أيها المنتحي بأسوان دارا — Ahmed Shawqi

أَيُّها المُنتَحي بِأَسوانَ داراً

كَالثُرَيّا تُريدُ أَن تَنقَضّا

O you who seek a dwelling in Aswan,

like the Pleiades, wishing to swoop down,

اِخلَعِ النَعلَ وَاِخفِضِ الطَرفَ وَاِخشَع

لا تُحاوِل مِن آيَةِ الدَهرِ غَضّا

take off your sandal, lower your gaze, and bow in awe;

do not seek to belittle this marvel of the ages.

قِف بِتِلكَ القُصورِ في اليَمِّ غَرقى

مُمسِكاً بَعضُها مِنَ الذُعرِ بَعضا

Stand by those palaces, drowned in the waters,

each clutching another in terror.

كَعَذارى أَخفَينَ في الماءِ بَضّاً

سابِحاتٍ بِهِ وَأَبدَينَ بَضّا

Like maidens hiding tender, fair flesh in the water,

swimming there, and baring tender, fair flesh.

مُشرِفاتٍ عَلى الزَوالِ وَكانَت

مُشرِفاتٍ عَلى الكَواكِبِ نَهضا

They stand on the brink of vanishing, though once

they rose aloft, towering over the stars.

شابَ مِن حَولِها الزَمانُ وَشابَت

وَشَبابُ الفُنونِ مازالَ غَضّا

Time grew gray around them, and they grew gray,

yet the youth of the arts remains fresh.

رُبَّ نَقشٍ كَأَنَّما نَفَضَ الصا

نِعُ مِنهُ اليَدَينِ بِالأَمسِ نَفضا

Many an engraving seems as though its craftsman

had shaken both hands free of it only yesterday.

وَدُهانٍ كَلامِعِ الزَيتِ مَرَّت

أَعصُرٌ بِالسِراجِ وَالزَيتِ وُضّا

And paint like gleaming oil—there have passed

ages over the lamp, while the oil stays radiant.

وَخُطوطٍ كَأَنَّها هُدبُ ريمٍ

حَسُنَت صَنعَةً وَطولاً وَعَرضا

And lines like the eyelashes of a gazelle,

beautiful in workmanship, length, and breadth.

وَضَحايا تَكادُ تَمشي وَتَرعى

لَو أَصابَت مِن قُدرَةِ اللَهِ نَبضا

And sacrificial beasts that all but walk and graze,

if they received a pulse from God's power.

وَمَحاريبَ كَالبُروجِ بَنَتها

عَزَماتٌ مِن عَزمَةِ الجِنِّ أَمضى

And sanctuaries like towers, built

by wills firmer than the resolve of the jinn.

شَيَّدَت بَعضَها الفَراعينُ زُلفى

وَبَنى البَعضَ أَجنَبٌ يَتَرَضّى

The pharaohs built some to seek favor,

and a foreigner built the rest, seeking approval.

وَمَقاصيرُ أُبدِلَت بِفُتاتِ ال

مِسكِ تُرباً وَبِاليَواقيتِ قَضّا

And inner chambers given, in place of crumbled

musk, dust, and gravel in place of rubies.

حَظُّها اليَومَ هَدَّةٌ وَقَديماً

صُرِّفَت في الحُظوظِ رَفعاً وَخَفضا

Their lot today is collapse, though once

they were turned through fortune's highs and lows.

سَقَتِ العالَمينَ بِالسَعدِ وَالنَخ

سِ إِلى أَن تَعاطَتِ النَحسَ مَحضا

They gave the worlds good fortune and stinging affliction,

until they drank undiluted misfortune.

صَنعَةٌ تُدهِشُ العُقولَ وَفَنٌّ

كانَ إِتقانُهُ عَلى القَومِ فَرضا

A craftsmanship that astounds minds, and an art

whose perfection was a duty upon the people.

يا قُصوراً نَظَرتُها وَهيَ تَقضي

فَسَكَبتُ الدُموعَ وَالحَقُّ يُقضى

O palaces, I beheld you as you were dying,

so I shed tears, as what is owed must be paid.

أَنتِ سَطرٌ وَمَجدُ مِصرَ كِتابٌ

كَيفَ سامَ البِلى كِتابَكَ فَضّا

You are a line, and Egypt's glory is a book;

how could decay force your book to be torn apart?

وَأَنا المُحتَفي بِتاريخِ مِصرٍ

مَن يَصُن مَجدَ قَومِهِ صانَ عِرضا

And I am one who cherishes Egypt's history:

whoever guards his people's glory guards honor.

رُبَّ سِرٍّ بِجانِبَيكَ مُزالٍ

كانَ حَتّى عَلى الفَراعينِ غُمضا

Many a mystery at your two sides has been dispelled,

though it was obscure even to the pharaohs.

قُل لَها في الدُعاءِ لَو كانَ يُجدي

يا سَماءَ الجِلالِ لا صِرتِ أَرضا

Say to them in prayer, if prayer could avail:

O heaven of majesty, may you never become earth!

حارَ فيكِ المُهَندِسونَ عُقولاً

وَتَوَلَّت عَزائِمُ العِلمِ مَرضى

The engineers' minds were baffled by you,

and the resolves of science withdrew, ailing.

أَينَ مَلِكٌ حِيالَها وَفَريدٌ

مِن نِظامِ النَعيمِ أَصبَحَ فَضا

Where is a king before them, and a peerless jewel

from the necklace of bliss, now scattered?

أَينَ فِرعَونُ في المَواكِبِ تَترى

يَركُضُ المالِكينَ كَالخَيلِ رَكضا

Where is Pharaoh, amid processions following one another,

driving kings at a gallop like horses?

ساقَ لِلفَتحِ في المَمالِكِ عَرضاً

وَجَلا لِلفَخارِ في السِلمِ عَرضا

He drove a vast host through kingdoms for conquest,

and displayed his honor in peace for glory.

أَينَ إيزيسَ تَحتَها النيلُ يَجري

حَكَمَت فيهِ شاطِئَينِ وَعَرضا

Where is Isis, with the Nile flowing beneath her?

She ruled its two banks and its breadth.

أَسدَلَ الطَرفَ كاهِنٌ وَمَليكٌ

في ثَراها وَأَرسَلَ الرَأسَ خَفضا

A priest and a king lowered their gaze

upon her soil, and bowed their heads low.

يُعرَضُ المالِكونَ أَسرى عَلَيها

في قُيودِ الهَوانِ عانينَ جَرضى

Kings are paraded before her as captives,

in chains of humiliation, submissive and choking with anguish.

ما لَها أَصبَحَت بِغَيرِ مُجيرٍ

تَشتَكي مِن نَوائِبِ الدَهرِ عَضّا

What ails her, that she has come to lack a protector,

lamenting the bites of time's calamities?

هِيَ في الأَسرِ بَينَ صَخرٍ وَبَحرٍ

مُلكَةٌ في السُجونِ فَوقَ حَضوضى

She is captive between rock and sea,

a queen in prisons beyond Hadawda.

أَينَ هوروسُ بَينَ سَيفٍ وَنِطعٍ

أَبِهَذا في شَرعِهِم كانَ يُقضى

Where is Horus, between a sword and an executioner's leather mat?

Was this how judgment was passed under their law?

لَيتَ شِعري قَضى شَهيدَ غَرامٍ

أَم رَماهُ الوُشاةُ حِقداً وَبُغضا

Would that I knew: did he die a martyr to love,

or did tale-bearers accuse him out of rancor and hatred?

رُبَّ ضَربٍ مِن سَوطِ فِرعَونَ مَضٍّ

دونَ فِعلِ الفِراقِ بِالنَفسِ مَضّا

Many a stinging blow from Pharaoh's whip

is less painful than what separation does to the soul.

وَهَلاكٍ بِسَيفِهِ وَهوَ قانٍ

دونَ سَيفٍ مِنَ اللَواحِظِ يُنضى

And death by his sword, blood-red,

pales beside a sword unsheathed from glances.

قَتَلوهُ فَهَل لِذاكَ حَديثٌ

أَينَ راوي الحَديثِ نَثراً وَقَرضا

They killed him: is there a tale of that?

Where is the teller of the tale, in prose and verse?

يا إِمامَ الشُعوبِ بِالأَمسِ وَاليَو

مِ سَتُعطى مِنَ الثَناءِ فَتَرضى

O leader of the peoples yesterday and today,

you shall receive praise and be content.

مِصرُ بِالنازِلينَ مِن ساحِ مَعنٍ

وَحِمى الجودِ حاتِمُ الجودِ أَفضى

For guests, Egypt is more spacious than Ma'n's courtyard

and the generous Hatim's haven of bounty.

كُن ظَهيراً لِأَهلِها وَنَصيراً

وَاِبذُلِ النُصحَ بَعدَ ذَلِكَ مَحضا

Be a supporter of her people, and a helper,

and thereafter offer pure counsel.

قُل لِقَومٍ عَلى الوِلاياتِ أَيقا

ظٍ إِذا ذاقَتِ البَرِيَّةُ غُمضا

Say to a people wakeful over the provinces,

when humankind has tasted slumber:

شيمَةُ النيلِ أَن يَفي وَعَجيبٌ

أَحرَجوهُ فَضَيَّعَ العَهدَ نَقضا

The Nile's nature is to keep faith—strange indeed!

They hemmed it in, and it broke its pledged faith.

حاشَهُ الماءُ فَهوَ صَيدٌ كَريمٌ

لَيتَ بِالنيلِ يَومَ يَسقُطُ غَيضا

The water has hemmed it in: it is noble prey;

would that the Nile might ebb on the day it falls!

شيدَ وَالمالُ وَالعُلومُ قَليلٌ

أَنقَذوهُ بِالمالِ وَالعِلمِ نَقضا

It was built when wealth and the sciences were scant;

save it with wealth and knowledge, by dismantling it.