عرفت مقام القوم إذ بت تجهد — Shair Al Hamra

عرفتَ مَقَامَ القومِ إذ بتَّ تَجهدُ

كما عرفُوكَ الحُرَّ حين تعهَّدوا

You recognized the people's standing as you kept striving,

as they recognized you as a noble man when they pledged.

فرنسا قضَت حقا وفَيتَ بعهدِه

فهل لوفاءٍ بينكم كان مَوعِدُ

France discharged a due whose covenant you had kept;

was there, then, a rendezvous of loyalty between you?

قَضَيتَهُ دَيناً مهَّدَت لِقَضَائِه

وقد عَرَفت والله كيفَ تُمَهِّدُ

You paid it as a debt for whose settlement she prepared the way,

and, by God, she knew how to prepare the way.

بِذا برهَنَت عما تُكِنُّ لِشعِبنا

منِ إخلاصِها في الحبِّ والله يشهَد

By this she demonstrated what she harbors for our people

of sincerity in love—and God bears witness.

أرَت كيفَ تُوفي المُخلصينَ حقُوقهم

وكيفَ تُجازِي من لها ليسَ يَجحَدُ

She showed how she pays the faithful their due,

and how she rewards those who are not ungrateful to her.

عرفنَا فرنسا ثُمَّ زاد يَقِينُنًَا

فهَأ يدُ إخلاصٍ تُصافحِها يَدُ

We knew France; then our certainty grew:

behold a hand of loyalty clasped by another hand.

فدُومي فَرنسَا للقُلوبِ حبِيبةً

وفي كلِّ يوم حبُّنا يَتجدَّدُ

Remain, France, beloved of hearts,

and with each day our love is renewed.

لقد عَرَفت إخلاصَ قلبِك نحوَها

كما عَرفَت في القوم أنك سيِّ

She has indeed recognized your heart's devotion to her,

just as she knew you were [a leader] among the people.

فمذ لاحَ في فجر الحِمايةَ بندُهَأ

وأشرقَ فينا نجمُه المتوقِّدُ

For ever since its banner appeared at the dawn of the Protectorate,

and its blazing star shone among us,

عَقدتَ عليه القلبَ قبل خَنَاصِرٍ

ودُمتَ له طولَ الزَّمان تُؤيِّدُ

you bound your heart to it before your little fingers,

and through all the years you continued to support it.

وإن لاح في جوِّ الصَّفاء تغيُّمٌ

وقد بَانَ من مَرضى القُلوب تردُّدُ

And if clouds appeared in the clear sky,

and hesitation showed among the sick at heart,

وثَبَت وُثُوب اللَّيثِ من غِيلِه وقد

تَعالَى بِيُمناك الحسامُ المهنَّد

you sprang like a lion from its thicket, while

the Indian-forged sword rose high in your right hand.

ولم تَثنِ عنهُم من عِنان عزيمَةٍ

إلَى أن يَعُودوا للرشادِ ويَهتَدُوا

Nor did you rein in your resolve against them

until they returned to sound judgment and found guidance.

ودُمت على حِفظِ العهُود مُثَابرا

ومَا له شاءت فِيه لا تَتَرَدَّدُ

You remained steadfast in keeping covenants,

and never hesitated in what she wished for it.

وكان مِحَك النَّقدِ ذاك لديهِمُ

وفوقَ مَحكِّ النقدِ يَنماز عَسجَدُ

That was their touchstone of judgment,

and on judgment's touchstone, pure gold stands out.

نعَم إنمَا الباشَا التهامي آيةٌ

مِن الله من آياتِه ليسَ تَنفَدُ

Yes, Pasha al-Tihami is none other than a sign

from God, among His signs that never run out.

حَباه إلهُ العرشِ نورَ بَصيرةٍ

فبَان له مابَانَ والغيرُ أرمَدُ

The God of the Throne bestowed on him the light of insight,

so things became clear to him while others were bleary-eyed.

أمَا عَجَبٌ للدِّين أعجزَ أُمةً

ومنهَا إلَى ضِعفيه فردٌ يُسدِّدُ

Is it not wondrous—a debt that defeated a nation,

yet one man from among it repays up to twice its sum?

وأعجَبُ منه أنَّ هاتيكَ نِسبةٌ

لَهُم مَعَهُ في الفضلِ والفضلُ أزيَدُ

More wondrous still is that this is the proportion

of their merit to his—yet his merit is greater still.

أمَا وشُعاعٌ من أساريرِ وجهِه

لَنُورُ الهُدَى إشراقُه يتوقَّدُ

Indeed, a ray from the bright features of his face

is the light of guidance, its radiance blazing.

لَيَطوِي ضُلوعا عن يقينٍ برَبِّه

يقينٌ متينٌ سَرمدىٌّ مُؤيُد

He surely enfolds within his ribs certainty in his Lord,

a certainty firm, everlasting, and fortified.

فَيُضحِي وفي فعلٍِ البُرور نَهارُه

ويًمسِي ونومُ الليلِ منه تهجُّدُ

So morning finds him, his day devoted to righteous deeds,

and evening finds him, his night's sleep a vigil of prayer.

ومن تكُ هذِي بعضُ حُسنَى صِفاتِه

عِنايةُ مولاَه لِخيرِه تُرشِدُ

Whoever has these among his finest qualities

is guided toward his good by his Lord's care.

فأعجَبُ شيٍ مَن يرومُ التحاقَه

وأعجبُ منهُ مَن له باتَ يَحسُدُ

How strange is one who seeks to match him,

and stranger still is one who has come to envy him!

وقل للذِي قد غرَّه فَرطُ حِلمِه

فأضحى على نَعمَائه يَتمَّرُد

Tell the man deceived by his excessive forbearance,

who has come to rebel against his favors:

هِيَ السُّحبُ إِن تكفُر بِنعمَائها فقد

ترَى صَعقةً منها لِنفسِك تُخمِدُ

They are clouds: if you are ungrateful for their blessings, you may

see a thunderbolt from them that extinguishes your life.

أمولاي يا فخرَ الأفارقَةِ الأُلَى

علَى غيرِهم سَادوا به وتمجَّدُوا

O my lord, pride of the Africans who

through him rose above others and won glory,

يَمينا بمَن أولاك منهُ عنَايةً

إليكَ مَدى الأيَّام تسعَى وتسعَدُ

I swear by Him who bestowed His care upon you,

hastening to you through all the days and bringing good fortune;

يَمينا بمَن أولاك فينا مكانَةً

تسَامت فلا مِنها سِمَاكٌ وفََرقَدُ

I swear by Him who gave you a station among us

so lofty that neither Simak nor Farqad can attain it:

ملأتَ قلوبَ الناسِ حُبّاً وغِبطَة

كأنك صَوبُ الغيثِ للمحلِ يَطرُدُ

you filled people's hearts with love and gladness,

as though you were pouring rain that drives drought away.

إذا غبتَ تشتاقُ الورَى منك طَلعةً

كأنَّ الورَى عينٌ وأنكَ إثمِدُ

When you are absent, all people long for a glimpse of you,

as though mankind were an eye and you its antimony kohl.

وأنت حياةُ النفسِ إن كنتَ حاضِرا

تُرَى كغُصونٍ نَشوَة تَتَأوَّدُ

And you are the soul's life when you are present;

it seems like branches swaying in rapture.

لأنك فردٌ في المكَارم والعُلَى

وكلُّ المَزايا والبريةُ تشهَدُ

For you are peerless in noble deeds and high renown,

and in every excellence; all creation bears witness.

بَلِ انَّك عن هذِي الشهادةِ في غِنىً

فقد شَهِدَ التاريخُ أنك مُفرَدُ

Indeed, you have no need of this testimony,

for history has already testified that you are unique.

وهذا نبيل القوم نوكيس ذو النهى

عميد فرنسا عارف ومؤيد

And here is the people's nobleman, Noguès, endowed with wisdom,

France's chief, discerning and supportive.

مُقيمٌ مقيمٌ من سَيُجدي قيامُه

وغلا فإنَّهُ مُقيمٌ ومُقعِدُ

A Resident, an upholder whose rising will bring benefit;

and high is his worth, for he raises up and brings down.

بمثلكُما الشعبُ الفرنسِي مُرِّدٌ

إذا ماتَ منَّا سيدٌ قام سيدُ

Through men like you two, the French people [repeats]:

"When a lord among us dies, another lord arises."