اليقِينيّة — Osama Zamil

أُقِرُّ بأنّني قد عشْ

تُ أزمانا وأزمانا

I acknowledge that I have lived

through ages upon ages.

وأنّي قد شهدت النا

رَ تُغوي الطينَ عِصْيانا

And that I have witnessed the fire

tempting the clay into disobedience,

وما حلّ بحوّاءَ

وآدمَ بعد أنْ هانا

and what befell Eve

and Adam after they were abased.

وأنّي من على الفلكِ

رأيتُ الشِّرك طوفانا

And that from atop the ark

I saw idolatry as a flood.

وأنّي كنتُ في عادٍ

وهم يبنونَ بُنيانا

And that I was among ʿAd

as they raised a structure.

وقد كانوا أشدَّ الخلْ

قِ غطرفةً وسُلطانا

And they were the mightiest of creation

in arrogance and power.

وكان لهُم أخٌ يدعو

إلى اللهِ وما لانا

And they had a brother who called

to God and never yielded.

فصدّقتُ بما جاء

بهِ وازددتُ إيْمانا

So I believed in what he brought

and grew in faith.

وأنّي راعني استسلا

مُ علم القومِ صَغرانا

And that I was alarmed by the surrender

of the people's knowledge in abasement,

إلى أنْ جاءت الريحُ

فأمسى التِّيهُ جُثمانا

until the wind came,

and arrogance became a corpse.

و بات القوْمُ للقامو

سِ أسرى بابُهم "كانا"

And the people became the dictionary's

captives, their entry: 'was.'

ويجثم فوق ما علّوا

عمىً ينفثُ نِسْيانا

And over what they raised there crouches

a blindness that breathes out oblivion.

أُقِرُّ بأنني لا زلْ

تُ أبكي القومَ سدْمانا

I acknowledge that I still

weep for the people in sorrow.

فعادٌ جاوزوا الأحْلا

مَ هندسةً وعُمرانا

For ʿAd surpassed dreams

in engineering and construction.

وقد أعيا على الخلقِ

بناءٌ ظلّ برْهانا

And all creation was baffled by

a building that remained a proof.

فما نفْعُكَ يا عِلْمُ؟!

رضيت الجهلَ رُبّانا؟!

What use are you, O knowledge,

having accepted ignorance as your helmsman?

فسبحان الذيْ أحيا

وأبقى وعلا شانا

So glory to the One who gave life,

and preserved, and was exalted in stature.

وما عدتُ أرى القومَ

كأنّ الخلقَ ما كانا

And I no longer see the people,

as though creation had never existed.

ومع خلفائهم إذ يجْ

علونَ الصخرَ أكْنانا

And with their successors, as they

make shelters of rock,

وأنّي هالني استكبا

رُهم في الأرضِ عُميانا

and that I was appalled by their arrogance

on earth, blind as they were.

وجاء أخٌ لهم يدعو

إلى الحقِّ وما هانا

And a brother of theirs came calling

to truth, and was not abased.

فآمنتُ به لمّا

تجلّى القربُ غُفرانا

So I believed in him when

nearness revealed itself as forgiveness.

وعذتُ بخالقي لمّا

تجلّى البعدُ خُسْرانا

And I sought refuge in my Creator when

distance revealed itself as loss.

وأيقنتُ بأنّ الحق

قَ منتصرٌ وإنْ عانى

And I became certain that truth

is victorious, even if it suffers.

وأنّ الظلمَ إنْ سارَ

عليها سارَ إنسانا

And that oppression, if it walks

upon the earth, walks in human form.

وأنّ تكبّرَ اليوم

غداً يُدفعُ إذعانا

And that today's arrogance

is repaid tomorrow in submission.

وأنّ تواضعَ اليوم

غداً يُدفعُ إحسانا

And that today's humility

is repaid tomorrow in kindness.

وما عدْتُ أرى القوم

كأنّ الخلقَ ما كانا

And I no longer see the people,

as though creation had never existed.

وأنّي جبتُ مع منْ جم

معَ التاجين بُلدانا

And that I roamed, with the one who united

the two crowns, through lands.

وأنّي قلتُ شعراً يوْ

م غلَّ النسرُ ثعْبانا

And that I spoke verse on the day

the eagle shackled a serpent,

فتولد مصرُ أمّا تعْ

زفُ التاريخ ألحانا

so Egypt is born, a mother who plays

history in melodies.

وأنّي في هوى الشام

قُتلتُ ولستُ ندمانا

And that for the love of al-Sham

I was slain, and I am not regretful.

وجدتُ الناسَ فيها يُلْ

بِسونَ الناسَ تيجانا

I found the people there

adorning people with crowns.

فقالوا: عزّ من بالشا

م لا ذلَّ ولا هانا

And they said: 'Whoever is in al-Sham is honored,

neither humiliated nor abased.'

وأنّي زرْتُ نقمادَ

و أوغاريتَ أحْيانا

And that I visited Niqmad

and Ugarit at times.

فصرت أُعلّمُ الحرفَ

لكلّ الكونِ مجَّانا

So I began teaching the alphabet

to the whole universe, for free.

نسودُ بمصر والشام

ونعلو الإنسَ والجانا

We rule in Egypt and al-Sham,

and rise above humankind and jinn.

أُقِرُّ بأنّني صاحَبْ

تُ فرعونَ وهامانا

I acknowledge that I kept company

with Pharaoh and Haman.

وأنّي قد شهدتُ النا

سَ في الزينةِ ألْوانا

And that I witnessed the people

in finery of many colors,

وهارون وموسى وال

العصيّ وسحرَ من مانا

and Aaron and Moses, and

the staffs and the magic of those who lied.

فآمنت به حين اسـ

ـتحالَ عصاهُ ثُعْبانا

So I believed in him when

his staff turned into a serpent.

وما صدَّقَ فرعونُ

فدام الظلمُ إنسانا

But Pharaoh did not believe,

and oppression endured in human form,

إلى أنْ أقفل البحرُ

ملفّ القومِ تِبْيانا

until the sea closed

the people's file, making matters clear.

أُقِرُّ بأنّني خلف

المسيحِ مشيت جَذْلانا

I acknowledge that behind

the Messiah I walked in joy.

وأنّي قد شهدتُ الصلـ

ـبَ إذ هلكَ الذي خانا

And that I witnessed the crucifixion

when the one who betrayed perished.

وأنّي ثالثُ اثنين

زها المترفُ نُكْرانا

And that I was a third beside two;

the pampered man exulted in denial.

فناجيتُ السّما لمّا

بكى المحرومُ عِرْفانا

So I confided in heaven when

the deprived man wept in gratitude.

وسابعُ ستةٍ آوا

همو الكهفُ بعمّانا

And I was the seventh alongside six

whom the cave sheltered in Amman.

وأنّي متُّ والآنا

م والشيطانُ أنْسانا

And that I died, and humankind

and Satan made us forget.

فأحياني سماعُ المُص

طفــــى يـــــقــرأُ قرآنــــا

And hearing the Chosen One brought me back to life,

as he recited the Quran.

وأدركت بأن العُمْـ

ـرَ غرسٌ زهرُه بانا

And I realized that life

is a planting whose blossom has appeared.

وأنّ القلبَ جرحٌ ما اشْـ

ـتفَى والبُرءُ قد حانا

And that the heart is a wound that has not healed,

and the time for healing has come.

وأدركتُ بأنّ الشّع

رَ بيتٌ يُقبلُ الآنا

And I realized that poetry

is a house that kisses the present.

أتي القرآنُ معجزةً

مشى القرآنُ إنسانا

The Quran came as a miracle;

the Quran walked as a human being.

وحبٌّ بانَ ظمآنا

بِأحمدَ عاد ريّانا

And love, which departed thirsty,

returned through Ahmad, fully quenched.

وللحبِّ استمعنا إذ

غدا مولاه مولانا

And we listened to love when

its master became our master.

فقوموا للذين استك

ثروا من سبِّ منجانا

So stand up to those who have multiplied

their abuse of our deliverer.

فما أُوذي انسيٌّ

كما أُوذي مُذ كانا

For no human being has suffered harm

as he has, since he first existed.

وإنّي دون غيري وا

رثُ القدس وكنْعانا

And I, rather than anyone else, am heir

to Jerusalem and Canaan,

ومن شاهد سكّان السْـ

ـما يبنونَ أقصانا

and the one who saw the inhabitants of heaven

building our Aqsa.

أُقِرُّ بأنّني صاهرْ

تُ عدنانَ وقحْطانا

I acknowledge that I became kin by marriage

to Adnan and Qahtan.

وأنّي قد ورثت الخض

رَ والفضلَ ولقمانا

And that I have inherited al-Khidr,

and virtue, and Luqman.

وأنّي لم أزلْ حيّاً

أجوبُ الدّهرَ حيْرانا

And that I am still alive,

roaming through the ages, bewildered.

فما زال بنا نزْقٌ

لأنْ ندفعَ أثْمانا

For rashness still remains in us,

so we must pay its costs.

صحِبتُ الظلمَ إنسانا

صحبتُ الحقَّ إيمانا

I kept company with oppression in human form;

I kept company with truth in the form of faith.

تعدّدَ أوجهُ الظلمِ

و وجْه الحقِّ أحْصانا

The faces of oppression multiplied,

and the face of truth numbered us.

أقولُ لمن طغى في الأر

ضِ واسْتكبر شيطانا

I say to whoever tyrannized on the earth

and grew arrogant as a devil:

ثموداً كنت ام عادا!

عهِدتك دونهم شانا

Were you Thamud, or ʿAd?

I have known you to be beneath them in stature.