صورة فذة (لأحمد شوقي)

تتجلى مظاهر الشعر فيها

A Brilliant Image (by Ahmed Shawqi)

A singular portrait of Ahmed Shawqi,

The facets of poetry are revealed in it

In which the manifestations of poetry are revealed.

فتأمل تجد دماغا كبيرا

زاخرا بالمنى ووجها وجيها

So observe, you will find a great mind

Contemplate it, and you shall find a mighty mind,

Abundant with purpose and an eminent face

Teeming with aspirations, and a dignified countenance.

وتأمل تجد شعورا عميقا

وحجى راجحا وفكرا نبيها

And observe, you will find profound feelings

And contemplate, and you shall find profound sentiment,

And sound rhetoric and ingenious thought

A preponderant intellect, and an astute thought.

ما له واضعا على الكف راسا

يا ترى أي نوبة يشتكيها

Why has he placed his head on his palm?

What ails him, resting his head upon his palm?

I wonder which torment afflicts him

I wonder, of what calamity does he complain?

ما له ناظرا بطرف كليل

يا ترى أي لوحة يجتليها

Why does he look with a sleepy eye?

What ails him, gazing with a weary eye?

I wonder which scene it surveys

I wonder, what vision is he scrutinizing?

عله في الحياة ضل طريقا

وبصحرائها تحير تيها

Perhaps in life he lost his way

Perhaps he has lost his way in life,

And wandered confused in its desert

And in its wilderness, he wanders bewildered.

هكذا تفعل القوافي، فويح

للقوافي وللذي يقتفيها

Thus does rhyme act, alas

This is what rhymes do—so woe

For rhyme and those who pursue it

To the rhymes, and to him who pursues them.