شممت تربك لا زلفى ولا ملقا — Jawahiri

شَمَمْتُ تُرْبَكِ لا زُلْفى ولا مَلَقا

وسِرْتُ قَصْدَكِ لا خِبّاً، ولا مَذِقا

I smelled your soil, not seeking favor or offering flattery.

And journeyed toward you, without guile or insincerity.

وما وَجَدْتُ إلى لُقْياكِ مُنْعَطَفاً

إلاّ إليكِ،ولا أَلْفَيْتُ مُفْتَرَقا

I found no turning toward meeting you

Except toward you, nor did I find a fork in the road.

كنتِ الطَّريقَ إلى هاوٍ تُنازِعُهُ

نفسٌ تَسُدُّ عليهِ دونَها الطُّرُقا

You were the path for a lover, contended with

By a soul that bars him every road but its own.

وكان قلبي إلى رُؤياكِ باصِرَتي

حتى اتَّهَمْتُ عليكِ العينَ والحَدَقا

My heart was my sight for beholding you,

Until I distrusted eye and pupil where you were concerned.

شَمَمْتُ تُرْبَكِ أَسْتافُ الصِّبا مَرِحاً

والشَّمْلَ مُؤْتَلِفاً، والعِقْدُ مُؤْتَلِقا

I smelled your soil, scenting youth in its merriment,

The loved ones reunited, the necklace glittering.

وسِرْتُ قَصْدَكِ لا كالمُشْتَهي بَلَداً

لكنْ كَمَنْ يَتَشَهّى وَجْهَ مَن عَشِقا

And journeyed toward you, not as one craving a country,

But as one longing for the face of someone loved.

قالوا (دِمَشْقُ) و(بَغْدادٌ) فقلتُ هما

فَجْرٌ على الغَدِ مِن أَمْسَيْهِما انْبَثَقا

They said, “Damascus” and “Baghdad”; I said they are

A dawn over tomorrow, risen from their two yesterdays.

ما تَعْجَبونَ؟ أَمِنْ مَهْدَيْنِ قد جُمِعا

أَم تَوْأَمَيْنِ على عَهْدَيْهِما اتَّفَقا

Why do you marvel? At two cradles brought together,

Or two twins agreeing upon their covenants?

أَم صامِدَيْنِ يَرُبَّانِ المَصيرَ مَعاً

حُبَّاً ويَقْتَسِمانِ الأَمْنَ والفَرَقا

Or two steadfast ones nurturing destiny together

In love, sharing security and fear?

يُهَدْهِدانِ لِساناً واحِداً ودَماً

صِنْواً، ومُعْتَقِداً حُرَّا،ً ومُنْطَلَقا

They cradle a single language and blood

Kindred, and a belief free and unfettered.

أَقْسَمْتُ بالاُمَّةِ اسْتَوْصى بها قَدَرٌ

خَيراً، ولاءَمَ منها الخَلْقَ والخُلُقا

I swore by the nation, for which fate took thought

For good, harmonizing its form and character.

مَن قالَ أنْ ليسَ مِن معْنىً للفْظَتِها

بلا دِمَشْقَ وبَغدادٍ فقد صَدَقا

Whoever says its very name has no meaning

Without Damascus and Baghdad has spoken truly.

فلا رَعى اللهُ يوماً دسَّ بينهما

وَقيعَةً، ورَعى يَوْمَيْهِما ووَقى

May God not tend a day that planted between them

A feud; may He tend their days and protect them.

يا جِلَّقَ الشَّامِ والأَعْوامُ تَجْمَعُ لي

سَبْعاً وسَبْعينَ ما الْتاما ولا افْتَرَقا

O Jilliq of Syria, as the years total for me

Seven and seventy, neither joined nor parted.

ما كانَ لي منهما يومانِ عِشْتُهُما

إلاّ وبالسُّؤْرِ مِن كَأْسَيْهِما شَرِقا

Never did I have two days among those I lived

But they choked on the dregs from their two cups.

يُعاوِدانِ نِفاراً كلّما اصْطَحَبا

ويَنْسَيانِ هوىً كانا قدِ اغْتَبَقا

They return to estrangement whenever they keep company,

And forget the love they once drank at evening.

ورُحْتُ أَطْفو على مَوْجَيْهِما قَلِقاً

أَكادُ أَحْسُدُ مَرْءًا فيهما غَرِقا

And I went on floating restlessly upon their two waves,

Almost envying someone drowned in them.

يا لَلشَّبابِ يَغارُ الحِلْمُ مِن شِرَةٍ

بهِ، وتَحْسُدُ فيهِ الحِنْكَةُ النَّزَقا

O youth, whose vigor forbearance envies,

And whose recklessness experience envies!

ولَلبَساطَةِ ما أَغْلى كَنائِزَها

(قارونُ) يُرْخِصُ فيها التِّبْرَ والوَرِقا

And simplicity—how precious its treasures!

Qarun counts raw gold and silver cheap beside them.

تَلُمّ كأْسي ومَن أهْوى، وخاطِرَتي

وما تَجيشُ، وبَيْتَ الشِّعْرِ والوَرَقا

It gathers my cup, my beloved, and my thoughts,

All they teem with, the verse, and the paper.

أَيَّامَ نَعْكِفُ بالحُسْنى على سَمَرٍ

نُساقِطُ اللَّغوَ فيه كَيْفما اتَّفَقا

In days when we lingered amiably over evening talk,

Letting idle words fall however they happened.

إذْ مسْكَةُ الرَّبَواتِ الخُضْرِ توسِعُنا

بما تَفَتَّقَ مِن أنْسامِها عَبَقا

When the musk of the green hills filled us

With the fragrance that burst from their breezes.

إذْ تُسْقِطُ (الهامَةُ) الإصْباحُ يُرْقِصُنا

و(قاسيُونُ) علينا يَنْشُرُ الشَّفَقا

When al-Hamah shed dawn, setting us dancing,

And Qasiyun spread twilight's glow over us.

نَرْعى الأَصيلَ لِداجي اللّيلِ يُسْلِمُنا

ومِن كُوىً خَفِراتٍ نَرقُبُ الغَسَقا

We watched late afternoon hand us over to night's darkness,

And from shy windows watched the dusk.

ومِن كُوىً خَفِراتٍ نَسْتَجِدُّ رُؤىً

نَشْوانَةً عَن رُؤىً مَمْلولَةٍ نَسَقا

And from shy windows sought fresh visions,

Intoxicating, in place of wearied visions, one by one.

آهٍ على الحُلْوِ في مرٍّ نَغَصُّ بهِ

تَقَطَّرَا عَسَلاً في السُّمِّ واصْطَفَقا

Ah, for sweetness in the bitterness we choke upon!

The two dripped honey into poison and mingled.

يا جِلَّقَ الشَّامِ إنّا خِلْقَةٌ عَجَبٌ

لم يَدْرِ ما سِرُّها إلاّ الذي خَلَقا

O Jilliq of Syria, we are a wondrous creation,

Whose secret none knows except the One who created.

إنّا لَنَخْنُقُ في الأَضْلاعِ غُرْبَتَنا

وإنْ تَنَزَّتْ على أَحْداقِنا حُرَقا

We surely stifle our estrangement within our ribs,

Even when it leaps upon our pupils as burning pangs.

مُعَذَّبونَ وجَنَّاتُ النَّعيمِ بنا

وعاطِشونَ ونَمْري الجَوْنَةَ الغَدَقا

Tormented, though gardens of bliss lie within us,

And thirsty, though we milk the dark cloud for abundant rain.

وزَاحِفونَ بِأَجْسامٍ نَوابِضُها

تَسْتَامُ ذِرْوَةَ (عِلِّيِّنَ) مُرْتَفَقا

And crawling in bodies whose mainsprings

Seek the summit of Illiyyin as a resting place.

نُغْني الحَياةَ ونَسْتَغْني كأنَّ لنا

رَأْدَ الضُّحى غَلَّةً والصُّبْحَ والفَلَقا

We enrich life and need nothing, as though ours were

Early forenoon as harvest, and morning and daybreak.

يا جِلَّقَ الشَّامِ كم مِن مَطْمَحٍ خَلَسٍ

للمَرءِ في غَفْلَةٍ مِن دَهْرِهِ سُرِقا

O Jilliq of Syria, how many a stealthy ambition

Has a man stolen in a moment when his time was heedless!

وآخَرٍ سُلَّ مِن أنْيابِ مُفْتَرِسٍ

وآخَرٍ تَحْتَ أَقْدامٍ لهُ سُحِقا

And another plucked from a predator's fangs,

And another crushed beneath its feet!

دامٍ صِراعُ أخي شَجوٍ وما خَلَقا

مِنَ الهُمومِ تُعَنِّيهِ، وما اخْتَلقَا

Bloody is the grieving man's struggle; what he has made

Of cares afflicts him, and what he has imagined.

يَسْعى إلى مَطْمَحٍ حانَتْ وِلادَتُهُ

في حينِ يَحْمِلُ شِلْواً مَطْمَحاً شُنِقا

He pursues an ambition whose birth is due,

While bearing the mangled remains of an ambition hanged.

حَرَّانَ حَيْرانَ أَقْوى في مُصامَدَةٍ

على السُّكوتِ، وخَيْرٌ مِنهُ إنْ نَطَقا

Burning, bewildered, stronger in resistance

When silent, and better still when he speaks.

كَذاكَ كُلُّ الذينَ اسْتُودِعوا مُثُلاً

كَذاكَ كلُّ الذينَ اسْتُرْهِنوا غَلَقا

Thus are all those entrusted with ideals;

Thus are all those held as pledges never to be redeemed.

كَذاكَ كانَ وما يَنْفَكُّ ذو كَلَفٍ

بِمَنْ تُعبِّدَ في الدُّنْيا أو انْعَتَقا

So has he been, and so remains, the impassioned one,

Devoted to whoever is enslaved in this world or set free.

دِمَشْقُ عِشْتُكِ رَيْعاناً، وخافِقَةً

ولِمَّةً، والعُيونَ السُّودَ، والأَرَقا

Damascus, I lived you as youth's prime and a beating heart,

As locks of hair, black eyes, and sleeplessness.

وها أَنا، ويَدي جِلْدٌ، وسالِفَتي

ثَلْجٌ، ووَجْهيَ عَظْمٌ كادَ أو عُرِقا

And here I am: my hand is skin, my temple

Snow, my face bone, nearly—or wholly—stripped of flesh.

وأنتِ لم تَبْرَحي في النَّفْسِ عالِقَةً

دَمي ولَحْمِيَ والأنْفاسَ، والرَّمَقا

And you have never ceased to cling within my soul,

My blood, my flesh, my breaths, my last breath.

تُمَوِّجينَ ظِلالَ الذِّكْرَياتِ هَوىً

وتُسْعِدينَ الأَسى، والهَمَّ والقَلََقا

You set the shadows of memories rippling with love,

And gladden grief and worry and unrest.

فَخْراً دِمَشْقُ تَقاسَمْنا مُراهَقَةً

واليومَ نَقْتَسِمُ الآلامَ والرَّهَقا

Proudly, Damascus: we shared adolescence,

And today we share pain and exhaustion.

دِمَشْقُ صَبراً على البَلْوى فَكَمْ صُهِرَتْ

سَبائِكُ الذّهَبِ الغالي فما احْتَرَقا

Damascus, patience in affliction! How often were smelted

Ingots of precious gold, yet it did not burn.

على المَدى والعُروقُ الطُّهْرُ يَرْفُدُها

نَسْغُ الحياةِ بَديلاً عن دَمٍ هُرِقا

Through time, the pure veins are nourished

By life's sap, replacing blood that was spilled.

وعندَ أَعْوادِكِ الخَضْراءِ بَهْجَتُها

كالسِّنْدِيانَةِ مهما اسَّاقَطَتْ ورَقا

Your green branches retain their splendor,

Like the oak, however many leaves it sheds.

و(غابُ خَفَّانَ) زَئَّارٌ بهِ (أسَدٌ)

غَضْبانَ يَدْفَعُ عن أَشْبالِهِ حَنِقا

And Khaffan's forest roars: within it is an Asad, a lion,

Angry, defending his cubs in fury.

يا (حافِظَ) العَهْدِ، يا طَلاّعَ أَلْوِيَةٍ

تَناهَبَتْ حَلَباتِ العِزِّ مُسْتَبَقا

O Hafez, keeper of the covenant, O raiser of banners

That vied for the arenas of glory, racing ahead.

يا رابِطَ الجَأَشِ، يا ثَبْتاً بِمُسْتَعِرٍ

تَآخَيا في شَبوبٍ مِنه، والتَصَقا

O steady-hearted one, steadfast amid a blaze,

The two became brothers in its flames and clung together.

تَزَلْزَلَتْ تَحْتَهُ أرضٌ فما صُعِقا

وازَّخْرَفَتْ حولَهُ دُنيا فما انْزَلَقا

Earth shook beneath him, yet he was not struck down,

And the world adorned itself around him, yet he did not slip.

أَلْقى بِزَقُّومِها المُوبي لِمُرْتَخِضٍ

وعافَ للمُتَهاوي وِرْدَها الطَّرَقا

He cast its deadly zaqqum to the trembling,

And left its befouled drinking-place to the falling.

يا حاضِنَ الفِكْرِ خَلاّقاً كأنَّ بِهِ

مِن نَسْجِ زَهْرِ الرُّبى مَوشِيَّةً أَنَقا

O nurturer of creative thought, as though it held

The embroidered grace of a fabric woven from hilltop flowers.

لكَ القَوافي، وما وَشَّتْ مَطارِفُها

تُهْدى، وما اسْتَنَّ مُهْدِيها، وما اعْتَلَقا

To you the rhymes, and all their robes have embroidered,

Are offered, with all their giver pursued and embraced,

مِنَ (العِراقِ) مِنَ الأرضِ التي ائْتَلَفَتْ

و(الشَّامِ) ألْفاً فما مَلاَّ و لا افْتَرَقا

From Iraq, from the land that united

With Syria in love; neither grew weary nor parted.

يا (جَبْهَةَ المَجْدِ) أَلْقَتْ كَرْبةٌ ظُلَلاً

مِنَ الشُّحوبِ عليها زِدْنَها أَلَقا

O brow of glory, distress cast shadows

Of pallor upon it, only increasing its radiance.

مَرَّتْ يَدٌ بَرَّةٌ فوقَ العُروقِ بها

تُميطُ عنها الأسى، والجُهْدَ، والعَرَقا

A kindly hand passed over its veins,

Wiping away sorrow, fatigue, and sweat.

كَمِثْلِ أَرْضِكِ تَمْتَدُّ السَّماءُ بها

مَهْمومَةً تَرْقُبُ الفَجْرَ الذي انْطَلَقا

Like your land, the sky stretches above it,

Careworn, watching the dawn that has broken.

أَسْيانَةً كَم تَلَقَّتْ بينَ أَذْرُعِها

نَجْماً هَوى إثْرَ نَجْمٍِ صاعِدٍ خَفَقا

Grieving, how often it received within its arms

A fallen star after a star that rose and flickered.

مَصارِعٌ تَسْتَقي الفادينَ تُرْبَتَها

في كلِّ شَهْرٍ مَشى (فادٍ) بها وسَقى

Death-fields whose soil begs the self-sacrificing for water;

Each month a Fadi, a self-sacrificer, walked there and watered it.

يا بِنْتَ أُمِّ البَلايا عانَقَتْ نَسَباً

أَغْلى وأَكْرَمَ في الأَنْسابِ مُعْتَنَقا

O daughter of the mother of calamities, who embraced a lineage

Dearest and noblest among lineages to embrace.

راحَتْ تُمَزِّقُ كُلّ الهازِئينَ بها

وحَوْلَكِ اسَّاقَطَتْ مَهْزوزَةً مِزَقا

She set about tearing all who mocked her,

While around you they fell, shaken, in tatters.

كُنْتِ الكفُوءَ لها إذ كنتِ مُعْتَرَكاً

لِسوحِها، فِرَقاً جَرَّارَةً فِرَقا

You were her equal when you were a battlefield

For her arenas: army after mighty army.

(تَيْمورُ) خَفَّ و(هُولاكو) وقد سَحَقا

كلَّ الدُّنى وعلى أَسْوارِكِ انْسَحَقا

Timur hastened, and Hulagu; they had crushed

All the worlds, but upon your walls were crushed.

ما كنتِ أَعْتى، ولا أَقْوى سِوى دُفَعٍ

مِنَ الرُّجولاتِ، كانتْ عندها لُعقا

You were no more formidable or stronger, save for surges

Of manly valor, before which they were mere morsels.

هنا جِوارَكِ ذو زَمْزَامَةٍ لَجِبٌ

أمْسِ اسْتَشاطَ فصَبَّتْ نارُهُ صَعَقا

Here beside you is a clamorous one with a booming roar;

Yesterday he raged, and his fire poured thunderbolts

على اليَهودِ، وعادَ اليومَ مِن خَوَرٍ

يَمُدُّ طَوْعاً إلى جَزَّارِهِ العُنُقا

Upon the Jews; today, out of weakness, he returns

Willingly stretching his neck toward his butcher.

حُبُّ الحَياةِ تَغْشاهُ فَكانَ لَهُ

صَدَاقُها الذُلَّ، والإسْفافَ، والخَرَقا

Love of life overcame him, and its dowry for him

Was humiliation, baseness, and folly.

تَخالَفَ الحُكْمُ فَرْداً لا ضَميرَ لهُ

إذا اسْتَدارَ، ولا ناهٍ إذا مَرَقا

How different is rule by one man, with no conscience

When he turns, and no restrainer when he goes astray,

ومُجْمِعينَ تَواصَوا بَينَهُمْ شَرَعاً

على الحفَاظِ، وساوَوْا أمرَهُم طَبَقا

And by united men who counseled one another as equals

To safeguard honor, and set their affairs in accord.

دِمَشْقُ كم في حَنايا الصَّدْرِ مِن غُصَصٍ

لو لَم نَدُفْها بِمُرِّ الصَّبْرِ لاخْتَنَقا

Damascus, how many choking griefs lie in the folds of the chest!

Had we not dissolved them in bitter patience, it would have choked.

صُبَّتْ (ثَلاثونَ) لم تَدْرِ الصَّباحَ بها

سودُ اللَّيالي، ولم تَكْشِفْ بها أُفُقا

Thirty were poured out; in them no morning did

The black nights know, nor did they unveil a horizon.

هُنَّا عليها فَشَدَّتْنا بِسِلْسِلَةٍ

مِنَ الكَوارِثِ لم تَسْتَكْمِلِ الحَلَقا

We were cheap in its eyes, so it bound us with a chain

Of disasters whose links it has not finished.

جاعَتْ لِقَحْطِ (مُفاداةٍ) بها وَعَدَتْ

واسْتَنْجَدَتْ صاعَها والمِئْزَرَ الخَلَقا

It starved for lack of the self-sacrifice it had promised,

And called its grain-measure and threadbare waistcloth to its aid.

ونحنُ نُطْعِمُها حُلْوَ البَيانِ رُؤىً

والفَخْرَ مُتَّشِحاً، والوَعْدَ مُرْتَزَقا

While we feed it sweet eloquence as visions,

Pride worn as a cloak, and promises made a livelihood.

شَمَمْتُ تُرْبَكِ لا زُلْفى ولا مَلَقا

وسِرْتُ قَصْدَكِ لا خِبّاً، ولا مَذِقا

I smelled your soil, not seeking favor or offering flattery.

And journeyed toward you, without guile or insincerity.