أحمد شوقي — Jawahiri

طوى الموتُ ربَّ القوافي الغُرَرْ

وأصبحَ " شوقي " رهينَ الحُفَرْ

Death has folded away the lord of radiant rhymes,

And Shawqi has become a captive of the graves.

وأُلقِيَ ذاكَ التُّراثُ العظيمُ

لِثقلِ التّراب وضغطِ الحَجر

That mighty legacy has been consigned

To the weight of earth and the pressure of stone.

وجئنا نُعزّي به الحاضرين

كأنْ لم يكنْ أمسِ فيمن حضر

We came to console those present for his loss,

As though yesterday he had not been among them,

ولم يُنتجِ السُوَرَ الخالداتِ

من المُلحقاتِ بأمِّ السُّوَر

Nor produced those immortal surahs,

Appended to the Mother of Surahs:

من اللاَّءِ يهتزُّ منها النديُّ

ويُطربُ إيقاعُهُنَّ السَّمر

Those that make the assembly thrill,

Whose rhythms delight evening gatherings.

برغمِ الشُعورِ يشُلُّ البِلى

لسانَكَ أو يعتريكَ الكدَر

Despite all feeling, decay paralyzes

Your tongue, or gloom overtakes you;

وأن يقطعَ الموتُ ذاك النشيدَ

وأن يأكلَ الدودُ ذاكَ الوتَر

And death cuts short that song,

And worms devour that string;

وأنَّا نعودُ بنفضِ الأكفِّ

عنكَ وأنتَ العظيمُ الخَطَر

And we return, shaking our hands

Free of you, despite your mighty worth.

فيا لكِ من عِبرةٍ يُستفزُّ

منها على كثرةٍ في العِبَر ..!

What a lesson you are, stirring us,

Though lessons are so many!

زمانٌ وفيٌّ بميعادهِ

فظُلماً يقالُ ليالٍ غُدُر

Time is faithful to its appointment;

Unjustly are its nights called treacherous.

كما يُقْرعُ " الجَرْسُ " للناشئينَ

تأتي إلى الناس منه النُّذُر

As the bell is rung for the young,

Its warnings come to mankind.

ولكن يُريدُ الفتى أنْ يدوم

ولو دامَ سادَ عليه الضجر

Yet a young man wishes to endure;

Were he to endure, boredom would master him.

ويأبى التنازعُ طولَ البقاء

وتأباهُ بُقْيا نفوسٍ أُخر

Strife refuses a lengthy life,

And other souls' survival forbids it.

وقد يُهلكُ الناسَ فردٌ يعيشُ

حيناً فكيف إذا ما استمر!

One man, living, may destroy a people

In a while—what then if he lived on!

فلّلهِ من شارعٍ لم يَعُقْهُ

حكمُ الضرورةِ أو ما ندَر

Praise be to God, a lawgiver unimpeded

By necessity's rule or rare exceptions.

سواءٌ صليبُ الصفا والزجاجِ

كسراً بكفِّ القضا والقدَر

Hard rock and glass are equal

In being broken by fate and destiny's hand.

وبالدهرِ في الناسِ مثلُ الجُنون

فليس يُبالي بمنْ ذا عثر

Time treats mankind with something like madness:

It cares not whom it stumbles upon.

وحتمٌ على الخفرِ الآنسات

والوحش حشرجةُ المْحْتَضَر

For bashful, graceful maidens

And wild beasts alike, the dying rattle is decreed.

تجيءُ إلى الصدرِ تحتَ الحرير

كجيئتها الصدرَ تحتَ الوَبر

It comes to the breast beneath silk

As it comes to the breast beneath haircloth.

وكلُّ الفوارقِ بينَ اللغاتِ

وبينَ الطباعِ وبينَ الأْسَر

All the differences between languages,

Between dispositions and between families,

سيُوقِفها للردى زائرٌ

ثقيلُ الورودِ بغيضُ الصَّدر

A visitor will bring to a halt for death,

Grievous in arrival, hateful in departure.

فيا صُفرةَ الموتِ إنَّ الوجوهَ

تَساوى بها صَلَفٌ أو خَفَر

O pallor of death, all faces,

Haughty or bashful, are made equal by you.

تحَيْرتُ في عِشةِ الشاعرين

أتَحْلو خُلاصتُها أم تَمَرّ

I have wondered about the life of poets:

Is its essence sweet, or does it turn bitter?

فقد جارَ " شوقي " على نفسهِ

وقد يقتُلُ المرءَ جَورُ الفِكَر

For Shawqi was harsh upon himself,

And thought's tyranny can kill a man.

على أنَّه لم يعِشْ خالداً

خلودَ الجديدَينِ لو لم يَجُر

Yet he would not have lived immortal,

As day and night endure, had he not driven himself.

تتبَّعْتُ آثارَ " شوقي " وقد

وقفتمْ على من يقصُّ الأثر

I have followed Shawqi's traces, and now

You have encountered one who follows the trail.

لقد فاتَ بالسبقِ كلَّ الجيادِ

في الشعر هذا الجوادُ الأغرّ

He has indeed outstripped every steed,

This white-blazed steed of poetry.

ترسَّلَ لم يَرْتَبِكْ خَطوُهُ

عناءً .. ولا نال منه البَهَر

He moved unhurriedly; his stride never faltered

From fatigue, nor did breathlessness overcome him.

" شَكِسْبيرُ " أُمَّتِهِ لم يُصِبْهُ

بالعِيِّ داءٌ ولا بالحَصَر

His nation's Shakespeare—never afflicted

By an ailment of inarticulacy or faltering.

وإن أصدُقَنَّ " فشوفي " لهُ

عيونٌ من الشعرِ فيها حَوَر

And, to speak truly, Shawqi has

Eyes of verse endowed with dark-eyed beauty.

تعرَّضه من طلاءِ البيانِ

ومن زِبْرِج اللفظ دربٌ خطِر

There confronted him, in eloquence's varnish

And words' glitter, a perilous path.

ولو خافَ مثلَ سِواه العُبُور

لخابَ وزلَّ .. ولكنْ عَبَر

Had he feared to cross, like others,

He would have failed and slipped—but he crossed.

تمشَّى لمصطلحاتِ البديع

مُندسَّةً في البيانِ النَّخِر

He approached the devices of rhetorical ornament,

Embedded in decaying eloquence,

فأفرغها من قوافيهِ في

قوالبَ مرصوصةٍ كالزُّبُر

And cast them, out of his rhymes, into

Molds packed solid like iron blocks.

فجاءَتْ كأنْ تنَلْها يدٌ

خلافَ يدِ الماهرِ المقتدِر

They emerged as though a hand had touched them,

Other than the skilled, accomplished master's.

يُذلِّلُ من شارداتِ القريضِ

ما لو سِواهُ ابتغاهُ لَفَر

He tames such fugitive poetry

As would flee if another sought it.

ويستنزلُ الشِعَر عذبَ الرُّواءِ

كصوبِ الغمامةِ إذْ ينحدِر

He draws poetry down, sweet to drink,

Like a cloud's rainfall as it descends.

يُمَيِّزهُ عن سِواه الذَّكاءُ

وطولُ الأناةِ ، وبُعدُ النظَّر

Intelligence distinguishes him from others,

Long patience and far-reaching vision.

وتبدو الرجولةُ في شِعره

منزَّهةً من صعىً أو صَعر

Manliness appears in his poetry,

Free of abasement or haughtiness.

وفي كِبَرِ النَّفْس مندوحةٌ

عن الكبرِ ، شأنُ الضعاف الكبر

Greatness of soul offers escape

From arrogance: arrogance is the weak man's trait.

ولم يتخبَّثْ بهُجْر الكلام

ولم يتصيَّدْ بماءٍ عكر

He never stooped to foul language,

Nor fished in muddy water.

وديوانُ " شوقي " بما فيه من

صنوفِ البداعةِ روضٌ نضر

Shawqi's collected verse, with its

Many kinds of invention, is a verdant garden.

فبيتٌ يكادُ من الارِتياحِ

واللطفِ من رِقَّةٍ يُعتْصَر

One verse is so full of cheer

And grace, its tenderness could almost be pressed out.

وبيتُ يكادً من الاِندفاعِ

يقدحُ من جانبيهِ الشَّررَ

Another verse, from its sheer onrush,

Almost strikes sparks from both its sides.

وبيتٌ كأنَّ " رُفائيلَ " قد

كساهُ بكفَّيْهِ إحدى الصُوَر

Another seems as though Raphael had

Clothed it, with his own hands, in one of his pictures.

تُحِسُّ الطبيعةَ في طيَّةِ

تَكشَّفُ عن حُسنها المستتر

You feel nature within its folds,

Unveiling her hidden beauty.

كأنَّكَ تسمعُ وقعَ النَّدى

بتصويرهِ أو حفيفَ الشَّجر

As though you heard the footfall of dew

Through his portrayal, or the rustle of trees.

وبيتٌ ترى " مصرَ " أسيانةً

تُناغي به مجدَها المندثر

In another verse, you see Egypt grieving,

Crooning through it to her vanished glory.

ففي مصرعٍ يومُها المبتلى

وفي مرعٍ أمسُها المزدهر

In one hemistich, her afflicted today,

And in another, her flourishing yesterday;

و"فرعونُ " إذ ينطوي مُلْكُهُ

و " فرعونُ " في القبرِ إذ يَنْتَشِر

And Pharaoh, as his kingdom falls away,

And Pharaoh, in the grave, as he rises again.

وديوانُ " شوقي " يُجِدُّ الشبابَ

لتأريخِ أُمتَّهِ المُختَصَر

Shawqi's collected verse renews the youth

Of his nation's condensed history.

ولولا المغالاةُ قلتُ : انطوى

بمنعاهُ عُنوانُها المُفَتخَر

Were it not an exaggeration, I would say: folded away

At news of his death was her proud emblem.

فيا نجلَ مصرَ وفَتْ برَّةً

بذكراكَ " مصرُ " وأنتَ الأبَّر

O son of Egypt, dutiful has she been,

Egypt, to your memory; yet you were more dutiful still.

مئاتُ الصحائفِ مسودةٌ

مُجلَّلةٌ بمئاتِ الصُور

Hundreds of pages are blackened,

Draped in hundreds of pictures.

ظهرتَ بها وجناحُ البيانِ

مهيضٌ ، وأسلوبُه مُحتقر

You emerged there while eloquence's wing

Was broken, and its style despised:

بقايا من الكَلِمِ الباقياتِ

تناقَلَها نفرٌ عن نفر

Remnants of words that had endured,

Passed from one small band to another;

ولفظٌ هجينٌ ثوَتْ تحتهُ

معانٍ لِقلَّتها تًحتكر

And mongrel diction beneath which lay

Meanings hoarded because they were so few.

وحسبُكَ من حالةٍ رثَّةٍ

بفرطِ الجمودِ الجمودِ لها يعتذر..!

What a wretched state it was:

For sheer stagnation, stagnation itself apologizes to it!

فكنتَ وعِلَّتها كالطبيبِ

يُنْعش جسماً عراهُ الخَوَر

You confronted its ailment like a physician

Reviving a body overcome by weakness,

تُعَلِّمُها أنَّ للعبقريِّ

حكْماُ مُطاعاً إذا ما أمر

Teaching it that a genius has

Authority obeyed whenever he commands;

وأنَّ القوافي عِبِدَّى له

يُفَرِّقُ أشتاتَها أو يَذر

And that rhymes are his slaves:

He scatters their throngs, or lets them be.

يصوغُ المعاني كما يشتهي

ويلعبُ باللفظِ لعبَ الأكر

He shapes meanings as he desires,

And plays with words as one plays with balls.

" عُكاظُ " من الشعر تحتلّهُ

ويرعاهُ " حافظُ " حتى ازدهر

An Ukaz of poetry that you occupied,

And Hafiz tended until it flourished.

تلوذُ الوفودً بساحَيْكمُا

وتأتيهِ من كلِّ فجٍّ زُمر

Delegations seek refuge in your two courts,

And bands come to it from every mountain pass.

تُبَجَّلُ فيه مزايا الشُعور

على حينَ في غيرهِ تًحتَقَر

The gifts of feeling are honored there,

While elsewhere they are held in contempt.

وتًنسى الضغائنُ في ساحةٍ

بها كلُّ مكرُمةٍ تُدَّكر

Grudges are forgotten in a court

Where every noble deed is remembered.

وأنت كصمصامةٍ مُنتضىً

و " حافظُ " كالأبلقِ المشتَهَر

You were like Samsamah, unsheathed,

And Hafiz like the famed al-Ablaq.

تمشَّى بإثْركَ في شِعره

وماتَ .. وأعقبتَهُ بالأثر

He followed in your footsteps in his poetry,

And died; you followed close upon his trail.

بقدْرِ اختلافِكما في النُبوغِ

كانَ اختلافُكما في العُمُر

As great as your difference in genius

Was your difference in years.

فلا تَبعُدا إن شأنَ الزمانِ

أنْ يُعقِبَ الصفوُ منه الكَدَر

May neither of you be far away! For time's way

Is to let its serenity give way to sorrow.

عزاءُ الكِنانة أنَّ القريضَ

تأمَّرَ دهراً بها ثمَّ فَر

Egypt's—the Quiver's—consolation is that poetry

Reigned in her for an age, then fled.

بنجمينِ كانت تباهي السما

وما في السما من نجومٍ كُثُر

With two stars she vied with heaven

And all the many stars in heaven.

بشوقي وحافظَ كانت متى

تُنازلْ بمعركةٍ تَنتصِر

With Shawqi and Hafiz, whenever she

Entered battle, she prevailed.

فها هي قد عَريتْ منهما

وها هي من وحشةٍ تَقْشَعِر

Now she has been stripped of both,

And now she shudders in desolation.

فلا تحسبنْ أنَّ طولَ البكا

يذودُ الأسى او نِثارَ الزَهر

Do not think that prolonged weeping

Dispels grief—or a scattering of flowers does.

خسرناكَ كنزاً إلى مثلِهِ

إذا أحْوَجَتْ أزمةٌ يفتقر

We have lost you, a treasure whose equal

One needs when a crisis brings want.

وما كنتَ من زمنٍ واحدٍ

ولكنْ نِتاجَ قُرونٍ عُقُر

You were not the product of one age,

But the yield of barren centuries.

مضى بالعروبةِ دهرٌ ولمْ

يَلُحْ ألمعيٌّ ومرت عُصُر

An age passed over Arabdom, and no

Brilliant mind shone; whole eras passed.

وإن النُبوغَ على ما يُحيطُ

بعيشِ النوابغِ أمرٌ عَسِر

And genius, amid all that surrounds

The lives of geniuses, is a difficult thing.

يثيرُ اهتماماً أديبٌ يجد

كما قيلَ نجمٌ جديدٌ ظهر

A newly emerging writer arouses interest,

As though one said: a new star has appeared.

قرونٌ مضتْ لم يسُدِّ العراقُ

مِن المتنبي مكاناً شَغَر

Centuries have passed, and Iraq has not filled

The place left vacant by al-Mutanabbi.

ولم تتبدلْ سماءُ البلادِ

ولا حالَ منها الثَّرى والنَّهر

The country's sky has not changed,

Nor have its soil and river altered.

ولم يتغيرْ عَروضُ الخليل

ولا العُربُ قد بُدلّوا بالتَتر

Al-Khalil's prosody has not changed,

Nor have the Arabs been replaced by the Tatars.

ولكِنَّما تُنْتُجُ النابهينَ

من الشاعرينِ دواعٍ أُخَر

Yet the distinguished are brought forth

Among poets by other forces.

فنْ فُقدَتْ لم يشعَ الأريبُ

الا ليخبو كلمحِ البَصَر

If these are absent, the gifted one shines

Only to fade in the blink of an eye.