تحرك اللحد ! — Jawahiri

كِلُوا إلى الغَيبِ ما يأتي به القَدَرُ

واستَقبلوا يومَكُمْ بالعزمِ وابتدروا

Entrust to the unseen whatever destiny may bring,

And face your day with resolve, and take the initiative.

وصَدِّقُوا مُخْبِراً عن حُسْنِ مُنْقلَبٍ

وآزِرُوه عسى أنْ يَصْدُقَ الخَبَرُ

Believe the bearer of news of a happy outcome,

And support him, that the news may prove true.

لا تَتْرُكوا اليأسَ يَلقى في نُفوسكم

لَه مَدَبَّاً ولا يأخُذْكُمُ الخَوَر

Do not let despair find within your souls

A path to creep along, nor let faintheartedness seize you.

إنَّ الوساوِسَ إنْ رامَتْ مَسارِبَها

سَدَّ الطريقَ عليها الحازِمُ الحَذِر

Indeed, should misgivings seek their inroads,

The resolute, vigilant man bars their way.

تَذكَّروا أمس واستوُحوا مَساوئهُ

فقدْ تكونُ لَكُمْ في طَيَّه عِبَر

Remember yesterday, and draw guidance from its evils;

For in its folds there may be lessons for you.

مُدُّوا جَماجِمَكمْ جِسراً إلى أملٍ

تُحاوِلونَ وشُقُوا الدربَ واخْتَصِروا

Lay your skulls as a bridge toward a hope

You pursue; cut a path and shorten the way.

وأجمِعوا امرَكُم يَنْهَضْ بسعيِكُمُ

شَعبٌ إلى هِمَمِ الساعينَ مُفْتَقِر

Unite in your resolve, and through your efforts let rise

A people in need of the strivers' high resolve.

إنَّ الشبابَ سِنادُ المُلْكِ يَعضُدُهُ

أيّامَ تُوحِدُهُ الأرزَاءُ والغِيَر

Youth is the mainstay of the state, sustaining it

In days when calamities and turns of fortune unite it.

أتتْكُمُ زُمرةٌ تحدو عزائِمَها

ما خَلَّفت قَبلها من سيّيءٍ زُمَر

A band has come to you, its resolve spurred on

By the evil that earlier bands left behind.

ألفتْ على كلِّ شبرٍ من مَسالكها

يلوحُ مما جَنى أسلافُها أثر

It found, along every handspan of its paths,

A visible trace of its predecessors' crimes.

مُهمةٌ عظُمت عن انْ يقوم بِها

فردٌ وأن يتحدَّى امرَها نفر

A task too great to be undertaken

By one man, or for a handful to face its demands.

ما إن لكُم غيرَهُ يومٌ فلا تَهنوا

وقد أتتكم بما تخشونه نُذُر

You have no day but this; do not lose heart,

And warnings of what you fear have already reached you.

طالتْ عَمايةُ ليلٍ ران كَلْكَلُه

على البلادِ وإنَّ الصُبْحَ يُنتظر

Long has lasted a night's blind darkness, its breast pressing

Upon the land; and dawn is awaited.

وإنما الصُبحُ بالأعمال زاهيةً

لا الوعدُ يُغري ولا الأقوالُ تنتَشِر

But dawn comes only through radiant deeds,

Not through enticing promises or words spread abroad.

وأنتَ يا بن " سليمانَ" الذي لَهِجتْ

بما جَسرتَ عليه البدوُ والحضر

And you, O son of Sulayman, of whom they have spoken—

Bedouin and townsfolk—for what you dared to do:

الكابتُ النفسَ أزماناً على حنَقٍ

حتى طغى فرأينا كيفَ ينفجر

You who long held your soul in check, seething with rage,

Until it overflowed, and we saw how it erupts;

والضاربُ الضربةَ لصَدمتِها

لحمُ العُلوج على الأقدام ينتثر

And you who struck the blow at whose impact

The foreign brutes' flesh scatters upon their feet:

هل ادَّخرتَ لهذا اليوم إهبَته

أم أنت بالأجل الممتَّدِ مُعتذر

Have you laid up this day's preparations,

Or do you plead the extended deadline as your excuse?

أقدَمتَ إقدامَ من لا الخوفُ يمنَعُهُ

ولا يُنَهنِهُ مِن تَصميمهِ الخطر

You advanced like one whom fear cannot stop,

Nor danger shake from his resolve.

وحَسْبُ امرِك توفيقاً وتوطئةً

أنَّ الطُغاةَ على الأعقابِ تَندحر

It is success enough, and groundwork for your cause,

That the tyrants are driven back upon their heels.

دبَّرتَ أعظمَ تدبيرٍ وأحسنَه

تُتلى مآثِرُهُ عُمراً وتُدَّكر

You devised the greatest and finest plan,

Whose glories will be recited and remembered for a lifetime.

فهل تُحاوِل ان تُلقي نتائِجه

يأتي القضاءُ بها أو يَذْهب القَدَر

Will you then seek to leave its results

For fate to bring or destiny to carry away?

وهل يَسُرُك قولُ المُصطلين به

والمُستغِلين أنَّ الأمرَ مبتَسَر

Would it please you to hear the claim of those scorched by it,

And those exploiting it, that the affair is incomplete,

وأنَّ كُلَّ الذي قد كانَ عِندَهم

على التبدل في الأسماءِ مُقْتَصر

And that all that has happened, in their eyes,

Is confined to a change of names?

وهل يَسُرُك أن تخفي الحُجُولُ به

ما دامَ قد لاحتِ الأوضاحُ والغُرَر

Would it please you that its white fetlock-marks stay hidden,

Since its white markings and forehead blazes have appeared?

أُعيذُ تلك الخُطى جَبَّارةً صُعِقَت

لها الطواغيتُ وارتجَّت لها السُرُر

I would shield those mighty strides that stunned

The despots and shook their thrones,

أنْ يَعتري وقْعَها من رَبكةٍ زَللٌ

أو أن يثبِّط من إقدامها الحَذَر

From any misstep in their tread through confusion,

Or from caution holding back their advance.

ماذا تُريد وسيفٌ صارِمٌ ذَكرٌ

يحمي الثغورَ و أنتَ الحيَّة الذَكر

What do you want, when a keen, hard-tempered sword

Guards the frontiers, and you are the male serpent?

والجيشُ خلفَك يُمضي مِن عزيمتهِ

فَرطُ الحماسِ ويُذكيها فتَستعِر

And the army is behind you, its resolve sharpened

By overwhelming zeal, which kindles it till it blazes.

أقدِمْ فأنتَ على الإقدامِ مُنطَبِعٌ

وأبطُشْ فأنت على التنكيل مُقتدر

Advance, for daring is your nature;

And strike hard, for you can mete out exemplary punishment.

وثِقْ بأن البلادَ اليومَ أجمعَها

لما تُرجيِّه مِن مسعاك تَنتظِر

And trust that the whole country today

Awaits what you hope for from your endeavor.

لا تُبقِ دابِرَ أقوامٍ وتَرْتَهم

فَهم إذا وَجدوها فُرصَةً ثأروا

Leave no remnant of those you have bereaved,

For, if they find a chance, they will take revenge.

هُناك تنتظِرُ الأحرارَ مَجزرةٌ

شنعاءُ سوداءُ لا تُبقي ولا تَذَر

There a massacre awaits the free,

Hideous and black, sparing none and leaving none.

وثَمَّ شِرذِمةٌ الفَتْ لها حُجُباً

من طُولِ صَفحٍ وعَفوٍ فهي تَستَتر

And there is a rabble that has found itself veils

Of prolonged forbearance and pardon, behind which it hides.

إنّي أُصارِحك التعبيرَ مُجترئاً

وما الصريحُ بذي ذَنبٍ فَيعتذر

I dare to speak to you in frank words,

And the frank man has no sin for which to apologize.

إن السماءَ التي ابديتَ رَونَقها

يومَ الخميس بدا في وَجهها كَدَر

The sky whose radiance you revealed

On Thursday now shows murkiness on its face.

تَهامَسَ النفَرُ الباكون عَهدَهُم

أن سوفَ يرجِعُ ماضيهم فَيزدِهر

The men who mourn their former era whispered

That their past would return and flourish.

تَجري الأحاديثُ نكراءً كعادتِها

ولم يُرَعْ سامرٌ مِنهُم ولا سمر

Vile talk circulates, as it always has,

And neither their night-talkers nor their talk has been disturbed.

فحاسبِ القومَ عن كلِّ الذي اجترحوا

عما أراقوا وما اغتلوا وما احْتَكروا

So call those people to account for all they perpetrated,

For what they shed, what they embezzled, and what they monopolized.

للآن لمْ يُلغَ شبرٌ من مَزارعِهم

ولا تَزحزح مّمِا شيَّدوا حَجر

To this day, not a handspan of their farmland has been taken away,

Nor has one stone of what they built been shifted.

ولم يزل لهمُ في كلِّ زاويةٍ

مُنوِّهٌ بمخازيهم ومُفَتخر

And still, in every corner, they have

Someone extolling their shameful deeds and boasting of them.

وتلكَ لِلحرَّ مأساةٌ مُهيَّجةٌ

يَدمى ويدمعُ منها القلبُ والبصَر

For the free man, that is an anguish-stirring tragedy,

At which the heart bleeds and the eye sheds tears.

فضيِّقِ الحبلَ واشدُدْ مِن خناقِهُمُ

فَربَّما كانَ في إرخائه ضَرر

So tighten the rope and draw it tight around their throats,

For there may be harm in loosening it.

ولا تَقُلْ تِرَةٌ تبقى حَزازتُها

فَهُمْ على أيِّ حالٍ كُنتَ قد وُتِروا

And do not say, “A wrong whose bitterness will linger”;

For, whatever you do, they have already been bereaved.

تَصوَّرِ الأمرَ معكوساً وخُذْ مَثَلاً

مما يَجرُّونه لو أنهم نُصِروا

Imagine the situation reversed, and take an example

From what they would inflict, if they were victorious.

أكانَ للرِفِقِ ذِكرٌ في مَعاجِمهمْ

أم كانَ عن " حِكمةٍ " أو صحبِهَ خَبَر

Would gentleness find mention in their dictionaries,

Or would there be news of Hikmat or his companions?

واللهِ لاقتِيدَ "زيدٌ " باسم " زائدةٍ"

ولأصطلى " عامرٌ " والمبتغى " عُمَر"

By God, Zayd would be led away under Za'ida's name,

And Amir would burn, though Umar was the one sought.

ولا نمحى كلُ رَسمٍ من مَعالمكُم

ولاشتَفَتْ بِكُم الأمثالُ والسِيَر

And every trace of your landmarks would be erased,

And proverbs and chronicles would gloat over you.

ولا تزالُ لهم في ذاكَ مأرُبَةٌ

ولا يزالُ لهم في أخذِكُم وطَر

They still have designs on that,

And still they hunger to seize you.

أصبحتُ أحذرُ قولَ الناسِ عن أسفٍ

من أن يروا تِلكمُ الآمالَ تَندَثِر

I have come to dread what people may say in sorrow,

On seeing those hopes vanish:

تَحرَّكَ الَلحدُ وانشقَّت مُجدَّدةً

أكفانُ قَومٍ ظنَّنا أنَّهم قُبِروا

“The grave has stirred, and once again have split

The shrouds of people we thought had been buried.”