يا بدرداجية الخطوب — Jawahiri

هتفوا فأسنَدَتِ اليدانِ ضلوعي

وشَرِقتُ بالحسراتِ قبلَ دُموعي

They cried out, and my two hands braced my ribs;

and I choked on anguish before my tears.

وأصَخْتُ سَمعاً للنُعاة وليتنَني

من أجل يومِكَ كنتُ غيرَ سميع

And I listened closely to the bearers of death's news—if only

for this day of yours, I had been deaf.

قالوا تماثلَ للشِفاء بِشارةً

سَكَنت لها روحي وأُفرِخَ رُوعي

They said, 'He is recovering'—glad tidings

that stilled my soul and allayed my fear.

وحَمِدْتُ أن المجدَ غيرَ مبُاحةٍ

ساحاتُه والبيتُ غيرَ صَديع

And I gave thanks that glory was not laid open

in its courtyards, nor the house rent apart.

حتى إذا طارَتْ بأجنحة الهنَا

والبشرِ نفسُ مُغرَّرٍ مخدوع

Until, when there flew on wings of happiness

and joy the soul of one misled and deceived,

أبَتِ القوارِعُ أن تُميلَ طريقَها

عني فعدت لسِنِّيَ المقروع

calamities refused to turn their course

away from me, and I returned to gnashing my teeth.

خلعَ الرجاءَ وحل يأسٌ عابسٌ

جهمٌ مَحِلَّ مُنافسٍ مَخلوع

Hope was ousted, and scowling despair settled,

grim-faced, in the place of its deposed rival.

وتقهقرَتْ زُمَرُ الأماني وانجَلَتْ

عَرَصاتُها عن مُثخَنٍ وصَريع

The ranks of wishes retreated, and cleared were

their battlefields, revealing the grievously wounded and fallen.

فإذا بآمالي وما خادعنَنَي

كمؤمِّلٍ سَفَهاً سرابَ بَقيع

And there I was with my hopes—which had not deceived me—

like one foolishly hoping for a mirage on an open plain.

وإذا بقلبي يستفيضُ نجيعُه

وإذا بعيني تَستَقي بنجيع

And there was my heart, its lifeblood overflowing;

and there my eye, drawing its drink from blood.

كنا نشكِّكُ في البُكاء وصدِقِه

إذ كانَ أكثرهُ بغيرِ شَفيع

We used to doubt weeping and its sincerity,

since most of it had no one to plead its cause.

ونَرىَ الصيانَةَ للدمُوع رجُولةً

حتى يُرَ ى سببٌ إلى التضييع

And we deemed restraint in tears a mark of manhood,

until a reason was seen to squander them.

فالآنّ تصدُق دمعةُ الباكي إذا

نَزَلتْ عليك وأنَّةُ الموجوع

So now the mourner's tear is true when

it falls upon you, as is the sufferer's moan.

والآنَ ينزِل كلُّ طالبِ حاجةٍ

في قفرةٍ ليست بذاتِ زُروع

And now every seeker of a need alights

in a barren waste that bears no crops.

والآنَ تفتَقِدُ البلادُ مُحنَّكاً

يُحتاجُ في التنفيذِ والتشريع

And now the country misses a seasoned man,

needed in executive action and legislation.

والآن تَلتَمسُ العيونُ فلا ترى

أثراً لوجهٍ رائعٍ ومُريع

And now the eyes search, yet see

no trace of a face both splendid and fearsome.

يا قبرُ من لم يَمتَهِنْ بضَراعةٍ

باد عليك تضرُّعي وخُشُوعي

O grave of one who never abased himself by pleading,

my supplication and humility are plain upon you.

يا بدرَ داجيةِ الخطوبِ ونورِها

أعزِزْ بانَّكَ غبتَ لا لِطلوع

O full moon of calamities' dark night, and its light,

how grievous that you have set, never to rise!

خلّفتَ بغداداً عليك حزينةً

تستقبِلُ الدنيا بوجهِ هَلوع

You left Baghdad grieving for you,

facing the world with a distraught face.

تتجاوبُ الأسلاكُ في جَنبَاتها

بوميضِ بَرقٍ للنَعِيِّ سَريع

The wires echo one another throughout its quarters,

with lightning's flash, swift to announce death.

ضَغَطَت هُنا كفٌّ على أزراره

تُنبي بخطبٍ في العراقِ فَظيع

Here a hand pressed its buttons,

announcing a terrible calamity in Iraq.

شَكَتِ السياسةُ فقدَ مُضطلِعٍ بها

فذٍّ بحلِّ المُشكلات ضَليع

Politics lamented the loss of one who shouldered its burdens,

a peerless man, deeply versed in solving problems.

والساسةُ الاقطابُ بعدَك أعوَلَت

عن فقدِ فوّام بهم وقَريع

And after you, the foremost statesmen wailed

at losing their mainstay and foremost leader.

مارستُ أصنافَ الرجال درايةً

من تابعٍ منهم ومن مَتبوع

I came to know all kinds of men through experience,

both followers among them and those followed.

ونفَدتُ للأعماقِ من أطباعهم

إذ كنتُ بالأشكال غير قَنوع

And I penetrated to the depths of their natures,

for I was not content with outward forms.

فاخترتُ لي من بينهم مجموعةً

ووجدتُك المختارَ في المَجموع

So I chose a company for myself from among them,

and found you the choicest of that company.

لله درُّك من بِناء طبيعةٍ

من كلِّ أجزاءِ العُلا مصنوع

God bless you—a structure built by nature,

fashioned from every element of greatness!

مستشرفٍ يُعشِي العيونَ شُعاعُه

مُوفٍ على من رامَه مَرفوع

Towering, its radiance dazzles the eyes,

raised high above anyone who strives to reach it.

كنتَ الشُّجاعَ طبيعةً وسجيةً

إذ ينهضُ الجبناءُ بالتشجيع

You were brave by nature and disposition,

while cowards rise only when encouraged.

كنتَ المقيمَ على التجارِبِ رأيَه

ويقيمهُ غِرٌ على المَسموع

You were the man who founded his judgment on experience,

while a novice bases his on hearsay.

كنتَ الرزين إذا الحلُوم تطايَرتْ

وأُعيرَ أهل الصبرِ ثوبَ جَزوع

You were composed when sound judgment took flight,

and the steadfast were lent a fretful man's robe.

واذا الخطوبُ استحكَمَتْ حلقاتُها

شنعاءُ تحصِب من تَرى بشنَيع َ

And when calamities tightened their rings,

hideous, pelting whomever they saw with horrors,

كنت السَميذَعَ تنجلي بشُداته

ظلُماتُ مُسودِّ الرُواق هزيع

you were the noble leader whose forceful efforts dispelled

the darkness of a black-canopied stretch of night.

صَقْرٌ يضيق مَطارُه بجناحه

حتى يخالُ الجوَّ غيرَ وسيع

A falcon whose flight-space is cramped by its wing,

until it imagines the sky itself not wide enough.

متفرِّدٌ يربو على أقرانه

باعزِّ سَمتٍ في السماءِ رَفيع

Peerless, rising above his peers,

on the noblest course, high in the sky.

ردَّتْ مخالبَها إليه فردَّها

حُمْراً مُقلَّمةً من التقريع

It turned its talons against him, and he sent them back

blood-red, clipped by his rebuke.

نصَبَ القضاءُ لصيده أشراكَه

فهَوَى وكلُّ محلِّقٍ لوُقوع

Fate set its snares to hunt him,

and he fell; all who soar are destined to fall.

البيت بيتي أُسرِجتْ ساحاتُه

بشموعِ ممتدِحيه لا بشموعي

The house is mine; its courtyards were lit

with the candles of its praisers, not with mine.

فإذا أسِيت فحرقةٌ لقبيلةٍ

نكِبَت بأسيافٍ لها ودُروع

So if I grieve, it is anguish for a tribe

bereaved of its swords and shields.

أين المصبيحُ الذين كأنهم

زُهْرُ النجوم بغَيبة وطُلوع

Where are the lamps, who were like

bright stars, setting and rising?

من كل رَكّاضٍ إلى غاياتِه

رَسْلاً بسرّ حدوده مدفوع

Every one a racer toward his goals,

at ease, driven by the secret of his limits;

ومُفوَّهٍ كالفحل عند هديره

فَذِّ البيان يفيضُ من يُنبوع

and an orator, like a bull camel when it bellows,

with peerless eloquence pouring from a wellspring.

هذي القُبور قصيدةٌ مفجوعةٌ

غنيِت قوافيها عن التقطيع

These graves are a grief-stricken poem,

whose rhymes have no need of scansion.

لم ترمِ بي قَدَمي هنا إلاّ جَرَت

من ذِكرياتِ السالفينَ دموعي

Never has my foot brought me here but there flowed,

from memories of those gone before, my tears.

وكأنني بشخوصهم في مَحضرٍ

دانٍ ، بعيدٍ ، سائغٍ ، ممنوع

And I seem to be among their very forms in a gathering,

near yet far, accessible yet forbidden.

شيئانِ تفتقرُ البلادُ إليهما

خِصبُ الرجال بها وخِصْبُ ربيع

Two things the country needs:

a rich crop of men within it, and a fruitful spring.

ملك الجميع حياة فذٍّ واحِدٍ

كان المصابُ به مُصابَ جميع

One peerless man's life belonged to everyone;

the loss of him was everyone's loss.