لمن الرواسم يرتمين صواديا — Ahmad Muharram

لَمِنَ الرَواسِمُ يَرتَمينَ صَوادِيا

وَيَجُزنَ بِالعَذبِ الرَوِيِّ أَوابِيا

Whose are the swift camels, hurling themselves onward, thirsty,

And passing sweet, thirst-quenching water, refusing it?

الطالِعاتِ عَلى الصَباحِ حَنادِساً

السارِياتِ مَعَ الظَلامِ دراريا

Rising upon morning as pitch-dark nights,

Journeying with the darkness as brilliant stars,

الدامِياتِ مَناسِماً وَغَوارِباً

المُدمِياتِ جَوانِحاً وَمَآقِيا

Bleeding at hoof-pads and withers,

Making breasts and eye-corners bleed,

الحائِماتِ مَعَ النُسورِ جَوارِحاً

العادِياتِ عَلى الأُسودِ ضَوارِيا

Circling with the vultures as birds of prey,

Charging against lions as ravening beasts.

مَرَّت بِمُهتَزِمِ الرُعودِ قَواصِفاً

وَجَرَت بِمُختَرقِ الرِياحِ هَوافِيا

They passed through pealing thunder, crashing,

And raced through the winds' passage, flying,

وَسَرَت بِمُلتَمعِ البُروعِ خَواطِفاً

تَفري أَهاضيبَ الغَمامِ هَوامِيا

And journeyed through the gleam of [lightning], darting,

Cleaving the clouds' streaming downpours.

حاوَلنَ عِندَ الشِعريَينِ مَآرِباً

وَحَمَلنَ مِلءَ الخافِقينَ أَمانِيا

They sought their ends beside the two Shi'ra stars,

And bore hopes filling both horizons.

عِفنَ البِقاعَ خَصيبَها وَجَديبَها

وَبَني الزَمانِ رَشيدَهُم وَالغاوِيا

They spurned the lands, their fertile and their barren,

And the sons of the age, their rightly guided and their wayward.

أَينَ الرَشادُ مِنَ النُفوسِ نَوازِعاً

لِلشَرِّ تَستَبِقُ الضَلالَ نَوازِيا

Where is guidance among souls straining

Toward evil, racing toward error in headlong leaps?

أَينَ المَسامِعُ وَالعُقولُ فَإِنَّما

تُجدي المَقالَةُ سامِعاً أَو واعِيا

Where are listening ears and minds? For only

A listener or one who understands is helped by speech.

أَمسَكتُ عَن بَعضِ القَريضِ فَلَم أَجِد

في الصُحُفِ إِلّا لائِماً أَو لاحِيا

I held back some verse, and found

In the newspapers only a faultfinder or a reviler.

إيهاً فَإِنَّ مِنَ السُكوتِ بَلاغَةً

جَللاً تَفيضُ عَلى العُقولِ مَعانِيا

Enough! For in silence there is eloquence,

Mighty, pouring meanings upon minds.

صُنتُ القَريضَ عَنِ المَحالِ وَأَرجَفوا

حَولي فَما جاوَبتُ مِنهُم عاوِيا

I guarded poetry from absurdity, while they spread rumors

Around me; I answered none of their howlers.

وَحَمَيتُ مِن عِرضِ المَقالِ وَلا أَرى

فيمَن أَراهُم لِلحَقيقَةِ حامِيا

And I defended the honor of speech, yet I see

No defender of truth among those I see.

مِن أَينَ لي بِفَتىً إِذا عَلَّمتُهُ

لَم أُلفِهِ عِندَ التَجارِبِ ناسِيا

Where can I find a youth who, once I teach him,

Will not prove forgetful when put to the test?

مَن لي بِهِ حُرِّ اليَراعِ أَبِيِّهِ

عَفِّ النَوازِعِ والمَطامِعِ عالِيا

Who can find me one whose pen is free and unbowed,

Pure in impulse and ambition, high-minded,

يَستَصغِرُ الدُنيا أَمامَ يَقينِهِ

فَيَصُدُّ عَنها مُشمَئِزَّاً زارِيا

Who counts the world as small beside his certainty,

And turns from it in revulsion and contempt?

يَأبى النَعيمَ مُلَطَّخاً بِمَذَلَّةٍ

وَيَرى مُقامَ السوءِ عاراً باقِيا

He refuses luxury stained with humiliation,

And sees a dishonorable station as a lasting disgrace.

إِنّي رَأَيتُ مِنَ المَقالِ مَناقِباً

مَأثورَةً وَوَجَدتُ مِنهُ مَخازِيا

I have indeed seen in speech virtues

Handed down, and found in it disgraces.

وَعَلِمتُ أَنَّ مِنَ الخِلالِ مَراقِياً

تُعلي جُدودَ مَعاشِرٍ وَمَهاوِيا

And learned that among qualities are ladders

That raise the fortunes of peoples—and abysses.

وَلَقَد بَلَوتُ الكاتِبينَ جَميعَهُم

فَوَجَدتُ أَكثَرَ ما يُقالُ دَعاوِيا

I have indeed put all the writers to the test,

And found most of what is said to be mere claims.

شَدّوا العِيابَ عَلى هِناتٍ لَو بَدَت

مَلَأَت مَناديحَ الفَضاءِ مَساوِيا

They bound up bags over failings that, if exposed,

Would fill the vast reaches of space with evils.

لا بورِكَت تِلكَ الأَكُفُّ فَإِنَّها

ضَرَبَت عَلى الأَلبابِ سَدّاً عاتِيا

Unblessed be those hands, for they

Have set a mighty barrier over minds.

حَجَبَت صَديعَ الرُشدِ عَنها فَاِرتَمَت

تَجتابُ لَيلَ الغَيِّ أَسفَعَ داجِيا

They hid guidance's dawn from them, and they plunged

Through error's night, blackened and dark.

سَلني أُنَبِّئكَ اليَقينَ فَإِنَّ لي

عِلماً بِما تُخفي السَرائِرُ وافِيا

Ask me: I shall tell you the truth, for I possess

Full knowledge of what secret hearts conceal.

أَلفَيتُ أَصدَقَ مَن بَلَوتُ مُداهِناً

وَرَأَيتُ أَمثَلَ مَن رَأَيتُ مُداجِيا

I found the most truthful man I tested a sycophant,

And saw the best man I had seen dissembling.

بَعَثوا الصَحائِفَ يَلتَوينَ كَأَنَّما

بَعَثوا بِهِنَّ عَقارِباً وَأَفاعِيا

They sent out newspapers writhing, as though

They had sent scorpions and vipers with them.

يَلسِبنَ مَن صَدعَ العِمايَةَ زاجِراً

وَأَهابَ بِالشَعبِ المُضَلَّلِ هادِيا

They sting whoever dispels blindness with rebuke,

And calls to the misguided people as a guide.

صُحُفٌ يَزِلُّ الصِدقُ عَن صَفَحاتِها

وَيَظَلُّ جِدُّ القَولِ عَنها نابِيا

Newspapers from whose pages truth slips away,

While earnest speech remains far removed from them.

لَو يَبغِيانِ بِها القَرارَ لَصادقا

في غَفلَةِ الحُرّاسِ مِنها ماحِيا

If the two sought a resting place in them, they would [meet]

An eraser there, while the guards were heedless.

ماجَت فِجاجُ المَشرِقينَ مَصائِباً

وَطَغَت شِعابُ الوادِيَينِ دَواهِيا

The broad roads of the two Easts seethed with calamities,

And the ravines of the two valleys overflowed with disasters.

حاقَت بِنا الأَزَماتُ تَترى وَاِنبَرَت

فينا الخُطوبُ رَوائِحاً وَغَوادِيا

Crises beset us one after another, and there arose

Among us calamities at evening and at dawn.

جَفَّت أَمانينا وَكُنَّ حَوافِلاً

وَهَوَت مَطامِعُنا وَكُنَّ رَواسِيا

Our hopes ran dry, once so brimming,

And our ambitions fell, once firmly anchored.

إِنّا لَنَضرِبُ في غَياهِبَ غَمرَةٍ

تَتَكَشَّفُ الغَمَراتُ وَهيَ كَما هِيا

We journey through the dark depths of an ordeal;

Ordeals lift, yet it remains just as it was.

نَبكي تُراثَ الغابِرينَ مُقَسَّماً

وَلَوِ اِستَطاعَ لَقامَ يَبكي الباكِيا

We weep over the forebears' heritage, divided up;

And, could it, it would rise to mourn the mourner.

ذَهَبَ الرِجالُ العامِلونَ فَما تَرى

في القَومِ إِلّا ناعِباً أَو ناعِيا

The men of action have gone; you see

Among the people only a croaker or a herald of death.

هَدُّوا مِنَ الشرفِ المُرَفَّعِ ما بَنَوا

وَمَحَوا مَعالِمَهُ وَكُنَّ زَواهِيا

They demolished what they had built of lofty honor,

And erased its landmarks, once so radiant.

طارَت بِهِ هوجُ العُصورِ عَواصِفاً

وَمَضَت بِهِ نُكبُ الخُطوبِ سَوافِيا

The wild winds of the ages bore it away in storms,

And calamity's crosswinds swept it away, scouring.

فَإِذا نَشَدَت نَشَدتَ رَسماً عافِياً

وَإِذا رَأَيتَ رَأَيتَ وَسماً خافِيا

So when you search, you seek an effaced trace,

And when you look, you see a hidden mark.

يا لِلمَشارِقِ صارِخاتٍ وُلَّهاً

تَدعوا المُغيثَ وَتَستَجيرُ الكافِيا

Alas for the eastern lands, crying out, distraught,

Calling for a rescuer, seeking shelter with a protector.

عَدَتِ الخُطوبُ وَما بَرَحنَ جَواثِماً

وَهَفَت بِهِنَّ وَما فَتِئنَ جَواثِيا

Calamities assailed them, yet they remained crouching,

And swept over them, yet they stayed on their knees.

مَلَكَت سَبيلَيها الغُزاةُ وَإِنَّني

لَإِخالُ خَفقَ الريحِ فيها غازِيا

Invaders have seized both their approaches, and I

Indeed fancy even the wind's flutter there an invader.

أَخَذَ العُقوقُ عَلى بَنِيها مَوثِقاً

لَم يُلفَ مُحكَمُهُ لَدَيهِم واهِيا

Disloyalty exacted from their sons a covenant,

Whose firm bond has never been found slack among them.

صَدَقوا العَدُوَّ وَلاءَهُم وَتَمَزَّقوا

خُصماءَ فيما بَينَهُم وَأَعادِيا

They were true to the enemy in their allegiance, and split apart,

As adversaries and enemies among themselves.

فَهُمو المَعاوِلُ إِن رَماهُم هادِماً

وَهُمو الدَعائِمُ إِن عَلاهُم بانِيا

They are his pickaxes when he hurls them to destroy,

And his supports when he climbs upon them to build.

وَهُمو السِلاحُ إِذا يُشيحُ مُناجِزاً

وَهُمو العَديدُ إِذا يصيحُ مُناوِيا

They are his weapons when he readies himself for battle,

And his troops when he shouts defiance.

ما لي أُهيبُ بِمَن لَوَ اَنّي نافِخٌ

في الصُورِ ما نَبَّهتُ مِنهُم غافِيا

Why do I call upon those whom, were I to blow

The Trumpet, I could not rouse a single sleeper among them?

أَفزَعتُ أَصحابَ الرَقيمِ مُنادِياً

وَعَصَفتُ بِالعَظمِ الرَميمِ مُناجِيا

Calling out, I have startled the Companions of al-Raqim,

And blasted crumbling bones with whispered pleas.

هِيَ صَرعَةٌ مِن رازِحينَ تَقاسَموا

أَلّا يُفيقوا أَو يُجيبوا الداعِيا

It is the swoon of men weighed down, who swore together

Not to awaken or answer the caller.

لَيتَ الزلازِلَ وَالصَواعِقَ في يَدي

فَأَصَبَّها لِلغافِلينَ قَوافِيا

Would that earthquakes and thunderbolts were in my hand,

That I might pour them out as rhymes for the heedless.

فَنِيَت بَراكينُ القَريضِ وَلا أَرى

ما شَفَّني مِن جَهلِ قَومي فانِيا

The volcanoes of poetry are spent, yet I do not see

The ignorance of my people, which has worn me thin, dying out.

فَلَئِن صَمَتُّ لَأَصمُتَنَّ تَجَلُّداً

وَلَئِن نَطَقتُ لَأَنطِقَنَّ تَشاكِيا

So if I fall silent, I shall be silent in stoic endurance;

And if I speak, I shall speak my grief.