرُ

And raise for civilization every lofty edifice,

past which the clouds pass as they travel.

أَلَسنا مِن سُلالةِ مَن تَحَلَّتْ

بِذكرِهُمُ الصَّحائفُ وَالعُصورُ

Are we not descended from those who adorned

the pages and the ages with their memory,

وَأَبدوا في المَعارفِ كُلَّ شَمسٍ

يُزانُ بِحُسنِ بَهجَتِها الأَثيرُ

and brought forth in learning every sun

whose radiant beauty adorns the ether?

لِنَقْفُ سَبيلَهم وَنجدُّ دَهراً

بِعَزمٍ لا يَملُّ وَلا يَخورُ

Let us follow their path and strive through the years,

with a resolve that never wearies or falters.

وَلا نَفخَرْ بِمَجدِهِمُ قَديماً

فَذَلكَ عِندَنا عارٌ كَبيرُ

Let us not boast of their ancient glory,

for that, to us, is a great disgrace.

أَيَنشئُ مِن تَقدُّمِنا المَعالي

فَإِن بِلَغَتْ أَيادينا تَبورُ

Shall those who preceded us build lofty achievements,

then, once they are attained, our hands lie idle?

كَأَنّي بِالبِلادِ تَنوحُ حُزناً

وَقَد أَودى بِبَهجَتِها الثُّبورُ

I seem to see the land wailing in sorrow,

while ruin has swept away its splendor.

يَحِنُّ الأَرزُ في لُبنانَ شَجواً

وَتَندُبُ بَعدَ ذاكَ المَجد صُورُ

The cedars in Lebanon moan in grief,

and Tyre laments after all that glory.

وَتَدمُرَ في دَمارٍ مُستَمرٍ

وَما سُكَّانها إِلّا النُّسورُ

And Palmyra lies in unending ruin,

with none but vultures for inhabitants.

وَأَضحَتْ بَعلَبَكَّ وَلَيسَ فيها

سِوى خِرَبٍ لِعزَّتها تُشيرُ

And Baalbek now contains nothing

but ruins that point to its grandeur.

تُهاجِمُها الحَوادثُ كُلَ يَومٍ

كَما هَجَمَتْ عَلى الرَّخمِ الصُقورُ

Disasters assault it every day,

as falcons swoop upon vultures.

فَلَو دَرَتِ البِلادُ بِما عَراها

لَكادَتْ مِن تَلَهُّفِها تَمُورُ

If the land knew what had befallen it,

it would all but heave with anguish.

فَيا لِلّهِ مِن حَدَثٍ مُريبٍ

بِهِ تُشجَى المَآقي وَالصُدورُ

O God, what an alarming calamity,

that brings grief to the eyes' corners and the breasts!

وَلِذةُ أَعيُنٍ نامَت وَلَكن

سَيعقُبُ نَومَها دَمعٌ حَريرُ

And eyes have delighted in sleep, but

burning tears will follow their sleep.

بِكُم وَبِسَعيِكُم تُبنى المَعالي

وَينمي رَوضها الزَّاهي النَضيرُ

Through you and your striving, greatness is built,

and its radiant, verdant garden grows.

وَظلُّ الدَولةِ العُظمى عَلَينا

بِإِدراكِ النَّجاحِ لَنا بَشيرُ

And the great state's shade over us

heralds our attainment of success.

فَذَلك فَوق دَوحِ العَدلِ غَيثٌ

وَذَلِك حَولَ رَوضِ العلمِ سورُ

For that is rain upon justice's spreading trees,

and that a wall around the garden of learning.