صائغُ الحياة — مسار رياض

مُكَبَّلٌ بِتُراثِ الصامتينَ فَمُ

مَرَّتْ عليهِ لغاتُ الأرضِ أخيلَةً

A mouth is shackled by the legacy of the silent.

The earth's languages passed over it as phantoms.

ذوى انتظاراً على أعتَابِ مِحنَتِهِ

و أَوغَلَ التِيهُ في كُلِّ الجهاتِ فَلا

It withered in waiting at the thresholds of its ordeal.

And bewilderment plunged deep in every direction, so no

و أَوقَدَتْ ساعةُ الإصغاءِ شَمعتَها

وغَابَ مَنْ غَابَ في أقصى مفَازتِهِ

And the hour of listening lit its candle.

And whoever vanished vanished in the farthest reaches of his desert,

حَتّى نَزَلتَ بدُنيا المُتعَبينَ سناً

إذْ قيلَ للنورِ–عامَ الفيلِ–كُنْ جَسَداً

Until you descended into the world of the weary as radiance,

When the light was told—in the Year of the Elephant—"Be a body,"

حَطَّتْ لأجلِكَ أفواجاً مُهَلِّلَةً

و مَسَّ ضَوؤكَ أَجيالاً مُعَطَلَّةً

For your sake they alighted in throngs, chanting praise—

And your light touched generations cut off

و صارَ ثغرُكَ عَرَّاباً لبَسْمَةِ مَنْ

و لاذَ في ظِلِّكَ المسلوبُ أَمنَهمُ

And your mouth became godfather to the smile of one

And those robbed of their safety sought refuge in your shade.

محمدٌ .. هذهِ الدُنيا .. وأزمَتُها

تَغفُو وتصحُو على نَفسِ الرمادِ و لا

Muhammad—this world, and its crisis—

It slumbers and wakes upon the same ashes, and no

رَضَتْ مُسَلِّمَةً باليأسِ مُعتَقَداً

والنفسُ تَرضَى بأدنَى العيشِ مَنزلِةً

It acquiesced, surrendering to despair as a creed,

And the soul settles for life's lowest station

و أَنتَ في مُنتهى أوجَاعِها نشَرَتْ

مَنارةً كُنتَ في أعتى خَرائِبِها

And you, at the height of its agonies, dispensed

You were a beacon amid its fiercest ruins,

هُمْ مَنْ يَعيشونَ أَقصَى هَمِّهِمْ نُتَفٌ

و مَنْ يَغُصُّ بِهِمْ ضَيمٌ ومَا عَلِمُوا

They are those who live with no greater concern than scraps

And those on whom oppression chokes, who did not know

مَنْ قَدَّسوا اللاتَ والعُزَّى وَ مَنْ هَرِمُوا

ومَنْ يُعَرِّشُ في أيامِهِ النَدَمُ

Those who held al-Lat and al-Uzza sacred, and those who grew old

And one in whose days remorse builds its trellis

مِنْ بَحرِ أَعمارِهِم يَمضي بِهِمْ عَبَثَاً

و أَنتَ يا خيرَ خلقِ اللهِصَوتُ هُدىً

Of the sea of their lifetimes, which bears them onward aimlessly,

And you, O best of God's creation, are a voice of guidance,

و تَنشُرُ الذكْرَ حتّى كُلُّ نَازِفَةٍ

محمدٌ .. يا يداً بيضاءَ خُذْ بِيَدي

And you spread the remembrance, until every bleeding wound

Muhammad—O white hand, take me by the hand,

و نَقِّنِي مِنْ زَمانٍ كُلُّهُ دَرَنٌ

فلا أراني إذا أشْرَقتَ في خَلَدِي

And cleanse me of an age that is all grime,

So I do not see myself when you shine within my mind,

أَتيتُ وَ الشوكُ يروي بعضَ ما بِفمي

خُذني ارتباكاً ودربي كُلُّهُ قَلَقٌ

I have come, with thorns recounting some of what is in my mouth,

Take me, all confusion, and my path all anxiety,

خُذني إلى حيثُ ألبَسْتَ الدُنا سُرُجاً

وحيثُ تَمنَحُني كفَّاكَ بِرَّهُمَا

Take me to where you clothed the worlds in lamps,

And where your two palms grant me their kindness,

و حيثُ يِورِقُ عَقلٌ طَالَما وَقَفَتْ

محمدٌ… عَلِّمِ العُشَّاقَ شِرعَتَهُم

And where a mind puts forth leaves, in which had long remained

Muhammad, teach the lovers their law.

قِفْ انتماءً لِمَنْ ألقَتْ معاوِلُهُمْ

وأنتَ غيمُ مَهيِبٌ .. قَطرُهُ عِبَرٌ

Stand in solidarity with those whose pickaxes hurled

And you are an awe-inspiring cloud; its drops are lessons,

محمدٌ .. كلُّ حَرفٍ فيكَ مُعجِزَةٌ

و كلُّ يومٍ .. قَضَتهُ الأرضُ أنتَ بها

Muhammad, every letter in you is a miracle,

And every day the earth spent with you upon it

و كُلُّ خطوةِ دَربٍ كُنتَ تَبذُرُها

أنتَ اكتمالُ أَمانِينا التي التَصَقَتْ

And every step along a path that you would sow—

You are the fulfillment of our wishes, which clung

و أنتَ أنقى نداءاتِ السماءِ لَنا

فَدَعْ صباحاتِكَ الخضراءَ تَغمِرُنا

And you are the purest of heaven's calls to us,

So let your green mornings flood us.

مَعَارجُ النُطقِ في آمالِهِ عَدَمُ

وعَادَ مُنكسِراً مِنْ دونِها الحُلُمُ

The stairways of speech are nothingness within its hopes.

And the dream returned, broken, without them.

مُكَابِدٌ .. باعتِنَاقِ النورِ مُتَّهَمُ

يُرى على خَارِطاتِ العَيشِ مُعتَصَمُ

Suffering, accused of embracing the light.

Refuge is seen on the maps of life.

فَقَدْ يَمُرُّ على عُودِ السما نَغَمُ

لِفَرطِ ما اشتدَّ في أنفاسِهِ السأَمُ

For a melody may pass over heaven's lute.

Because of how intensely weariness had grown within his breaths.

بهِ جَميعُ ضَلالِ الليلِ يُختَتَمُ

فَكُنتَ أنتَ .. بِبَالِ النورِ تَرتَسِمُ

Through it, all the night's waywardness comes to an end.

And so it was you who took shape in the light's mind.

ملائِكُ اللهِ حَولَ المهدِ و ازدَحَمُوا

عَنِ الهُدى .. فاستَقَلَّتْ صُبحَهَا الأُمَمُ

God's angels around the cradle, and they crowded together.

From guidance; so the nations boarded their dawn.

قدْ عَاشَ في فَمِهِ مَوَّالُهُ الأَلَمُ

فَإنَّ ظِلَّ فؤادِ المُصطَفَى حَرَمُ

In whose mouth pain had lived as his plaintive song.

For the shade of the Chosen One's heart is a sanctuary.

يَحُوكُها صَنَمٌ مِنْ بَعدِهِ صَنَمُ

تَثُورُ في كَفِّها مِنْ حَالِها حِمَمُ

One idol weaves it, then another idol.

Lava erupts in its palm from its plight.

لَمَّا بِها الجِبتُ والطاغُوتُ قَد حَكَمُوا

إذا تسَاوى لديها الدُرُّ والفَحَمُ

When superstition and false gods had ruled within it.

When pearls and coal are equal in its eyes.

يدَاكَ طِبّاً لِمَنْ في وعيهِ سَقَمُ

قامَتْ تشُعُّ لِمَنْ صَمُّوا بها وعَمُوا

Through your two hands, healing for those whose awareness is diseased.

It rose, shining for those who had grown deaf and blind within it.

مِنَ الحياةِ وقَد شَحَّتْ بِهمْ ذِمَمُ

بأنَّهم مُذْ رَضُوا بالذُلِّ قد هُزِموا

Of life, while consciences have grown stingy toward them.

That, ever since they accepted humiliation, they have been defeated.

يُخَادَعونَ…ومَنْ غَشَّاهُمُ الوَهَمُ

لوأدِ طِفلتِهِ الأولى … ومَنْ سَئِمُوا

Being deceived, and those whom delusion shrouded.

For burying his first little daughter alive, and those who grew weary

كأنَّهُم في صَواري دهرِهِم رِمَمُ

لِحبلِ رَبِّكَ تدعُوهُم ليعتَصِموا

As though they were decayed remains among the masts of their time.

To your Lord's rope you call them, that they may hold fast.

إذا تَمُرُّ بِها الأياتُ تَلتَئِمُ

و خَلِّ مَعنايَ في مَعناكَ يَلتَحِمُ

Heals when the verses pass over it.

And let my meaning fuse within your meaning.

فإنّني بهمومِ العُمرِ مُزدَحِمُ

كأنَّ كُلَّ وجودي فيكَ يَنعَدِمُ

For I am crowded with the cares of a lifetime.

As though my entire existence vanishes in you.

و أَحرُفي مِنْ وَصايا النازِفينَ دَمُ

وليسَ تُسعِفُني كَفٌ و لا قَدَمُ

And my letters are blood from the testaments of those who bleed.

And neither hand nor foot comes to my aid.

وحَيثُيُزهِرُ في عَليائِكَ الكَلِمُ

وحَيثُ يذوي اضطرابي حينَ تَبتسِمُ

And where words bloom in your lofty heights,

And where my turmoil withers when you smile.

أفكارُهُ بِلظى الكُهَّانِ تَضطَرِمُ

فَهُمْ إلى الآنَ درسَ الحُبِّ مَا فَهِمُوا

Its thoughts, blazing in the flames of the soothsayers.

For to this day they have not understood the lesson of love.

أحقادَها فوقَهُمْ هَدماً و ما انهدَمُوا

و لهفُةُ الوردِ للماءِ الزُلالِ هُمو

Their hatreds upon them to tear them down, yet they did not crumble.

And they are the rose's longing for limpid water.

و كُلُّ فَهْمٍ إلى إدراكِهَا قَزَمُ

دَرْسٌ يُعَلِّمُ مَنْ بِالحقِّ ما عَلِمُوا

And all understanding is a dwarf beside the task of grasping it.

Is a lesson teaching those who knew nothing of the truth.

نَمَتْ جِناناً على آثارِها القِيَمُ

بيأَسِها .. و استَقَالَتْ دونَها الهِمَمُ

Values grew into gardens upon its traces.

To their despair, while resolve resigned before reaching them.

ِأتى يُنَبِّهُ مَنْ في فَهمِهِ صَمَمُ

فَقَدْ تَشَابَكَتِ الأرواحُ و الظُلَمُ

It came to awaken one whose understanding is deaf.

For souls and darkness have become entwined.