أمَاتَ أُولَئِكَ الجُنْدُ الْكِرَامُ
وَلَمْ يَثْبُتْ لَهُمْ أثَرٌ مُقَامُ
Those brave soldiers perished,
And no trace of them remained.
سِوَى قَوْلِ الرُّوَاةِ حَيُوْا لِيَقْضُوا
مُنَى رَجُلٍ كَبِيرٍ ثُمَّ نَامُوا
Except the words of storytellers that they lived to fulfill
The purpose of a great man, then fell asleep.
تَفَانَوْا فِي بِنَاءٍ اسْمٍ عَظِيمٍ
وَمَا أسْمَاؤُهُمْ إلاَّ الرَّغَامُ
They were devoted to building a mighty name,
Though their own names were but murmurs.
يُسَخِّرُ رَبُّكَ الدُّنْيَا لِفَانٍ
وَفِي الدُّنْيَا وَفِيهِ لَهُ مَرَامُ
Your Lord makes the world subservient to the ephemeral,
And for the ephemeral and for Himself He has purpose.
فَيُلْقِي مِنْ مَحَبَّتِهِ عَلَيْهِ
وَتُوشِكُ أنْ تُوحِّدَهُ الأنَامُ
So He casts some of His love upon it,
And mankind nearly deifies it.
كَذَاكَ أحَبَّ نَابُلْيُونَ جُنْدٌ
هُمُ بِفَخَارِهِ نَهَضُوا وَقَامُوا
Thus did Napoleon's troops love him,
Rising for his glory, standing tall.
أبَالِسُ لاَ تُرَدُّ وَلاَ تُلاَقَى
مَلاَئِكَ لا تُصَدُّ وَلاَ تُضَامُ
Invincible armies, that would not be turned back or opposed,
Angelic hosts that would not be blocked or joined together.
أعِزَّةُ يَوْمِ أُسْتِرْلِتْسَ كَانُوا
قَلِيلاً وَالْعِدَى كُثْرٌ ضِخَامُ
The brave heroes of Waterloo were few,
While the enemy was vast in number.
تَلاَقَوْا مُقْبِلِينَ عَلَى اشْتِياقٍ
وَلَكِنْ لاَ وِدَادَ وَلاَ سَلاَمُ
They met head-on out of passion,
But without affection or peace.
وَكَانَتْ قُبْلَةُ الأشْواقِ فِيهِمْ
ضِرَاماً لاَ تَقَرُّ عَلَيْهِ هَامُ
Their passionate kiss was for them
A piercing blade that would not settle upon them.
وَطَالَ وَمَا شَفَى لهم غَلِيلاً
مِنَ الوَجْدِ التَّعَانُقُ وَاللِّزَامُ
Their embrace did not cure or soothe
Their fervent longing and urge to cling.
فَلَمْ يَكُ مُجْدِيَ الرُّوسِ التَّفَانِي
وَلاَ الْحُلَفَاءِ بَأْسٌ وَاقْتِحَامُ
The Russian tenacity was fruitless,
And the allies were not mighty in attack.
وَلاَ عَصَمَ الصَّقِيعُ وَكَانَ مِنْهُ
مَعَاقِلُ خَلْفَهَا لَهُمُ اعْتِصَامُ
The frost did not protect them, though behind it
Were fortresses in which they took shelter.
وَقُيِّضَ لِلفَرَنْسِيِّينَ نَصْرٌ
أتَاهُمُ فَوْقَ مَا ظَنُّوا وَرامُوا
Victory was ordained for the French
Beyond what they thought and desired.
فَطَابُوا فِي الغَبُوْقِ بِهِ نُفُوساً
ورَاقَ لَهُمْ مَعَ الظَّفَرِ المُدَامُ
They were delighted by it, their souls
Intoxicated, and victory made sweet for them.
وَحَدَّثَ قَوْمَهُ الصُّعْلُوكُ مِنْهُمُ
بِمَا كَانَتْ وَقَائِعُهُ الجِسَامُ
The rogue among them told his people
Of its momentous events.
وَكَانَ فَتىً لَهُ سِيمَا زَعِيمٍ
يُنْكِّرُهُ التَّفَرُّدُ وَالظَّلاَمُ
He was a young man, marked as a leader,
Though solitude and darkness obscured him.
عَرِيضُ الجَبْهَةِ الغَرَّاءِ يَبْدُو
بِهَا شَعْرٌ كَمَا رَقَّ الغَمَامُ
Broad of luminous brow, from which
Hair flowed like clouds' cascading showers.
حَدِيدُ النَّاظِرَيْنِ إذَا أُثِيرَا
فَمِصْباحَانِ مِلْؤُهُمَا ضِرَامُ
His eyes, when stirred, two steel lamps
Filled with piercing light.
تَرَاهُ العَيْنُ جَبَّاراً عَظِيماً
لِهَيْبَتِهِ وَإنْ قَصُرَ الْقَوَامُ
The eye sees him as a giant,
Awesome though of modest stature.
يَمُرُّ بِهِمْ وَقَدْ ثَمِلُوا افتِخَاراً
وَإعْيَاءً فَكُلُّهُمُ نِيَامُ
He passes them as they swell with pride
And exhaustion, so all of them doze.
إذَا تَعِبَ الجُنُودُ فَلَيْسَ بِدْعٌ
بِأَنْ لاَ يَتْعَبَ المَلِكُ الهُمَامُ
When soldiers grow tired, it is no wonder
The tireless king of ambition remains alert.
فَطَافَ بِهِمْ وَبِالجَرْحَى افْتِقَاداً
وَكَانَ مَبَرَّةً مِنْهُ اللِّمَامُ
He circled them and the wounded, checking on them,
Tenderly caring for the injured.
وَفَارَقَهُمْ إلَى حَيْثُ اسْتَقَرَّتْ
مِنَ القَتْلَى الْجَمَاجِمُ وَالْعِظَامُ
He left them to where the skulls and bones
Of the dead were piled up.
يُشَاهِدُ مَا جَنَاهُ قَرِيرَ عَيْنٍ
وَلاَ حَرَجٌ عَلَيْهِ وَلاَ مَلاَمُ
He surveyed what his hand had wrought, untroubled,
Beyond reproach or blame.
فَما اسْتَرْعَاهُ إلاَّ صَوْتُ عَانٍ
بِجَانِبِهِ يُصَارِعُهُ الْحِمَامُ
Only the voice of a sufferer broke his reverie,
As a dove fought at his side.
دَنَا لِيُغِيثَهُ فَأَمَالَ رَأْساً
لَهُ عَنَتِ الْقَيَاصِرَةُ العِظَامُ
He approached to give aid, and tilted
A head weighed down by the mighty crowns.
وَأَلْقَى رُكْبَتَيْهِ عَلَى صَعِيدٍ
يُمَازِجُ تُرْبَهُ الدَّمُ وَالحُطامُ
He knelt upon the dusty earth
Where blood and ruins mingled.
عَتِيٌّ مَا جَثَا للهِ إلاَّ
وَمَرْكَعُهُ عَلَى عَمَدٍ يُقَامُ
He who never knelt except to God,
And whose kneeling propped up pillars.
فَحَلَّ عَنِ الْفَتَى ثَوْباً خَضِيباً
كَأَّنَّ ثُقُوبَهُ فِيهِ كِلاَمُ
He removed a bloodied garment from the lad,
As though its holes spoke.
وَأَبْصَرَ فِي تَرَائِبِهِ صُدُوعاً
عَلَى دَخَلٍ يَعِزُّ لَهَا الْتِئَامُ
He saw in its tatters wounds
Upon a body too weak to heal.
فَلَمَا ثَابَ لِلعَانِي شُعُورٌ
نَفَاهُ الضَّعْفُ عَنْهُ وَالسَّقَامُ
When consciousness returned to the anguished one,
Weakness and illness receded.
وَأدْرَكَ مَنْ بِجَانِبِهِ تَرَاءَى
بِطَرْفَيْهِ الكَلِيلَيْنِ اضْطِرَامُ
He saw with his two weary eyes
The one who stood beside him.
أَرَادَ إبَانَةً عَمَّا تَنَادَتْ
جَوَارِحُهُ بِهِ فَعَصَى الْكَلاَمُ
He wanted to confess what his features
Conveyed, but speech failed him.
فَغَضَّ الطَّرْفَ ثُمَّ رَنَا فَأَلْقَى
مُفَاضَتَهُ يُضِيءُ بِهَا وِسَامُ
Then he looked away and softened, shedding
Tears that illuminated his medallions.
فَجَمَّعَ مَا تَبَقَّى مِنْ قِوَاهُ
وَأَسْعَدَهُ عَلَى النُّطْقُ الذِّمَامُ
He gathered all that remained of his strength,
Eloquence empowering his speech.
فَصَاحَ فِدَاكَ يَا مَلِكِي حَيَاتِي
وَمَاتَ وَفِي مُحَيَّاهُ ابْتِسَامُ
He cried, "You are the life of my life, my king!"
And he died with a smile upon his lips.
