نحن لا نكذب ولكن نتجمّل — Osama Zamil

نحن إنْ كنّا قد كذبنا فذاك

أنّنا أغوتنا حياةٌ غرورُ

If we have indeed lied, it is because

a deceitful life led us astray.

بادأتْنا بالفريةِ يومَ جئنا

وادّعتْ أنّها السماءُ القطورُ

She first met us with a lie the day we came,

and claimed she was the sky pouring down rain.

ثمّ قالت تجملّوا وادّعوا كيْ

لا أميلَ عنكم فإنّي قرورُ

Then she said, “Adorn yourselves and make pretenses, so

I do not turn away from you, for I am yielding.

ثم كونوا لي لا لِمنْ هنّ دوني

قد علِمتم أنّي امراةٌ غيورُ

Then be mine, not those women beneath me;

you already know I am a jealous woman.

والرجالُ في كثرةٍ كالنّجومِ

حولَ ثقبيَ الجوْنِ باتت تدورُ

And men are as numerous as the stars

that circle through the night around my black hole.

واحذروا الإنسياقَ خلف الوعودِ

فالّتي بعد الموتِ إفكٌ وزورُ

And beware of being led along by promises,

for those beyond death are lies and falsehood.

عمرُكمْ هذا الأوّلُ والأخيرُ

ثمّ تروي بالصّمتِ عنكمْ قبورُ

This lifetime of yours is the first and the last;

then graves will tell of you in silence.

فاملأوا كأسَهُ بما لذّ منّي

ولتهُنْ في سبيلِ "دنيا" المُهورُ

So fill its cup with whatever is sweet in me,

and let bride-prices count for little for the sake of ‘the World.’

هل رأيتُم من ادّعى أنّني با

بٌ لأخرى منه يكونُ العبورُ؟

Have you seen anyone claim that I am a

door to another life, through which one passes?

قد وعدتُ من قبل خلقاً كثيرا

ليتها ترويْ عن نعيمي القصورُ

I have promised many people before;

if only the palaces would tell of my bliss!”

وادّعت من ليست تملُّ الحجابَ

أنّ فيها ما لن تملَّ الصّدورُ

And she who never tires of the veil claimed

that within her lay what bosoms would never tire of.

واقتفينا ما ضاعَ منها كما لوْ

أنّها يعسوبٌ قفتْها الذّكورُ

And we pursued what was lost of her, as though

she were a dragonfly followed by males.

وارتدينا زيّ الثراء امتثالا

كي ترى منّا ما استحبّت غَدورُ

And we donned the garb of wealth in obedience,

so the treacherous one might see in us what she favored.

واستزدنا من عِطرها وارتشَفنا

ريقها منْ كؤوسِ خمرٍ تفورُ

And we sought more of her perfume and sipped

her saliva from cups of bubbling wine.

واستلفنا مالاً وبِعنا إراثا

وترَكْنا الأوطانَ جرحى.. تجورُ

And we borrowed money and sold inherited property,

and left our homelands wounded and unjust.

واسْتطَبنا ظِلالها وهْيَ نارٌ

واجْتنبْنا هجيرَها وهْوَ نورُ

And we found her shade pleasant, though it was fire,

and avoided her midday heat, though it was light.

وادّعينا ما ليسَ فينا وبِتنا

ضحكةً لم يزلْ صداها يَمورُ

And we claimed what was not in us, and became

a laugh whose echo still surges.

كان منّا ما كان حتّى أفقنا

واستفاقتْ من سكْرتِها الشّرورُ

We did what we did, until we awoke,

and evils awoke from their drunken stupor.

كالذِّئابِ حاقتْ بنا ردَّ دينٍ

تشهدُ الأيدي قبضَهُ والسّطورُ

Like wolves they closed in on us, seeking repayment of a debt

whose receipt hands and written lines attest.

كلّما استغاثتْ بها الرّوح قالتْ:

في هوى دُنيا لا تُعدُّ الشّهورُ

Whenever the soul cried to her for help, she said:

“In love with the world, months are not counted.”

واكتفتْ منّا واختفتْ من غوَتْنا

فغدونا كما الذّباحى نخورُ

And she who seduced us had her fill of us and vanished,

so we became like slaughtered beasts, bellowing.

هل إلى العود من سبيل فنمحو

ذاك سؤلٌ ما انفكّ فينا يثورُ

Is there any way back, so we may wipe it away?

That is a wish that never ceases to surge within us.

ليتها قالت يوم جئنا بأن ال

وهمَ ليس حلٌّ لِمن همْ عشورُ

If only she had said, the day we came, that

illusion is no solution for those who are mere tenths.

قد أصاب الثريُّ منها اللّبوبَ

وانْتهى إلينا النّوى والقشورُ

The wealthy man has obtained her kernels,

while the pits and husks have come to us.

قد خسِرنا الدّارين معاً فلا هَ

ذي ولا تلك أعجبتها الكسورُ

We have lost both worlds together: neither this one

nor that one was pleased with fractions.

لا مفرّ لمن عوته الحياةُ

فانعوى ما ارعوى فقف يا فرورُ

There is no escape for one whom life has twisted,

who grew crooked, never heeding—so stop, O fugitive!