عَلى أَيِّ الجِنانِ بِنا تَمُرُّ
وَفي أَيِّ الحَدائِقِ تَستَقِرُّ
On which gardens are we passing,
And in which gardens are we settling?
رُوَيداً أَيُّها الفُلكُ الأَبَرُّ
بَلَغتَ بِنا الرُبوعَ فَأَنتَ حُرُّ
Go slowly, O greatest ship!
You have taken us to spacious lands, so you are free.
سَهِرتَ وَلَم تَنَم لِلرَكبِ عَينُ
كَأَن لَم يُضوِهِم ضَجَرٌ وَأَينُ
You stayed up while the people slept
As if their boredom and where to did not bother you.
يَحُثُّ خُطاكَ لُجٌّ بَل لُجَينُ
بَلِ الإِبريزُ بَل أُفقٌ أَغَرُّ
The sea waves urge your pace, or even two seas,
No, it is the Ibreez, no, it is a wider horizon.
عَلى شِبهِ السُهولِ مِنَ المِياهِ
تُحيطُ بِكَ الجَزائِرُ كَالشِياهِ
On something like plains amidst the waters
The islands surround you like gray-haired elders,
وَأَنتَ لَهُنَّ راعٍ ذو اِنتِباهِ
تَكُرُّ مَعَ الظَلامِ وَلا تَفِرُّ
And you are for them an alert, attentive shepherd
Who returns with the darkness and does not flee.
يُنيفُ البَدرُ فَوقَكَ بِالهَباءِ
رَفيعاً في السُمُوِّ بِلا اِنتِهاءِ
The moon floats above you in the haze,
Lofty in highness without end,
تَخالُكُما العُيونُ إِلى اِلتِقاءِ
وَدونَ المُلتَقى كَونٌ وَدَهرُ
Your eyes meet as if destined to unite,
While below the meeting lies the universe and time.
إِلى أَن قيلَ هَذا الدَردَنيلُ
فَسِرتَ إِلَيهِ وَالفَجرُ الدَليلُ
Until it was said this is the Dardanelles,
So you sailed to it while dawn was the guide
يُجيزُكَ وَالأَمانُ بِهِ سَبيلُ
إِذا هُوَ لَم يُجِز فَالماءُ خَمرُ
That allowed you safe passage through it.
For if it did not allow, the water was wine.
تَمُرُّ مِنَ المَعاقِلِ وَالجِبالِ
بِعالٍ فَوقَ عالٍ خَلفَ عالي
You pass the fortresses and mountains
With one height above another, behind a high peak,
إِذا أَومَأنَ وَقَّفَتِ اللَيالي
وَتَحمي الحادِثاتُ فَلا تَمُرُّ
Whenever it gestured, the nights would stop
And events would protect you, so you pass unaffected.
مَدافِعُ بَعضَها مُتَقابِلاتُ
وَمِنها الصاعِداتُ النازِلاتُ
Some facing each other, artillery batteries,
Some ascending, some descending,
وَمِنها الظاهِراتُ وَأُخرَياتُ
تَوارى في الصُخورِ وَتَستَسِرُّ
Some visible, others concealed
Hidden in rocks or covered.
فَلَو أَنَّ البِحارَ جَرَت مِئينا
وَكانَ اللُجُّ أَجمَعُهُ سَفينا
If only the seas had flowed two hundred folds,
And if all the waves were ships,
لِتَلقى مَنفَذاً لَلَقينَ حَينا
وَلَمّا يَمسَسِ البوغازَ ضُرُّ
In order to meet a way out, we would have met for a while,
Before reaching the strait, harm touches.
وَبَعدَ الأَرخَبيلُ وَما يَليهِ
وَتيهٍ في العَيالِمِ تيهِ
After the archipelago and what follows it
And getting lost in the worlds, lost,
بَدا ضَوءُ الصَباحِ فَسِرتَ فيهِ
إِلى البُسفورِ وَاِقتَرَبَ المَقَرُّ
The light of dawn appeared, so you sailed in it
To the Bosphorus, and the berth drew near.
تُسايِرُكَ المَدائِنُ وَالأَناسي
وَفُلكٌ بَينَ جَوّالٍ وَراسي
The cities accompany you, and the people,
A ship between sailing and anchoring,
وَتَحضُنُكَ الجَزائِرُ وَالرَواسي
وَتَجري رِقَّةً لَكَ وَهيَ صَخرُ
And the islands and headlands embrace you,
And the rocks flow gently for you, yet they are rock.
تَسيرُ مِنَ الفَضاءِ إِلى المَضيقِ
فَآناً أَنتَ في بَحرٍ طَليقِ
You sail from the horizon to the strait,
Now you are on the open sea,
وَآوِنَةً لَدى مَجرىً سَحيقٍ
كَما الشَلّالُ قامَ لَدَيهِ نَهرُ
And another time by a mighty valley,
As if a waterfall stood by it, a river.
وَتَأَتي الأُفقَ تَطويهِ سِجِلّاً
لِآخَرَ كَالسَرابِ إِذا أَضَلّا
And you come to the horizon, folding it like a register,
To another like a mirage when it strays.
إِذا قُلنا المَنازِلُ قيلَ كَلّا
فَدونَ بُلوغِها ظُهرٌ وَعَصرُ
If we say the ports of call, it is said no,
For before reaching them, there is a plain and an evening.
إِلى أَن حَلَّ في الأَوجِ النَهارُ
وَلِلرائي تَبَيَّنَتِ الدِيارُ
Until the daylight settled at its prime,
And to the beholder, the lands became clear.
فَقُلنا الشَمسُ فيها أَم نُضارُ
وَياقوتٌ وَمُرجانٌ وَدُرُّ
So we said, “Is that the sun in it or blossoms?”
It is ruby, coral, and pearls.
وَدِدنا لَو مَشَيتَ بِنا الهُوَينا
وَأَينَ الخُلودُ لَدَيكَ أَينا
And we wished you would take us floating,
And where is eternity through you, where?
لِنَبهَجَ خاطِراً وَنَقَرَّ عَيناً
بِأَحسَنِ ما رَأى في البَحرِ سَفرُ
So our spirit would delight and our eye be content
With the best it saw in the voyage of the sea,
بِلَوحٍ جامِعِ الصُّوَرِ الغَوالي
وَديوانٍ تَفَرَّدَ بِالخَيالِ
With a tablet combining beautiful images,
And a book singular in imagination,
وَمِرآةِ المَناظِرِ وَالمَجالي
تَمُرُّ بِها الطَبيعَةُ ما تَمُرُّ
And a mirror of scenes and spaces,
Through which nature passes as it passes.
فَضاءٌ مُثِّلَ الفِردَوسُ فيهِ
وَمَرأَىً في البِحارِ بِلا شَبيهِ
A space exemplified as paradise in it,
And a sight in the seas without equal.
فَإيهٍ يا بَناتِ الشِعرِ إيهِ
فَمالَكِ في عُقوقِ الشِعرِ عُذرُ
So alas, O daughters of poetry, alas!
What is your excuse for neglecting poetry?
لِأَجلِكِ سِرتُ في بَرٍّ وَبَحرِ
وَأَنتِ الدَهرَ أَنتِ بِكُلِّ قُطرِ
For your sake I traveled by land and sea,
And you, for ages, you in every place
حَنَنتِ إِلى الطَبيعَةِ دونَ مِصرِ
وَقُلتِ لَدى الطَبيعَةِ أَينَ مِصرُ
Were affectionate to nature except Egypt.
And you said in the presence of nature, where is Egypt?
فَهَلّا هَزَّكِ التِبرُ المُذابُ
وَهَذا اللَوحُ وَالقَلَمُ العُجابُ
Why didn't the melting lead shake you,
And this tablet and the wondrous pen,
وَما بَيني وَبَينَهُما حِجابُ
وَلا دوني عَلى الآياتِ سِترُ
With no barrier between them and me,
Nor over the signs is there any veil on me.
جِهاتٌ أَم عَذارى حالِياتُ
وَماءٌ أَم سَماءٌ أَم نَباتُ
Directions or virgins, seas or sky or plants?
And are those islands or lamps?
وَتِلكَ جَزائِرٌ أَم نَيِّراتُ
وَكَيفَ طُلوعُها وَالوَقتُ ظُهرُ
And how is their rising while the time is noon?
The horizon framed them yellow, yet they are green,
جَلاها الأُفقُ صُفراً وَهيَ خُضرُ
كَزَهرٍ دونَهُ في الرَوضِ زَهرُ
Like flowers below them in the meadow, flowers.
The sea leaned towards them and coiled.
لَوى نَحرٌ بِها وَاِلتَفَّ بَحرُ
كَما مَلَكَت جِهاتِ الدَوحِ غُدرُ
As if the sides of the basin betrayed them suddenly.
Through them mosques loom with minarets,
تَلوحُ بِها المَساجِدُ باذِخاتِ
وَتَتَّصِلُ المَعاقِلُ شامِخاتُ
And forts connect, towering,
Tiered above unevenly,
طِباقاً في العُلى مُتَفاوِتاتِ
سَما بَرٌّ بِها وَاِنحَطَّ بَرُّ
The land with them sank and the land rose.
And how much land beyond, above land,
وَكَم أَرضٍ هُنالِكَ فَوقَ أَرضِ
وَرَوضٍ فَوقَ رَوضٍ فَوقَ رَوضِ
And meadows above meadows, above meadows,
And houses some above others,
وَدورٍ بَعضُها مِن فَوقِ بَعضِ
كَسَطرٍ في الكِتابِ عَلاهُ سَطرِ
Like lines in a book, above them lines,
Lines no drawing can encompass
سُطورٌ لا يُحيطُ بِهِنَّ رَسمٌ
وَلا يُحصي مَعانيهِنَّ عِلمُ
And no knowledge can count their meanings,
Which if read together compose an ode,
إِذا قُرِئَت جَميعاً فَهيَ نَظمُ
وَإِن قُرِئَت فُرادى فَهيَ نَثرُ
And if read individually, compose prose.
They grow more fragrant as they draw near and purify,
تَأَرَّجُ كُلَّما اِقتَرَبَت وَتَزكو
وَيَجمَعُها مِنَ الآفاقِ سِلكُ
And a thread connects them from the horizons.
They resemble what - so the palace is a ship,
تُشاكِلُ ما بِهِ فَالقَصرُ فُلكُ
عَلى بُعدٍ لَنا وَالفُلكُ قَصرُ
At a distance from us, and the ship a palace.
And a letter N sails below them in the sea,
وَنونٌ دونَها في البَحرِ نونُ
مِنَ البُسفورِ نَقَّطَها السَفينُ
Dotted by the ship from the Bosphorus.
As if the paths in it are springs for us,
كَأَنَّ السُبلَ فيهِ لَنا عُيونٌ
وَإِنسانُ السَفينَةِ لا يَقِرُّ
And the sailor does not settle.
There safety surrounded us in its shelter,
هُنالِكَ حَفَّتِ النُعمى خُطانا
وَحاطَتنا السَلامَةُ في حِمانا
And wellbeing encircled us in its refuge.
So we cast the anchors and settled
فَأَلقَينا المَراسِيَ وَاِحتَوانا
بِناءٌ لِلخِلافَةِ مُشمَخِرُّ
In a building for the caliphate, most splendid.
O you who seek the most wondrous sight,
فَيا مَن يَطلُبِ المَرأى البَديعا
وَيَعشَقهُ شَهيداً أَو سَميعا
And loves it, conscious or listening!
You have seen all the beauties of the world,
رَأَيتَ مَحاسِنَ الدُنيا جَميعاً
فَهُنَّ الواوُ وَالبُسفورُ عَمرو
For they are the Waw and the Bosphorus is Amrou.
