ما لِلسِحابِ تَدَفَّقَت أَخلافُهُ
حَتّى ظَنَنّا أَنَّهُ لا يُمسِكُ
Why have the trailing clouds poured down
That we thought they could not hold back tears—
دَمعٌ يُراقُ مِنَ السَماءِ غَزيرُهُ
لِدَمٍ عَلى وَجهِ البَسيطَةِ يُسفَكُ
Copious tears from the sky for blood spilled
On the face of the earth that is being shed?
بَكَتِ السَماءُ فَما رَثى لِبُكائِها
فَرَحٌ يُقَهقِهُ لِلدِماءِ وَيَضحَكُ
The sky cried but did not elegize its weeping—
Joy giggling at the blood as it flows and laughs.
جَلَبَ البَلاءَ عَلى الخَلائِقِ مَعشَرٌ
مَلَكوا مِنَ الأَقطارِ ما لا يُملَكُ
A horde brought tribulation upon people—
They ruled lands that cannot be ruled.
سَكَنَت عَوادي الدَهرِ إِذ أَخَذوا بِما
نالوا مِنَ الأُمَمِ الضِعافِ وَأَدرَكوا
The days of fate calmed when they took what
They got from the weak nations and realized.
نُكِبوا بِأَيّامٍ تَتابَعَ نَحسُها
فَلِكُلِّ قَومٍ يَومُهُم وَالمَهلِكُ
They stumbled during successive inauspicious days—
For each people is their day and their destroyer.
زَجّوا الجُيوشَ إِلى الوَغى فَأَبادَها
قَدَرٌ أَشَدُّ مِنَ الجُيوشِ وَأَفتَكُ
They drove the armies into the fray and annihilated them—
A fate more intense than the armies and more deadly.
قَدَرٌ أَحاطَ بِهِم فَما مِن قُوَّةٍ
إِلّا تُهَدُّ بِهِ الغَداةَ وَتُنهَكُ
A fate that surrounded them so there’s no power
That does not crumble by it at daybreak and weary.
سَكَنَ الزَمانُ فَشاغَبوهُ وَما دَرَوا
أَنَّ المَمالِكَ تَحتَهُ تَتَحَرَّكُ
Time settled so they made mischief and did not know
That beneath it kingdoms shake and quiver.
غَصَبوا المَمالِكَ مُفسِدينَ فَأَصبَحَت
وَكَأَنَّما هِيَ مَذبَحٌ أَو مَعرَكُ
They usurped kingdoms as corrupters so they became
As though a slaughterhouse or a battlefield.
فَإِذا القُلوبُ عَلى الحَفائِظِ تَنطَوي
وَإِذا الرَوابِطُ كُلُّها تَتَفَكَّكُ
Thus the hearts withdraw into the breasts
And all the ties come apart and untether.
طَلَبوا مُناخَ الراسِياتِ لِدَولَةٍ
هوجُ الرِياحِ مُناخُها وَالمَبرَكُ
They sought the anchorage of firmly rooted states—
But their anchorage is the tempest’s blow and the storm’s descent.
بَطِرَ المُلوكُ فَهَبَّ يَقمَعُ شَرَّهُم
طَبٌّ بِأَدواءِ المُلوكِ مُحَنَّكُ
The kings have failed so he came to quell their evil—
Expert in medicating the illnesses of kings.
نادِ المَمالِكَ في الدِماءِ غَريقةً
وَاِنظُر إِلى أُمَمٍ تُذاب وَتُسبَكُ
Call onto the kingdoms drowned in blood
And look unto nations melted and fused.
حَربٌ يَطيحُ الظُلمُ تَحتَ عَجاجِها
وَيَدينُ بِالإيمانِ فيها المُشرِكُ
A war in which injustice topples beneath its startled steeds
And in it the pagan professes belief.
إِنَّ الجَبابِرَةِ الأُلى أَخَذوا الدُنى
أُخِذوا وَكانَ حِسابُهُم أَن يُترَكوا
The brutal tyrants took the delights—
They were seized though they thought they’d be left.
مِن كُلِّ كَفّارِ السَريرَةِ جاحِدٍ
يَبدو الهُدى فَيَصُدُّ عَنهُ وَيُؤفَكُ
From every unbelieving and denying blasphemer
Guidance appears but he repels it and comes unstitched.
جَحَدوا الإِلَهَ وَكَذَّبوا بِوَعيدِهِ
حَتّى رَمى بِعُروشِهِم فَتَنَسَّكوا
They disbelieved in God and denied His warning
Until He cast down their thrones and they came undone.
في كُلِّ يَومٍ لِلكَنائِسِ ضَجَّةٌ
يَدعو المَليكَ بِها وَيَبكي البَطرَكُ
Each day the churches clamor—
Appealing to the King as the patriarch weeps.
راموا التَبَرُّكَ بِالمَسيحِ وَرُبَّما
نَصَبوا مَسيحاً مِن دَمٍ فَتَبَرَّكوا
They sought blessing through Christ and sometimes
Set up a Christ of blood and so were blessed!
زالوا عَنِ الدُنيا فَما لِشُعوبِها
حَقٌّ يُباحُ وَلا حَريمٌ يُهتَكُ
They strayed from the world so the rights of its people
Are permitted and no sanctity is breached.
إِنَّ المَمالِكَ لا يُرامُ بَقاؤُها
إِن ضَلَّ مَذهَبُها وَزاغَ المَسلَكُ
Kingdoms, their survival cannot be intended
If their course is misguided and the path twisted.
