أينامُ جدٌّ في العراءِ وسبطُهُ
من بعْدهِ في خيرهِ يتقلَّبُ!
Wherever earnestness abides in the wilderness,
and its offspring after it enjoys its benevolence!
جهلٌ به إنْ خالَ يومًا جدَّه
يبَسًا بلا حسٍّ وقلبٍ يضرِبُ
Ignorant is he who finds strange his grandfather's zeal,
arid without feeling, his heart pounds.
بلْ إنّه الحيُّ الّذي لو عادهُ
لرأى الحياةَ جليّةً تتوثَّبُ
But verily he is the living one who if he were to return
would see life clearly leaping.
وعساهُ إنْ نظرَ المرايا أنْ يرىْ
ما ليسَ يَخفىْ: نيْطَلٌ يتثاءبُ
Mayhap if he looked in the mirror he would see
what cannot be hidden: a vigilant lion yawning.
أيقالُ للدّنيا حياةٌ والحقيْ
قةُ جلّها عنّا بها تتحَجَّبُ؟!
Can it be said there is life to this world while the reality
is mostly veiled from us?!
أيقالُ للأخرىْ فناءٌ والحقيْ
قةُ ذاتها خلْفَ الحجابِ تأهَّبُ
Can it be said the next is demise while the reality itself
is clothed behind the veil?!
يا أيّها الميْتُ الّذي لا يكتفِي
من موتِهِ حتّام منهُ تشْربُ؟
O you who is dead and will not be sated
of his death - so he compulsively drinks from it.
حتّام من حقٍّ عليكَ تهرَّبُ؟
والحقٌّ صاحٍ ليسَ منهُ مَهْربُ
Compulsively fleeing from the right due upon you?
While the right is shouting - for it there is no escape.
حتّام عمّن لا تخونُ تَغرَّبُ
ومنَ الّتي دمُها الخِداعُ تَقرَّبُ؟!
Compulsively alienating from the one you do not betray?
And drawing near through deception to the one whose blood [you shed]?
أإلى الّتي تُذكيْ الحروبَ تحبَّبُ؟
وعنِ الّتي تُفشيْ سلامًا ترْغبُ؟!
Do you befriend the one who kindles wars?
And dislike the one who spreads peace?!
أولمْ تحسَّ بنبْضِ صدرِك ينضِبُ؟
وهواؤهُ نحوَ الفضا يَتَسرَّبُ؟
Do you not feel your chest pulse ebb?
Its air permeating into space?
أولمْ يمِلْ بك تُرْبُ جذعِكَ للثّرىْ؟
حتّى غدوتَ على ثلاثٍ تركَبُ
Or did the soil of your trunk not weary you to the ground?
That you came to ride upon three [modes of being]?
ما ميله إلّا تلهّفَ عائدٍ
للأصْلِ حنّ وكلّ أصلٍ غالبُ
Whose inclination is but a longing returning
to the origin - yearning - and every origin dominant.
أولَسْتَ تَفترِشُ الثّرى دون الوِثا
رةِ كلّما أحسَسْتَ أنّك مُتعبُ؟
Do you not lay upon the ground beneath the memorial
whenever you feel tired?
وكأنّ نفْسَك إذْ تَمدَّدُ فوقهُ
تُلقيْ بحِمْلٍ للسّكينةِ يَسْلُبُ
As if your soul when it stretches upon it
casts off a burden stealing tranquility.
تبغِي السّكينةَ! منْ سِوى أُخْراكَ يا
عبّادَ همِّكَ للسّكينةِ يجلُبُ!
You seek tranquility! Who other than you
toils for tranquility supplying it!
ما عادَ يسْتهويكَ فيها مُحْدثٌ
والحُسنُ فيها للمواضِيْ يُنسَبُ
No modernity in it allures you now
Its beauty now attributed to its landmarks.
تبكيْ القديمَ أخًا بكىْ لأخٍ مضىْ
وتعيشُ معْهُ كأنّه لا يَغرُبُ
You cry for the olden days like a brother who cried over a brother passed
And you live with him as if he did not depart.
وتدورُ في فَلَكٍ قديمُك شمسُهُ
وتفاخرُ الدّنيا بأنّك كوْكبُ!
You revolve in an orbit whose sun is your olden days
And boast to the world you are a planet!
وبهِ المسيرُ ودونه تتذبذبُ
وهْو الرّشادُ وما عداهُ كاذبُ
By it is the journey and without it you waver
It is the guide and other than it, false.
ولكلِّ ما يُمْليهِ قولًا تكْتُبُ
فبهِ النّجاحُ ودونهُ تتخيّبُ
To every directive it inspires you inscribe a saying
By it is success and without it you are disappointed.
والحِبْرُ في اَيْديْ قديمِك مُعْرَبٌ
وفصيحُ منْ هُم دونهُ لا يُعْرَبُ
The ink in your ancestors hands is eloquent
fluent, while less so those without it.
ومن اسْتحَبَّ قديمَهُ أمسىْ لأُمْ
مِ قديمِه ابْنًا وهْوَ منها أقْربُ
Whoever loved his olden became thereby a son
to the mother of his olden, being most akin to her.
يا أيّها المتغرّبُ المخذولُ ما
بكَ كلّما أصْبَحْتُ أدنىْ تهرُبُ!
O you alienated, abandoned! What is with you
that whenever I draw closer you flee?
إنّي أنا الأُخرىْ الّتي تتهيَّبُ
وأنا هيَ الأبْقىْ الّتي تتجنَّبُ
It is I, the eternal, that you dread
and I, the everlasting, that you avoid!
أقبِلْ عليَّ فإنّني أترقَّبُ
فِعلًا علىْ الدّنيا بهِ تَتغلّبُ
Come to me, for I await
action in the world by which you overcome!
فأنا النّعيمُ لِمنْ أتاني غالبًا
دنياهُ مُعتقدًا بمنْ لا يُغلَبُ
For I am bliss to whoever came to me triumphant over his worldly affairs,
believing in the one who cannot be overcome.
وأنا الشّقاءُ لِمنْ أتاني مُجبرًا
ما انفكّ فيمَنْ تنقضيْ بيْ يَرْغبُ
And I am misery to whoever came to me coerced,
never ceasing to yearn for the one who passes away.
