قِف ناجِ أَهرامَ الجَلالِ وَنادِ
هَل مِن بُناتِكَ مَجلِسٌ أَو نادِ
Stand in awe at the pyramids' grandeur and call out,
Is there among your daughters an assembly or a tryst?
نَشكو وَنَفزَعُ فيهِ بَينَ عُيونِهِم
إِنَّ الأُبُوَّةَ مَفزِعُ الأَولادِ
We complain and take refuge between their eyes,
For fatherhood is the refuge of children.
وَنَبُثُّهُم عَبَثَ الهَوى بِتُراثِهِم
مِن كُلِّ مُلقٍ لِلهَوى بِقِيادِ
We scatter them according to passion's whims with their inheritance,
From every harbinger of passion with a guide.
وَنُبينُ كَيفَ تَفَرَّقَ الإِخوانُ في
وَقتِ البَلاءِ تَفَرُّقَ الأَضدادِ
And we show how the brethren scattered during
The time of affliction, the scattering of opposites.
إِنَّ المَغالِطَ في الحَقيقَةِ نَفسَهُ
باغٍ عَلى النَفسِ الضَعيفَةِ عادِ
Verily the sophist in reality himself
Is an aggressor upon the weak soul.
قُل لِلأَعاجيبِ الثَلاثِ مَقالَةً
مِن هاتِفٍ بِمَكانِهِنَّ وَشادِ
Say to the three wonders a saying
From a caller in their place, urging on
لِلَّهِ أَنتِ فَما رَأَيتُ عَلى الصَفا
هَذا الجَلالَ وَلا عَلى الأَوتادِ
To God you are, so I have not seen upon Al-Safa
This majesty, nor upon the pegs.
لَكِ كَالمَعابِدِ رَوعَةٌ قُدسِيَّةٌ
وَعَلَيكِ روحانِيَّةُ العُبّادِ
You have, like places of worship, a holy awe
And upon you is the spirituality of worshippers.
أُسِّستِ مِن أَحلامِهِم بِقَواعِدٍ
وَرُفِعتِ مِن أَخلاقِهِم بِعِمادِ
You were established with their dreams as foundations
And erected from their morals as columns.
تِلكَ الرِمالُ بِجانِبَيكِ بَقِيَّةٌ
مِن نِعمَةٍ وَسَماحَةٍ وَرَمادِ
Those sands beside you are a remainder
Of blessing, generosity, and ashes.
إِن نَحنُ أَكرَمنا النَزيلَ حِيالَها
فَالضَيفُ عِندَكِ مَوضِعُ الإِرفادِ
If we have honored the guest facing them
Then the guest with you is where munificence lies.
هَذا الأَمينُ بِحائِطَيكِ مُطَوِّفاً
مُتَقَدِّمَ الحُجّاجِ وَالوُفّادِ
That trustee circling your walls,
Advancing the pilgrims and the seekers.
إِن يَعدُهُ مِنكِ الخُلودُ فَشَعرُهُ
باقٍ وَلَيسَ بَيانُهُ لِنَفادِ
If eternity promises him from you, his poetry
Remains, and its rhetoric is not for exhausting.
إيهِ أَمينُ لَمَستَ كُلَّ مُحَجَّبٍ
في الحُسنِ مِن أَثَرِ العُقولِ وَبادي
O trustee! You have touched all that is veiled
In beauty, of the intellect's effects and beginnings.
قُم قَبِّلِ الأَحجارَ وَالأَيدي الَّتي
أَخَذَت لَها عَهداً مِنَ الآبادِ
Rise! Kiss the stones and the hands which
Took a covenant from them of eternity.
وَخُذِ النُبوغَ عَنِ الكِنانَةِ إِنَّها
مَهدُ الشُموسِ وَمَسقَطُ الآرادِ
And take genius from the treasures, it is
The cradle of suns and the horizon of intentions.
أُمُّ القِرى إِن لَم تَكُن أُمَّ القُرى
وَمَثابَةُ الأَعيانِ وَالأَفرادِ
Mother of cities! If you are not the mother of cities
And the refuge of notables and individuals,
مازالَ يَغشى الشَرقَ مِن لَمَحاتِها
في كُلِّ مُظلِمَةٍ شُعاعٌ هادي
The east is still covered in glimmers from it
In every darkness, a guiding ray.
رَفَعوا لَكَ الرَيحانَ كَاِسمِكَ طَيِّباً
إِنَّ العَمارَ تَحِيَّةُ الأَمجادِ
They raised basil to you, good smelling as your name,
Construction is truly the greeting of glories.
وَتَخَيَّروا لِلمِهرَجانِ مَكانَهُ
وَجَعَلتُ مَوضِعَ الاِحتِفاءِ فُؤادي
And they chose for the festival its place
And I made the place of celebration my heart.
سَلَفَ الزَمانُ عَلى المَوَدَّةِ بَينَنا
سَنَواتُ صَحوٍ بَل سَناتُ رُقادِ
Eras have passed over the affection between us,
Years of sobriety, nay years of slumber.
وَإِذا جَمَعتَ الطَيِّباتِ رَدَدتَها
لِعَتيقِ خَمرٍ أَو قَديمِ وِدادِ
And if you gather goodness, you return it
To aged wine or old affection.
يا نَجمَ سورِيّا وَلَستَ بِأَوَّلٍ
ماذا نَمَت مِن نَيِّرٍ وَقّادِ
O star of Syria! And you are not the first,
What grew from brilliance and leaders?
أُطلُع عَلى يَمَنٍ بِيُمنِكَ في غَدٍ
وَتَجَلَّ بَعدَ غَدٍ عَلى بَغدادِ
I look to Yemen with your good fortune tomorrow
And your image appears after tomorrow in Baghdad.
وَأَجِل خَيالَكَ في طُلولِ مَمالِكٍ
مِمّا تَجوبُ وَفي رُسومِ بِلادِ
And I imagine your specter in the heights of kingdoms,
From what you travel and in the features of countries.
وَسَلِ القُبورَ وَلا أَقولُ سَلِ القُرى
هَل مِن رَبيعَةَ حاضِرٌ أَو بادي
And ask the graves, no I say ask the towns,
Is there someone from Rabī‘ah present or traveling?
سَتَرى الدِيارَ مِنِ اِختِلافِ أُمورِها
نَطَقَ البَعيرُ بِها وَعَيَّ الحادي
You will see the abodes in the diversity of their affairs,
The camel has spoken of them and the guide comprehended.
قَضَّيتَ أَيّامَ الشَبابِ بِعالَمٍ
لَبِسَ السِنينَ قَشيبَةَ الأَبرادِ
You spent the days of youth in a world
That old age wore the gray hair of the cold.
وَلَدَ البَدائِعَ وَالرَوائِعَ كُلَّها
وَعَدَتهُ أَن يَلِدَ البَيانَ عُوادي
It gave birth to all wonders and marvels
And promised it would give birth to eloquence repeatedly.
لَم يَختَرِع شَيطانَ حَسّانٍ وَلَم
تُخرِج مَصانِعُهُ لِسانَ زِيادِ
No devil of Ḥassān was invented, nor
Did its factories produce the tongue of Ziyād.
اللَهُ كَرَّمَ بِالبَيانِ عِصابَةً
في العالَمينَ عَزيزَةَ الميلادِ
God honored a group with eloquence
Precious in birth in the two worlds.
هوميرُ أَحدَثُ مِن قُرونٍ بَعدَهُ
شِعراً وَإِن لَم تَخلُ مِن آحادِ
Homer, generations after him,
Created poetry, though it was not without peers.
وَالشِعرُ في حَيثُ النُفوسِ تَلَذُّهُ
لا في الجَديدِ وَلا القَديمِ العادي
And poetry, where souls find it sweet,
Not in the new or the habitual old.
حَقُّ العَشيرَةِ في نُبوغِكَ أَوَّلٌ
فَاِنظُر لَعَلَّكَ بِالعَشيرَةِ بادي
The right of your family in your genius is first,
So see, perhaps you are dissipating the family.
لَم يَكفِهِم شَطرُ النُبوغِ فَزُدهُمُ
إِن كُنتَ بِالشَطرَينِ غَيرَ جَوادِ
Half of genius was not enough for them, so give them more
If you are not, with both halves, ungenerous.
أَو دَع لِسانَكَ وَاللُغاتِ فَرُبَّما
غَنّى الأَصيلُ بِمَنطِقِ الأَجدادِ
Or leave your tongue and languages, for perhaps
The noble sang with the logic of ancestors.
إِنَّ الَّذي مَلَأَ اللُغاتِ مَحاسِناً
جَعَلَ الجَمالَ وَسَرَّهُ في الضادِ
Verily the one who filled languages with beauties
Made beauty and its secret in the letter ‘d’.
