رعيا لما أجملت من حسنات — أحمد الكاشف

رعياً لما أجملت من حسناتِ

في هذه الغدوات والروحاتِ

In honor of the good deeds you have done so well

in these mornings and evenings,

اجعل مكانك في الجوانح واتخذ

سبلاً على الأبصار والوجنات

make your place within hearts, and take

paths over eyes and cheeks.

للملك والأوطان ما قدمت من

عمل وما أخَّرتَ من نيَّاتِ

For the throne and the homelands are the

deeds you have done and intentions held in reserve.

إني أرى آمال أمتك التي

علَّمتَ ملء نفوسها الرحبات

I see the hopes of your nation, which

you taught, filling its expansive souls,

سكنت إليك فليس يعوزها وقد

بدتِ السرائرُ كثرةُ الصيحات

resting in you; they need no—now that

inner thoughts are revealed—multitude of cries.

أفضت إليك بأمرها وترقبت

مأمونة السكنات والحركات

It has entrusted its affairs to you and awaits,

secure in stillness and in motion.

وتدفق النيل المبارك سائلاً

وتعالت الأهرام مطَّلعات

And the blessed Nile poured forth, flowing,

and the pyramids rose, peering out.

اليوم لا شكوى كريمٍ هائمٍ

عان ولا دعوى غريم عات

Today there is no complaint from a noble wanderer,

afflicted, nor any claim from a defiant adversary.

جاء البشير بما لقيت من الرضى

وتوالت الأنباء عطريّات

The bearer of glad tidings brought news of the favor you received,

and fragrant reports followed one another,

تطري مكانك من رشادٍ تارةً

ومكانَه من ربِّه تارات

praising your standing with Rashad at one time,

and his standing with his Lord at others.

حسب الرعية ما رأيت وما رأى ال

أحرار من عطف وتكريمات

Enough for the subjects is what you saw, and what the

free men saw, of kindness and honors.

حزب الحمية في حماك ووفدها

والهادم الباني بخير أداة

The party of patriotic zeal is under your protection, and its delegation,

and the one who demolishes and builds with the finest tool.

حكم القضية أن تكون مُناهمُ

ومناكَ حول فروق ملتقيات

The case's verdict is that their wishes

and yours should meet around Furuq.

وشهيدك الأعلى على عدل وإح

سان شهيدُهمُ على الطاعات

And your highest witness to justice and

benevolence is their witness to obedience.

أوصاك بالشعب الوديع وليتني

دان فأسمع هذه الكلمات

He commended the gentle people to your care; would that I

were nearby to hear these words.

هل بعد أن قام اليقين مطامعٌ

لعواذلٍ ومواضعٌ لوشاة

Once certainty is established, is there any hope

for reproachers, or any place for slanderers?

ذهب القديمُ وأصبحت آثاره

موكولةً لصحائف ورواة

The former ruler is gone, and his traces are now

left to written pages and narrators.

وأصاب منه جندُه ما لم تُصِبْ

منه جنودُ الأرض مجتمعات

His own troops won from him what

all the world's armies together had never won.

ورأيتَ عقبى المستبد بأمره

وتَخَبُّطَ الساري بغير هداة

And you saw the fate of one who ruled alone,

and the stumbling of a night traveler without guides.

أأذمه وأنا العليم بما له

عند الكريم أخيه من حرمات

Shall I condemn him, knowing what

regard his noble brother owes him?

وعلمت من تلك اليد العسراء ما

كنا جهلناه من الفتكات

And you learned from that left hand what

we had not known of its deadly assaults.

ورأيت كيف يكون إخواناً بنو ال

قرآن والإنجيل والتوراة

And you saw how the children of the

Qur'an, Gospel, and Torah can be brothers.

ذكروا حنانك حين بلواهم وما

لك في الكريهة من قوى وثبات

They remembered your tenderness during their ordeal, and

your strength and steadfastness in calamity.

وفدوا عليك وإنما وفدوا على

عالي المروءة كابر العزمات

They came to you, and came only to

one lofty in honor and mighty in resolve.

تأسو جراحهمُ وتخفي مُكرهاً

للجارح البغضاءَ والغضبات

You heal their wounds and conceal, compelled,

your hatred and anger toward the wounder.

فإذا حملت عواطفاً وعوارفاً

ألفيتَهنَّ هناك مُتَّهَمات

And when you bore sympathy and kindnesses,

you found them regarded with suspicion there.

حار العباد وحرت بين أحبة

أسرى وبين معاندين طغاة

The people were bewildered, and you were bewildered between beloved ones

held captive, and defiant tyrants.

كانوا وكنا يشتكون ونشتكي

فنجوا وما زلنا بغير نجاة

They and we complained alike;

they escaped, while we remain without deliverance.

لو نعلمنَّ بكربهم في أمسهم

كانوا الأحق بهذه العبرات

Had we known their anguish yesterday,

they would have deserved these tears most.

هم أسلموا للذئب قبلك شاتهم

ولنا عليك خلاص هذي الشاة

They surrendered their sheep to the wolf before you;

and you owe us this sheep's deliverance.

قعدوا وما خذلوا أباك وإنما

أعيى العقولَ تشعُّبُ الشبهات

They held back, but did not abandon your father; rather,

the branching doubts baffled their minds.

فإذا ذكرنا نعمةً لهم فما

ننسى أغاليطاً لهم وهناتِ

When we recall a kindness of theirs, we do not

forget their errors and failings.

ذهب الألى غفلوا وجاءت عصبةٌ

بالحرة القصوى من الرغبات

Those who were heedless departed, and a band arrived

with the noblest, farthest-reaching aspirations.

ولقد أمنّا مثل ما أمنوا إذا

ساروا وسرنا التيهَ والعثرات

And we felt secure, just as they felt secure, when

they and we walked through wandering and stumbling.

تدلي إليهم بالقرابة والهوى

والعهد والإيمان والرحمات

You appeal to them through kinship and love,

and covenant, faith, and mercies.

في بأسهم يوم التقاضي غنية

عن صدق أشهاد وعدل قضاة

Their might on the day of judgment suffices

in place of truthful witnesses and just judges.

فلئن غبطناهم بنعمى مرَّةً

فلقد رجوناها لهم مرات

If we once envied them a blessing,

we have wished it for them many times.

ولئن شقينا بالقديم من الهوى

فلسوف نسعد بالجديد الآتي

And if old affection has made us unhappy,

the new affection to come will make us happy.

وشهدت يوم العرض كيف جلاله

والأسد رابضة لدى الأجمات

And you witnessed the grandeur of the day of review,

while lions crouched beside the thickets.

في إمرة الفاروق يصرفها كما

تمضي صروف الدهر مختلفات

Under al-Faruq's command, he directs them as

the changing turns of time proceed.

وتكاد تجتاز الحدود حماسة

لو لم يرضْها ساحر النغمات

Their ardor nearly carries them beyond the bounds,

were the enchanter of melodies not to tame them.

وتكاد تحسب أنها في غارة

لولا مظاهر هذه الزينات

And you almost think they are on a raid,

but for the appearance of these decorations.

من لي بها فأسير بين صفوفها

حلو التحية صادق النظرات

Who will grant me access to them, to walk among their ranks,

sweet in greeting and sincere in my looks,

وأجول في تلك الميادين التي

وسعت فتوح الأرض في ساعات

and roam those fields which

contained the conquests of the earth in hours,

وأقبّل البيض اليمانيّاتِ

وأعانق السمر الردينيّات

and kiss the gleaming Yemeni blades,

and embrace the brown Rudayni spears?

يا ليت أجفاني القريحة أصبحت

بقتام تلك الخيل مكتحلات

Would that my sore eyelids became

darkened with the dust of those horses.

والمحصنات وقد جعلن من القنا

خدراً وأستاراً من الرايات

And the chaste women have made from spears

a secluded chamber, and from banners, curtains.

وتود شاهقة القصور لوَ اَنَّها

تلك الخيام بهذه الساحات

The lofty palaces wish they were

those tents upon these grounds.

وأشاهد الأبراج وهي منيفة

وتدافع الأمواج ملتمسات

And I behold the towers, standing high,

and breasting the waves, seeking their way,

يحملن من شرقِ الثغور وغربِها

أزكى السلام وطيِّبَ الدعوات

bearing from the eastern and western ports

the purest greetings and sweetest prayers.

وأرى جبال النار كيف مسيرها

في المائج الزخّار مستويات

And I see how the mountains of fire move,

level upon the surging, overflowing sea.

لولا الرجاء يحفُّها ناءت بما

حملت من الأهوال والسطَوات

Were hope not surrounding them, they would sag beneath

the terrors and might they bore.

وأرى التي استنجدتها في قيدها

منسابة في اليمِّ منطلقات

And I see those whose aid I sought while they were bound,

gliding through the sea, set free.

يا حسن هذي السفن وهي عرائسٌ

مختالة في هذه المرآةِ

How beautiful these ships are, like brides

strutting upon this mirror!

لولا مضاعفة الحصون يمينها

وشمالها لنبعن مشتاقات

But for the forts massed on their right

and their left, they would have welled forth, yearning.

لولا المقادير التي ائتمرتْ بها

لاسترسلتْ في الماء مطَّرِدات

But for the destinies whose commands they obeyed,

they would have streamed on through the water without pause.

لولا الهموم المثقلات عواهني

خضت العباب الصعب والغمرات

But for the worries weighing down my limbs,

I would have plunged into the harsh billows and deep waters,

متذكراً سور المفاخر والعلى

مسطورة في هذه الصفحات

recalling chapters of glory and exalted deeds

inscribed upon these pages.

في ذلك الملح الأجاج تعلَّتي

وأولئك الملأ الأباة أساتي

In that bitter, briny water lies my solace,

and those unyielding notables are my healers,

أهل الخلافة والذين ذكرتهم

حتى لقد أوشكت أنسى ذاتي

the people of the caliphate, whom I have remembered

until I almost forgot myself.

لم يأخذوها غيلة بل أشفقوا

من أدعياء تراثها الأشتات

They did not seize it treacherously; rather, they feared

the scattered pretenders to its inheritance.

وتناولوها من يد مشلولة

من بعد ما ساروا على الهامات

And they took it from a paralyzed hand

after marching over heads.

حرصوا عليها حيث يشرف صرحُها

وتسيل أكباد العدى حسرات

They guarded it zealously, where its edifice towers,

and the enemies' hearts melt with regret.

في الأقدسين حجازهم وشآمهم

قدران للرغبات والرهبات

In the two holiest lands, their Hijaz and their Sham,

are two cauldrons of hopes and fears.

إن البغاة على الخلافة أصبحوا

في ذمة الدستور غير بغاة

Those who rebelled against the caliphate have become,

under the constitution's protection, rebels no longer.

ما للجزيرة لا تقر وما لها

مكروهة النزعات والنزغات

Why will the island not settle, and why are

its impulses and provocations so hateful?

هلّا رأى أهل الجزيرة تحتهم

ناراً وفوق رؤسهم لعنات

Have the islanders not seen beneath them

fire, and curses above their heads?

يتوعدون المسلمين لأنهم

للّه والسلطان غير عصاة

They threaten the Muslims because they

are not disobedient to God and the Sultan.

لم يسمعوا نصح المشفَّعِ فيهمُ

عند القدير وهم أضل جناة

They did not heed the counsel of the one whose intercession for them

the Almighty accepts, though they are the most misguided offenders.

قد بات يدعوهم إلى الإذعان من

ناداهم زمناً إلى الإفلات

He now calls them to submission, the one who

once called them to break free.

لو لم يخن حساد جدك جيشه

بقيت بلاد الروم تركيات

Had your grandfather's enviers not betrayed his army,

the lands of Rum would have remained Turkish.

أيام كانت مصر مملكة لها

ما للمالك من قوى ودعاة

In the days when Egypt was a kingdom, possessing

a sovereign's strength and advocates,

أيام كان الجيش مصريّاً على ال

أسوارِ والأحكامُ مصريات

in the days when the army was Egyptian upon the

ramparts, and the judgments were Egyptian:

هبة الإمام لناصرين أعزةٍ

وأمانة الإسلام عند ثقات

a gift from the Imam to mighty supporters,

and Islam's trust in trustworthy hands.

فليدفعوا ثمن الدماء ويبعثوا

شهداء ذاك الفتح والغزوات

Let them pay the price of the blood and resurrect

the martyrs of that conquest and those campaigns.

أعيا دواؤهمُ الطبيبَ وأنه

في كف ألف معلمين كماة

Their cure has baffled the physician, though it

lies in the hand of a thousand insignia-bearing champions.

لو صان كلٌّ دينَه لم يقطعوا

يوماً علائق بينهم وصلات

Had each guarded his faith, they would never have severed

the bonds and ties among them, even for a day.

الدين ما منع الأذى ولوَ اَنَّه

بين العقارب جاء والحيات

Religion is what prevents harm, even if it

comes among scorpions and snakes.

ماذا جناه المسلمون وهذه

يدهم على الأمم المسيحيّات

What wrong have Muslims done, when here is

their helping hand extended to Christian nations?

لولا سماحة دينهم لبغوا على ال

أديان والأخلاق والعادات

But for their faith's tolerance, they would have transgressed against

religions, morals, and customs.

إن لم تعد في الغرب مصرك وثبة

فالشرق يرقب هذه الوثبات

If your Egypt makes no leap in the West,

the East watches for these leaps.

فليهنك الحج الذي أزمعته

وتجمُّعُ الجيشين في عرفات

May the pilgrimage you resolved upon bring you joy,

and the gathering of the two armies at Arafat.

تدعو العَصِيَّ إلى الإمام فيرعوي

وتروض تلك الأنفس القلقات

You call the disobedient to the Imam, and he relents,

and you tame those restless souls.

وتعيد بالحسنى مآثر صارم

فيهم لجدك ناصرٍ وقناة

And through kindness you restore the exploits of a keen sword

and spear, victorious for your grandfather among them.

وتغادر البيداء روضاً مثمراً

والليث مأموناً على الظبيات

And you leave the desert a fruitful garden,

and the lion trusted with the gazelles.

وترى الخلافة والولاية خير ما

نرجوه بين خلائف وولاة

And you see in the caliphate and governorship the best that

we hope for between caliphs and governors.

فعسى يلين لنا الألى لانوا لهم

من بعد ما كانوا أشد قساة

May those who softened toward them soften toward us,

after having been the harshest of men.

فهمُ حماة القوم ما ظفروا وهم

للصاحب المغلوب غير حماة

For they protect the people so long as they triumph, but they

do not protect a defeated ally.

صدقوا رجال الملك أم كذبوهمُ

ووفاء صحب أم رياء دهاة

Were they truthful with the ruler's men, or did they deceive them?

Was it friends' loyalty, or schemers' hypocrisy?

أيؤيِّدون مصاولاً بحسامه

ويخادعون منادياً بشكاة

Do they support one who fights with his sword,

and deceive one who calls out with a grievance?

لِمَ يعملون على البقاء وما لَهُم

غفلوا عن الميعاد والميقات

Why do they strive to remain, and why have they

forgotten the promised date and appointed time?

ذكروا لنا الماضي من الثارات أم

عرفوا لنا الآتي من الغارات

Did they remind us of past reprisals, or

make known to us the raids to come?

فليخرجوا بيض الوجوه ويتركوا

للدولة الكبرى رضى الدولات

Let them depart with honor, and leave

the great state the goodwill of other states.

إن يملكوا أعناقنا لا يملكوا

مهجاً وإن سالت على الأسلات

Even if they possess our necks, they do not possess

our souls, though they spill upon spearpoints.

أمن الذنوب شكاة مصرك بعدما

ملكوا أعنَّة أمرها سلسات

Is your Egypt's complaint a sin, after

they grasped the pliant reins of her affairs?

عدوا على أحرارها أنفاسهم

وترقبوا اللحظات والخطرات

They counted her free men's every breath,

and watched their glances and passing thoughts.

إن ينقموا منها مراس غلاتها

فالعجز أن تبقى بغير غلاة

If they resent her zealots' combativeness,

helplessness would be her having no zealots at all.

أرأيتها في المهرجان وقد خلت

من حلية الأتراب والأخوات

Did you see her at the festival, lacking

the adornment of her peers and sisters?

همت ولولا كبرها وحياؤها

منك استعارتها من الجارات

She considered it; but for her pride and her shyness

before you, she would have borrowed it from her neighbors.

ولسوف تنصفها الممالك كلها

مختارة حيناً ومضطرات

All kingdoms will surely do her justice,

willingly at times, and at times compelled.

ويزيدني فيها رجاء أنها

في ذمة الفتيان والفتيات

And my hope for her increases because she

is in the care of young men and young women,

نشء البلاد وزهر روضتها التي

تسقى بعذب من يديك فرات

the country's rising generation, the flowers of its garden, which

is watered with sweet, fresh water from your hands.

فلمن إذا لم تبق وحدك سيداً

نِيلُ البلاد يفيضها بركات

For whom, if you do not remain sole master,

does the country's Nile flood it with blessings?

ولمن جهاد المخلصين الصيد إن

لم نجن في أبانها الثمرات

And for whom is the struggle of the noble, faithful men, if

we do not reap its fruits in their season?

إن الثلاثين التي بُلِّغْتها

لمدارج اللوعات والروعات

The thirty years I have been made to reach

are truly stages of anguish and terror.

أيمر هذا العمر غير موفق

لمواضع اللذات والشهوات

Must this life pass without being granted

access to pleasures and desires?

ثاو فلا أحد الرفاق يعودني

يوماً ولا أنا مالك خطواتي

I remain here, and no companion visits me

even for a day, nor do I control my own steps.

هل تغنينَّ إذا تعذر مأرب

لي في الجهاد تجاربي وعظاتي

Will they suffice, should a goal prove unattainable

for me in striving—my experience and admonitions?

أعلن رضاك عن الأباة فإنه

فصل الخطاب وفرجة الأزمات

Declare your approval of the unyielding, for it is

the decisive word and relief from crises.