بديت أنظم قصيدة من ضميري — Shibli Al Atrash

بَديت أَنظم قَصيدة مِن ضَميري

عَلى صَرف الزَمان الحاق بيا

I began composing a poem from my innermost heart,

About the turns of time that have befallen me.

وَهاج القَلب مِن جُور اللَيالي

كان بضامري جَمر الغَضيا

My heart flared up at the cruelty of the nights;

Within me were embers of ghada wood.

يا عَيني عاد هللي دَم صافي

حمر مِن فُوق وَجناتي قنيا

O my eyes, pour forth pure blood again,

Crimson red down over my cheeks.

يا قَلبي لا تَلوم العَين تَبكي

تَبرد مُهجتي الدَمع السَخيا

O my heart, do not blame the eyes for weeping;

Abundant tears cool my soul.

يَرد القَلب أَنا مالوم دَعها

أَنا وَالعين في البَلوى سَويا

The heart replies, “I do not blame them; let them be.

The eyes and I share this affliction.”

حَواسي الخَمس جضوا مِن البَلاوي

كَأَني شارب الصَهبا عَشيا

My five senses recoiled from these calamities,

As though I had drunk wine at evening.

وَعقلي طاش مِن جُور اللَيالي

جَميع عظام جسمي منشظيا

My mind reeled from the cruelty of the nights;

All the bones of my body are splintered.

يخامرني دَليلي كُل ساعة

يَقلي كَيف تَرضى بِها الزَريا

My inner guide troubles me every hour,

Saying, “How can you accept this disgrace?”

يَقلي كَيفَ تَرضى بِها الإِهانة

فَما هِيَ عادتك هَذي السَجيا

Saying, “How can you accept this humiliation?

This disposition has never been your way.

عُقب ما كُنت سُلطان البَوادي

عُقب ما كُنت قَيدوم الرَعيا

After you were lord of the wilderness,

After you were leader of your people,

أَشوفك في بِلاد التُرك وَحدك

هَبيلي وَجاي عالديري لَفيا

I see you alone in the lands of the Turks,

A hapless fool, coming to town as a stranger.

تَوقف بِالسواق بدون خادم

هَبيلي وَجاي عالديري لَفيا

You stand in the markets without a servant,

A hapless fool, coming to town as a stranger.

أَنا شوري عَليك إِن طعت شوري

أَشرب يا مهذب سم حَيا

My counsel to you, if you heed my counsel:

Drink serpent venom, O well-bred man.

تَرى مَوت الفَتى أَبرَد غَبينه

وَأَخير كَثير مِن العَيشه الرَديا

A young man's death soothes his grievance,

And is far better than a wretched life.

أَنا إِن طاوعت شوري هيك رَأيي

كَفاها شحشطا بَين البَريا

If you follow my counsel, this is my opinion:

Enough of dragging your soul about among people.

سلمها عَساها ما تعاود

تَراها وَنَفس يُونس بِالسَويا

Surrender it; may it never return.

It is no different from the soul of Yunus.

إِذا عاش الفَتى الفين عاماً

لا بُد الدود ما يَأكل مَعيا

If a young man lives two thousand years,

Worms must inevitably eat his entrails.”

قُلت لَهُ كثير مَليح شورك

وَلكن طالبك تمهل عَليا

I told him, “Your counsel is very good,

But I ask you to give me time.

أَخاف إِن مُت أَن يَموت ثاري

وَمالي مَن يُطالب جيدنيا

I fear that if I die, my vengeance will die,

And I have no one to claim my due.

غَبيني أَن يَضل الدين باقي

على رِقاب الرِجال المستحيا

My grievance is that the debt should remain

Upon the necks of honorable men.

وَلَولا طمعتي سد الدَعاوي

لَكان المَوت ما يصعب عَليّ

Were it not for my hope of settling these claims,

Death would not be hard for me.

حَياتي في ديار الترك مَوت

وَمَوتي في دِيار العز غَيا

My life in the Turks' lands is death;

Death in the lands of honor is my desire.”

رَجائي في ال العَرش عاجل

وَيَجمَع شَملنا رَب البَريه

My hope rests in the Lord of the Throne for swift relief,

And that the Lord of creation reunite us.

عَلي يا بار لا تقطع رَجانا

بِجاه المُصطَفى الهادي صَفيا

O Most High, O Beneficent, do not cut off our hope,

By the standing of the Chosen One, the guide, the elect;

بِجاه الأَربعة ويا الثلاثة

وَباقي العدة الجمله الرضيا

By the standing of the Four and the Three,

And all the rest of the favored company;

بِجاه التابعين واللي تلوهم

دعاة الكَون مِن دور العليا

By the standing of the Followers and those who followed them,

The world's callers from the lofty abodes;

بِجاه الراشدين من الخلايق

رضوا الجبار بنفوس أَبيه

By the standing of the rightly guided among creation,

Who pleased the Almighty with proud souls:

تخلصنا من ديار الغرايب

وَتجمع شملنا جملة سويا

Deliver us from these strange lands,

And gather us all together again.

وَتجبر خاطر القَوم اليتامى

وَتسمح عن بلانا والخطية

Console the hearts of these orphaned people,

And pardon our failings and our sin.

عبيدك ما لهم ملجأ سواك

قَطايع في بلاد البربريا

Your servants have no refuge but You,

Strays in the lands of barbarians.

ارحم يا اله العرش قَوماً

غَدوا بعيالهم راحوا هفيا

Have mercy, O God of the Throne, on a people

Who, with their families, have gone into desolation.

وَمِن غَير القَدر ما ضل حيله

تساعدنا عَلى هذي البليا

Apart from divine decree, no means remain

To help us through this affliction.

رَجانا في صفي اللَه دايم

الراعي جيد ما ينسى رعيه

Our hope in God's chosen one is constant;

A good shepherd does not forget his flock.

وَلا بُد الحَزينة ما تزغرت

وَتفرح عقب ما هي مسنئيا

Surely the sorrowful woman will one day ululate,

And rejoice after her distress.

وَتلبس فَوق صدرا عقد جَوهر

تَراكي وَالخزاري مذهبيا

She will wear a jeweled necklace upon her breast,

Earrings and gilded khazari ornaments.

وَتلبس مسح ديباج مكمل

يَجي لَها مِن الخديوي هديا

She will wear a complete brocade robe,

Coming to her as a gift from the Khedive.

وَتبرز مثل شمس الظهر ترفل

لَها وَجَنات حمر مورديا

She will appear like the noonday sun, walking proudly,

With rosy-red cheeks.

نُهوداً مثل تفاح الجناين

وَصَدراً مثل ريضان القَنيا

Breasts like the apples of the gardens,

And a chest like the meadows of al-Qunya;

وَعنقا مثل عنق الريم وَاحلا

وَريقا مثل قفران الخليا

A neck like a gazelle's neck, and lovelier,

And saliva like honeycombs from the hive;

وَخشما مثل ضبان المصقل

بياض جَبينها زبده طَريا

A nose like a polished rod,

Her forehead white as fresh butter;

وَشعرا مثل لَون العَبد حالك

مجدع فَوقَها مثل الحَنيا

Hair as dark as an enslaved man's coloring,

Tossed over her in bowlike curves;

وَعينا مثل عين الريم جافل

حَواجبها أَساور ملتويا

An eye like that of a startled gazelle,

Her eyebrows like curved bracelets;

وَدورة وَجهها يَدر المكمل

قَمر نيسان زاهي في ضويا

Her rounded face a perfect full moon,

An April moon radiant in its light;

وَقاما مثل عود البان وَاحسن

إِذا هب الهَوا مالت سويا

A figure like a bough of the ban tree, and finer,

Swaying gracefully when the wind blows.

عَروسة شعر من دور الصحابه

وَكُل الناس فيها معتنيا

A bride of poetry since the age of the Companions,

And everyone takes an interest in her.

وَفيها تغزلوا الشعار جمله

بِأَيام الكُفر وَالجاهلية

All the poets sang of their love for her

In the days of unbelief and ignorance.

وَجتني مثل خشف الريم ترفل

بروايح مسك فاحت عنبريا

She came to me like a gazelle fawn, walking proudly,

With wafting scents of musk and ambergris.

وَقالت لي حَرام تَشوف زولي

وَحَرام عليك خدي وَالمحيا

She told me, “You are forbidden to see my figure;

My cheek and my face are forbidden to you.

وَحرام تشوف تُفاح الجناين

وَحرام تضمني بنومه هنيه

You are forbidden to see the gardens' apples,

And forbidden to embrace me in blissful sleep.

مازال الثار ما تيسر سدادو

شوف بلادكم حارم علي

So long as the blood debt remains unsettled,

The sight of your homeland is forbidden to me.”

فقلت لها الا يا زهر قري

أَنا رجلك أَنا ذيب الشليا

I told her, “O blossom, rest assured:

I am your man; I am the wolf of the crags.

وَإِن قدرنا اله العرش لازم

نُطالب بِالديون المهتفية

If the God of the Throne empowers us, we must

Demand the neglected debts.

وناخذ بدل راس الرجل عشرة

وناخذ بدل راس الشيخ ميه

We will take ten heads for one man's head,

And a hundred for a chief's head.

ونفعل مثل أَبو ليلى المهلهل

بعون اللَه خلاق البرية

We will act like Abu Layla al-Muhalhil,

With God's help, the Creator of all people.

أَنا حارم علي شوف زولك

مزال الدَهر منطينا قفيا

I forbid myself the sight of your figure

While time still turns its back upon us.

أَنا ماريد قبل استد شوفك

وَلو كُنتي مثل شمس المضيا

I do not want to see you before collecting my due,

Even were you like the radiant sun.”

تعالوا نشوف حاجي ما علينا

تراجع قصتي من الاَوليا

Come, let us look—enough of our burdens;

Let my story be retraced from its beginning.

ولدنا في بلاد العز جملة

وربينا عَلى الشهامة وَالحمية

We were all born in the lands of honor,

And raised in gallantry and protective zeal.

لنا بيات صانوا العرض فيها

بفعايل حاتمية وَعنترية

We had fathers who safeguarded honor there,

With deeds worthy of Hatim and Antara.

وَقبل جدودنا مَضوا إهانة

بحروب اللجا وَيوم القريا

Before us, our forefathers endured humiliation

In the wars of al-Laja and on the day of al-Qurayya.

وَنحنا بعدهم شفنا عجايب

هوال تشيب الطفل الصبيا

After them, we witnessed astonishing things:

Horrors that turn a little child's hair gray.

وَقايع مثل قراصه وَسواها

وَحرايب مع عشاير مكتفيه

Battles such as Qarasa and others,

And wars with well-equipped tribes.

وَكُنا عال عَلى كُل الطَوايف

بَني مَعروف ما هيي غبية

We stood above all the communities;

Bani Ma'ruf are no fools.

إِلى أَنو إله العرش قدر

ظَهر ما بيننا فيئه رديه

Until the God of the Throne decreed

That an evil faction arise among us.

وَصاروا يدجلوا بَين القَرايا

وَسموا حالهم بالعاميه

They began spreading deceit among the villages,

And called themselves the 'Ammiyya.

وَشدوا للفساد خيول ضمر

حَمير وَكدش ركبوها سويه

They saddled lean horses for mischief,

Riding donkeys and draft horses together.

وَصاروا يَنهبوا هدا وَهَذا

حَتّى قوموا كُل البرية

They began plundering this man and that,

Until they stirred all the people against them.

مِن دَرعا لحد انخل ودوما

صاروا يَأخذوا منها الجزيه

From Dar'a to Inkhil and Duma,

They began exacting tribute.

عَداوي عالدناوي وَالوطاوي

يلموا جلود من شان الفريه

Raids upon the lowlands and the plains,

Gathering skins to make fur coats.

وَدقوا ختوم ما يحصى عددها

شلل حلوز مشكوكة سويه

They stamped seals beyond counting:

Bands of snails, strung together.

وَعملوا المزر مكمن للفسادي

حتى شرهم عم البريه

They made al-Mazr a lair for mischief,

Until their evil spread among all people.

وَطش الخضر وَالمهدي وَراحوا

وَلحقهم ابن ياسر مقتفيا

Al-Khidr and al-Mahdi fled and went away,

And Ibn Yasir followed in their tracks.

وكبوا شرهم عَالشيخ وحدو

وَقالوا الشيخ ما هوَ من السميا

They poured their malice upon the sheikh alone,

Saying, “The sheikh is not one of the notables.”

وَصاروا يحقروا كُل الأَودام

وَحطوا بكل ضيعة جنكجيه

They began despising everyone,

And stationed fighters in every village.

إِلى أَن الخَلق عافَت لحاها

وَصارَت تَطلب الدَولة العليه

Until the people loathed their own beards,

And began appealing to the Sublime State.

وَقالوا اليقتلو السبع المجنزر

أَخير مِن اليموت بسم حيا

They said, “One killed by a chained lion

Is better off than one who dies of serpent venom.

كَفاها بهدلي من هالمهامل

خلي الذيب يعدي بها لشليا

Enough humiliation from these worthless men;

Let the wolf carry it away to the crags.

عفوها عساها ما تعاود

وَلو أَنَّها جناين مستويا

Abandon it; may it never return,

Even if it were flourishing gardens.”

يَوم أَنو غضب رَب البَرايا

وَمد الناس عرم منتليا

When the Lord of creation grew angry,

And the people surged in an overflowing torrent,

قام الشيخ قفطان المسمى

عا دَرب الشام عمل محافظيا

The sheikh named Qaftan arose

And set a guard upon the Damascus road.

أَخذ زاعور وَالجهال جملة

وَراحوا صَوب شقرا وَالقنيا

He took Za'our and all the uninitiated,

And they went toward Shaqra and al-Qunya.

عَلى المقداد قال الدَرب ودي

أَتوّ بكم وَحلفكم سَويا

To al-Miqdad he said, “This is the road;

I shall bring you and your allies together.”

أَثاري الكَلب ما يطهر لَو أَنو

تَغسل في أَلف قنطار ميا

It turns out a dog cannot become clean, even if

You wash it in a thousand qintars of water.

إِلى أَجل السَبب في قَفل مارق

لِأَهل كحيل عا دَرب الخفيه

Then the trouble arose over a passing caravan

Of Kahil's people, upon the hidden road.

تعارضهم زاعور المسمى

اجت زينب عَلى بالو الرديا

The man named Za'our intercepted them;

Zaynab came into his wicked thoughts.

أَهل القفل حاموا عن نَفسهم

وَصارَت بَينَهُم عركة قوية

The caravan's people defended themselves,

And a fierce fight broke out between them.

قتل زاعور مِنهُم شَخص واحد

وَهم قتلوا إِلى الحَمرا العَبيا

Za'our killed one of their men,

And they killed the one in the red cloak.

أثاري في قفل لأهل صَلخَد

مغرب في طَواحين الزوية

There was also a caravan belonging to Salkhad's people,

At dusk, at the mills of al-Zawiya.

رجع عا كحيل دربو بِالسلامة

أَثاري كحيل فيها حربجيا

It returned safely on its road toward Kahil,

But Kahil, it turned out, had fighters.

صارَت معركة عا لقفل فيها

انجرح فيها المدعبل بالشذيا

A battle broke out there against the caravan;

Al-Muda'bal was wounded there by a fragment.

أَهل صلخد عا أَهل كحيل مالوا

وَخلوا دمهم جاري قَنيا

Salkhad's people attacked Kahil's people,

And left their blood flowing crimson.

وَيُوجد من أَهل نجران مارق

قفل طحان روح من عشيه

There was also a passing party from Najran:

A milling caravan returning in the evening.

مرق من عند داعل كان دربو

أَثاري أَهل داعل منتخيا

Its road passed by Da'il,

And Da'il's people, it turned out, rallied for battle.

صارَت بَينَهُم عركة مهوله

اِنجَرَح شَخصين فيها نَصرويا

A dreadful fight broke out between them;

Two Christians were wounded there.

أَهل نجران مدوا الصَوت عاجل

وَصاروا كل مَن يَنخي خَويا

Najran's people promptly raised the alarm,

And each began calling his brother to his aid.

وَفي نَجران صار جُموع جملة

من وَلغا لحد الهارمية

Great crowds gathered in Najran,

From Walgha to al-Haramiyya.

وَصمم رأيَهُم ضَرب الحراكي

فَقَد شبان مِنا عَنتريا

They resolved to attack al-Hirak;

Young men of ours, brave as Antara, were lost.

فراط الحرص راحوا يا أَسفنا

عَلَيهُم مِن ضَياع الخَمعيا

Through excessive zeal they perished—alas for us,

For them, lost through the assembly's folly.

حرقوا للحراك وَيغموها

وَلا خلوا فراش وَلا غطيا

They burned al-Hirak and plundered it,

Leaving neither bedding nor covers.

وَصار النَهب في كُل القَرايا

كَأَنا في زَمان الجاهلية

Plundering spread through all the villages,

As though we lived in the age of ignorance.

كَأَن الخَلق ما الهاش راعي

وَكَأَنّضها سلمت لينا البَرية

As though the people had no shepherd,

And as though creation had been handed over to us.

خَسرتا في سببها ما كسبنا

يَخيب شورهم رَب البَرية

We suffered loss on its account, not gain;

May the Lord of creation frustrate their counsel.

عُقب النَهب حطوا النار فيها

غَدا دُخانَها لِلجَو فَيا

After plundering, they set fire to it;

Its smoke rose as a canopy into the sky.

وَلا خلوا أَبواب وَلا سَكاكر

وَلا خلوا الواح وَلا رحيا

They left neither doors nor latches,

Neither planks nor millstones.

غضب رَب السَما سلط عَليهم

قَصمهم مثل قَوم التَبعية

The Lord of heaven grew angry and unleashed against them

What broke them like the people of Tubba'.

صاحوا صَوت حَرب اللَه أَكبر

بَني الإِسلام مِن كُل النحيا

They raised the war cry, “God is greatest!”

The sons of Islam from every direction:

عَرب وَشوام وَكراد وَشراكس

مِن حَد الكَرَك للناصريا

Arabs, Syrians, Kurds, and Circassians,

From the borders of al-Karak to al-Nasiriyya.

مِن اِستانبول جابون العراضي

وَجابوا المفرزة وَالطبجيا

From Istanbul they brought the troops,

And brought the detachment and the artillerymen.

وَصاروا يجمعوا من كل ديري

ولإي شمسكين عملوا مكمنيا

They began gathering from every settlement,

And established a base at Shaykh Miskin.

وَنحنا كُل هالشغل قايم

وَفي ما بَيننا خَلفه قَويه

While all this was taking place,

There was bitter discord among us.

كُل يَومين جَمعيه بضيعه

يَقولوا لي يا شبلي حط ديا

Every two days, a meeting in a village;

They told me, “Shibli, put down blood money.”

جَمع بو حمد سَعيد كُل القَرايا

وَعرض لعين براق الثَنيا

Sa'id Abu Hamad gathered all the villages,

And displayed gleaming front teeth to the eye.

إِذا ما كان مؤدا الرجل شندي

عَشر آلاف من غَير العَبيا

“If my muster of men does not number

Ten thousand, besides the cloak-wearers,

لا فَرشهم مثل أَهل البثيني

وَادعي كُل نَعجة بيد ميا

I shall lay them out like the people of al-Buthayna,

And leave every ewe in a hundred hands.”

بِلا أَسا الوَحا لا يا جَماعة

عَرض الدير عَلى رايح سَبيا

“No sorrow; make haste—no, my people!

The village's honor is going away captive.”

جردها من قَعيص وَمقاعص

لِصَلخد لا ملح وَالخالديا

He mobilized them from Qa'is and Muqa'is

To Salkhad, to Malah and al-Khalidiyya.

وَزحف فيهم عَلى الغُوطه شَمالاً

وَعمر بيت أَهل الدير عَليا

He marched them northward against al-Ghuta,

And raised high the standing of the village people.

وَخطط مثل ميدان الكلابي

وَزكوها بقتل العسكريا

He laid out plans as in al-Kilabi's arena,

And crowned them with the killing of soldiers.

خربوا لدير علي لِأَسد لَيلة

وَصارَت كوم مثلي السالميا

One night they devastated Dayr Ali for Asad,

And it became a heap like al-Salimiyya.

رَجعنا للعساكر وَالعراضي

مَشوا مثل البُحور الزاخريا

We return to the soldiers and the troops:

They advanced like surging seas,

من شمسكين عابصر الحريري

وَطلب من شيخنا قفطان مية

From Shaykh Miskin to Busra al-Harir.

He asked our sheikh Qaftan for water.

طلب منو بدال المي بدي

مجيديات بيض منقديا

Instead of water, he told him, “I want

White Majidiyya coins, paid in cash.”

خلق اللَه عمت ربك طَغاها

وَشافوا الفيل مثل البرغشيا

God's creatures were blinded; your Lord overwhelmed them,

And they saw an elephant as a midge.

وَظل الجَيش زاحف عاطعارا

وَعَلى نَجران شعلها عشية

The army kept marching toward Ta'ara,

And set Najran ablaze in the evening.

وَصارَت بِأَرض قراصة مَعارك

لَكن الطين ما يَهدي صَويا

Battles broke out on the land of Qarasa,

But clay gives no answering sound.

وَثاني يَوم شالوا عالسويده

جَراد وَجاي من نَجد العذية

The next day they moved upon al-Suwayda,

Like locusts coming from rain-fed Najd.

يُومن صار بِأَرض السجن مارق

وَبِالمجدل شُيوخ العامية

When it passed through the land of al-Sijn,

The sheikhs of the 'Ammiyya were in al-Majdal.

قالوا وين راحون الزغابا

وَصاحوا وين راحوا الضيغميا

They said, “Where have the lion cubs gone?”

And cried, “Where have the lions gone?

عَلَيهُم ما بقي بدهاش وقفه

اليُوم السُوق في بَيع وَشريا

At them! No more standing still!

Today the market is buying and selling.”

وَصارَت معركة صدق مهولة

عَجيبة مثل يُوم القادسيا

A truly dreadful battle broke out,

Astonishing, like the day of al-Qadisiyya.

بقي حس البنادق والمَدافع

رعود وَقاصفه تَسمع دَويه

The sound of rifles and cannons became

Thunder and crashes whose roar you could hear.

صَلاة الظُهر كان الجنك قايم

وَغابَت شَمسَها عَالحربجيا

At the noon prayer the fighting was raging,

And the sun set upon the fighters.

وَكُل اللَيل وَالبارود يدوي

مثل رف القَطا تَسمَع نَغيا

All night the gunpowder thundered,

Its cries like those of a flock of sandgrouse.

فَكَم مِن خفرة باتَت وَحيدة

وَكَم شبأ فَقَد خياً وَبيا

How many a modest woman spent the night alone,

And how many a youth lost his brother and father!

قلاع الجف بات الجَيش فيها

وَأَين راحوا الرجال أَهل الحَميه

The army spent the night in the forts of al-Jaff;

Where had the men of protective zeal gone?

أَين اليذكروا حكى المقاعد

رَجاجيل الدروز المستحيا

Where were those who recalled the talk of the gatherings,

The honorable men of the Druze?

تَرى أَن السَيف مَهما كانَ ماضي

بِغَير نصاب ما لو قاطعيا

However sharp a sword may be,

Without a hilt it has no cutting power.

يا أَسفي عَلى هاني وَمثلو

شَباب أَسود رَضعت مِن لبيا

Alas for Hani and men like him,

Young lions who suckled from lionesses!

وَكسرت ما لَها رَدأد شيله

نار وفوقها كبون ميا

A defeat with no rally to lift it,

A fire upon which they poured water.

وَشال الجَيش مِنها عَالسويده

وَنزل في قَلب حوران العَذية

The army moved from there upon al-Suwayda,

And settled in the heart of rain-fed Hawran.

وَرحرح مثل سَبع احجوج وَاكثر

حَول البَيت وَالكَعبة الرَضية

It ranged about like seven pilgrimages and more

Around the House and the blessed Kaaba.

وَصاروا يَطلبوا مِن الناس ذخراً

تَرى البرغوث ما يَحمل وقيا

They began demanding supplies from the people;

A flea cannot carry an ounce.

هاتوا شَعير لا خَيل الصَواري

وَبدهم تبن خيل الطَبجيا

“Bring barley for the cavalry horses!”

They wanted straw for the artillery horses.

حطب بكير هاتوا للعساكر

وَللضباط فحم الصُبح هَيا

“Bring firewood early for the soldiers,

And charcoal for the officers in the morning—quickly!”

وُمُشرف كُل يَوم السَوط بيدو

وَسَليم آغا يَدل الضابطيا

Mushrif had the whip in his hand every day,

And Salim Agha guided the officers.

وَحسني مستشار الميم باشي

يدلو مثل جربوع الخليا

Husni, adviser to the Mim Bashi,

Guided him like a desert jerboa.

لا ما ملوا الحبوس من السويده

وَتسمع لارغاهم وَالعوية

Until they filled the prisons with people from al-Suwayda,

And you could hear their roaring and howling.

مِن غَير المصاخة وَالحقارة

العصاي بفلس عالذنب الطريا

Besides the abuse and humiliation,

A beating for a penny on a tender backside.

وَدارَت بالجبل كُل العَساكر

وَقبضوا اللي اشتهوه من السمية

All the soldiers ranged through the mountain,

And arrested whichever notables they wanted.

وَزجوا الكُل في حَبس السويده

وَصاروا بحالة ما هي رَضية

They threw everyone into al-Suwayda's prison,

And their condition was far from pleasing.

وَذاقوا النكر فيها وَالعَذاب

بقي للجو تَسمع لا رَغيا

They tasted cruelty and torment there;

You could hear their bellowing rise into the air.

وَمِنها رَبَطونا بِالحِبال

وَكتونا عَلى الفَيحا سَوية

From there they bound us with ropes,

And bundled us together toward al-Fayha.

وَصاروا يكحشوا الشَباب مِنا

وَهيدا كيت تسمع لَو نَغيا

They drove the young men among us harshly;

This one, out of spite—you could hear his cries.

خَمس أَيام مِن حَبس السويده

إِلى ذنون وَحنا بِها البَليا

Five days from al-Suwayda's prison

To Dhanun, with us in this ordeal.

وَسادس يَوم عيد اللَه وَأَكبر

كَأَنا في مُنى يَوم الضَحية

The sixth day was the feast—God is greatest!

As though we were in Mina on the day of sacrifice.

لَقينا أَهل جلق صافينا

مِن الكسوة لحد الصالحية

We found the people of Jilliq lined up to face us,

From al-Kiswa to al-Salihiyya.

مِنهُم يَضربونا بِالحجارة

وَمِنهُم طرحونا بِالعصيا

Some of them struck us with stones,

And some knocked us down with sticks.

وَمِنهُم يَضربونا بِالخَناجر

بَقي مِنا الدَم سايل شَليا

Some struck us with daggers;

Our blood flowed in streams.

نَهار مِن الصُبح وَحنا نشالش

إِلى أَنو ظهر نجم الثريا

All day, from morning, we were dragged about,

Until the star of the Pleiades appeared.

فَقد ستين مِنا في سببهم

وَاللي حي غرقان بدميا

Sixty of us were lost because of them,

And those still alive were drenched in blood.

وَصَلنا عَالحبوس وَسرطونا

شَباب ملاح راحوا عسكريه

We reached the prisons, and they swallowed us up;

Fine young men were sent into military service.

مِنا صار في رودس مؤبد

وَمِنا في بلاد المنتحيه

Some of us were sentenced for life in Rhodes,

And some were sent to distant lands.

عَجيبي كَيف تلينا المَطارح

وَضاق بوجهنا الدُنيا الفضيه

How strange the places we ended up in!

The wide world narrowed before our faces.

وَصارَت عقبنا عَالناس ثَقلة

ما عاد الخي يوعا عا خَويا

After us, a heavy burden fell on the people;

A brother no longer looked out for his brother.

عدد ميات في حبس السويده

وحبوس النَواحي منتليا

Hundreds were in al-Suwayda's prison,

And the prisons of the districts were full.

وَنحنا هُون أَودعنا الكَلامي

وَسافرنا عَلى بلاد الهَفيا

Here we leave our tale,

And journey to the lands of desolation.

وَاللي غيرنا ينظم قصيدة

يخبر عَن وَقايع مجتلية

Let someone else compose a poem

Telling of the events that come to light.

وَاختم بِالصَلاة عَلى شَفيعي

حَبيبي دُون خَلق اللَه صَفيا

I close with blessings upon my intercessor,

My beloved, chosen above all God's creation.