نداء الحياة — Abdullah Al Khalili

نبئيه عن شأنه نبئيه

واصدقيه الحديث لا تكذبيه

Tell him of his condition; tell him.

Speak truthfully to him; do not lie to him.

وذري هذه المعاذير شهدا

إنها من دسائس التمويه

Set aside these excuses, sweet as honey;

they are among the intrigues of deception.

إن هذا القرين في الحاضر الوا

عي سواه في الغابر المشدوه

This companion in the conscious present

is not what he was in the bewildered past.

هو عمرو المضروب أمس ولكن

هو زيد في يومه فاحذريه

He is ‘Amr, struck yesterday, but

today he is Zayd, so beware of him.

لقنته حوادث الدهر درسا

نال منه مرونة التفقية

Time’s events taught him a lesson,

from which he gained the flexibility of understanding.

إن شعبي يا حادثات الليالي

هو شعبي إن كنت لا تعرفيه

My people, O calamities of the nights,

are my people, if you do not know them.

أرغم الأنف من بنياتك السو

د فباتت مذعورة تّتقيه

They ground the noses of your black daughters into dust,

leaving those daughters terrified, fearing them.

أنت يا حادثات أهون قدراً

أن تسدي طريقه فاتركيه

You, O calamities, are too lowly

to bar their path; leave them be.

لا تغري بشأنه لو تنزى

ألماً من جراحه في بنيه

Do not be tempted by their plight, though they writhe

in pain from the wounds they bear in their sons.

فلئن خانه التقدم حينا

لم يخنه وعي النبيل النبيه

Even if progress has failed them for a time,

the awareness of the noble and discerning has not failed them.

خطوات تبغي الأمام وعزم

صامد أو ينال ما يبتغيه

Steps seeking the way ahead, and a resolve

steadfast until it attains what it seeks.

خطوة العلم خطوة لا تجارى

ويد العلم خير ما يقتنيه

Knowledge’s stride is a stride none can match,

and knowledge’s hand is the finest thing they acquire.

والقويّ الأبي من تخذ العل

م سلاحاً يصول في غاصبيه

The strong, unbowed one takes knowledge

as a weapon, charging against his usurpers.

يا شباب البلاد يا أمل الجي

ل ويا منية الرجاء النزيه

O youth of the land, O hope of the generation,

O cherished wish of honorable hope,

أنتم مطمح البصائر والأبص

ار للشعب نقطة التنويه

you are the aspiration of inward sight and outward vision,

the people’s focus of acclaim.

يا زهور الحياة يا بسمة الده

ر إلى العلم مبعث الترفيه

O flowers of life, O smile of time,

turn to knowledge, the source of well-being.

واسعوا نحوه خطاكم وردوا

فيه رأي الخمول بالتسفيه

Lengthen your strides toward it, and reject

the counsel of indolence concerning it as foolish.

وهبوه الإخلاص قولا وفعلا

واركبوا أصعب المكاره فيه

Give it devotion in word and deed,

and brave the harshest hardships for its sake.

واصحبوه تناصحاً واجتماعا

واخطبوا في الحشود جهراً بفيه

Keep its company in mutual counsel and unity,

and address the crowds aloud through its mouth.

وقفوا حوله صفوفاً وقوه

رمية الدهر إنه يرميه

Stand in ranks around it, and shield it

from time’s shot, for time takes aim at it.

وافتدوه منكم بكل نفيس

فالعزيز العزيز من يفتديه

Ransom it with everything precious among you;

the honored—the truly honored—is he who ransoms it.

وأعيدوا شبابه من جديد

إن يكن شاب عن ذكاء الفقيه

Restore its youth anew,

if it has grown gray through the jurist’s acumen.

واستردوا بعزمه فائت المج

د طموحاً فالمجد في طامحيه

Through its resolve, recover lost glory

with ambition: glory lives in those who aspire to it.

واستعينوا به لكل عظيم

فهو نعم المعين للمصطفيه

Seek its aid in every great undertaking,

for what an excellent helper it is to one who chooses it.

واحفظوه أن يستهان فما ها

ن بقوم أو ذللوا لسفيه

Guard it against contempt: never is it scorned

among a people without their being humbled before a fool.

ونداء أهاب بي من بعيد

فتمطيت شطره أقتفيه

A call summoned me from afar,

and I stretched toward it, following its trail.

صارخاً في الفضاء يسحب ذيلا

قده الدهر شأنه في بنيه

Screaming in the open air, it dragged a train

that time had torn—as is its way with its children.

مستغيثاً يكاد يعجزه النط

ق وحتى إشارة التنبيه

Crying for help, it could scarcely speak,

or even make a warning gesture.

يا نداء الحياة أنت حيي

والهوى فيك صادق التوجيه

O call of life, you are bashful,

and the yearning within you is true in its aim.

قم فعبر عما تريد لعلي

أركب الصعب دون ما تتقيه

Rise and express what you want, that I may

brave hardship to ward off what you fear.

إن يكن سامك الزمان عذاباً

فقديماً كم سام من يبتليه

If time has inflicted torment on you,

how often, since long ago, has it tormented those it tries.

إن هذا الزمان أقتل للح

ر وأقسى من نفثة ابن أبيه

This time is deadlier to the free man

and harsher than a breath from Ibn Abihi.

والكمي الكمي من لبس الده

ر على مرّه وما يشتهيه

The warrior—the true warrior—is he who wears time

with all its bitterness and all he relishes in it.

واللبيب اللبيب من عرف الح

ق فوفى لخصمه وأخيه

The wise—the truly wise—know what is right,

and deal faithfully with foe and brother alike.

وصباح رأيته يفلق اللي

ل بسيف من ضوئه ينتضيه

And a dawn I saw cleaving the night

with a sword of its light that it unsheathed.

ضاحك في جديده يوهم النا

س وأين الجديد من آمليه

Smiling in its newness, it beguiles people;

yet where is newness for those who hope for it?

حسرة ما مضى عليك وهمّ

أو هناء ما حل أو ترتجيه

Regret for what has passed over you, and worry,

or happiness in what has come or what you hope for.

وانقلاب الزمان حوراً وكورا

خلق طالما دهى عاقليه

And time’s reversals, unwinding and winding,

are a habit that has long afflicted those who understand it.

أنت يا صبح كم بعثت لقلبي

أملا في إرادتي أجتليه

O dawn, how often have you stirred in my heart

a hope I behold within my own resolve.

فتمشيت ناشطاً فإذا ما

أتمناه غير ما تمليه

I set out eagerly, only to find that what

I wish for differs from what you dictate.

كنت بالأمس والشباب نضير

فإذا بالمشيب نحوي يليه

Only yesterday my youth was fresh,

when suddenly gray hair came toward me in its wake.

وأنا ما فرغت مما أعاني

ه وما زلت دون ما أدعيه

I have not finished with what I suffer,

and I still fall short of what I claim.

أستلذ الحياة يوماً فيوما

وهي تقضي عليّ ما تقضيه

Day after day I savor life,

while it decrees against me what it will.

أمل فارغ ووهم مليء

وزمان كم جار في مترفيه

Empty hope and full illusion,

and time, so often unjust to its pampered ones.

ونوايا أقض مضجعها الده

ر وكانت لجهلها تزدريه

And intentions whose bed has been disturbed by time,

though in their ignorance they once disdained it.

طلع الفجر قبلنا في البرايا

وأتى الليل إثره يقتفيه

Dawn rose among created beings before us,

and night came after it, following its trail.

مستبدين يقضيان على الكو

ن ولا يفنيان في فانيه

Two tyrants, they bring the universe to its end,

yet do not perish among its mortal beings.

يبليان الوجود جيلا فجيلا

وهما دائماً جديدان فيه

They wear existence out, generation after generation,

while they themselves are always new within it.

يتساوى لديهما الناس عدلا

رغم جور الإنسان فيمن يليه

Before them people are justly equal,

despite man’s injustice to those beside him.

جد في هذه الحياة بنوها

باختلاف في رأيهم تلفيه

The children of this life have striven,

with differences you find in their views.

والقليل الذي أعين بتوفي

ق وأين التوفيق من طالبيه

And few are those granted success—

and where is success for those who seek it?

لو أصاب الجميع منه مناهم

لم تجد غير سيد ونبيه

If everyone gained from it their heart’s desire,

you would find none but masters and distinguished men.

يبلغ المرء في القليل من العم

ر به غاية الذي يبتغيه

A person, in a little span of life, can attain

through it the furthest goal he seeks.

هو ناموس ذي الحياة متى كا

نت وإن يختلف لدى قاسميه

It is the law of this life, whenever it may be,

though it varies among those who share in it.

رب توفيقك الذي نتمنى

في ابتداء وفي ختام نزيه

Lord, Your granting of success is what we desire,

at the beginning and at an honorable end.