الى البعثة المصرية — Jawahiri

رُسُلَ الثقافةِ من مُضَرْ

وَجْهُ العراق بكِم سَفَرْ

Messengers of culture from Mudar,

Iraq's face has brightened through you.

حَرَصَ القضاء عليكم

وَرَعتْكُمُ عينُ القَدَر

Fate cared for you,

and destiny's eye guarded you.

جئتتُمْ وهاطلةُ الغَمام

معاً ورُحْتُم والقمَر

You came with the clouds' falling rain,

together, and departed with the moon.

رشَّ السماءُ طريقَكم

أيُحبُّكم حتى المطر !

The sky sprinkled your path—

does even the rain love you?

في القلبِ منزلُكم وبين

السَمع منا والبَصر

Your dwelling is in our hearts, and between

our hearing and our sight.

نحن الحُجولُ وانتم

في كل بارزةٍ غُررّ

We are the white fetlock markings, and you

the forehead blazes at every public gathering.

ليل الجزيرة لم يكنْ

لولاكمُو فيه سَحَر

The Peninsula's night would not have known,

but for you, any dawn within it.

يا سادتي ان العراق

جميعُه بكُمُ ازدَهَر

My masters, indeed Iraq

has flourished, all of it, through you.

والمحتفونَ بكم وإنْ

كانوا ذوي كَرٍّ وفَرّ

And those welcoming you, although

they were men of charge and retreat,

وجميعُهُم اهلُ البلاد

ولا يُقاسُ بِما نَدَر

are all people of this land;

one must not judge by the rare exception.

فأجَلُّ من زُمَرٍ تَلَقَّتْكُمْ

قد اختبأتْ زُمَر

For greater than the groups that welcomed you

are groups that have stayed hidden.

وأجَلُّ ممن قادَهُمْ

حبُّ الظهورِ مَن استَتَر

And greater than those whom

love of display led are those who stayed concealed.

خَفيَت ذواتٌ جَمّةٌ

وبَدَتْ لكم بعضُ الصُور

Many persons remained hidden,

and some outward forms appeared to you.

وأُزيِحَ من ظَفِروا به

ومشى اليكم من ظَفِر

And the one they overcame was pushed aside,

while the victor walked toward you.

ملءَ النوادي معجَبون

بفضلِكِم ملء الحَجَر

The clubs are full of admirers

of your merit; they fill the chambers.

كنَّهُمْ لم يملِكوا

حقّ الجلوس على السُرُر

But they have not gained

the right to sit upon the couches.

غيرُ المناسِب ان يَمسَّ

حريرَ سادَتنا الوَبَر

It is unseemly for

camel hair to touch our masters' silk.

فاذا أرَدْتُم ان يُتاح

لهم بصُحبْتكم وَطَر

So if you wish that

they may fulfill a desire through your company,

فضَعوا بقارعةِ الطريق

لَهُم بُيوتاً من شَعَر

then set up by the roadside

tents of haircloth for them.

وسيسُمعونَكُمُ من الترحيب

خاتَمةَ السُوَر

And they will let you hear, by way of welcome,

the last of the surahs.

وَضْع العراقِ خذوه من

عذبَات أقلامِ أُخر

Take the state of Iraq from

the tips of other pens.

ولحفظِ حُرِيّاتِهِمْ

من أن تُداسَ وتُحتَقَر

And to safeguard their liberties

from being trampled and despised,

لَتُرحْ لمصرَ سُعاتُكم

ليَجئْكُمُ منها خَفَر

let your couriers depart for Egypt,

so that an escort may come to you from there.

هم مُرهقون لانَّهمْ

لا يصدَعون لمن أَمَر

They are burdened because they

do not obey whoever commands.

ومُضايَقون لانَّهمْ

ما في عزائِمهم خَوَر

And harassed because

there is no weakness in their resolve.

عندي مقالٌ يستَوي

من لامَ فيه ومن عَذّر

I have a saying that applies equally

to those who condemn it and those who excuse it:

سقَطَتْ على الأرض الثمار

وجاءَكم يمشي شَجَر

The fruits have fallen to the ground,

and trees have come walking to you.

ماذا احدّثُكُمْ حديثَ

القَلب من جَمْر أحَرّ

What shall I tell you? The tale

of the heart is hotter than embers.

كلُّ المسائل مُرَّةٌ

وسكوتُنا عنها أمَر

All the issues are bitter,

and our silence about them is bitterer.

أعليكم يَخفَى وفي

كلِّ الورى ذاعَ الخَبر

Can it be hidden from you, when

the news has spread among all humankind?

لستُمْ من القوم الذينَ

يُخادَعون بما ظَهَر

You are not among those

who are deceived by appearances,

حتى نغالِطكم ونزعمُ

أنَّنا فوقَ البَشر

for us to mislead you and claim

that we stand above humankind.

رُسلَ الثقافة من أجلِّ

صفاتِكم بُعْدُ النَظر

Messengers of culture, among the noblest

of your qualities is farsightedness.

ولداُتنا في كلِّ نَفع

للسياسةِ أو ضَررَ

And our peers in every benefit

or harm of politics:

غَطَّى علينا سادتي

وعليكُمُ جِلدُ النَمِر

We have been covered, my masters,

and you too, by a tiger's hide.

وعلى السَواء لنا كما

لكُمُ يُكادُ ويُؤتمرَ

Equally against us, just as

against you, schemes and plots are laid.

وعلى قياسٍ واحدٍ

حُفِرتْ لكم ولنا الحُفَر

And to one and the same pattern

pits have been dug for you and us.

انتُمْ لنا عِبرٌ وفيما

نحن فيه لكُمْ عِبَر

You are lessons for us, and in what

we endure are lessons for you.

عن أي شيءٍ تَسألون

فكل شيء مُحتكَر

What thing do you ask about?

For everything is monopolized.

لم يخلُ دَرْب من عراقيلٍ

ولم يسَلَم مَمَرّ

No path has been free of obstacles,

and no passage has escaped unscathed.

وسَلُوا الخبيرَ فانني

ممن بواحدةٍ عَثَر

Ask one who knows, for I am

one who stumbled over one of them.

حتى لقد اشفقت أن

يعتاقَ رحلتَكم حَجَر

So much so that I feared

a stone might obstruct your journey.

تهتاجُنا النعرات طائشةً

وينجَحُ من نَعَر

Reckless partisan cries inflame us,

and whoever shouts succeeds.

في كلِّ حَلق نغمةٌ

ولكلِّ أنملةٍ وَتَر

In every throat there is a tune,

and for every fingertip a string.

ويعاف من لم يرض

أصحاب النفوذِ وينتهِر

And those are shunned who fail to please

the powerful, and are rebuked.

تمشى سموم المُغرِضين

بسُوحنا مشيَ الخَدَر

The poisons of those with ulterior motives creep

through our squares as numbness creeps.

يتقاذَفُون عقولَنا

وقلوبَنا لَعِبَ الأُكر

They toss our minds about

and our hearts, like balls in a game.

ولقد نُُصفِّق للخطيب

ونحن منه على حَذَر

And indeed we applaud the orator,

while we are on our guard against him.

باسم البلاد يجل من

جرَّ البلادَ الى الخَطَر

In the country's name, he is exalted who

dragged the country into danger.

يا سادتي : لا ينتَهي

فيضُ الشعور اذا انفَجَر

My masters, there is no end

to the flood of feeling when it bursts forth.

ولكي أريحَكُمُ أجيءُ

لكم بشيء مُختَصَر

And to spare you, I shall bring

you something brief:

إن السياسة لَم تبقِّ

على البلادِ ولم تَذَر

Politics has spared nothing

of the country and left nothing intact.

وبرغم ما في الرافدينِ

من المصائبِ والغِيَر

Despite what the land of the Two Rivers holds

of calamities and reversals,

وبرغم أنا قد تزعَّمَ

عندنا حتى البَقَر

and although leadership has been assumed

among us even by cattle,

فهنا شبابٌ ناهضونَ

عقوقُهم إحدى الكُبَر

here are young people rising up;

failing them is one of the gravest wrongs.

كِتَلٌ تَحَفَّزُ للحياة

يسوقهُا حادٍ اغّر

Blocs rouse themselves for life,

driven onward by a radiant camel-driver.

تمشي على نُور الثقافة

مشيَ موثوقِ الظَفَر

They walk by the light of culture,

with the stride of one assured of victory.

فيها الشجاعةُ من عليٍّ

والسياسةُ من عُمّر

In them is the courage of Ali,

and the statecraft of Umar.

واذا أمَرتُم ان أسامرَكم

فقد لذَّ السَمَر

And if you bid me converse with you at night,

the night-talk has indeed grown delightful,

عن نَهْضةٍ أدبية

ما إن لها عنكُمْ مَفَر

about a literary awakening

which has no escape from you.

لولاكُمُ ما كان للشعراء

فينا من أثَر

Without you, poets would have had

no influence among us.

قبر الاديبِ الالمَعَيِّ

هنا وفي مصرَ انتَشَر

The brilliant man of letters was buried

here, yet found renown in Egypt.

الله يُجزي من أفاد

ومن أعانَ ومن نَشَر

May God reward those who benefited others,

and those who helped and those who published.

اني اسائلُكم وأعلَم

بالجواب المُنتَظَر

I ask you, and I know

the answer to expect:

هل تَقبَلون بأن يقالَ

اديبُ مصرَ قد افتَقَر

Would you accept it being said

that Egypt's man of letters has grown poor,

او أنَّ " شوقي " من

حَراجة عيشِه كالمُحتَضَر

or that Shawqi, because of

the hardship of his life, is like a dying man,

او أنَّ " حافظَ " قد هوى

فتجاوبونَ : الى سَقَر

or that Hafiz has fallen,

and you reply, 'To Saqar!'?

حاشا : فتلكَ خطيئةٌ

وجَريمةٌ لا تُغتَفَر

Never! That would be a sin

and an unforgivable crime.

" شوقي " يعيشُ كما يَليقُ

بمن تَفكِّر او شَعَر

Shawqi lives as befits

one who has reflected or composed poetry,

وسطَ القصورِ العامراتِ

وبين فائحةِ الزَهَر

amid flourishing palaces

and amid the fragrance of blossoms,

برعايةِ الوطَن الأعَزِّ

وغيرةِ الملِك الأبَر

under the care of the most cherished homeland

and the solicitude of the most benevolent king.

وتحوطُ ابراهيمَ عاطفةٌ

الأمير من الصِغَر

And Ibrahim is enfolded by the affection

of the prince, since childhood.

أما هُنا فالشعر شيء

للتملُّح يُدَخَر

But here, poetry is something

stored away for witty amusement.

وعلى السواءِ اغابَ

شاعرُنا المجوِّدُ أم حَضر

It is all the same whether he is absent—

our accomplished poet—or present.

سَقَطُ المتاع وجوُده

عند الضرورة يُدَّكَر

His existence is worthless baggage,

remembered only when needed.

في كل زاويةٍ أديبٌ

بالخمول قد استَتَر

In every corner is a man of letters,

hidden away in obscurity;

وقريحة حَسَدوا عليها

ما تجودُ فلم تثر

and a poetic gift they envied for

what it gives, so it never stirred.

والى اللقاءِ وهمُّنا

أن الضيوف على سَفر

Until we meet again—and our concern

is that the guests are setting out.

جَمَعَ الالهُ مصيرَنا

ومصيرَ مصرَ على قَدَر

God has united our destiny

and Egypt's destiny by decree.