الأوباش — Jawahiri

جهِلنا ما يُراد بنا فقُلنا

نواميسٌ يدبِّرها الخفاءُ

We knew not what was intended for us, so we said:

Laws directed by the unseen.

فلما أيقَظَتْنا من سُباتٍ

مكائدُ دبَّرتها الاقوياء

Then, when we were awakened from slumber

by plots devised by the powerful,

وليس هناكَ شكٌ في حياةٍ

تدوسُ العاجزين ولا مِراء

there was no doubt about a life

that tramples the helpless, nor any dispute.

لجأنا للشرائعِ بالياتٍ

لتحمِينا وقد عزَّ احتماء

We sought refuge in laws, worn-out as they were,

to protect us, when refuge was hard to find.

فكانتْ قوَّةٌ أخرى وداءُ

رَجَونا ان يكونَ به الدواء

They proved another power, and a sickness

where we had hoped the cure would lie.

حثيثٌ سيرُهنَّ إلى ضعيفٍ

تلقَّفُه وعنْ أشِرٍ بِطاء

Swift is their march toward a weak man,

to seize him, but slow against the insolent.

تسيرُ وشأنَها حتى اذا ما

تصدَّتْ قوَّةٌ فبها التواء

They go about their business until, when

a power intervenes, they bend.

وقام السيفُ يُرهِب دفَّتيها

تؤيِّدهُ ميولٌ وارتشاء

And the sword rises, menacing both their covers,

supported by bias and bribery.

إذا لم تُرضِه منها سطورٌ

تولَّتْ محوَ ما فيها الدِّماء

If lines within them do not please it,

blood takes charge of erasing what they contain.

فيا أضحوكةَ السيفِ المُدَّمى

تفايضَ مِن جوانبكِ الغباء

O laughingstock of the bloodied sword,

stupidity has overflowed from your sides!

أتُصلِحُ ما الطبائعُ أفسدتَه

قوانينٌ مفسَّخةٌ هُراء

Can what human nature has corrupted be mended

by fractured laws, mere nonsense?

وماذا غيَّرتْ نظمٌ وهذي

حياتُكَ جُلُّ ما فيها شقاء

And what have systems changed, when this is

your life, most of it misery?

وما عُدِم الهناءُ بها . ولكنْ

تُنوزِعَ فيه فاحتُكِر الهناء

Contentment was not absent from it, but

it was fought over, and contentment was monopolized.

ولم تتفاوتِ الطبقاتُ إلاّ

لتنحصرَ الرَّفاهةُ والنَّماء

Nor did the classes become unequal except

so that comfort and prosperity might be confined.

وما اختلفت عصورٌ عن عصورٍ

نعم غطَّى على الصُوَرِ الطِّلاء

No age has differed from another;

yes, paint has covered over the images.

فسوقُ الرِّق لم يكسُد ولكن

تبدَّلَ فيه بيعٌ أو شِراء

The slave market has not grown slack; rather,

the selling or buying within it has changed.

وقد قمتْ على التشريعِ سوقٌ

بها احتشدتْ عبيدٌ أو إماء

And a market has arisen on the basis of legislation,

where male or female slaves have gathered,

ولكنْ تحت أغطيةٍ وماذا

ترى عينٌ لو انكشفَ الغِطاء

but beneath coverings; and what

would an eye see if the cover were lifted?

ترى أبداً رعايا أذكياءً

تسوسُهمُ رُعاةٌ أغبياء

It would always see intelligent subjects

governed by foolish shepherds,

وأحراراً رجالاً أو نساءً

تُسخِّرهم رجالٌ أو نساءٌ

and free people, men or women,

pressed into service by men or women.

فتفتقرُ المواهبُ والمزايا

وتندَحرُ العزيمةُ والفَتاء

Thus talents and merits fall into poverty,

and resolve and youthful vigor are defeated,

وتخمُد جذوةٌ لولا تردِّي

نظاماتٍ لألهبها الرَّجاء

and an ember dies which, but for the decline

of systems, hope would have set ablaze.

يُزهِّد في المحامدِ طالبيها

يقينٌ أنَّ عُقباها هباء

Seekers are discouraged from praiseworthy deeds

by the certainty that their outcome is dust.

فقد تأتي الفظيعَ ولا عقابٌ

وقد تُسدى الجميلَ ولا جزاء

For you may commit an atrocity, with no punishment,

and you may bestow a kindness, with no reward.

وتتَّفقُ المجاعةُ والمزايا

وتلتئِم المحاسنُ والعراء

Famine and merit coexist,

and good qualities unite with nakedness.

وفي التاريخِ أتعابٌ كِثارٌ

مضتْ هدَراً وطار بها الهواء

And in history are many labors

gone to waste and carried off by the wind,

وأعمالٌ مشرِّفةٌ ذويها

تولاَّها فضيَّعها الخفاء

and deeds that brought honor to their doers

which obscurity claimed and squandered,

وأُخرى جرَّ مغنمَها دنيٌّ

فسرَّته ، وصاحبُها يُساء

and others whose gains a base man dragged away,

delighting him while their doer was grieved.

تكون وقاحةٌ فيود مرءٌ

لو أنَّ مكانَها كانَ الحياء

There is impudence, and a person wishes

that modesty had stood in its place.

فان وُجِدَ الحياءُ سطا عليه

فسخَّرهُ أناسٌ أذكياء

Yet if modesty appears, it is pounced upon

and exploited by clever people,

مزاحمةً كأنَّ دهاءَ مرءٍ

وطِيبةَ نفسهِ ذئبٌ وشاء

in rivalry, as though a person's cunning

and goodness of heart were wolf and sheep.

وكلُّ محسِّنينَ إذا استتمّا

فخيرُهما لشرِّهما الفداء

And whenever any two graces reach their fullness,

their better is sacrificed to their worse.

وإن أشرَّ ما يلقى أريبٌ

وأوجعَ ما يَحار به الدَّهاء

And the worst that a discerning person encounters,

and the most painful thing that bewilders cunning,

نفوسٌ هدَّها شرفٌ ونبلٌ

وأرهقها التمنُّعُ والإِباء

are souls broken down by honor and nobility,

and exhausted by reserve and refusal to submit,

وقد عاشت إلى الأوباشِ تُعزى

وماتتْ وهي مُعدَمةٌ خَلاء

who lived classed among the rabble,

and died destitute and desolate.

وأُخرى في المخازي راكساتٌ

كأصدق ما يكونُ الأدنياء

And other souls, sunk in disgrace,

as truly base as the base can be,

مشتْ في الناسِ رافعةً رؤوساً

تنصِّبُها كما رُفعَ اللواء

walked among people with their heads raised,

holding them aloft as a banner is raised.

فلا الأرضونَ قد خُسِفت بهذي

ولا هذي أغاثتها السماء

Yet the earth has not swallowed these,

nor has heaven come to those others' aid.

أتعرف من هم الأوباشُ " زَولا "

يُريكهم ُ كأحسنِ ما يُراء

Do you know who the rabble are? Zola

shows them to you as clearly as can be.

يُريكهمُ أُناساً لم يُلَصَّقْ

بهم غدرٌ ولم يُُنكر وفاء

He shows them to you as people never branded

with treachery, whose loyalty was never denied.

تطيحُ بيوتُهمِ حِفظاً لبيتٍ

يضمُّهم وصاحبَه – الإِخاء

Their homes collapse to preserve a home

whose owner is bound to them by brotherhood.

أتعرفُ " لانتييهِ " وما أتاهُ

من الشرفِ الذي فيه بلاء

Do you know Lantier, and what befell him

through an honor fraught with affliction?

وهل شرفٌ بلا نكَدٍ وضُرٍّ

يُتمِّمُ خِلقةَ الشرف العناء

And is there honor without misery and harm?

Suffering perfects the form of honor.

تولَّت " لا نتييهِ " يدُ الرزايا

وأنشبَ فيهِ مِخلَبه " القضاء "

The hand of calamities took hold of Lantier,

and 'judgment' sank its claw into him.

قضاء الله قلتُ ..وإنْ تُرِدْه

قضاء حكومةٍ فهما سواء

God's judgment, I said—but if you would have it

a government's judgment, the two are the same.

ودَهْورهَ الوفاءُ ونعمَ عقبى

الصداقةِ أنْ يدهوركَ الوفاء!

Loyalty toppled him—what a fine outcome

of friendship: that loyalty should topple you!

ومنْ يذهبْ بثروتهِ ضمانٌ

لصاحبهِ فقد حسُنَ الجزاء!

And whoever loses his wealth through a guarantee

for his friend—how splendid the reward!

وقامتْ صيحةٌ من كلِّ بابٍ

تراجَع ْ " لانتييهِ " فلا نجاء

A cry arose from every doorway:

'Retreat, Lantier—there is no escape!

ستعلمُ أينَ أهلُ المرءِ عنه

وإخوتُه ، إذا ذهبَ الثراء

You will learn how far a man's kin are from him,

and his brothers, when wealth is gone.'

وقد صدَقوا فانَّ يديكَ تهزا

على رجليكَ إنْ نضبَ الرخاء

They spoke truly: your hands mock

your feet when prosperity runs dry.

وقد كذِبوا . فـ "بايارٌ " لديه

وكانَ له بـ" بايار " العزاء

Yet they lied, for Bayard was beside him,

and in Bayard he found solace.

وكلُّ الناسِ من قاصٍ ودانٍ

لِمن واساكَ في ضيقٍ فداء

All people, far and near,

are a ransom for one who comforted you in distress.

فجاءَ يَزين موقفَه لسانٌ

كحدِّ السيفِ أرهفه المُضاء

Then came a tongue to grace his stand,

like a sword's edge, sharpened by resolve.

محاماةً مشرِّفةً وليستْ

محاماةً يُرادُ بها الرِّياء :

An honorable defense, not

a defense intended for show:

صديقٌ ضامنٌ نجَّتْ صديقاً

ضمانتُه وقد عزَّ الأداء

'A friend stood surety; a friend was saved

by his guarantee when repayment was hard.

وليسَ بمُنكرٍ دفعاً ولكنْ

مُقاسَطةً يحتِّمها اقتضاء

He does not deny payment, but asks for

installments, made necessary by debt collection.

" فلانتييةٌ " له شرفٌ وجاهٌ

وأطفالٌ وأهلٌ أبرياء

For Lantier has honor and standing,

children and an innocent family,

ومعملُه تعيشُ بهِ مئاتٌ

سيُعوزِهُم – إذا سُدَّ – الغذاء

and hundreds live by his factory;

they will lack food if it is shut.'

ولكنَّ " القضاء " أجلُّ مِن أنْ

يُصدِّقُ ما يقولُ الأصدقاء

But 'judgment' is too exalted to

believe what friends say.

فأصبح " لانتييه " وكلُّ ما في

يديهِ من نَثا الدُّنيا جُفاء

So Lantier was left with all that lay in

his hands of the world's scattered bounty turned to flotsam.

وبينا " لانتييه " يفيضُ بؤساً

ويطفحُ بالشقاءِ له إناء

And while Lantier overflowed with misery,

and his vessel brimmed with suffering,

إذا " بالعدل" يكبِسهُ ، لماذا ؟

لانَّ العدلَ يكبس من يشاء ..!

suddenly 'justice' raids him—why?

Because justice raids whomever it pleases!

لأن " العدل " يُشغِلُه أناسٌ

همُ فوقَ " المنصَّةِ " أنبياء..!

Because 'justice' is run by people

who, upon 'the bench,' are prophets!

وهبْ ذهبت ضحايا " العدل " ظُلماً

نفوسٌ من تظنِّيه بُراء

And suppose 'justice' unjustly claims as victims

souls innocent of its suspicions:

فلا لومٌ عليهِ وإنْ تلوَّثْ

سياط ٌ فوقَهم أو فارَ ماء..!

no blame falls upon it, even if there are stained

whips above them, or water boils!

سيجلِدُهم إلى أنْ يُقنِعوه

بأنهم أناسٌ أبرياء..!

It will flog them until they convince it

that they are innocent people!

فان هلكوا وخلْفَهمُ بيوتٌ

خوتْ من بعدهم فله البقاء!

If they perish, leaving houses behind them

empty after them—then long may it endure!