يا صهر جدي رحمة لكما فلي

درس أرى لي الحق في إقرائه

O my grandfather's son-in-law, mercy upon you both; I have

a lesson I believe I have the right to recite.

لولا الظروف لما فتحت كتابه

لكنني أجبرت عن إملائه

But for circumstances, I would not have opened his book;

yet I was compelled to dictate it.

ورأيت لي بكما مساسا لم ألم

إن خضت فيما قد جرى يقضائه

I saw that I had ties to you both; I am not to blame

if I delve into what happened by His decree.

أنت ابن تربية له فيما مضى

وجليل بنته شاهد بولائه

You were a son nurtured by him in days gone by,

and his daughter's noble [husband] bears witness to his loyalty.

هذا الزمان يريكما حقيكما

لم يرض ربك فيه عن إغضائه

This age shows you both your due;

your Lord did not approve of overlooking it therein.

كنت الملقن منه في زمن الصبا

تمشي ويمشي الكل تحت لوائه

You were instructed by him in your youthful days;

you walked, and all walked beneath his banner.

ورآك أهلا للرقي فبت في

أسمى المراتب جالسا بإزائه

He deemed you worthy of advancement, so you came to be

seated beside him in the highest ranks.

لكن رأيت الحق فوق صنيعه

لو كان حقا بت من نصرائه

But you saw right as above his favor;

had it truly been right, you would have been among his supporters.

فتخالفت آراؤكم وتضاربت

واعتز كل في حمى آرائه

Thus your views diverged and clashed,

and each stood proudly within the sanctuary of his opinions.

جدي يرى دفع المضرة أولا

لا سيما الضرغام في غلوائه

My grandfather held that harm must first be averted,

especially when the lion was in its fury.

حتى إذا نجحت مساعيه التي

كانت لسوء الحظ أصلا بلائه

Until, once his efforts succeeded—those which

were, through ill fortune, the very source of his affliction—

يسعى غذن سعي الكرام لنهضة

طبق الظروف وبدرها بسمائه

he might then strive, as noble men do, for an awakening

in keeping with circumstances, its full moon in his sky.

يرجو على التوفيق نهضة مسلم

يرمي إلى غاياتها بذكائه

He hoped for a Muslim's awakening, aided by success,

aiming at its ends with his intelligence.

قد كان حقا للكتاب محافظا

بسعى ولا تثريب في إعلائه

He truly was a guardian of the book,

through effort, with no reproach in raising it high.

ويراه نورا والزمان معاكس

لم يخط إذ لم يسع في إطفائه

He saw it as a light, though the age opposed it;

he did not err, for he did not seek to extinguish it.

ورأيت فعل الدهر يشعر أنه

إذن إلهي آمر بجلائه

But you saw time's action as suggesting that it was

a divine permission commanding its emergence.

والدين أخره الزمان مراحلا

والذنب محمول على علمائه

Time had set religion back by stages,

and the blame was laid upon its scholars.

ورأى المطامع حوله منشورة

كل يدس السم في استدوائه

He saw ambitions spread all around him,

each slipping poison into his search for a cure.

ومصارع الأيام وهي حوادث

كشفت لك الأحوال عن أنبائه

And amid the days' fatal encounters—those events—

circumstances revealed his story to you.

وهو المدافع وحده بطرائق

حفظت مكانته لدى غرمائه

He alone was the defender, using methods

that preserved his standing with his adversaries.

كانت له طرق يدق خفاؤها

واليوم لا وجه إلى إخفائه

He had methods whose concealment was subtle;

today there is no reason to conceal it.

بدأ النظام بفتح مدرسة إلى ال

جند النظامي وهي من إنشائه

He began the system by opening a school for the

regular army; the school was his own creation.

وهو الذي فتح المجالس معلنا

في الناس بالقانون طبق رجائه

He was the one who opened the councils, proclaiming

the law among the people, in accord with his hope.

واستحلف الملك المشير وجملة ال

وزراء والعلماء في إجرائه

He made the king—the marshal—and all the

ministers and scholars swear to enforce it.

هذا وفي التعطيل سر غامض

إذ كنت بعده لم تفض من مائه

That is so; yet in its suspension lies an obscure secret,

for afterward you did not pour forth any of its water.

ولعلها هي حجة بقيت إلى

هذا الزمان على يدي ظلمائه

Perhaps it is an argument that has survived until

this age, at the hands of its oppressors.

دعنا فتلك قضية مبسوطة

هي أس صوتي في ارتفاع ندائه

Leave us be; that is an issue laid out in full,

the foundation of my voice as its call rises.

وكلاكما رجل السياسة إنما ال

أستاذ جدي فاقكم بدهائه

You are both men of politics; yet the

master, my grandfather, surpassed you in his shrewdness.

خضرا وموسى كنتما لا بد من

إنكار ذا وصنيع ذا لقضائه

You were Khidr and Moses; there was no avoiding

this one's objection and that one's deed, by His decree.

لكنما الأيام كنز حقائق

والحق صنو البدر في ظلماته

Yet the days are a treasure of truths,

and truth is the full moon's twin in its darkness.

تبدي وتبطن ما تشاء وتعتدي

والدهر سلطان على أبنائه

They reveal and conceal whatever they will, and transgress;

time is sovereign over its children.

هذا الزمان أراك صحة ما ادعى

ذاك الوزير وكنت ضد دعائه

This age has shown you the truth of what

that minister claimed, though you opposed his appeal.

واستعجلتك الى النهوض صبابة الن

مدين منتشقا لطيب هوائه

A passion for civilization hastened you toward awakening,

as you breathed in the sweetness of its air.

يا عاشق التنظيموالساعي له

تنوي به الاصلاح في إمضائه

O lover of order, and one who strives for it,

you intend reform through carrying it into effect.

شاهدت في باريس ما شاهدته

عدلا أراك البدر في لألائه

You saw in Paris what you saw:

justice that showed you the full moon in its radiance.

فوددت لو كانت بلادك مثلها

لولا الأمير يهيم في أهوائه

You wished your land could be like it,

but for the prince, wandering lost in his whims.

وعلمت أن العلم أصل سعادة

والخير كل الخير في استنوائه

You knew that knowledge is the root of happiness,

and goodness—all goodness—lies in seeking its aid.

وحكمت أن التونسي لو ارتدى

بلباسه يسعى على عليائه

You judged that if the Tunisian were to clothe himself

in its garb, he would strive toward its heights.

فكتبت سفرا في الممالك عندها

فيه المسالك وهي عين دوائه

So you then wrote a volume about the kingdoms,

containing the paths that were his very remedy.

ورأيت صهرك حائلا بين الذي

تنويه للخضرا وبين بقائه

You saw your in-law as a barrier between what

you intended for al-Khadra and his remaining.

فسعيت كل السعي في إسقاطه

ظنا بأنك مسعد بشقائه

So you strove with all your might to bring him down,

believing you would find happiness through his misery,

مستنجدا بالمصلح الراقي الذي

ترمي سياسته على استيلائه

seeking help from the enlightened reformer whose

policy aimed at his taking control.

فربطت بالخط الحديدي عقدة ال

حدين مندفعا إلى استدنائه

With the railway you tied the knot of the two

frontiers, rushing to draw him near.

ونفضت جيبك بالنفيضة مسديا

فيها يد المعروف في استرعائه

You shook out your pocket through Enfidha, extending

there a kindly hand to solicit his care,

لترى به تلك الأماني أصبحت

تجري بقطرك منه في أنحائه

so that through him you might see those hopes begin

to flow from him throughout your country, in all its regions.

لكن رأينا الأمر بعد وقوعه

لم يجد نفعا في طلول بنائه

But after it happened, we saw that the affair

yielded no benefit amid the ruins of its edifice.

مهدت فيها للحماة طرائقا

إذ يصبحوا للقطر من خفرائه

You paved pathways there for the protectors,

so they might become guardians of the country.

رجو العدالة والحضارة والرقي

والحق هم للعدل من حلفائه

They hoped for justice, civilization, and advancement;

and truly, they are among justice's allies.

قم أيها الرجل النصوح مشاهدا

حال ابن هذا العصر في خضرائه

Rise, O sincere counselor, and behold

the state of a son of this age in his Green Land.

لا شك أنك تستشيط لحالنا

غضبا وتغدو اليوم من خصمائه

No doubt you would flare up at our plight

in anger, and today become one of its adversaries.

انظر مدارسها وقف برسومها

وسل الطلول ومن بها عن دائه

Look at its schools and stand among their traces;

ask the ruins, and those within them, about its ailment.

وأعر بربك لفتة للصادقي

ة معهدا أودى وقف نفنائه

And, by your Lord, turn your gaze toward al-Sadiqiyya,

an institute laid waste; stand in its courtyard.

أولست موصيهم وصاة مؤسس

ذهب الوصي وخاب في إيصائه

Did you not charge them with a founder's charge?

The trustee departed, and his charge came to nothing.

عملوا ولكن عكس ما أملته

قد ضاع حقك في يدي وكلائه

They acted, but against what you had hoped;

your right was lost in the hands of his agents.

كم كنت تشكو الظلم واستبدادهم

وتجد في الإصلاح واستجلائه

How often you complained of oppression and their despotism,

striving earnestly for reform and its revelation.

فأجرتنا لكن بعمرو إننا

كالمستجير نراك من رمضائه

You sheltered us, but through Amr; indeed, we are

like one fleeing scorching sands, as we look to you.

ألقيتنا في يد الكواسر ليتنا

لم نستجرك به على أمرائه

You cast us into the grip of birds of prey; would that we

had not sought your protection through him against his rulers.

بتنا وبات القطر أسوأ حالة

مما شكوت وظل في برحائه

We and the country came to be in a worse state

than what you deplored, and it remained in its anguish.

عجبا لمثلك كيف يرجو نصرة

تأتي لنصر الحق من أعدائه

How strange that one like you should hope for aid

that comes to champion truth from its enemies!

كم كنت للصهر الكريم مخطئا

رغم ارتقاء هلالكم بسمائه

How often you wronged your noble in-law,

despite your crescent's ascent in his sky.

وأراد دفع الشر وهو مقدم

شرعا فعم غدوت من خصمائه

He wished to avert evil, which takes precedence

under sacred law; why, then, did you become one of his adversaries?

ما كان أغنى الناكثين بعهده

عما أتوا وأحقهم بوفائه

How little those who broke his covenant needed

to do what they did, and how much more fitting to fulfill it!

هذا الزمان أرى الأنام مآلهم

وسعى ولا تثريب في إيرائه

This age has shown mankind their fate,

and has striven, with no reproach for revealing it.

لو كان في قيد الحياة كلاهما

لرأيت خيرهما ارتدى بردائه

Were both of them still bound to life,

you would see the better of them clad in his mantle.

ورأيت سعيهما الحثيث معا إلى الد

ستور متفقين في إعطائه

You would see their tireless efforts together toward the

constitution, agreeing to grant it.

حاشاهما وهما من الشهدا على ال

والي وهم إذ ذاك من وزرائه

Far be it from them! They were among the witnesses against the

governor, and were then among his ministers.

هذي خطوطهما لديك شهيدة

والخط شاهدكم على إنشائه

Their writings before you bear witness,

and the writing is your witness to its establishment.

غفر الإله رعاية لكليهما

مذ وافق الرجلان عن إجرائه

May God forgive them, with care for both,

since the two men agreed to enforce it.

قد خلفاه إلى البلاد ذخيرة

عظمى ويربو البر من عظمائه

They left it to the country as a treasure

of great worth; goodness grows through its great men.

فلتشكروا جدي الوزير وصهره

شكر الحريض على رضا آبائه

So thank my grandfather, the minister, and his son-in-law,

as one yearning for his fathers' approval gives thanks.

ولتتركوا ما كان بينهما ولا

تسعواى بربكمو لكشف غطائه

Leave what passed between them, and do not

strive, by your Lord, to uncover its veil.

فالله يغفر للجميع وما جرى

ما قد جرى إلا بحكم قضائه

For God forgives everyone, and whatever happened

happened only by the ruling of His decree.