عشاء أطفلت فيه ذكاء — Nicolaos al Sayegh

عِشاءٌ أَطفَلَت فيهِ ذُكاءُ

An evening in which Dhuka, the sun, drew toward sunset.

تَضيَّفَ ضَيفَنُ النِيرانِ قلباً

ذَكاهُ في النفُوسِ لهُ ذَكاءُ

An unbidden guest of the fires lodged in a heart

whose brilliance has a blaze within souls.

وأَقرَى فاقتَراهُ القلبُ لكِن

أَلحَّ على الحَشَى منهُ اقتِراءُ

It offered hospitality, and the heart sought it, yet

its demand for hospitality pressed relentlessly upon the breast.

مُدَى رِزءٍ اصارتنا ذِكاءً

فواعَجَباً وقد بَطَل الذَكاءُ

The knives of bereavement made us old,

so how strange, when wit has failed!

لقد قَصُرَ اللِسانُ فلا بيانٌ

وقد حَصِرَ البَيانُ فلا ذَكاءُ

The tongue has indeed fallen short: no expression remains;

and expression is constrained: no wit remains.

سَرَى منا السُرورُ وبانَ عنا

وباتَ الحُزنُ فينا والنعاءُ

Joy slipped away from us and departed,

while grief and tidings of death spent the night among us.

شَفَت شمسُ النَهارِ وشمسُ فصلٍ

معاً واغتالَ نُورَهُما الشَقاءُ

The sun of day and the sun of a season faded

together, and misery murdered their light.

وحُجِّب في السَرارِ البدرُ ليلاً

فغابَ النُورُ واحتجبَ الضِياءُ

At night the full moon was veiled in the dark of the moon,

so light vanished, and radiance was hidden.

وما خِلنا أَيَا القَمَرَين يَخفَى

ويَغرُبُ من مَشارِقِنا الأَياءُ

We never thought the two moons' radiance would disappear

or brightness set from our places of rising.

فسِرنا في ظِلالِ ظَلامِ ليلٍ

نَجُوبُ بهِ وليسَ لَنا اهتِداءُ

So we walked in the shadows of a dark night,

wandering through it with no guidance.

وَلمَّا غابَ ذاك النَدبُ عنا

تَبدَّى النَدبُ وانتُدِبَ البُكَاءُ

When that noble man vanished from us,

lamentation appeared, and weeping was summoned.

وأُغمَضَتِ الجُفونُ على قَذاها

فسالَ الدمعُ تَمزُجُهُ الدِماءُ

The eyelids closed upon their grit,

and tears flowed, mingled with blood.

كلن الدمع وهو يخد خداً

دم الأخوين يتبعه الإخاء

It was as though the tears, furrowing a cheek, were

the blood of two brothers, followed by brotherhood.

فلِلأجفانِ تقريحٌ وسُهدٌ

كَأَن قد أُغمِدَت فيها الظِباءُ

So the eyelids are ulcerated and sleepless,

as though sword-blades had been sheathed in them.

وفي الأَحشاءِ تسعيرٌ ووَقدٌ

كأُثقِيَةٍ يُسعِّرُها الصِلاءُ

Within the entrails are kindling and burning,

like a hearthstone fired by the flames.

وَغُدرانُ الخُطوبِ جرت بِغَدرٍ

غَدَرن بنا فغادَرنا الصَغاءُ

The pools of calamity flowed treacherously;

they betrayed us, and goodwill deserted us.

عَدِمنا مَورِداً عَذباً شهيّاً

لِذلكَ لم يُفارِقنا الظَماءُ

We lost a sweet, delightful watering place,

and therefore thirst has never left us.

فتىً حَيّا مُحَّياهُ الحَياءُ

وأَحيَا حيَّ سائِلِهِ الحَياءُ

A youth whose face modesty saluted,

while rain revived his petitioner's people.

سنيٌّ قد تسنَّى من سَناهُ

لنا أَسنَى السَنَى ثُمَّ السَناءُ

A radiant man, from whose light were granted

to us the brightest radiance, and then exalted glory.

فلو أَن يَذبُلٌ فاجاهُ خَطبٌ

كهذا لاغتدَى وَبِهِ انحِناءُ

Had Mount Yadhbul been struck by a calamity

like this, it would have become bent.

لقد عزَّ العَزاءُ على عزيزٍ

وعز الصبرُ إذ عزَّ العزاءُ

Consolation over a cherished man is hard indeed,

and patience is hard when consolation is hard.

فلا يُعزَى لفضلٍ بل حَرِيٌّ

اليهِ يكونُ للفضل اعتِزاءُ

He is not traced to excellence; rather, it is fitting

that excellence should trace its lineage to him.

فقيدُ الشِبهِ من قَبلٍ وبَعدٍ

فما وَلَدَت ولا تَلَدُ النِساءُ

Without a peer, before or afterward:

women have never borne, nor will they bear, his like.

أَعبدُ اللَه زاخرَ بحرُ بِرٍّ

سيَبرِيهِ البَرَى وَهُوَ البَراءُ

Can Abd Allah, a surging sea of goodness,

be worn away by dust, though he is blameless?

أَعبدُ اللَه تُنشِبُ فيهِ ظُفراً

مَناياهُ ويَنحَطُّ العَلاءُ

Can Abd Allah have a claw sunk into him

by his fates, while eminence sinks low?

أَعبدُ اللَه تَرميهِ المنايا

بسهمٍ لم يَكُن فيهِ خَطاءُ

Can Abd Allah be shot at by the fates

with an arrow that never missed?

أَعبدُ اللَهِ عنهُ يُقالُ يوماً

لِخِلٍّ قد قَضَى ولَكَ البَقاءُ

Can it one day be said of Abd Allah

to a friend, 'He has died; may you live on'?

أَعبدُ اللَه يَبلَى منهُ جِدٌّ

وجَدٌّ او يَجِدُّ بهِ البَلاءُ

Can Abd Allah's earnestness decay,

and his good fortune, or affliction intensify upon him?

أَعبدُ اللَه يُمسِي تحت ارضٍ

لُقىً فيها ويمتنعُ اللِقاءُ

Can Abd Allah pass the evening beneath the earth,

cast off within it, with meeting made impossible?

ويُلوَى في اللَوَى أَعلَى لِواءٍ

ويَلوَى وَهوَ ليسَ بهِ التِواءُ

And is the highest banner folded amid the winding sands,

and bent, though no crookedness was in him?

ويَثوِي في الثَرَى نَوءُ الثُرَيَّا

ويُمسِي للثَراءِ بهِ ثواءُ

And does the rain-star of the Pleiades lie in the soil,

and does wealth find its resting place with him?

قَضَى فيهِ القَضا فقَضَى بحُكمٍ

إِلهِيٍّ لهُ فيهِ اقتِضاءُ

Fate decreed his end, and he died by a decree

divine, requiring its fulfillment in him.

وأَدرَكَت المنَّيةُ ما تَمشَّت

وقد بلغَ المُنى فيهِ المَناءُ

Death attained what it had pursued,

and destiny achieved its wishes in him.

فقد تُعفِي المنَّيةُ كل عافٍ

فهل عافٍ لهُ منها اعتِفاءُ

For death effaces every suppliant;

can any suppliant seek a favor from her?

وهل يُعفَى ابنُ أُنثى من عَفاءٍ

وأَوَّلُه وآخره عفاء

Is a woman's son ever spared from dust,

when dust is his beginning and his end?

فأَينَ مَقَيلُ أَقيالٍ تناهَوا

بعِزَّتِهم وأَينَ الأَقوِياءُ

Where is the resting place of princes who reached the height

of their power, and where are the strong?

وأَينَ الرافعونَ لِواءَ نصرٍ

بصَولتِهِم وأَينَ الأَغنِياءُ

Where are those who raised the banner of victory

through their might, and where are the wealthy?

وأَينَ ذَوُو الصوارمِ والعَوالِي

وأَينَ أُولُو الحِجَى والأَتقِياءُ

Where are the bearers of keen swords and lofty spears,

and where are the wise and the devout?

وابن بَنُو الرَخاءِ بطيبِ عيشٍ

وكانَ مَهَبَّهم ذاكَ الرُخاءُ

Where are the children of ease, living pleasantly,

whose wind was that gentle breeze?

فدَع هذا وقُل أَينَ الأَوالِي

من الدُنيا واينَ الأَولِياءُ

Leave this, and say: where are the earliest people

of this world, and where are the saints?

تَولَّوا عاثراً في إِثرِ كابٍ

فما باؤُوا ولا للحيِّ فاؤُا

They departed, one stumbling behind another falling;

they never returned, nor came back to the living.

هو الدَينُ الذين كلٌّ يفيهِ

بلا بُدٍّ اذا حانَ الوَفاءُ

It is the debt that everyone pays,

inevitably, when payment falls due.

ويَغشَى الهدمُ ما يبنيهِ يوماً

يَحِلُّ فِناءَ ساحتهِ الفَناءُ

Destruction overtakes what one builds; one day

annihilation alights in the courtyard of its precinct.

فما لِذَوِي الوَدَى أَبَداً مُداوٍ

فَداءُ المَوتِ ليسَ لهُ دَواءُ

For the doomed there is never a healer;

the disease of death has no remedy.

اذا حُمَّ الحِمامُ فلا حميمٌ

ولا آسَى الأُساةُ ولا أَساءُوا

When death is decreed, no close friend can help,

and healers neither heal nor do harm.

تقلَّصَ ظِلُّ مجدٍ من مجيدٍ

وغالَ العِزَّ والمجدَ أمِّحاءُ

The shade of glory withdrew from a glorious man,

and effacement devoured honor and glory.

سَرَت قُلُصُ الرَدَى بسَرِيِّ قومٍ

فتىً من بعدهِ قَلَصَ الفَتاءُ

Death's young she-camels carried off a noble of his people,

a youth after whom youthful vigor dwindled.

تقضَّى عُمُرهُ فقَضَى علينا

مآثِمَ ما لها عنا انقِضاءُ

His life ran its course, imposing on us

mourning rites that will never leave us.

فيومٌ ماتَ فيهِ الأَربِعاءُ

بَليَّتُهُ قُعُودٌ أُربُعاءُ

The day he died—Wednesday—

had a calamity that was a sturdy riding camel.

وأَغرَبَ في غُرُوبِ الشمسِ عنا

مُسِيئاً كانَ ذَيَّاكَ المَساءُ

He vanished from us at sunset;

that evening was a cruel one.

وقد أَشفَى على عَدَمٍ وأَشفَى

لَئن بلغَ الشَفا فبِمَ الشِفاءُ

He drew near to nonbeing, and brought us to the brink;

if he reached the brink, with what can we be healed?

لئن حَزِنَت عليهِ الأرضُ طُرّاً

لَقد فَرِحَت بنُقلتِهِ السَماءُ

Though all the earth grieved for him,

heaven rejoiced at his passing.

نفوس بالأسى منا استطارت

شعاعاً حينما شع البهاء

Our souls, through grief, flew apart

in scattered rays, when splendor shone.

نَعَم عَمَّ الأَسَى بُعداً وقُرباً

ولكِن خُصَّ فيهِ الأَقرِباءُ

Yes, grief spread far and near,

but his relatives were singled out by it.

فذوا القُربَى إليهِ أَشَدُّ سُؤاً

ولكِن ما ذَوُو القُربَى سَواءُ

Those related to him suffer more deeply,

yet his relatives are not all alike.

فلو يُفدَى لكُنتُ لهُ فِداءً

ولكِن لا يُخالُ لهُ فِداءُ

If he could be ransomed, I would be his ransom,

but no ransom for him can be imagined.

فَبادَ ولا يَبِيدُ لهُ ثَناءٌ

ورَثَّ ولا يَرِثُّ لهُ رثاءُ

He perished, but his praise does not perish;

he decayed, but his elegy does not grow threadbare.

زَوَى عنِّي الخليطُ فخالَطَتني

شُجونٌ ما لَها عني انزِواءُ

My companion withdrew from me, and there mingled with me

sorrows that never withdraw from me.

وولَّى حينَ ولَّى القلبُ غمّاً

وبالأَولى بهِ هذا الوَلاءُ

When he departed, he made the heart the steward of grief,

and such loyalty to him is all the more fitting.

لقيتُ الأَطورِينَ بأَطوَرَيها

بأَطوارٍ يطورُ بها العَناءُ

I met the two dire calamities at their utmost bounds,

in phases around which suffering circles.

فمَوطؤ الأَسَى رَمَضٌ ومَمهُو

دُهُ قَضَضٌ ومَسلَكهُ شَقاءُ

For grief's ground is burning sand, and its resting place—

—is sharp gravel, and its pathway misery.

ومَفؤُودوهُ ليسَ لهم نجاحٌ

ومَوؤُودوهُ ليسَ لهم نَجاءُ

Those whose hearts it wounds find no success,

and those it buries alive find no escape.

لَعَمرُكَ إِنَّ فَجَّ الحُزنِ حَزنٌ

بهِ الخِرّيتُ يُنضِيهِ العَياءُ

By your life, grief's mountain pass is rugged ground,

where exhaustion wears out even the expert guide.

تَواصَلَ في النفوس بلا انفصالٍ

كدائِرةٍ نِهايتُها ابتِداءُ

It persisted within souls without a break,

like a circle whose ending is a beginning.