سلام من صبا بردى أرق — Ahmed Shawqi

سَلامٌ مِن صَبا بَرَدى أَرَقُّ

وَدَمعٌ لا يُكَفكَفُ يا دِمَشقُ

A greeting gentler than the breeze of Barada,

And tears that cannot be wiped away, O Damascus.

وَمَعذِرَةُ اليَراعَةِ وَالقَوافي

جَلالُ الرُزءِ عَن وَصفٍ يَدِقُّ

And an apology from the pen and rhymes:

The enormity of the calamity defies description.

وَذِكرى عَن خَواطِرِها لِقَلبي

إِلَيكِ تَلَفُّتٌ أَبَدًا وَخَفقُ

And remembrance, through whose stirrings my heart

Forever turns toward you and throbs.

وَبي مِمّا رَمَتكِ بِهِ اللَيالي

جِراحاتٌ لَها في القَلبِ عُمقُ

And I bear, from what the nights have hurled at you,

Wounds that lie deep within my heart.

دَخَلتُكِ وَالأَصيلُ لَهُ اِئتِلاقٌ

وَوَجهُكِ ضاحِكُ القَسَماتِ طَلقُ

I entered you when the late afternoon was radiant,

And your face was open, its features smiling.

وَتَحتَ جِنانِكِ الأَنهارُ تَجري

وَمِلءُ رُباكِ أَوراقٌ وَوُرْقُ

And rivers flowed beneath your gardens,

And your hills were filled with leaves and gray doves.

وَحَولي فِتيَةٌ غُرٌّ صِباحٌ

لَهُم في الفَضلِ غاياتٌ وَسَبقُ

And around me were radiant, handsome youths,

They had the highest attainments in excellence and led the way.

عَلى لَهَواتِهِم شُعَراءُ لُسنٌ

وَفي أَعطافِهِم خُطَباءُ شُدقُ

Upon their palates were eloquent poets,

And within their frames, fluent orators.

رُواةُ قَصائِدي فَاعجَب لِشِعرٍ

بِكُلِّ مَحَلَّةٍ يَرويهِ خَلقُ

Reciters of my poems—marvel, then, at verse

That people recite in every quarter.

غَمَزتُ إِباءَهُمْ حَتّى تَلَظَّتْ

أُنوفُ الأُسدِ وَاضطَرَمَ المَدَقُّ

I prodded their proud defiance until

The lions' nostrils flamed, and their tail-tips blazed.

وَضَجَّ مِنَ الشَكيمَةِ كُلُّ حُرٍّ

أَبِيٍّ مِن أُمَيَّةَ فيهِ عِتقُ

And every free man roared with defiance,

Proud, with nobility from Umayya within him.

لَحاها اللهُ أَنباءً تَوالَتْ

عَلى سَمعِ الوَلِيِّ بِما يَشُقُّ

May God curse them—reports that came one after another

To a friend's ears with tidings hard to bear.

يُفَصِّلُها إِلى الدُنيا بَريدٌ

وَيُجمِلُها إِلى الآفاقِ بَرقُ

The post recounts them to the world in detail,

And the telegraph sends their summary to the horizons.

تَكادُ لِرَوعَةِ الأَحداثِ فيها

تُخالُ مِنَ الخُرافَةِ وَهيَ صِدقُ

So terrifying are the events within them,

They almost seem fables, though they are true.

وَقيلَ مَعالِمُ التاريخِ دُكَّتْ

وَقيلَ أَصابَها تَلَفٌ وَحَرقُ

And it was said: history's landmarks were leveled;

And it was said: destruction and fire befell them.

أَلَستِ دِمَشقُ لِلإِسلامِ ظِئرًا

وَمُرضِعَةُ الأُبُوَّةِ لا تُعَقُّ

Are you not, Damascus, a foster-mother to Islam?

And a wet nurse's parental bond must not be dishonored.

صَلاحُ الدينِ تاجُكَ لَم يُجَمَّلْ

وَلَمْ يوسَمْ بِأَزيَنَ مِنهُ فَرقُ

Salah al-Din is your crown; no head was ever adorned,

Nor graced with anything finer than he.

وَكُلُّ حَضارَةٍ في الأَرضِ طالَتْ

لَها مِن سَرحِكِ العُلوِيِّ عِرقُ

And every civilization on earth that rose high

Has a root in your lofty, spreading tree.

سَماؤُكِ مِن حُلى الماضي كِتابٌ

وَأَرضُكِ مِن حُلى التاريخِ رَقُّ

Your sky is a book of the past's adornments,

And your earth a parchment of history's adornments.

بَنَيتِ الدَولَةَ الكُبرى وَمُلكًا

غُبارُ حَضارَتَيهِ لا يُشَقُّ

You built the great state and a kingdom

Whose two civilizations left all rivals behind in their dust.

لَهُ بِالشامِ أَعلامٌ وَعُرسٌ

بَشائِرُهُ بِأَندَلُسٍ تَدُقُّ

It has banners and a wedding celebration in al-Sham,

Its glad tidings resound in al-Andalus.

رُباعُ الخلدِ وَيحَكِ ما دَهاها

أَحَقٌّ أَنَّها دَرَسَت أَحَقُّ

Abodes of eternity—alas for you! What befell them?

Is it true they have been effaced—is it true?

وَهَل غُرَفُ الجِنانِ مُنَضَّداتٌ

وَهَل لِنَعيمِهِنَّ كَأَمسِ نَسقُ

And are the garden chambers still arranged in tiers?

And does their bliss still keep yesterday's order?

وَأَينَ دُمى المَقاصِرِ مِن حِجالٍ

مُهَتَّكَةٍ وَأَستارٍ تُشَقُّ

And where are the doll-like beauties of the secluded chambers, amid bridal alcoves

Torn open, and curtains ripped apart?

بَرَزنَ وَفي نَواحي الأَيكِ نارٌ

وَخَلفَ الأَيكِ أَفراخٌ تُزَقُّ

They emerged, with fire around the thicket,

And behind the thicket, nestlings were being fed.

إِذا رُمنَ السَلامَةَ مِن طَريقٍ

أَتَت مِن دونِهِ لِلمَوتِ طُرقُ

Whenever they sought safety by one road,

Roads to death appeared before they could reach it.

بِلَيلٍ لِلقَذائِفِ وَالمَنايا

وَراءَ سَمائِهِ خَطفٌ وَصَعقُ

In a night of shells and death,

Beyond whose sky were flashes and thunderbolts.

إِذا عَصَفَ الحَديدُ احمَرَّ أُفقٌ

عَلى جَنَباتِهِ وَاسوَدَّ أُفقُ

When iron stormed, one horizon reddened

Along its sides, and another horizon blackened.

سَلي مَن راعَ غيدَكِ بَعدَ وَهنٍ

أَبَينَ فُؤادِهِ وَالصَخرِ فَرقُ

Ask who terrified your graceful women after night had worn on:

Is there any difference between his heart and stone?

وَلِلمُستَعمِرينَ وَإِن أَلانوا

قُلوبٌ كَالحِجارَةِ لا تَرِقُّ

And the colonizers, even when they act gently,

Have hearts like stones that never soften.

رَماكِ بِطَيشِهِ وَرَمى فَرَنسا

أَخو حَربٍ بِهِ صَلَفٌ وَحُمقُ

He struck you with his recklessness, and struck France too—

A man of war, full of arrogance and folly.

إِذاما جاءَهُ طُلّابُ حَقٍّ

يَقولُ عِصابَةٌ خَرَجوا وَشَقّوا

Whenever seekers of justice come to him,

He says: 'A gang! They have rebelled and broken ranks.'

دَمُ الثُوّارِ تَعرِفُهُ فَرَنسا

وَتَعلَمُ أَنَّهُ نورٌ وَحَقُّ

France knows the blood of revolutionaries,

And knows that it is light and truth.

جَرى في أَرضِها فيهِ حَياةٌ

كَمُنهَلِّ السَماءِ وَفيهِ رِزقُ

It flowed upon her soil, bearing life,

Like rain pouring from the sky, and bearing sustenance.

بِلادٌ ماتَ فِتيَتُها لِتَحيا

وَزالوا دونَ قَومِهِمُ لِيَبقوا

A land whose youths died so that it might live,

And fell defending their people, so their people might endure.

وَحُرِّرَتِ الشُعوبُ عَلى قَناها

فَكَيفَ عَلى قَناها تُستَرَقُّ

And nations were freed by her spears;

How, then, are they enslaved by her spears?

بَني سورِيَّةَ اطَّرِحوا الأَماني

وَأَلقوا عَنكُمُ الأَحلامَ أَلقوا

Sons of Syria, cast aside your wishful hopes,

And throw off your dreams—throw them off!

فَمِن خِدَعِ السِياسَةِ أَن تُغَرّوا

بِأَلقابِ الإِمارَةِ وَهيَ رِقُّ

For it is a trick of politics to lure you

With titles of rulership, while they are bondage.

وَكَمْ صَيَدٍ بَدا لَكَ مِن ذَليلٍ

كَما مالَتْ مِنَ المَصلوبِ عُنقُ

And how often an abject man shows you a haughty tilt of the neck,

Like the neck that droops on a crucified man.

فُتوقُ المُلكِ تَحدُثُ ثُمَّ تَمضي

وَلا يَمضي لِمُختَلِفينَ فَتقُ

Rifts in a kingdom arise, then pass away,

But no rift heals among a people at odds.

نَصَحتُ وَنَحنُ مُختَلِفونَ دارًا

وَلَكِن كُلُّنا في الهَمِّ شَرقُ

I have counseled you, though we dwell in different lands,

But in our sorrow we are all the East.

وَيَجمَعُنا إِذا اختَلَفَت بِلادٌ

بَيانٌ غَيرُ مُختَلِفٍ وَنُطقُ

And though our lands differ, we are united by

A common eloquence and a common tongue.

وَقَفتُمْ بَينَ مَوتٍ أَو حَياةٍ

فَإِن رُمتُمْ نَعيمَ الدَهرِ فَاشْقَوا

You stand between death and life;

So if you seek a lifetime of bliss, endure hardship.

وَلِلأَوطانِ في دَمِ كُلِّ حُرٍّ

يَدٌ سَلَفَت وَدَينٌ مُستَحِقُّ

And homelands have, in every free man's blood,

A favor long bestowed and a debt now due.

وَمَن يَسقى وَيَشرَبُ بِالمَنايا

إِذا الأَحرارُ لَم يُسقوا وَيَسقوا

And who will serve death's cup and drink it,

If free men are not served it and do not serve it?

وَلا يَبني المَمالِكَ كَالضَحايا

وَلا يُدني الحُقوقَ وَلا يُحِقُّ

And nothing builds kingdoms like sacrifices,

Nor brings rights within reach or secures them as they do.

فَفي القَتلى لِأَجيالٍ حَياةٌ

وَفي الأَسرى فِدًى لَهُمُ وَعِتقُ

For in the slain is life for generations,

And in the captives, ransom and freedom for them.

وَلِلحُرِّيَّةِ الحَمراءِ بابٌ

بِكُلِّ يَدٍ مُضَرَّجَةٍ يُدَقُّ

And blood-red freedom has a door

Knocked upon by every bloodstained hand.

جَزاكُمْ ذو الجَلالِ بَني دِمَشقٍ

وَعِزُّ الشَرقِ أَوَّلُهُ دِمَشقُ

May the Lord of Majesty reward you, sons of Damascus;

And the glory of the East begins with Damascus.

نَصَرتُمْ يَومَ مِحنَتِهِ أَخاكُمْ

وَكُلُّ أَخٍ بِنَصرِ أَخيهِ حَقُّ

You aided your brother on the day of his ordeal,

And every brother is entitled to his brother's aid.

وَما كانَ الدُروزُ قَبيلَ شَرٍّ

وَإِن أُخِذوا بِما لَم يَستَحِقّوا

The Druze were no tribe of evil,

Though they were punished for what they did not deserve.

وَلَكِن ذادَةٌ وَقُراةُ ضَيفٍ

كَيَنبوعِ الصَفا خَشُنوا وَرَقُّوا

But defenders and hospitable hosts,

Like a spring from rock, they are rugged and tender.

لَهُم جَبَلٌ أَشَمُّ لَهُ شَعافٌ

مَوارِدُ في السَحابِ الجُونِ بُلقُ

They have a proud, lofty mountain whose peaks

Are white-dappled water sources amid the dark clouds.

لِكُلِّ لَبوءَةٍ وَلِكُلِّ شِبلٍ

نِضالٌ دونَ غايَتِهِ وَرَشقُ

For every lioness and every cub,

There is combat and a volley in defense of its summit.

كَأَنَّ مِنَ السَمَوأَلِ فيهِ شَيئًا

فَكُلُّ جِهاتِهِ شَرَفٌ وَخَلقُ

It is as though something of al-Samaw'al lives within it,

For every side of it is honor and noble character.