نراوح بالحوادث أو نغادى — Ahmed Shawqi

نُراوِحُ بِالحَوادِثِ أَو نُغادى

وَنُنكِرُها وَنُعطيها القِيادا

We pass our evenings with calamities, or are met by them at dawn,

and disavow them, yet surrender the reins to them.

وَنَحمِدُها وَما رَعَتِ الضَحايا

وَلا جَزَتِ المَواقِفَ وَالجِهادا

We praise them, though they have not cared for the victims,

nor rewarded our stands and struggle.

لَحاها اللَهُ باعَتنا خَيالاً

مِنَ الأَحلامِ وَاِشتَرَتِ اِتِّحادا

May God curse them! They sold us a phantom

of dreams and bought our unity.

مَشَينا أَمسِ نَلقاها جَميعاً

وَنَحنُ اليَومَ نَلقاها فُرادى

Yesterday we walked to meet them all together;

today we meet them one by one.

أَظَلَّتنا عَنِ الإِصلاحِ حَتّى

عَجَزنا أَن نُناقِشها الفَسادا

They screened us from reform until

we could no longer challenge them over corruption.

تُلاقينا فَلا نَجِدُ الصَياصي

وَنَلقاها فَلا نَجِدُ العَتادا

They confront us, and we find no strongholds;

we confront them, and we find no equipment.

وَمَن لَقِيَ السِباعَ بِغَيرِ ظَفرٍ

وَلا نابٍ تَمَزَّقَ أَو تَفادى

Whoever meets wild beasts without a claw

or a fang is torn apart or escapes harm.

خَفَضنا مِن عُلُوِّ الحَقِّ حَتّى

تَوَهَّمنا السِيادَةَ أَن نُسادا

We lowered the stature of right until

we imagined that sovereignty meant being ruled.

وَلَمّا لَم نَنل لِلسَيفِ رَدّاً

تَنازَعنا الحَمائِلَ وَالنِجادا

And when we could find no counter to the sword,

we disputed its straps and baldrics.

وَأَقبَلنا عَلى أَقوالِ زورٍ

تَجيءُ الغَيَّ تَقلِبُهُ رَشادا

We embraced words of falsehood

that take error and turn it into guidance.

وَلَو عُدنا إِلَيها بَعدَ قَرنٍ

رَحَمنا الطِرسَ مِنها وَالمِدادا

Were we to return to them after a century,

we would pity the parchment and ink wasted on them.

وَكَم سِحرٍ سَمِعنا مُنذُ حينٍ

تَضاءَلَ بَينَ أَعيُنِنا وَنادى

How many an enchantment we heard some time ago

has dwindled before our eyes and proclaimed:

هَنيئاً لِلعَدُوِّ بِكُلِّ أَرضٍ

إِذا هُوَ حَلَّ في بَلَدٍ تَعادى

"Congratulations to the enemy in every land,

when he settles in a country divided against itself!

وَبُعداً لِلسِيادَةِ وَالمَعالي

إِذا قَطَعَ القَرابَةَ وَالوِدادا

And away with sovereignty and lofty glory,

if he severs kinship and affection!"

وَرُبَّ حَقيقَةٍ لا بُدَّ مِنها

خَدَعنا النَشءَ عَنها وَالسَوادا

And many an indispensable truth

we have concealed by deceit from the young and the masses.

وَلَو طَلَعوا عَلَيها عالَجوها

بِهِمَّةِ أَنفُسٍ عَظُمَت مُرادا

Had they learned of it, they would have dealt with it

with the resolve of souls whose aims were great,

تُعِدُّ لِحادِثِ الأَيّامِ صَبراً

وَآوِنَةً تُعِدُّ لَهُ عِنادا

preparing patience for the blows of time,

and at times preparing defiance against them,

وَتُخلِفُ بِالنَهيِ البيضَ المَواضي

وَبِالخُلقِ المُثَقَّفَةِ الصِعادا

replacing keen, gleaming swords with reason,

and straightened spear-shafts with character.

لَمَحنا الحَظَّ ناحِيَةً فَلَمّا

بَلَغناها أَحَسَّ بِنا فَحادا

We glimpsed fortune off to one side, and when

we reached that place, it sensed us and swerved away.

وَلَيسَ الحَظُّ إِلّا عَبقَرِيّاً

يُحِبُّ الأَريَحِيَّةَ وَالسَدادا

Fortune is but a genius

who loves generosity and sound judgment.

وَنَحنُ بَنو زَمانٍ حُوَّلِيٍّ

تَنَقَّلَ تاجِراً وَمَشى وَرادا

We are the sons of a wily age

that traveled as a merchant, walked, and roamed.

إِذا قَعَدَ العِبادُ لَهُ بِسوقٍ

شَرى في السوقِ أَو باعَ العِبادا

When people sit to trade with it in a market,

it buys there, or sells the people themselves.

وَتُعجِبُهُ العَواطِفُ في كِتابٍ

وَفي دَمعِ المُشَخِّصِ ما أَجادا

It admires emotions in a book,

and in an actor's tears, so long as he plays well.

يُؤَمِّنُنا عَلى الدُستورِ أَنّا

نَرى مِن خَلفِ حَوزَتِهِ فُؤادا

It reassures us about the constitution that

we see behind its protection a heart—Fuad.

أَبو الفاروقِ نَرجوهُ لِفَضلٍ

وَلا نَخشى لِما وَهَبَ اِرتِدادا

Abu al-Faruq—we look to him for bounty,

and fear no reversal of what he has granted.

مَلَأنا بِاِسمِهِ الأَفواهَ فَخراً

وَلَقَّبناهُ بِالأَمسِ المَكادا

We filled our mouths with his name in pride,

and yesterday we dubbed him the Mikado.

نُناجيهِ فَنَستَرعي حَكيماً

وَنَسأَلُهُ فَنَستَجدي جَوادا

We confide in him and seek a sage's care;

we ask him, and petition a generous man.

وَلَم يَزَلِ المُحَبَّبَ وَالمُفَدّى

وَمَرهَمَ كُلِّ جُرحٍ وَالضِمادا

He has ever remained beloved, the one we would ransom,

and the salve and bandage for every wound.

تَدَفَّقَ مَصرِفُ الوادي فَرَوّى

وَصابَ غَمامُهُ فَسقى وَجادا

The valley's bank gushed forth and quenched thirst;

its cloud poured down, watering and giving lavishly.

دَعا فَتَنافَسَت فيهِ نُفوسٌ

بِمِصرَ لِكُلِّ صالِحَةٍ تُنادى

It called, and souls vied to serve it,

in Egypt, summoned to every worthy cause,

تُقَدِّمُ عَونَها ثِقَةً وَمالاً

وَأَحياناً تُقَدِّمُهُ اِجتِهادا

offering their aid as confidence and money,

and sometimes offering it as diligent effort.

وَأَقبَلَ مِن شَبابِ القَومِ جَمعٌ

كَما بَنَتِ الكُهولُ بَنى وَشادا

A company of the people's youth came forward;

as the elders had built, they too built and raised it.

كَأَنَّ جَوانِبَ الدارِ الخَلايا

وَهُم كَالنَحلِ في الدارِ اِحتِشادا

As though the house's sides were beehives,

they thronged the house like bees.

فَيا داراً مِن الهِمَمِ العَوالي

سُقيتِ التِبرَ لا أَرضى العِهادا

O house of lofty aspirations,

may you be watered with gold dust; I will not settle for showers.

تَأَنّى حينَ أَسَّسَكِ اِبنُ حَربٍ

وَحينَ بَنى دَعائِمَكِ الشِدادا

Ibn Harb took his time when he founded you,

and when he built your sturdy pillars.

وَلا تُرجى المَتانَةُ في بِناءٍ

إِذا البَنّاءُ لَم يُعطَ اِتِّئادا

No solidity can be hoped for in a building

if the builder is not allowed due deliberation.

بَنى الدارَ الَّتي كُنّا نَراها

أَمانِيَّ المُخَيَّلِ أَو رُقادا

He built the house that we had seen

as fancies of imagination or a dream in sleep.

وَلَم يَبعُد عَلى نَفسٍ مَرامٌ

إِذا رَكِبَت لَهُ الهِمَمُ البِعادا

No goal has proved too distant for a soul

when resolves ride far distances to reach it.

وَلَم أَرَ بَعدَ قُدرَتِهِ تَعالى

كَمَقدِرَةِ اِبنِ آدَمَ إِن أَرادا

After His power—exalted be He—I have seen none

like the power of Adam's son when he wills.

جَرى وَالناسُ في رَيبٍ وَشَكٍّ

يَرومُ السَبقَ فَاِختَرَقَ الجِيادا

He ran while people were in uncertainty and doubt,

seeking the lead, and broke past the fine steeds.

وَعودِيَ دونَها حَتّى بَناها

وَمِن شَأنِ المُجَدِّدِ أَن يُعادى

He was opposed over it until he built it;

it is the innovator's lot to be opposed.

يَهونُ الكَيدُ مِن أَعدى عَدُوٍّ

عَلَيكَ إِذا الوَلِيُّ سَعى وَكادا

An arch-enemy's plotting seems slight

to you when a friend sets to work and plots.

فَجاءَت كَالنَهارِ إِذا تَجَلى

عُلُوّاً في المَشارِقِ وَاِنطِيادا

So it emerged like daylight when it breaks,

high on the eastern horizons and towering aloft.

نَصونُ كَرائِمَ الأَموالِ فيها

وَنُنزِلُها الخَزائِنَ وَالنِضادا

We safeguard our choicest wealth within it,

and place it in vaults and on storage racks.

وَنُخرِجُها فَتَكسِبُ ثُمَّ تَأوي

رُجوعَ النَحلِ قَد حُمِّلنَ زادا

We send it out to earn, and then it returns home,

as bees return, laden with provisions.

وَلَم أَرَ مِثلَها أَرضاً أَغَلَّت

وَما سُقِيَت وَلا طَعَمَت سَمادا

I have seen no land like it yield a harvest,

though it was not watered, nor did it taste manure,

وَلا مُستَودَعاً مالاً لِقَومٍ

إِذا رَجَعوا لَهُ أَدّى وَزادا

nor a custodian entrusted with a people's money

that, when they return to it, repays them and adds more.

وَمِن عَجَبٍ نُثَبِّتُها أُصولاً

وَتِلكَ فُروعُها تَغَشى البِلادا

And, wondrously, we give it firm roots,

while its branches spread across the land.

كَأَنَّ القُطرَ مِن شَوقٍ إِلَيها

سَما قَبلَ الأَساسِ بِها عِمادا

As though the country, longing for it,

had raised its pillars before its foundation was laid.

وَلَو مَلَكَت كُنوزَ الأَرضِ كَفّي

جَعَلتُ أَساسَها ماساً وَرادا

Had my hand possessed the treasures of the earth,

I would have made its foundation diamonds and radium.

وَلَو أَنَّ النُجومَ عَنَت لِحُكمي

فَرَشتُ النَيِّراتِ لَها مِهادا

And had the stars bowed to my command,

I would have laid the shining stars as its bed.