عارف ما الشعر صاغيه — Mohammed Al Shazly

عارفٌ ما الشعر صاغيه

إن أقامتني دواعيه

The listener to poetry knows what it is,

if its promptings rouse me.

قالقٌ شطرين أبحره

لو تعاصت لي قوافيه

I cleave its meters into two halves,

should its rhymes resist me.

لا زحافٌ فيه لا علل

رمّمت بيتا لبانيه

No minor metrical changes in it, no major ones,

have patched a verse for its builder.

مالك فيكم أزمته

في يدي تلقى نواصيه

Among you I hold its reins;

you find its forelocks in my hand.

سالكٌ شعري مسالكه

أينما أورت معانيه

My poetry follows its paths,

wherever its meanings kindle fire.

كلما استدعته حيهلة

خف والإحساس حاديه

Whenever a “come hither” summons it,

it hastens, with feeling as its camel-driver.

هذه جمعية القدما

صوتها الصادي يناديه

This is the alumni association;

its thirsty voice calls to it.

منتدى للصادقية ما

كان أحظانا بناديه

A forum for al-Sadiqiyya—how

fortunate we were in its club!

ضم أفلاذا لمدرسة

حسبها منهم مساعيه

It gathered a school's own flesh and blood;

its efforts through them suffice the school.

ناظر كل لمصلحة

تنبني عنها مباديه

Each looks to the common good,

from which his principles arise.

نهضة الأقوام رائده

اينما يمشي تماشيه

The rise of peoples is his guide;

wherever he walks, it keeps pace with him.

همة الأحرار تنهضه

أعين الخضرا تراعيه

The resolve of free men lifts him;

the eyes of the Green Land watch over him.

دينه الراقي بذكره

بالذي يرضاه هاديه

His faith is exalted through his remembrance,

through what his guide approves.

لابس من جنسه شرفا

إيه شلت كف شانيه

Clothed in honor from his lineage—

yes, may his hater's hand be paralyzed!

حسبه الآباء من عرب

حسبه الإسلام كافيه

His Arab forefathers are enough for him;

enough for him is Islam, which suffices him.

رافع من شأنها لغة

خصها بالذكر باريه

He raises the standing of that language;

his Creator singled it out with the Reminder.

حسبها القرآن مفخرة

فهو حاميها وحاميه

The Qur'an is glory enough for it;

for he is the language's guardian, and the Qur'an's.

ناشر العرفان بينهمو

ما كفاك العلم ما فيه

Spreading knowledge among them—

does knowledge not suffice you in all it holds?

فيه إعزاز لطالبه

فيه إسعاد لقاريه

In it is honor for its seeker;

in it is happiness for its reader.

افتحوا للعلم مغلقه

تنفتح فيكم مجاريه

Open knowledge's closed door;

its channels will open among you.

قوّموا الأخلاق من عوج

يا لها داء نعانيه

Straighten morals out of their crookedness;

ah, what an illness we suffer!

سائلوا التاريخ عن أمم

قد طواها في مطاويه

Ask history about nations

it has folded away within its folds.

أرجعوا في حالها بصرا

تنكشف فيكم مرائيه

Turn your gaze back to their condition;

its scenes will be revealed among you.

اعرفوا الأدوا وأدوية

علمكم بالداء آسيه

Know the ailments and remedies;

your knowledge of the disease is its healer.

من يرد إسعاف أمته

أغدقت فيها أياديه

Whoever wishes to aid his nation,

his hands shower it with bounty.

واجبات المرء دائنه

ربّه يوما تقاضيه

A man's duties are his creditor;

his Lord will one day call him to account.

سيم خسفا من تقاعسه

ظل يهوي في مهاويه

He is subjected to humiliation for his shirking;

he keeps plunging into its abysses.

في غضون الدهر موعظة

انطوت عنها لياليه

In the folds of time lies a lesson;

its nights have folded away from it.

ليس يدري اليوم ما غده

لو تخفي عنه ماضيه

Today does not know what its tomorrow holds,

if you hide its past from it.

تونسي اليوم توقظه

بينكم ذكرى أهاليه

A Tunisian today is awakened

among you by the memory of his people.

كالذي في الشعر عمدته

رفعت من شأن راويه

Like him whose “Pillar” on poetry

raised the standing of its transmitter,

والكتاب الفذ في عبر

لابن خلدون وما فيه

and the peerless book of lessons

by Ibn Khaldun, and all it holds,

والذي في الفقه دونها

وليزد بالعدل قاضيه

and him who recorded them in jurisprudence—

and let its judge grow in justice.

هؤلاء السادة العلماء

لا الذي تخفى فتاويه

These are the masters, the scholars,

not the one whose legal opinions are hidden.

فالبسوا من عزة حللا

عز من عزت معانيه

So clothe yourselves in robes of dignity;

noble is he whose ideals are noble.

ارفعوا فيها رؤوسكمو

تاجكم تزهو لآليه

Raise your heads in them;

the pearls of your crown shine proudly.

انشروا للعلم ألوية

قل في الخضراء داريه

Unfurl banners for knowledge;

few in the Green Land are versed in it.

افتحوا فيها مدارسكم

حرة ترقى مراقيه

Open your schools there,

free, climbing its heights.

عمموا التعليم بينكمو

غارس الإحسان جانيه

Make education universal among you;

he who plants kindness reaps it.

لا تضيعوا فرصة سنحت

عارف بالوقت آتيه

Do not squander an opportunity that has arisen;

he who comes to it knows the proper time.

أينعت أزهار دوحتكم

روضكم طابت مجانيه

The flowers of your great tree have ripened;

the fruits of your garden have grown sweet.

النوادي ها هي انفتحت

فلتحرض من تلاقيه

Behold, the clubs have opened!

So urge on whomever you meet.

وليقم كل بواجبه

وليصافح كف عافيه

And let each fulfill his duty,

and shake the hand of one who seeks his help.

من سعى عن نية صلحت

سعيه صحت أمانيه

Whoever strives with an upright intention,

his striving sees his hopes come true.

أيكم تدعوه نخوته

للسخا حتى نجاريه

Which of you is called by his sense of honor

to generosity, so that we may match him?

دونكم مني مشاركة

فهي للانشاد ثانيه

Here is a contribution from me;

for it is a second piece for recitation.

خادما للشعب قمت له

ما أقامتني دواعيه

As a servant of the people, I rose for them,

as long as their calls roused me.