بالشمل لا بالحديد اليوم والنار — أحمد الكاشف

بالشملِ لا بالحديد اليومَ والنارِ

يا فتيةَ الدار صنتم حوزة الدارِ

By unity today, not by iron and fire,

O young men of the homeland, you safeguarded the homeland's domain.

واعتزَّ كلُّ أخٍ مستوثقٍ بأخٍ

في كل مربأةٍ منها ومضمارِ

And every brother grew strong, trusting in a brother,

in every lookout and racecourse within it.

وجاء بالصلحِ ميموناً غريمُكُمُ

مباركاً بين مختارٍ ومختار

And your adversary came auspiciously with peace,

blessed, between one chosen man and another.

وعاهدت مصر من لا بد منه لها

ومن بقايا له فيها وآثار

Egypt made a pact with one she could not do without,

and whose remnants and traces remain within her.

وردَّ حقَّكُمُ أدرى الشعوب به

من بعد ما لج في مَطلٍ وإنكارِ

And the nation that knew it best restored your right,

after persisting in delay and denial.

وحل ودُّكُمُ منه وألفتُهُ

منكم محلَّ الدمِ المطلول والثارِ

And his affection for you and your fondness for him took

the place of unavenged blood and vengeance.

وجاء بالخير في اليُمْنى يهنِّئكم

من بعد ما جاء في اليسرى بإنذارِ

He came with good in his right hand, congratulating you,

after coming with a warning in his left hand.

خمسين عاماً قضاها وهو مجترحٌ

في الجهرِ حيناً وحيناً خلفَ أستارِ

Fifty years he spent committing wrongs,

at times openly, and at times behind veils.

وتلك عشرون أخرى لا يحيط بما

فيها من الحدثانِ المدلجُ الساري

And those are another twenty years, whose events

the traveler setting out and journeying by night cannot encompass.

كم راضكم بوعودٍ منه طائلة

وراعكم بوعيدٍ منه جبّارِ

How often he tamed you with lavish promises of his,

and frightened you with his overbearing threats.

وكان منكم عليكم بأسُه وله

بين السباع نصيب الضيغم الضاري

His might against you came from you, and he had

among the beasts of prey a ravening lion's share.

عهد الكرامة ما أبرمتموه له

والموثق الحرُّ بين الجار والجار

What you concluded with him is a pact of dignity,

a freely made covenant between neighbor and neighbor.

تحمونهُ وهو يحميكم وعزمُكمُ

وعزمه كالقضاء النافذ الجاري

You protect him, and he protects you; your resolve

and his are like destiny, inexorable and unfolding.

وليس بالآخذ المعطي كما سلفت

تلك الليالي ولا بالبائع الشاري

The giver is no longer the taker, as in

those bygone nights, nor the buyer the seller.

لم يعرِض الشرط إلا وهو عندكمُ

ممهِّدٌ لمراميه بِأعذار

He offered no condition without, before you,

paving the way to his aims with excuses.

كنا على بعدكم في أرضه معكم

نراكمُ قبل أنباء وأخبار

Though you were far away, we were with you in his land,

seeing you before tidings and reports.

دخلتموها عليه فاتحين وما

كنتم سوى نُزُلٍ فيها وزوار

You entered his land as conquerors, though

you were only lodgers and visitors there.

لكم غداً لا له ما عاد يطلبه

من عدة وميادينٍ وأسوارِ

Tomorrow, not he but you will have what he again seeks

of equipment, fields, and ramparts.

تعيد أيديكمُ ما ضيعت يدُه

إذ كنتمُ في حماكم غيرَ أحرارِ

Your hands will restore what his hand squandered,

when you were not free in your own homeland.

وإن مضى بكتابٍ من سجلِّكُمُ

فإنَّه قيدُ أدوارٍ وأطوارِ

And if he departs with a document from your register,

it is a record of periods and phases.

وإن أقام ففي أرضٍ إلى أجلٍ

لا في قلوب وآذانٍ وأبصار

And if he stays, it is on land for a fixed term,

not in hearts, ears, or eyes.

وما مواثيقكم إلا منافعكم

لا ما تعدون من كتبٍ وأسفار

And your covenants are nothing but your interests,

not the documents and volumes you count.

وما عليكم إذا اشتدت سواعدكم

عهدَ الوفيِّ نوى أو عهدَ غدَّار

What does it matter to you, once your arms grow strong,

whether he intends a faithful man's pact or a traitor's?

هذا هو الأنفع الأولى لكم فسلوا

قبل المضيقين عنه وادي السار

This is what benefits you most and suits you best; so ask

the Saar Valley about it, before the two straits.

وربما سكن الثوارُ بينكمُ

وثار منكم رجالٌ غير ثوار

Revolutionaries may sometimes grow still among you,

while men who were not revolutionaries rise up.

وربَّ دعوى قضى فيها القويُّ له

بلا كتابٍ وأشهادٍ وحُضّارِ

Many a claim the strong man has settled in his own favor,

without a document, witnesses, or those in attendance.

قضى النهارُ على ما كان من رِيَبٍ

ومن خبايا وألغاز وأسرار

Daylight ended all that there was of doubt,

and of hidden things, riddles, and secrets.

وتلك أفواجكم سارت لغايتها

في أمنها بعد زلزال وإعصار

And those throngs of yours marched toward their goal,

in safety, after earthquake and tempest.

ساوى المُحَيِّي بأزهارٍ وألوية

من كان يرمي بأشواكٍ وأحجارِ

The one greeting with flowers and banners was matched

by the one who had hurled thorns and stones.

وقد جُزيتم بما أحسنتموه إلى

بلادكم ولقيتم كل إكبارِ

You were rewarded for the good you did for

your country, and received every mark of esteem.

أجر الرجال على مقدار ما صنعوا

قسطاً بقسطٍ ومعياراً بمعيار

Men's reward is measured by what they have done,

share for share, and measure for measure.

لا فرق عندكمُ والدارُ واحدةٌ

من أهلها بين ديّار وديّار

You make no distinction—the homeland is one—

among its people, between one inhabitant and another.

وللحمَى وبنيه لا لأنفسِكم

تكاثرون بأشياعٍ وأنصار

For the homeland and its sons, not for yourselves,

you swell your ranks with followers and supporters.

وليس غير الذي ضحّى بمهجته

للشعب أولى بتمثال وتذكار

None but the one who sacrificed his lifeblood

for the people is worthiest of a statue and memorial.

وما التعلة بالآمال خادعةً

إلا كتسليم مقهور لقهَّارِ

And solace in deceptive hopes

is only like a vanquished man's surrender to a conqueror.

أخْلى لكل حكيمٍ منكمُ دَرِبٍ

طريقَه كلُّ فرِّارٍ وكرّار

Every wise, seasoned man among you has had

his path cleared by every man of retreat and of attack.

ولا تصح لإنسان عزائمُهُ

إلا بصحة آراءٍ وأفكار

A person's resolves cannot be sound

unless his opinions and thoughts are sound.

وهبتمُ كلَّ نفس للبلاد فدى

واليومَ تطلب منكم كل دينار

You gave every soul in sacrifice to the country,

and today she asks you for every dinar.

وخصب أنفسكم لا خصب أرضكم

هو الكفيل بإثراء وإيسار

The fertility of your souls, not your land's fertility,

is the guarantor of wealth and prosperity.

ورب شعبٍ بنى في الدهر مملكةً

على السجايا وكان الأعزلَ العاري

And many a people has built a kingdom through the ages

upon its virtues, though unarmed and naked.

وما ملكتُ سوى نَفسي أقرِّبُها

زلفى إليكم وهذا بعض إيثاري

And I possess nothing but my soul, which I offer

to draw near to you; this is part of my selflessness.

ولو وجدتُ لشعري بينكم ثمناً

بنيتُ حصنين للوادي بأشعاري

Had I found a price for my verse among you,

I would have built two fortresses for the valley with my poems.

وإخوة لكمُ لم يرضهم أمدٌ

أرضاكمُ ورأوه فضلة القاري

And brothers of yours were not satisfied by a term

that satisfied you; they saw it as the host's leavings.

على الزمان غضابٌ للقضية همْ

عسى يردون تياراً بتيار

They rage against time for the cause,

hoping to turn back one current with another.

أبعد إجماعكم يرتاب بعضكمُ

وما همُ أهل إحجام وإدبار

Do some of you doubt after your unanimous accord,

though they are not men of hesitation and retreat?

وقد تناول ميثاق الحليف لكم

كلُّ الشعوبِ بتصديقٍ وإقرارِ

And your ally's covenant with you has been received

by all peoples with endorsement and approval.

لم يجهلوا فضلكم لكنهم ذهبوا

إلى مزيد من النعمى وإكثار

They were not ignorant of your merit, but turned

toward greater blessings and abundance.

برُّوا بمصرَ وإني لا أحب لكم

بمصرَ أن تحسبوهم غير أبرار

They were dutiful to Egypt; I would not have you

deem them anything but dutiful toward Egypt.

يا قادة الشعب أوصيكم وبينكمُ

أهلي وصحبي وجيراني وأصهاري

O leaders of the people, I counsel you; among you are

my kin, my friends, my neighbors, and my in-laws.

أمضيتم بمداد الصدق ما كتبتْ

أيديكمُ بدمٍ طهرٍ وأنوار

You ratified with the ink of truth what

your hands wrote in pure blood and light.

وقد رددتم به طيبَ الحياةِ إلى

قتلى لكم في سبيل الملك أطهار

Through it, you restored the sweetness of life to

your pure slain, who fell in the cause of sovereignty.

فأوّلوا كل ما فيه لجانبكم

من التواء وإبهام وإضمار

So interpret in your favor whatever it contains

of twists, ambiguity, and concealed intent.

ولا تخافوا على سلطانكم حرجاً

وفيكمُ كل نفّاع وضرّار

Do not fear any constraint upon your authority,

and among you are all who bring benefit and harm.

وليس يشغلكم عما يراد بكم

ما نلتمُ من أمانيٍّ وأوطار

Nor are you distracted from what is intended for you

by the aspirations and aims you have attained.

وليس أقصى منالٍ في جهادكمُ

هذا وآخرَ تجوالٍ وتسيار

This is not the highest attainment in your struggle,

nor the last of your roaming and journeying.

أدَّى الأمانة حاديكم وصائحكم

وآن ميعاد غوَّاص وطيَّار

Your caravan singer and your crier have discharged their trust,

and the time has come for a diver and a pilot.

تلك الطليعة بالعقبى مبشرةٌ

للجانبين وإن جاءت بمقدار

That vanguard heralds a happy outcome

for both sides, though limited in scale.

وربما فزتمُ في ساعتين بما

تركتموه لآجال وأعمار

And perhaps you will win in two hours what

you had deferred for ages and lifetimes.

والنيل تابعكم في كلِّ ناحيةٍ

منه تمدون أنهاراً بأنهار

The Nile is at your command in every region;

from it you feed rivers with rivers.

نُعمى السماءِ وأيديكم مُصرِّفةٌ

لما أتى فيضُ أنواء وأمطار

Heaven's bounty—and your hands direct

what the flood of storms and rains has brought.

فابنوا قناطره ألفاً بناءكمُ

خزانَ أصوانِ أو خزانَ مكوار

So build a thousand of its barrages, as you built

the Aswan reservoir or the Makwar reservoir.

ما كان فرعون أقوى منكمُ عدداً

ولا أعزَ بزُرَّاع وتجار

Pharaoh was not stronger than you in numbers,

nor mightier with farmers and merchants.

وأنتم المثل الأعلى وقدوةُ ما

في الأرض من أممٍ شتى وأقطار

You are the highest example and the model for all

the varied nations and lands upon the earth.

أنا المصرُّ على رأيي ومعتقدي

وليس إلا على الإصلاح إصراري

I stand firm in my opinion and belief,

and my insistence is on reform alone.