جبر القلوب مقيلك الجبار — Khalil Gibran

جَبرَ الْقُلُوبَ مُقِيلُكَ الْجَبَّارُ

وَجَلا قُطُوبَ الريْبِ الاِسْتِبْشَارُ

Your deliverer, the Almighty, has mended hearts,

And rejoicing has dispelled the gloom of doubt.

إِنْهَضْ كَمَالَ الدِّينِ تَرْعَاكَ الْعُلى

وَيَحُفُّكَ الإِجْلالُ وَالإِكْبَارُ

Rise, Kamal al-Din; may glory watch over you,

And reverence and veneration surround you.

أَيُهَاضُ عَظْمُكَ إِنهَا لَعَظِيمَةٌ

نَزلَتْ وَأَرْزاءُ الْكِبَارِ كِبَارُ

Is your bone broken anew? Indeed, a grave calamity

Has befallen you; great men's afflictions are great.

إِنْ عُطِّلَ السَّعُي الأَصِيلُ هُنَيْهَةً

أَغْنَاكَ مِنْ لُطْفِ الْقَدِيرِ معارُ

If your noble striving was halted for a moment,

A borrowed aid from the Almighty's kindness has met your need.

فِي الطِّبِّ آيَاتٌ تُرِينَا فَضْلَ مَا

يَمْحُو الْحَلِيمُ وَيُثْبِتُ الْقَهَّارُ

In medicine are signs showing us the goodness of what

The Forbearing One effaces and the All-Subduing One confirms.

تِلْكَ الْعَزِيمَةُ لا تَزالُ كَعَهْدِهَا

وَكَمَا يُحِبُّ المُقْدِمُ الْكَرَّارُ

That resolve remains as it always was,

And as the bold, ever-charging man desires.

وَإِذَا مَرَاحِلُكَ الْبَعِيدَةُ أُرْجِئَتْ

لَمْ يُرْجَأْ الإِيرَادُ وَالإِصْدَارُ

And if your distant journeys were postponed,

Your bringing in and sending forth were not delayed.

سَلِمَتْ نُهَاكَ وَدَامَ فِي تَصْرِيفِهَا

مَا فِيهِ نَفْعٌ لِلْحِمَى وَفخَارُ

Your intellect remained sound, and in its exercise there continued

What benefits the homeland and brings it pride.

كمْ فِي مَآثِرِكَ الجَلائِلِ شاِفعٌ

بِشَفاِئكَ اتَّضَحَتْ لَهُ آثارُ

How many an intercessor among your illustrious deeds

Has shown its influence in your recovery!

جُودٌ كَجُودِ أَبِيكَ لمْ يُعْلَنْ وَكمْ

سُدِلَتْ عَلى حُرَمٍ بِهِ أَسْتَارُ

Generosity like your father's, never proclaimed—how many

Veils it has drawn over protected women!

وَتَمَاسَكتْ فِي الْبَأْسِ أَرْمَاقٌ بِهِ

وَنَجَتْ مِنَ الْبُؤْسِ المُبِيدِ دِيَارُ

And through it, failing lives held firm amid hardship,

And homes escaped annihilating misery.

فَالْيَوْمَ هَاتِيكَ النُّفُوسُ تَفَتَّحَتْ

بِشْراً كَمَا تَتَفَتَّحُ الأَزْهَارُ

So today those souls have opened

In joy, as flowers open.

سُمِعَتْ ضَرَاعَتُهُنَّ فِيكَ وَلُبِّيَتْ

بِالبُرْءِ أَدْعِيَةٌ لَهُنَّ حِرَارُ

Their supplication for you was heard; answered

With recovery were their fervent prayers.

مَوْلايَ لا ضَيْرٌ عَلَيْكَ فَإِنَّهُ

مَا ضَارَهَا أَنْ تُحْجَبَ الأَقْمَارُ

My lord, no harm is yours, for

The moons are not harmed by being veiled.

لَيْسَ الرِّجَالُ مِنَ الْعَثَارِ بِمَأْمَنٍ

هَيْهَاتَ يُؤْمَنُ فِي الْحَياةِ عَثَارُ

Men are not safe from stumbling;

Never can one be safe from a stumble in life.

وَكَأَنَّمَا الأَخْطَارُ أَعْلَقُ بِالأُولى

فِي هَذِهِ الدُّنْيَا لَهُمْ أَخْطَارُ

And dangers seem most closely bound to those

Who have distinction in this world.

أَوَ مَا نَرَى شُهُبَ السَّمَاءِ كَأَنَّهَا

أُكَرٌ بِهَا تَتَلاعَبُ الأَقْدَارُ

Do we not see heaven's meteors as though they were

Balls with which the fates play?

لِلّهِ فِي نُوَبِ الْحَوَادِثِ حِكْمَةٌ

ليْسَتْ تُحِيطُ بِكُنْهِهَا الأَفْكَارُ

God has wisdom in the turns of calamity,

Whose essence thoughts cannot encompass.

بِالأَمْسِ تَنْشُدُ فِي المَهَامِهِ رَوْعَةً

عَذْرَاءَ لَمْ تَسْتَجْلِها الأَبْصَارُ

Yesterday you sought amid the wastes a splendor

Virgin, which no eyes had unveiled.

تَرْتَاضُ أَوْ تَرْتَادُ كُلَّ دَغِيلَةٍ

كَمَنَتْ بِهَا الأَنْيَابُ وَالأَظْفَارُ

You trained yourself, or explored every thicket

Where fangs and claws lay in ambush.

وَلَقَدْ تَزُورُ بِهَا مُلُوكَ سِبَاعِهَا

ولَقدْ تُنَاجِزُهَا وَما لَك ثارُ

And there you would visit the kings of its wild beasts,

And fight them to the finish, though you had no blood-feud.

وَلَقدْ تَبِيتُ وَلسْتَ مِنْهَا فِي قِرىً

وَحِيَالَ رَكبِكَ لا تُشَبُّ النَّارُ

And you would spend the night, with no hospitality from them,

And no fire was kindled before your caravan.

بِالأَمْسِ تطْوِي فِي المَوَامِي مَجْهَلاً

لا يَسْتَبِينُ لِخَابِطِيْهِ مَنَارُ

Yesterday you crossed an unknown tract amid the wastes,

Where no beacon was visible to those groping through it.

لِلْعِلْمِ فِيهِ خَبِيئَةٌ مَظنُونَةٌ

حالَتْ مَهَامِهُ دُونَهَا وَقِفارُ

A hidden treasure of knowledge was thought to lie there,

Barred by its trackless wastes and barren lands.

مِمَّا تَخَلَّفَ مِنْ صَحائِفِ بَاحِثٍ

أَرْدَتْهُ مَسْبَغَةٌ بِهَا وَأُوارُ

Among the papers left behind by a researcher

Whom hunger and scorching heat had slain there.

تَمْضِي فَتَطْلُبُهَا بِحَيْثُ تعَسَّفَتْ

فِيهَا الرُّوَاةُ وَطَاشَتِ الأَخْبَارُ

You pressed on to seek it where they had gone astray—

The narrators—and where reports had lost their way.

حتَّى ظَفِرْتَ بِهَا وَقَلْبُكَ مُلْهَمٌ

كَشَفَتْ موَاقِعَهَا لَهُ الأَسْرارُ

Until you found it, your heart inspired;

Secrets had revealed its whereabouts to your heart.

بِالأَمْسِ تَقْحُمُ لوبِيا ورِمَالُهَا

وَعْثاءُ لاَ نَجَعٌ وَلا آبَارُ

Yesterday you ventured into Libya, its sands

Hard to traverse, with neither encampments nor wells.

مُسْتَهْدِياً تِيهَ الْفَلا مُسْتَطْلِعاً

مَا تُضْمِرُ الأَنْجادُ وَالأَغْوارُ

Seeking your way through the desert's maze, seeking to discover

What the highlands and lowlands conceal.

تَغْزُو وَفتَّاحُ المَغَالِقِ مِنْ أُولِي

عِلْمٍ وَفَنِّ جَيْشُكَ الْجَرَّارُ

You campaign; the opener of locked doors, drawn from men of

Knowledge and art, is your mighty army.

فَإِذَا الْفِجَاجُ وَلا يُحَدُّ لَها مَدىً

صُوَرٌ وَجُمْلةُ حَالِهَا أَسْطَارُ

Then the passes, their reach unbounded,

Are pictures, and their whole condition lines of writing.

وَإِذَا حَقِيبَتُكَ الصَّغِيرَةُ تَحْتَوِي

ذُخْراً تَضَاءَلُ دُونَهُ الأَذْخَارُ

And behold, your small bag contains

A treasure before which all treasures dwindle.

سِفْرٌ إِلى العِرْفَانِ أَهْدَى طُرْفَةً

لَمْ تُهْدِهَا مِنْ قَبْلِهِ الأَسْفَارُ

A book that offered knowledge a rare marvel

No books before it had offered.

أَسْرَفْتَ مَا أَسْرَفْتَ فِي إِعْدَادِهِ

حتَّى تَجاهلَ قَدْرَهُ الدِّينارُ

How lavishly you spent in preparing it,

Till the dinar disregarded its own worth.

بِالأَمْسِ فِي أَقْصَى الجِوَاءِ مُشَرِّقاً

وَمُغَرِّباً تَنْأَى بِكَ الأَسْفَارُ

Yesterday, in the farthest expanses, heading east

And west, journeys carried you far away.

وَتَكَادُ لاَ تَخْفى عَلَيْكَ خَفِيَّةٌ

قَرُبَتْ بِهَا أَوْ شَطَّتِ الأَقْطَارُ

And scarcely a hidden thing remained concealed from you,

Whether the lands that held it were near or far.

كَالْكَوْكَبِ السَّيَّارِ مَا طَالَعْتَهَا

وَأَخُوكَ فِيهَا الْكَوْكَبُ السَّيَّارُ

Like a wandering star, as long as you surveyed them,

And your brother among them was the wandering star.

عَجَباً سَلِمْتَ وَلَمْ تَسُمْكَ أَذَاتَهَا

بِيدٌ رَكِبْتَ مُتُونَهَا وَبِحَارُ

How wondrous: you were safe, and they inflicted no harm on you—

Deserts whose backs you rode, and seas.

فَإِذَا أَتَيْتَ الدَّارَ وَهْيَ أَمينَةٌ

لَمْ تَدْفَعِ المَحْذُورَ عَنْكَ الدَّارُ

Yet when you came home, though it was safe,

Home did not ward off the dreaded danger from you.

أُحْجِيَّةٌ لِلْخَلْقِ لَمْ تُدْرَكْ وَمَا

فَتِئَتْ تُحَاجِيهِمْ بِهَا الأَدْهَارُ

A riddle humanity has never understood; and never

Have the ages ceased to challenge them with it.

مهْمَا يَكُنْ مِنْهَا فإِنَّكَ لمْ تَخَلْ

أَنَّ الصُّرُوفَ يَرُدُّهُنَّ حِذارُ

Whatever may come of it, you never imagined

That caution could repel the turns of fate.

وَحَيِيتَ تَعْبَثُ فِي مُدَاعَبَةِ الرَّدَى

وتَبَشُّ إِذْ تَتَجَهَّمُ الأَخْطَارُ

And you lived playfully, making sport with death,

Smiling when dangers scowled.

وتَكادُ عِزّاً لاَ تَرَى فَوْقَ الثَّرَى

حَظّاً عَلَى مَا نِلْتَهُ يُخْتَارُ

And in your glory, you can scarcely see above the dust

A fortune to choose over what you have attained.

أَلتَّاجُ بَعْدَ أَبِيكَ قَدْ آثَرْتَهُ

بِالطَّوْعِ مِنْكَ لِمَنْ لَهُ الإِيثَارُ

The crown, after your father, you bestowed

Of your own free will upon the one deserving preference.

هُوَ تَاجُ مِصْرَ وَمُلْكَ فِرْعَونَ الَّذِي

بِالْيُمْنِ تَجْرِي تَحْتَهُ الأَنْهَارُ

It is Egypt's crown and the realm of Pharaoh, whose

Rivers flow beneath it with blessing.

يَأْبَى التَّشبُّه بِالدَّرَارِيءِ دُرُّهُ

وَكَأَنَّ نُورَ الشَّمْسِ فِيهِ نُضَارُ

Its pearls disdain resemblance to the brilliant stars,

As though sunlight within it were pure gold.

إِنْ تَمْضِ فِي الْعَلْيَاءِ نَفْسٌ حُرَّةٌ

فَهُنَاكَ لا حَدٌّ وَلا مِقْدَارُ

If a free soul advances into the heights,

There is no limit there, nor any measure.

أَشْهَدْتَ هَذَا الْعَصْرَ مِنْ تَصْعِيدِهَا

فِي المَجْدِ مَا لَمْ تَشْهَدِ الأَعْصَارُ

You made this age witness, through that soul's ascent

In glory, what the ages had never witnessed.

لا بِدْعَ أَنْ تُلْفَى بِجَأْشٍ رَابِطٍ

وَالسَّاقُ تُبْتَرُ وَالأَسَاةُ تَحَارُ

No wonder you were found with steadfast heart

While your leg was amputated and the physicians stood bewildered.

أَللَّيْثُ يَزْأَرُ إِنْ أَلَمَّ بِهِ الأَذَى

وَسَكَنْتَ لا بَثٌّ وَلا تَزْآرُ

A lion roars if harm befalls it,

Yet you were still: no lament, no roar.

لوْ فِي سِوَاكَ شَهِدْتَ مَا كَابَدْتَهُ

لَمْ يَعْصِ جَفْنَكَ دمْعُهُ المِدْرَارُ

Had you witnessed in another what you endured,

Your streaming tears would not have disobeyed your eyelid.

لَكِنْ صَبَرْتَ لِحُكْمِ رَبِّكَ مُسْلِماً

وَعرَفْتَ أَنَّ الْفَائِزَ الصَّبَّارُ

But you endured, submitting to your Lord's decree,

And knew that the victor is the ever-patient one.

مَوْلايَ بُرْؤُكَ كَان يُمْناً شَامِلاً

قُضِيَتْ لأَوْطانٍ بِهِ أَوْطارُ

My lord, your recovery was a blessing for all;

Through it, homelands' wishes were fulfilled.

فَإِذَا أَصَابَتْ مِصْرُ حَظاً وَافِراً

مِنْهُ أَصَابَتْ مِثْلَهُ أَمْصَار

And if Egypt received an ample share

Of it, other lands received as much.

فَاهْنأْ بمُؤْتَنَفِ السَّلامَةِ لا تَلا

إِقْبَالَ دَهْرِكَ بَعْدَهَا إِدْبَارُ

So rejoice in renewed health; may there never follow

Your life's good fortune, after this, any decline.