بلغت المدى المأمول فيما تجاهد — أحمد الكاشف

بلغت المدى المأمول فيما تجاهدُ

فهل وجد الأقران ما أنت واجدُ

You have reached the hoped-for goal in your struggle.

Have your peers attained what you have attained?

وهل كان ما مكنت إلا ممهداً

لما أنت ناويه وما أنت قاصد

And was your empowerment anything but a preparation

For what you intend and what you seek?

نأيت فكان الشوق فيما تركته

وكان الرضا فيما به أنت عائد

You went away, and longing filled what you left behind,

And contentment lay in what you bring back.

وجاء من الأنباء ما قرب المدى

إليك وشاهدنا به ما تشاهد

News came that shortened the distance

To you; through it we witnessed what you witness.

وزرت الدهاة القادرين فرحبوا

كأنك بالوادي ومن فيه وافد

You visited the shrewd and powerful, and they welcomed you,

As though you arrived with the valley and everyone within it.

تجدد ذكرى أربع بينهم خلت

وقد ألزمتك العهد تلك المعاهد

You renew memories of bygone dwellings among them,

And those institutes have bound you to the pledge.

تناولت فيه علمهم وهو عدة

لك اليوم تلقاهم بها وتجالد

There you acquired their learning, a resource

For you today: with it you meet them and do battle.

وقد كان نخب الحب أفضل ما انتهى

إليك وأشهى ما احتوته الموائد

And the toast of affection was the finest thing that reached

You, and the most delightful thing the tables held.

مآدب ما شاقتك إلا وقبلها

شروط السلام المرتجى والقواعد

Banquets only tempted you when, before them,

Came the terms and foundations of the hoped-for peace.

فما طبت نفساً بالذي أنت آكل

كما طبت نفساً بالذي أنت عاقد

You were not as pleased in spirit with what you ate

As you were with what you agreed upon.

طلعت عليهم بالأحاديث حرة

فلم تمس إلا وهي فيهم عقائد

You appeared before them with freely spoken words,

And by evening they had become convictions among them.

أقروا بما لا يستطيعون نقضه

وقد سكنت أسدٌ ونامت أساود

They acknowledged what they cannot refute,

And lions grew still, and black serpents fell asleep.

وردوا إليك الحق والحق غالب

ودهرك معوان وحظك صاعد

They restored your right to you, and right prevails,

While your times give aid and your fortune rises.

وأحكمت في صحو النهار وسائلاً

ترامت بها تلك الليالي الرواعد

In the clear daylight you perfected means

That those thunderous nights had flung about.

وضجت بما نلت الممالك كلها

وقد جل ما كابدته وتكابد

And all the kingdoms resounded with what you won,

And great were the trials you endured and still endure.

وأكبرَتِ النصر الذي تستتمه

ولم ينتقل جيشٌ ولم يخطُ قائد

They acclaimed the victory you are bringing to completion,

Though no army moved and no commander took a step.

وما البطل المغوار من مارس الوغى

ولكنه من مرنته الشدائد

The valiant hero is not the one who has fought in battle,

But the one whom hardships have trained.

كسبت العدو العاقل اليوم بعدما

مضى زمن وهو المصرُّ المعاند

Today you won over the reasonable enemy, after

A time had passed when he was stubborn and defiant.

وصادقت من لو أدرك الناس كلهم

صداقته لم يبق في الأرض حاقد

And you befriended one: if all people understood

His friendship, no one on earth would remain resentful.

سيخرج من كل المدائن جنده

وما هو مطرود وما أنت طارد

His troops will leave every city,

Yet he is not expelled, nor are you his expeller.

ومنك له حول القناة مضارب

بأمرك تُحمَى سُبْلُهُ والمراصد

And from you he has encampments around the canal;

By your command, his routes and lookout posts are guarded.

وحسبك ود الند منه وحسبه

مرافق في الوادي له وموارد

You need only his friendship as an equal; he needs only

Facilities and resources for him in the valley.

ولا صلح إلا صلحك العادل الذي

تساوت به للجانبين الفوائد

There is no peace but your just peace, in which

The benefits are equal for both sides.

أيخشَى على النيل الوفي سدوده

مريبٌ وقد آلت إليك المقالد

Should fear for the faithful Nile and its dams trouble

A doubter, now that the reins have passed to you?

تصرِّفُه بين الشقيقين بعد ما

نبت بالشقيقين الخطوب النواكد

You direct it between the two brothers, after

Grievous calamities had treated the two brothers harshly.

فهل ترجع اليوم القرون التي خلت

فيشهد لابن اليوم جدٌّ ووالد

Will the centuries that have passed return today,

So that grandfather and father may bear witness for today's son?

هنالِكَ من تكريم قدرك ما هُنا

ينافس منك الأقربين الأباعد

There your worth is honored as it is here;

Those far from you vie with those nearest to you.

ويرفعك الشعب الذي بك عزه

وفيك سجاياه وفيك المحامد

The people exalt you, for their glory lies in you,

And in you are their virtues and their praiseworthy qualities.

ويحشد لاستقبالك الملك كله

وإن ليوم الفصل ما هو حاشد

The whole realm musters to welcome you,

And what it musters is indeed for the day of decision.

أتى يتلقى اليوم منك مصيره

وقد حملته أنفس وسواعد

It has come to receive its destiny from you today,

And souls and arms have borne it.

ولو شمل الدنيا مرادك كله

لما كان في الدنيا مسود وسائد

If all you desired embraced the world,

There would be neither subject nor ruler in the world.

قضى ملك الوادي على كلِّ مرجفٍ

فلم يبق مرتاب ولم يبق جاحد

The king of the valley quelled every alarm-monger,

Leaving no doubter and no denier.

وأهداك ما أرضى العلى وهو عالم

بأنك إلا في هداياه زاهد

And he gave you what pleased lofty honor, knowing

That you are indifferent to all but his gifts.

وكان لزاماً أن يرى ما رأيته

لدولته منه حسيب وناقد

It was necessary that what you saw be seen

By the discerning judge and critic he is for his state.

أللغاضب الباغي عليك بقية

من العذر إلا أنه لك حاسد

Has the angry aggressor against you any remaining

Excuse, except that he envies you?

تحملت عنه عزمه وهمومه

وساءك منه أنه لك كائد

You shouldered his resolve and his worries for him,

And what grieved you in him was his plotting against you.

وظن جديد الأمر جاءك خاذلاً

فجاء جديد الأمر وهو المساعد

He thought the new order had come to fail you,

But the new order came as your helper.

ولم تجد العمال إلا كغيرهم

أماجد لاقاهم على الخير ماجد

You found the Labour men no different from others:

Noble men whom a noble man met in goodwill.

تقربت منه كابراً وتقربوا

فما طال ميعاد ولا حال واعد

You drew near to him as a man of rank, and they drew near;

No appointment was long delayed, and no promise-maker wavered.

ومثلك إنساناً وجدت كبيرهم

فما هو عملاق ولا هو مارد

You found their leader a human being like yourself,

Neither a giant nor a demon.

إذا اختلفت آراؤهم في شؤونهم

فرأيهمُ في شأنك اليوم واحد

If their opinions differ in their own affairs,

Their opinion of your cause today is one.

وقد فقد الرهط المكان الذي له

ولا يسترد الرهط ما هو فاقد

The faction has lost the position it held,

And the faction will not regain what it has lost.

وأغضبه ترك الفريسة فاعتدى

عليك وأعياه الذي أنت صائد

Abandoning the prey angered it, so it attacked

You, and what you are hunting baffled it.

تردد بين المسلكين فما به

لشيعته إلا الظنون الشوارد

It wavered between the two paths, so concerning it

Its followers have only stray conjectures.

يطيش به صبيانه في خلائهم

وتهذي به صحْف خساسٌ كواسد

Its boys send it reeling in their seclusion,

And base, unsaleable newspapers babble about it.

أمن يتولى الحكم والحكم صالح

كمن يتولى الحكم والحكم فاسد

Is one who governs, whose governance is sound,

Like one who governs, whose governance is corrupt?

ولو ذكر المحروم ما أنت زارع

لما فاته بعض الذي أنت حاصد

Had the deprived man remembered what you sow,

Some of what you reap would not have passed him by.

ولو شئت للباغي المسيء عقوبة

لما فارقتْ تلك الرقابَ المقاود

Had you wished punishment on the wrongful aggressor,

The leashes would never have left those necks.

وقد يجد الأعذار عندك مخطئٌ

إذا عدم الأعذار عندك عامد

An erring man may find excuses with you,

When one who errs deliberately finds none with you.

تنبَّأتُ بالعقبى التي لك فضلها

وجاءتك مني بالغيوب القصائد

I foretold the outcome whose credit is yours,

And poems came to you from me with tidings of the unseen.

وإني بشير الملك والملك واثقٌ

بأنك في دست الوزارة خالد

I am the king's herald, and the king is certain

That you will remain forever in the seat of the ministry.

وحكمك وهو الحق والعدل نافذ

وقدرك عند الشعب والعرش زائد

Your rule, which is truth and justice, prevails,

And your standing with the people and the throne keeps growing.