الحزبان المتآخيان — Jawahiri

عليكم وان طال الرجاءُ المُعوِّلُ

وفي يَدِكُمْ تحقيقُ ما يُتأمَّلُ

On you rests reliance, though hope be long delayed;

and in your hands is the fulfillment of what is hoped for.

وأنتم أخيرٌ في ادعاءٍ ومَطْمَعٍ

وأنتم إذا عُدّ الميامينُ أوّل

You are last in pretension and self-seeking,

but first whenever the blessed are counted.

وماذا ترجي أنسٌ لا يَسُرهُّا

سوى الشعبِ مسروراً وماذا تؤمّل

What do people hope for, when nothing delights them

but the people made happy—and what do they seek?

نفوسٌ قويماتُ المباديءِ حرّةٌ

على رَغْمِ ما تلقاه لا تتحول

Souls upright in principle and free,

despite all they encounter, never changing.

وألسنَةٌ لُدُّ عن الحقّ ذُوَّدٌ

كأحسنِ ما حامى الحقيقةَ مِقْول

And tongues fierce in argument, defenders of truth,

as nobly as the finest speaker ever defended truth.

وأقلام كتابٍ يُريد انتقاصَها

من النَّفَرِ المأجورِ للسبّ مِغْزَل

And writers' pens, whose belittlement is sought

by a spindle among the band hired for abuse.

وهل يستوي شاكي السلاح مؤيدٌ

بحقٍّ ومهتوكُ الضريبة أعزل

Can a fully armed man, upheld

by right, equal an unarmed man of shattered mettle?

وأدمغةٌ جبارةٌ يُلتجى لها

اذا انتاب محذورٌ أو اعتاضُ مُشْكل

And mighty minds to which one turns

when a feared danger strikes or a problem proves intractable.

ذخيرةُ شعبٍ مستضامٍ تَحُوطُهُ

وإن لم يكنْ حِصْنٌ لديه ومَعْقِل

A reserve for an oppressed people, protecting it,

though it has no fortress or stronghold.

أهابتْ ملايينٌ تَشُدُّ اكفَّها

بافئدةٍ من قرحةٍ تتأكل

Millions have called out, pressing their palms

against hearts eaten away by an ulcer.

تُناشِدُكُمْ أن تأخذوا ثأرَ أُمّةٍ

أُصيبَ لها في حبة القلبِ مَقْتل

They implore you to avenge a nation

struck a mortal blow in the kernel of its heart.

وعندكُمُ تفويضةٌ تعرفونها

وفي يدكُمْ منها كتابٌ مُسَجَّل

You hold a mandate you well know,

and in your hands is its recorded document.

تآخى الفراتيون فيه وصافحت

يَدَ الحلَّةِ الفيحاءِ بالعهد مَوْصل

In it, the Euphrates people became brothers and shook hands:

Mosul with spacious Hilla, pledging a covenant.

وإنّا وإنْ جارت علينا كوارثٌ

يَقِلُّ التَّعَزّي عندها والتّعلُل

And we, though calamities have dealt harshly with us,

before which consolation and solace scarcely avail—

مضى العامُ والثاني بويلٍ وربما

اتى ثالثٌ بالويل والموتِ مقبل

the first year passed, and the second, in woe; perhaps

a third will come with woe, and death approaching—

لَراجونَ أن تَصحُو سماءٌ مغيمة

وينزاحَ عن أرض الفراتين قسطل

still hope that an overcast sky will clear,

and the dust-cloud lift from the land of the two rivers.

ولا بد أن ينجابَ ليلٌ وينجلي

باوضاحه يومٌ أغَرُّ مُحَجَّل

Night must surely withdraw, and there must emerge

a white-blazed, white-footed day in all its bright markings.

فان تسألِ الأقوامَ عنا فانّنا

على حالةٍ خرقاءَ لا تُتَحمَّل

So if you ask the peoples about us, we are

in a chaotic state that cannot be endured.

بلادٌ تُسامُ الجورَ حكماً وأمةٌ

تُضام ودُستْورٌ مُهانٌ مُعَطَّل

A land subjected to tyranny as its rule, a nation

oppressed, and a constitution dishonored and suspended.

أعيذكُمُ أن يَستْثيرَ اهتمامَكُمْ

دنيٌّ يداري لقمةً أو مُغَفَّل

May you be spared having your attention stirred

by a base man currying favor for a morsel, or a fool.

وهلَ يرتَضي إغضابَ شَعْبٍ بأسره

وإشماتَهُ الا غويٌّ مُضلِّل

Who would consent to anger an entire people

and expose it to gloating, but a misguided deceiver?

مساكين جرتها البطون لهوة

بها كلُّ ما يُصمي الغيَارَى ويُخجِل

Wretches whose bellies dragged them into an abyss

filled with all that mortally wounds the honor-conscious and brings shame.

يدٌ رَكَسَتْ للزّندِ في كلِ حطّةٍ

وأخرى من السُحْت المُحرَّم تأكل

One hand sank to the wrist in every degradation,

while the other feeds on forbidden, ill-gotten gains.

فلا تعذلوهم في اختلاقٍ فانهُمْ

مفاليسُ من كذْبٍ ودّسٍ تَموَّلُوا

Do not reproach them for fabricating, for they are

paupers who enriched themselves through lies and intrigue.

أرادوا لكم عيباً فرُدُّوا وخُيِّبوا

ولم يجدوا قولاً بكم فتقوَّلوا

They sought to find fault in you, but were rebuffed and disappointed;

they found nothing to say against you, so invented it.

حرام عليهم أن يقولوا فيصدقوا

وعار عليهم أنْ يقولوا فيفعلوا

It is forbidden to them to speak and tell the truth,

and shameful to them to speak and act on their words.

اذا ما انبرى منكم أديبٌ محنَّكٌ

تصدى له مستسخَفُ الرأي أخطل

Whenever a seasoned man of letters comes forward among you,

a babbler of witless judgment confronts him.

وأُقسِمُ لو قالوا خذوا ألفَ واحدٍ

مقابلَ فردٍ منكُمُ لم تبدّلوا

I swear, if they said, 'Take a thousand individuals

in exchange for one of yours,' you would not make the trade.

فما اسطعتَم فاسترجعوا الحكمَ منهم

فانَّهُمُ صيدٌ عليكُمْ مُحلَّل

So, as far as you can, wrest the rule back from them,

for they are quarry lawfully yours to hunt.

رَأوا شرَ لو أطاقوا تحملاً

ولكنه لم يَبْقَ حتى التحّمل

They saw evil—if only they could endure it!—

but even endurance itself no longer remained.

وقد هان شرُّ لو أطاقوا تحملاً

ولكنه لم يَبْقَ حتى التحّمل

Evil would have seemed slight, had they the strength to endure,

but even endurance itself no longer remained.

وظنوا بأن اللهَ والشعبَ غافلٌ

وهيهاتَ لا هذا ولاذاك يغفل

They thought that God and the people were heedless;

far from it: neither this one nor that is heedless.

سيعرفُ قَدْرَ النّاسِ من يَستَخِفُّهُ

ويلمَسُ عُقبى الشرِ مَنْ يتوغل

Whoever belittles the people will learn their worth,

and whoever plunges into evil will feel its consequences.

فقولوا لهم تعساً فقد سُدَّ مَخْرَجٌ

يَفرُّونَ منه مثلما سُدَّ مَدْخَل

Tell them, 'Perdition to you!' For an exit has been blocked

through which they would flee, just as the entrance was blocked.

وقد جاشَ صدرُ الشعبِ يَغلى حفيظةً

عليكم كما يغلي على النار مِرجل

The people's breast has surged, boiling with indignation

against you, as a cauldron boils upon the fire.

أروني جديداً يَفْضح الشعرُ أمرَه

ففضحُ مساوي القوم شيءٌ مُحصَّل

Show me something new whose nature poetry may expose;

exposing these people's vices is already accomplished.

فقد بدتِ النّياتُ لا سَتْردَونها

ولا حاجبٌ الا الكلامُ المرعبل

Their intentions have become plain; no veil lies before them,

and no screen remains except tattered speech.

زخاريفُ قولٍ تعتليها ركاكةٌ

ويبدو عليهنّ الخنا والتبذل

Ornaments of speech overlaid with feebleness,

on which obscenity and vulgarity appear.

اذا مسها القولُ الصحيحُ تطايَحتْ

كما مرَّ يَمشي في السنابلِ مِنْجَل

When sound speech touches them, they tumble down,

as a sickle passes, walking through the ears of grain.

وألعاب صبيان تمرّ بمسرحٍ

يقوم عليه كلَّ يومٍ مُمثِّل

And children's games pass across a stage

on which an actor stands every day.

فان كان لابد الهجاءُ وسبةٌ

يحُطُّ بها قَدْرَ الفرزدقِ جَرْوَل

If satire and an insult are unavoidable,

with which Jarwal lowers al-Farazdaq's standing,

فبين يديكُمْ شاعرٌ تعرِفونه

بأشعاره أعداؤهُ تَتَمثَّل

then before you stands a poet you know,

whose verses even his enemies quote.

تعاصيه أطرافُ الكلامِ لغيركم

وتنصبُّ مثْلَ السيل فيكم وتَسْهُل

The reaches of speech defy him when meant for others,

but pour like a torrent about you and come easily.

يَرى حِطّةً أن يَحتْمي بسواكُمُ

شعورٌ وشِعرٌ ذو رُواءٍ مُسلْسَل

To seek shelter in anyone but you seems degrading

to feeling and to poetry, graceful and flowing.

تَتيهُ بكم رَغمَ الأنوف وتَزْدَهي

حسانُ القوافي لا النسيجُ المهلهل

They glory in you, defying proud noses, and exult:

the beautiful rhymes, not the threadbare weave.

معارضة تُزْهي البلادُ وتحفِلُ

بها وُيخَّلى مَنْ سواها ويُخذَل

An opposition: the country takes pride and rejoices

in it, while all others are abandoned and left unsupported.

تُنُضِّمُها صِيدٌ كُماةٌ أشاوسٌ

يقودُهُمُ شهَمٌ يقول ويفعل

Proud, armored, dauntless warriors form its ranks,

led by a noble man who speaks and acts.

تراهم مُطاطينَ الرؤوسَ بمحفِلٍ

تَصدَّرَ فيه " الهاشميُّ " المبجل

You see them with heads bowed in a gathering

at whose head sits the revered al-Hashimi.

اذا ما مشى بزّ المفارقَ مَفرِقٌ

بتاجٍ من النصرِ المبين مُكلَّل

When he walks, one head outshines all other heads,

crowned with a diadem of manifest victory.

تَرنُّ النوادي من مقالٍ يَقوله

كما رنَّ في بيتٍ يُهَدَّمُ مِعْوَل

The assembly halls ring with a speech he gives,

as a pickaxe rings in a house being demolished.

وينقُلُهُ بعضٌ لبعضٍ تَمثُّلاً

إذا انفَضَّ عنه مَحفِلٌ عاد مَحْفِل

Some pass it on to others, quoting it;

when one gathering disperses around him, another returns.

ولم يفضلِ الاراء إلا لأنه

يدبّرهُ رأسٌ حكيمٌ مُفَضَّل

It surpasses other opinions only because

a wise, distinguished head directs it.

وسيانِ قالوا خطبةً مضريةً

" لياسينَ " أو قالوا تقدمَّمَ جَحْفل

It is all one whether they say, 'A Mudarite oration

by Yasin,' or say, 'An army has advanced.'

له فِكرةٌ أنكى من السيف وقعةً

وتدبيرةٌ من فَتْكةِ الموتِ أقْتَل

His thought strikes more grievously than the sword,

and his strategy is deadlier than death's own blow.

ورابطُ جأشٍ كالحديد وفوقَه

من الهمّ والفكْرِ المبرّحِ كَلْكل

His steadfast heart is like iron, yet upon it

presses the heavy breast of care and agonizing thought.

وإنك من أن تقبلَ القومَ أفضلُ

وإنَّهمُ مِنْ أن يُدانوك أنزل

You are too noble to accept these men,

and they are too low to draw near you.

تَقَدمَّْ لها " ياسينُ " فالوضعُ محرجٌ

إذا لم تخفِّفْ منه والداء مُعْضِل

Step forward to face it, Yasin: the situation is dire

if you do not ease it, and the malady is intractable.

وإنك لو قابلتَ ما مُتِّعَتْ به

من الحكم بالهونِ الذي تتحمل

And if you compared what you were granted

of rule with the humiliation you endure,

وما قدمتهُ من ضحايا عزيزةٍ

نتائجُها هذا البلاءُ الموكل

and the precious sacrifices you offered,

whose outcome is this relentless affliction,

أسالت دماً عينيك عُقبْى كهذه

وهيّج منك الداءَ هذا المعدَّل

an outcome like this would make your eyes shed blood,

and this reckoning would inflame the malady within you.