لوْ تخيّرتَ الموتَ دون الحياةِ
لاستعاذوا بالجهلِ وعنك صدُّوا
If you chose death over life,
they would seek refuge in ignorance and turn away from you.
إنّهم لا زالوا يرَوْن الحياةَ
مغنماً وللساعةِ ما أعدُّوا
They still see life
as a prize, and have made no provision for the Hour.
ليتهم قدِ اسْتسْلفوا منكَ عيناً
لاستبانوا مشيئةً لا تُردُّ
If only they had borrowed an eye from you,
they would discern a will that cannot be turned back.
لو تخيّرتَ ماضياً لاستداروا
قائلينَ من ماتَ لا يُسْتردُّ
If you chose the past, they would turn around,
saying, “Whoever dies cannot be brought back.”
رُبّ ماضٍ أمجادهُ كالنجوم
النائياتِ لا تُدركُ أو تُعدُّ
Many a past has glories like the stars,
distant, beyond reach or count.
لو بهم شيءٌ من يقينٍ ملكْتَ
لاستباحوا حصونَ وهمٍ وهدُّوا
If they had any of the certainty you possess,
they would storm the fortresses of illusion and tear them down.
إنّ وهماً تملّك زائلٌ لو
ساكَنتْهُم ارادةٌ لا تُصدُّ
An illusion that has taken hold would vanish if
a resolve that cannot be thwarted dwelt within them.
لو تخيّرْتَ الليلَ دون النهارِ
لادّعوا أنّك الخصيمُ الالدُّ
If you chose night over day,
they would claim you were the most stubborn adversary.
علّهم ما زالوا يهابون ليلاً
ينجلِي فيهِ الطارئُ المُسْتجِدُّ
Perhaps they still fear a night
in which something new and unexpected comes to light.
أم تراهُم قد أغفلوا بدرَ تمٍّ
من ضياهُ نور النّهى يُستمدُّ
Or have they overlooked a full moon
from whose radiance the light of understanding is drawn?
أمْ لأنّ نجماتهِ قد أنارت
كلّ دربٍ لله يُفضي ففدُّوا
Or is it because its stars have lit
every path leading to God that they gave themselves in sacrifice?
أو ليس يكفيهِ أنّ الحبيبَ
للحبيبِ فيهِ شفاهٌ وخدُّ
Is it not enough for night that the beloved
has lips and a cheek there for the one who loves?
أو ليس يكفيهِ أنّ اللّهيفَ
للّهيفِ فيهِ سلامٌ وبردُ
Is it not enough for night that the yearning one
finds peace and coolness there for another who yearns?
قد تعودُ أحبابَها الذكرياتُ
فيهِ ليت أبوابَهم لا تُسدُّ
Memories may return to those they love
in it; if only their doors were never shut.
لوْ تخيّرتَ الصمْت حِلْما لقالوا
صمتُه حدُّ خنجرٍ بلْ أحدُّ
If you chose silence out of forbearance, they would say,
“His silence is a dagger’s edge, sharper still.”
عُدّ كمْ بالسكوت قد سادَ قومٌ
عدّ كم بالكلام قد خابَ قصْدُ
Count how many peoples have prevailed through silence;
count how many aims have failed through speech.
لو تخيّرتَ السّلمَ دون القتالِ
لاستفاضوا في ذمّك ما أجَدّوا
If you chose peace over fighting,
they would dwell on condemning you, however hard they tried.
ويح أيدٍ تُشلُّ يوم النزالِ
إن يمدُّ السّلمُ اليدَ لا تُمَدُّ
Alas for hands paralyzed on the day of battle:
when peace extends its hand, theirs is not extended.
لوْ تأتّى لأيِّهم قلبُ أمٍّ
لاستقالوا من حرْبِهم ما اسْتبدُّوا
If any of them could have a mother’s heart,
they would resign from their war and cease their tyranny.
:
ليت كلّ من يصنعُ الحربَ يُصْغي:
قد تغنّى بالسّلم زهرٌ ووردُ
If only everyone who makes war would listen:
flowers and roses have sung of peace.
والسّلام صنيعةُ شيخُ حربٍ
ابْتلَى حرَّها غلاماً يُشدُّ
And peace is the work of an old warrior
who suffered war’s heat as a young man drawn into it.
لو تخيّرت الشامَ دون البلادِ
لاسْتخاروا آذانَهم ثمّ سَدُّوا
If you chose al-Sham above all lands,
they would seek their ears’ counsel, then stop them up.
لو تكلّمَ الصّخرُ لاستيْقنوا أنّ
الرحالَ للقدسِ حُكماً تُشدُّ
If the rocks spoke, they would be certain that
journeys must indeed be made to Jerusalem.
لا تظننّ أنني قُمتُ حتى
!
لو رأيْتَ يوماً قميصي يُقدُّ!
Do not think that I have risen, even
if one day you see my shirt torn!
Sol 6