غنني يا صاح لحنا — طاهر الجبلاوي 29 قصيدة

غنني يا صاح لحناً

كلما جن المساء

Sing me a melody, my friend,

whenever evening falls

وتولاني لهيب

ليس يطفيه البكاء

and a blaze engulfs me

that weeping cannot quench.

إنما الألحان خير

من كؤوس الندماء

Melodies are better

than the cups of drinking companions.

وأخو الألحان شمس

يملأ القلب ضياء

And the brother of melodies is a sun

that fills the heart with light.

غنى يا صاح عن

إن نفسي في عناء

Sing, my friend, sing;

my soul is indeed in distress.

وطيب الحي غر

بنفوس الشعراء

And the neighborhood's physician is ignorant

of the souls of poets.

ملأ الجسم سموماً

حينما ضل الدواء

He filled the body with poisons

when the remedy went astray.

غنني لحناً جميلاً

فيه للجسم شفاء

Sing me a beautiful melody

in which the body finds healing.

زهرة القلب ذبول

يعتريها وانضواء

The heart's flower: withering

and wasting away afflict it.

أسقها يا صاح عذباً

من ينابيع الغناء

Water it, my friend, with sweet water

from the springs of song.

إنني يا صاح روض

ولي الألحان ماء

I am a garden, my friend,

and melodies are water to me.

غنني في اليأس لحناً

ينسلخ منه الرجاء

Sing me a melody amid despair

from which hope emerges,

فيعود اللَيل فجراً

ينجلي عنه السناء

so night turns into dawn

and radiance shines forth from it.

وهموم النفس تمسي

مؤذنات بالجلاء

And the soul's sorrows become

heralds of their dispersal.

إن للهم جراثي

ماً لنا منها الفناء

Indeed, sorrow has germs

from which our destruction comes.

وأرى الألحان سما

لجراثيم الشقاء

And I see melodies as poison

to the germs of misery.

رتل الألحان رتل

فهي أكسير الصفاء

Chant the melodies, chant,

for they are the elixir of serenity.

وأعد لي من شبابي

ما مضى مني هباء

And restore to me, from my youth,

what slipped away from me in vain.

قبل أن ينضج عودي

شيب الراس البلاء

Before my stem had ripened,

affliction turned my head gray.

وتجافاني فراشي

ونبابي الأصدقاء

And my bed shunned me,

and my friends recoiled from me.

وسهرت الليل وحدي

أتناجى والسماء

And I stayed awake all night alone,

communing with the sky.

غنني يا صاح أنهض

لأموري بازدهاء

Sing to me, my friend, that I may rise

to attend to my affairs with pride,

وألاقي كل بسل

في حياتي بازدراء

and meet every hardship

in my life with disdain.

إن للألحان فعلاً

مثل فعل الكهرباء

Indeed, melodies have a power

like the power of electricity.

غنني قد ضاع حظي

ولزيت الأنزواء

Sing to me: my good fortune has been lost,

and I have taken to seclusion.

وعلى القرطاس دمعي

صار شعر الأدباء

And on the page my tears

became the poetry of writers.

بت أزجيه هموماً

وهو للناس عزاء

I spent the night sending it forth as sorrow,

while for people it is consolation.

كم على الأرض أسارى

دون ذنب أبرياء

How many captives are on earth,

innocent and without guilt!

غنني يا صاح أخرج

من أسار وعناء

Sing to me, my friend, that I may emerge

from captivity and suffering.

إنما الألحان جند

لفكاك التعساء

Melodies are an army

to free the wretched.

ما ترى الكون عجيباً

حار فيه الحكماء

Do you not see the universe as wondrous,

in which the sages were bewildered?

ولجوا الباب وعادوا

وعلى العين غشاء

They entered the door and returned

with a veil over their eyes.

كل يوم فلسفات

تتلاشى في الهواء

Every day, philosophies

vanish into the air,

ويقين الأمس يضحي

موضعاً للسخرياء

and yesterday's certainty becomes

an object of ridicule,

كسراب في فضاء

ظنه الظمآن ماء

like a mirage in an open expanse

that the thirsty one took for water.

غنني قد كل ذهني

وتولاني العياء

Sing to me: my mind has grown weary,

and exhaustion has overtaken me.

إنما الألحان خير

من ظنون الأدعياء

Melodies are better

than the conjectures of pretenders.

رتل الألحان رتل

فهي للذهن جلاء

Chant the melodies, chant,

for they bring clarity to the mind.

ما لهذا الغر يمسي

يتفاني في الثراء

Why does this fool spend his evenings

devoting himself utterly to wealth?

همه جمع نقود

حظه منها الشقاء

His concern is amassing money;

his share of it is misery.

عيشه ليل طويل

وظلام طرمساء

His life is a long night

and pitch-black darkness.

وقيود في يديه

صاغها حب الغناء

And shackles upon his hands

were forged by the love of wealth.

وهو والمال لديه

عاش مثل السجناء

And he, with money in his possession,

lived like prisoners.

والملذات جميعاً

كفه منها السجناء

And all the pleasures—

the prisoners kept him from them.

وهي دون العين لكن

بات عنها في عماء

And they are before his eyes, yet

he remained blind to them.

رتل الألحان رتل

فهي كنز الفهماء

Chant the melodies, chant,

for they are the treasure of the discerning.

لهم فيها نعيم

وسرورٌ وبهاء

In them they have bliss,

and joy and splendor.

غنني يا صاح لحناً

فيه للنفس رضاء

Sing me a melody, my friend,

in which the soul finds contentment.

إن للإنسان روحاً

ولها اللحن غذاء

Indeed, a human being has a soul,

and melody is its nourishment.

ما ترى الأشجار مالت

وتثنت في الفضاء

Do you not see the trees leaning

and swaying in the open air?

كلما غني نسيم

نالها منه انتشاء

Whenever a breeze sang,

rapture reached them from it.

وإذا ما مر منها

عظمته بانحناء

And whenever it passed among them,

they honored it by bowing.

غنني الألحان غن

فهي أولى بالثناء

Sing me the melodies, sing,

for they are worthier of praise.

لم أجد في الناس خلا

ليس يخلو من جفاء

I have found no friend among people;

none is free of coldness.

إنما الشر كمين

ليس يخفيه الولاء

Evil lies in ambush,

and loyalty does not conceal it.

وإذا ما قلت يوماً

ذاك خير الأوفياء

And if one day I said,

“That one is the best of the faithful,”

لم تكن تجهل نفسي

أنه يوماً أساء

my soul was not unaware

that he had once done wrong.

ذاك أرضاه لأني

ما عرفت النزهاء

I accept that one because

I have never known the blameless.

غنني الألحان غن

فهي خير الأصدقاء

Sing me the melodies, sing,

for they are the best of friends.