خذ الكاسات واشرب من مدامي

فدنّ العدل مفضوض الختام

Take the cups and drink of my wine,

for the wine-jar of justice has had its seal broken.

وكنت إلى رحيقه بانحباسي

مريح الكارعين من الصمام

Through my imprisonment, for those seeking its nectar,

I freed the drinkers from the stopper.

وهذا الظلم صرحه قد تداعى

وأوشك أن تروه على انهدام

This injustice—its edifice has begun to crumble,

and soon you will see it fall.

ودل على انخذالهم انزعاج

لأيّ ما فدلّ على انهزام

Their alarm betrayed their demoralization;

whatever its cause, it signaled defeat.

رأوني في الزعيم نظمت شعراً

وقولي بين قومي كالسهام

They saw that I had composed verse about the leader,

and my words among my people are like arrows.

وإني ناشر الإحساس فيهم

وحسبك عن أقل قالت حذام

Indeed, I spread awareness among them;

for even less, let 'Hadhām has spoken' suffice.

وإني باعث الموتى نشورا

بإذن الله تنهض في ازدحام

Indeed, I raise the dead to resurrection;

by God's permission, they rise in throngs.

وتعرفني وأعرفها إذا ما

كشفت لدى الفوارس عن لثامي

They know me, and I know them, whenever

I lift my face-veil before the horsemen.

ولو دعيت نزال لقلت أهلا

فقبحا ويك للموت الزؤام

Were I summoned to combat, I would say, 'Welcome!'

So shame, mark you, upon violent death!

ولم يمرر بقلبي طيف جبن

ولم تجر الدموع على كلامي

No phantom of cowardice has crossed my heart,

nor have tears flowed over my words.

يردد في المحافل صوت شعري

وتنصب في نواديهم خيامي

The sound of my poetry echoes in assemblies,

and my tents are pitched in their gathering places.

فهالتهم جيوش من قريضي

بعثت بها وهالهم اصطدامي

Armies of my verse terrified them—

armies I dispatched; my onslaught terrified them.

فقالوا من لنا والصوت صادٍ

وقالوا من لنا واليمّ طام

They said, 'Who will help us?' as the voice echoed;

they said, 'Who will help us?' as the sea surged.

وهذا الليث أقبل من عرين

علينا وهو يزأر في احتدام

This lion has advanced from his den

upon us, roaring in fury.

ففكر بعضهم حينا وألقى

وقد ذهلوا إليهم بالزمام

One of them pondered a while, then cast

them the reins while they stood bewildered.

فنودي يا هزبر الشعر مهلا

عليك فلا سبيل إلى القيام

A call went out: 'Easy, lion of poetry!

Restrain yourself: there is no path to rising up.

فأنت مقلد فينا وظيفا

ألم تنظر لسفيك والوسام

You have been entrusted with a post among us;

have you not looked at your sword and decoration?

فلا تطلق جواد الفكر ركضا

فإن العسكرية كاللجام

Do not unleash the steed of thought at a gallop,

for military service is like a bridle.

ودع عنك القوارير اللواتي

ختمناها بذيّاك الفدام

Leave aside those bottles

we sealed with that very cloth stopper.'

فقلت متى صددت عن القوافي

وأين أنا كأني في المنام

I said, 'Since when have I been barred from rhymes?

Where am I? It is as though I were dreaming.

أجنديا أراني رغم أنفي

وأخضع للحكومة بالتزام

Do I see myself a soldier against my will,

bound to submit to the government?

وما تلك الوظائف لو نظرتم

بعين عدالة إلا أسام

Those posts, if you considered them

with an eye to justice, are nothing but names.

وما أنا ساخرا بي مع زماني

وليس علي حقا من ملام

I will not join my times in mocking myself,

nor am I truly deserving of blame.'

وبتّوا في الحكومة قبل سؤلي

وإقراري وتحقيق المحامي

They decided the case before questioning me,

before my statement or the lawyer's examination.

وأوقعني القضاء بحكم ضغط

بثكنتهم ولم أدنس بذام

The judiciary, acting under pressure, consigned me

to their barracks, though no disgrace had stained me.

أأجبن والمخاوف لي أمان

وأخشاهم وبالله اعتصامي

Should I turn coward when terrors are safety to me,

and fear them when my refuge is in God?

وهذا السجن تشريف لمثلي

سأدخله على وفق المرام

This prison is an honor for one like me;

I shall enter it in accordance with my wish.

ولست بفاكر في ابن صغير

يحن له الفؤاد على الدوام

I am not thinking of a little son

for whom my heart continually longs,

وإن كان الغياب لديّ عنه

ولو يوما يعدّ كألف عام

although absence from him, to me,

even for a day, counts as a thousand years;

ولا تلك التي نثرت دموعا

ونادت زوجها والقلب دام

nor of the woman who shed tears

and called to her husband, her heart bleeding.

وضمّت بنتها للصدر حتى

تخفّف نار قلب في اضطرام

She clasped her daughter to her chest to

ease the fire of a heart ablaze.

ودارت حولها الأهلون تبكي

بكاء الطفل في إثر القطام

Her kin gathered around her as she wept,

as a child weeps after weaning.

شغلت عن الجميع بحب شعبي

رعاه اللّه والإخلاص نام

Love of my people absorbed me, away from everyone—

may God protect them! And devotion grows.

وأيّده التفاف القوم نحوي

لتهنئتي فبتّ مع الفخام

The people's gathering around me strengthened it;

they came to congratulate me, and I passed the night among the eminent.

وسرت لموقف الإيقاف توّا

وصدري بالمسرّة في انفعام

I went at once to the place of detention,

my breast brimming with joy.

وقالوا الزم مكانك نصف شهر

فقلت كعدّة البدر التمام

They said, 'Remain here for half a month.'

I said, 'Like the moon's count when it reaches fullness.'

وقلت السجن كنز باحتباسي

حوى الصديق من قبل الإمام

I said, 'Prison is a treasure through holding me;

it held al-Ṣiddīq before the Imam.'

وأغلق باب حجرته بقفل

علي وإن تأثّث بانتظام

The door of its chamber was locked

upon me, though it was neatly furnished.

ولكنّي وجدت به مجالا

فسيحا للترسل والنظام

But I found within it room

ample for prose and verse.

وبات الفكر وقّادا وباتت

جواهره الكريمة في انسجام

Thought grew incandescent, and

its precious jewels fell into harmony.

وكان كمهبط للوعي فاضت

عليّ به غوادق كالجهام

It became a landing-place for insight, where there poured

upon me copious showers, like rainless clouds.

وجئت لأمّتي فيه بسفر

ويا له في الهداية من إمام

There I brought my nation a book—

what a guide it is to right guidance!

أرادوا بانحباسي قهر فكري

فأصبح في الجوارح خير رام

Through imprisoning me, they sought to subdue my thought,

but it became the finest marksman among my faculties.

وبتّ بحب خضرائي أنيسا

وباتت لي المعاني في ازدحام

Love of my green homeland kept me company,

and ideas came crowding to me.

وأصغي للجنود وهم نشاوى

بحب شاربا كأس الجمام

I listen to the soldiers, drunk

with love, while I drink the cup of repose.

يودّون الولوج ولا سبيل

إليّ فيشتكون من الأوام

They wish to enter, but there is no way

to reach me, and they complain of burning thirst.

وقد منعوا مكالمتي وتبقى

لهم تلك العواطف في انكتام

They have been forbidden to speak to me, and

those feelings remain concealed within them.

وهب سكتوا بحكم القهر عنّي

فكم ناب السكوت عن الكلام

Suppose coercion has silenced them about me:

how often silence has stood in for speech!

وفيما قد أرى لو قلت هيا

لسقت الجيش جرارا أمامي

As far as I can see, had I said, 'Come on!'

I would have led a mighty army before me,

يقودهم الشعور الحي لولا

فدام الضغط والحكم النظامي

guided by living feeling, were it not for

the gag of repression and military rule.

قلوبهمو ترفرف حول ربعي

وتلحظني البصائر باحترام

Their hearts flutter around my abode,

and their inner eyes regard me with respect.

أرى الإخلاص منشورا عليهم

ولو ذاقوا به كأس الحمام

I see devotion spread over them,

even if through it they tasted the cup of death.

ولكن لست رائدهم لشر

فقد أغنى الكلام عن الحسام

But I do not lead them toward evil;

speech has made the sword unnecessary.

ولم أنس الذي ما زار حتى

أراني الأريحية من همام

Nor have I forgotten the man who, as soon as he visited,

showed me the generosity of a noble soul.

كذاك الشأن في الأحرار منهم

وفي الشرفاء من بيت الكرام

Such is the way of the freeborn among them,

and of the nobles from the house of the generous.

رآني للزيارة كنت أهلا

وبالإيقاف لم ينقص مقامي

He considered me worthy of a visit;

detention had not diminished my standing.

وشاهد عند صاحبه جلالا

يحوط به على رغم اللئام

He witnessed in his companion a majesty

encompassing him despite the base.

رأى مني العزيمة في رسوخ

وشاهد عزة الشرف التهامي

He saw my firmly rooted resolve,

and witnessed the dignity of Tihāmī nobility.

فأسرع بالتحية مذ رآني

جديرا في الحقيقة بالسلام

He hastened to greet me when he saw me

truly worthy of a greeting.

ولاحظ حول مكتبتي صفوفا

من الأسفار تنبي عن غرامي

Around my library he noticed rows

of books revealing my passion.

فأكبرني وسألني اهتماما

بشأني فاستحق به اهتمامي

He esteemed me and asked with concern

about my affairs, thus earning my regard.

واسدل في السؤال ذيول لطف

فخلته وهو يسألني غلامي

In his questions he let fall the trailing hems of kindness,

so I thought him my servant as he questioned me.

فقلت القلب منشرح كثيرا

يكاد يفر مني كالحمام

I said, 'My heart is greatly gladdened;

it almost flies away from me like a dove.

فليس الفكر مشغولا بشرب

ومفروش وثير أو طعام

My thought is not preoccupied with drink,

or soft bedding, or food.

يخفّف حمل هذا الضيم عني

عدادي اليوم في صف العظام

What lightens the burden of this injustice for me

is being counted today among the great.'

فقال سجنت مثلك وهو حق

تقوله ثم ودّع باتبسام

He said, 'I was imprisoned like you, and it is true,

what you say.' Then he bade farewell with a smile.

ضمنت له احتفاظ الذكر عندي

ونشره عاطرا بين الأنام

I promised him to preserve his memory

and spread it fragrantly among humankind.

وكيف يرى سجينه ذا اعتداء

عليه وليس من أهل التعامي

How could he deem his prisoner an aggressor

against him, when he is not willfully blind?

ومبلغ علمه أني شريف

نظيره هزّني شرف المقام

He knows that I am noble,

his equal, stirred by the nobility of my station.

ولم أك مثل غيري ذا خداع

يداجيهم لتحصيل الحطام

I was not, like others, given to deceit,

currying their favor to obtain worldly gain.

ويعلم أنهم جعلوا لصيد

وما شأن الكلاب حشاك سام

He knows they have been assigned to hunt,

and dogs' standing—saving your honor—is not lofty.

وأنّ الدعوة الكبرى لشعبي

أقامتني وأوجبت انضمامي

And that my people's great call

roused me and required me to join.

ولم ير في المطالب من عداء

ولا من موجب للانتقام

He saw no hostility in the demands,

nor any grounds for revenge.

ولكن التملق ساق غرا

فجامله المحابي في الترامي

But flattery drove a gullible man on,

and the biased man humored him in his assault.

ويعلم أنني بالشعر غازي

وأني بالعشيرة ذو التحاكم

He knows that through poetry I wage war,

and that within my clan I have recourse to judgment.

وأني ضمن قوم لم يسيئوا

إليهم بل دعوهم للوئام

And that I am among a people who did no harm

to them, but invited them to harmony.

وأنا في مفاهمة ولسنا

مع الأحرار منهم في خصام

And that we are in dialogue, not

at odds with the free men among them.

وهم في النور يمشون اختيالا

ونحن في المظالم في ظلام

They walk proudly in the light,

while we remain amid injustices, in darkness.

وصالحنا وصالحهم جميعا

إذا بتنا ولسنا في انقسام

The welfare of us all, theirs and ours,

lies in our living without division.