وقفت ضحى في شاطء النيل وقفة — Elia Abu Madi

وَقَفتُ ضُحىً في شاطِءِ النيلِ وَقفَةً

يَضُنُّ بِها إِلّا عَلى النيلِ شاعِرُه

And I stood at midmorning on the Nile's bank,

A pause its poet begrudges to all but the Nile.

تَهَلَّلَ حَتّى كادَ يَبدو ضَميرُهُ

وَعَبَّسَ حَتّى كادَ يُشَكِّلُ ظاهِرُه

It beamed until its inner heart almost showed,

And frowned until its outward face was almost inscrutable.

فَثَمَّ جَلالٌ يَملَءُ النَفسَ هَيبَةً

وَثَمَّ جَلالٌ يَملَءُ العَينَ باهِرُه

For there is a majesty that fills the soul with awe,

And a majesty whose dazzling splendor fills the eye.

فَطَوراً أُجيلُ الطَرفَ في صَفَحاتِهِ

وَطَوراً أُجيلُ الطَرفَ فيما يُجاوِرُه

So at times I turn my gaze across its surfaces,

And at times I turn my gaze toward what lies beside it.

وَأَلحَظُ شَمسَ الأُفق وَهيَ مُطِلَّةٌ

تُسايِرُ فيها ظِلَّها إِذ تُسايِرُه

And I watch the sun on the horizon, looking down,

Keeping pace there with her reflection as she keeps pace with it.

فَأَحسَبُها فيهِ تُساهِمُني الهَوى

وَتَحسَبُني فيها الغَرامُ أُشاطِرُه

So I think she shares my love for it,

And she thinks I share its passion for her.

إِذا هِيَ أَلقَت في حَواشيهِ نورَها

رَأى التِبرَ يَجري في حَواشيهِ ناظِرُه

When she casts her light along its margins,

Its beholder sees raw gold flowing along its margins.

أَطالَت بِهِ التَحديق حَتّى كَأَنَّما

تُحاوِلُ مِنهُ أَن تَبينَ سَرائِرُه

She gazes long upon it, as though

Trying to bring its innermost secrets to light.

فَيا لَهُما إِلفَينِ باتا بِمَعزِلٍ

يُخامِرُها مِن حُبِّهِ ما يُخامِرُه

Ah, those two lovers, secluded together!

The love that stirs in her for it stirs in it as well.

يَروحُ النَسيمُ الرَطبُ في جَنَباتِهِ

يُداعِبُهُ طَورا وَطَوراً يُحاوِرُه

The moist breeze wanders along its banks,

Now caressing it, now conversing with it.

وَتَقبُضُ مِن مَبسوطِهِ نَفَحاتُهُ

كَما قَبَضَ الثَوبَ المُطَرَّزَ ناشِرُه

And its gusts gather up parts of the river's outspread surface,

As one who spread an embroidered robe gathers it back.

فَيَصدُفُ عَنه وَهوَ داجٍ مُقَطَّبٌ

كَأَنَّ عَدُوّاً بِالنَسيمِ يُحاذِرُه

So the river turns away from it, dark and scowling,

As though in the breeze were an enemy it feared.

كَأَنّي بِهِ سِفرٌ تَدانَت سُطورُهُ

أَوائِلُهُ قَد شُكِّلَت وَأَواخِرُه

It seems to me a book whose lines have drawn together,

Its first and last lines marked with vowel signs.

إِذا ما جَلا لِلناظِرينَ رُموزَهُ

تَجَلّى لَهُم ماضي الزَمان وَحاضِرُه

When it reveals its symbols to those who look,

Time's past and present are revealed to them.

أَيا نيلُ نَبِّئني أَحاديثَ مَن مَضَوا

لَعَلَّ شِفاءَ النَفسِ ما أَنتَ ذاكِرُه

O Nile, tell me the tales of those who have gone before;

Perhaps the soul's cure lies in what you recount.

حَيالَكَ صَبٌّ بِالخُطوبِ مُهَدَّدٌ

جَوانِحُهُ رَهنُ الهُموم وَخاطِرُه

Before you stands a lovesick man, threatened by calamities,

His breast and his mind held hostage by cares.

أَطاعَ شُجوناً لَو أَطاعَ فُؤادَهُ

عَلَيها لَفاضَت بِالنَجيعِ مَحاجِرُه

He yielded to sorrows; had he heeded his heart

Over them, his eye sockets would have overflowed with blood.

يَحُثُّ إِلَيَّ الدَهرُ كُلَّ رَزيأَةٍ

عَلى عَجَلٍ حَتّى كَأَنِّيَ واتِرُه

Time drives every calamity toward me

In haste, as though I had wronged it.

وَما أَنا بِالعَبدِ الَّذي يَرهَبُ العَصا

وَلَكِنَّني حُرٌّ تَروعُ بَوادِرُه

And I am no slave who fears the rod,

But a free man whose outbursts strike terror.

أَيا نيلُ فَاِمنَحني عَلى الحَقِّ قُوَّةً

فَما سَوَّدَ الضِرغامُ إِلّا أَظافِرُه

O Nile, grant me strength to uphold the right,

For only its claws made the lion lord.

وَهَبنِيَ بَأساً يَسكُنُ الدَهرُ عِندَهُ

فَقَد طالَما جاشَت عَلَيَّ مَناخِرُه

And grant me might before which Time grows still,

For its nostrils have so often flared against me.

إِذا لَم تَكُن عَونَ الشَجِيِّ عَلى الأَسى

فَخاذِلُهُ فيهِ سَواء وَناصِرُه

If you do not help the sorrowful against grief,

Then in grief, his deserter and his defender are alike.

قِني البَأس وَاِمنَع شَعبَكَ الضَعفَ يَتَّقي

وَيُنصِفُهُ مِن حُسّادِهِ مَن يُناكِرُه

Shield me from adversity and spare your people weakness, so they are feared,

And their adversary vindicates them against their enviers.

هُوَ الدَهرُ مِن ضِدَّينِ ذَل وَعِزَّةً

فَمَن ذَلَّ شاكيه وَمَن عَزَّ شاكِرُه

It is Time, made of two opposites: abasement and honor;

So the abased complain of it, and the exalted thank it.

وَلِلقادِرِ الماضي العَزيمَةِ حُلوُهُ

وَلِلعاجِزِ الواهي الشَكيمَةِ حازِرُه

Its sweetness is for the capable, resolute in purpose,

And its sourness for the helpless, weak in mettle.

وَما الناسُ إِلّا القادِرونَ عَلى العُلى

وَلَيسَت صُنوفُ الطَيرِ إِلّا كَواسِرُه

And people are only those able to attain the heights,

And none of the birds count but the birds of prey.

أَلَ تَرَ مُنذُ اِستُلينَت قَناتُهُ

تَمَشَّت إِلَيهِ الحادِثاتُ تُساوِرُه

Do you not see, since their spear-shaft was deemed pliant,

Calamities have crept up to assail them?

فَأُرهِقَ حَتّى ما يَبينُ كَلامُهُ

وَقُيِّدَ حَتّى لَيسَ تَسري خَواطِرُه

So they were crushed until their speech was no longer clear,

And fettered until their thoughts no longer flowed.

وَلَو مَلَكوا الأَقدارَ اِستَغفَرَ الَّذي

لَهُ المُلكُ يُؤتيهِ الَّذي هُوَ آثِرُه

And had they possessed the fates—I ask forgiveness of Him

Whose is dominion, who grants it to the one He favors—

لَما تَرَكوا شَمسَ النَهارِ يَزورُهُ

سَناها وَلا زَهرُ النُجومِ تُسامِرُه

They would not have let the daytime sun visit them

With its radiance, nor the blossoms of the stars keep them company by night.

يُريدونَ أَن يَبقى وَيَذهَبُ مَجدُهُ

وَكَيفَ بَقاءُ الشَعبِ بادَت مَآثِرُهُ

They want the people to remain while their glory departs;

But how can a people survive when their glorious deeds have perished?

فَغورِسَت في مِصرَ يُسَدِّدُ سَهمَُ

إِلَيه وَقَنّاصُ الوُحوشِ يُضافِرُه

So Gorst, in Egypt, aims an arrow

At them, and the hunter of wild beasts joins forces with him.

يَلِجّونَ في إِعناتِهِ فَإِذا شَكا

يَصيحونَ أَنَّ الشَعبَ قَد ثارَ ثائِرُه

They persist in tormenting the people; when the people complain,

They shout that the people's rebel has risen.

لَقَد هَزَأوا لَمّا تَنَبَّهَ بَعضُهُ

فَلِم ذُعِروا لَمّا تَنَبَّهَ سائِرُه

They mocked when some of the people awoke;

Then why were they frightened when the rest awoke?

يَقولونَ جانٍ لا يَحُلُّ فِكاكَهُ

وَلَو أَنصَفوهُ حَمَلَ الإِثمَ أَسرُه

They say, "A criminal whose release is forbidden."

And had they treated them justly, their captivity would bear the guilt.

عَجِبتُ لِقَومٍ يُنكِرونَ شُعورَهُ

وَهاتا مَجاليه وَتِلكَ مَظاهِرُه

I marvel at those who deny the people's consciousness,

Yet here are its expressions, and there its manifestations.

أَلَم يَكُ في يَومِ القَناةِ ثَباتُهُ

دَليلاً عَلى أَن لَيسَ توهى مَرائِرُه

Was not their steadfastness on the day of the Canal

Proof that their cords of resolve cannot be weakened?

يَعُزُّ عَلى المَصرِيِّ أَن يَحمِلَ الأَذى

وَحاضِرُهُ يَأبى الهَوان وَغابِرُه

Egyptians find it hard to bear harm,

Their present and their past reject humiliation.

لَئِن تَكُ لِلتاريخ وَاللَهِ زينَةٌ

فَما زينَةُ التاريخِ إِلّا مَفاخِرُه

If history has any adornment—by God—

History's adornment is nothing but their glories.

رَعى اللَهُ مِن أَبنائِهِ مَن يَذودُ عَن

حِماه وَمِن أَضيافِهِ مَن يُظاهِرُه

May God guard those among their sons who defend

Their sanctuary, and those among their guests who support them.

هُم بَعَثوا فِيَّ الحَياةَ جَديدَةً

فَشُدتُ أَواخيه وَعَزَّت أَواصِرُه

They awakened new life within me,

So I strengthened their ties, and their bonds grew firm.

وَهُم أَسمَعوا الأَيّامَ صَوتاً كَأَنَّما

هُوَ الرَعدُ تَدوي في السَماءِ زَماجِرُه

And they made the days hear a voice as though

It were thunder, its roars resounding in the sky.

وَهُم أَطلَقوا أَقلامَهُم حينَ أَصبَحَت

مُكَبَّلَةً أَقلامُه وَمَحابِرُه

And they unleashed their pens at a time when

The people's pens and inkwells had become fettered.

كَذَلِكَ إِن يَعدَم أَخو الظُلمِ ناصِراً

فَلَن يَعدُمَ المَظلومُ حُراً يُناصِرُه

Thus, if the oppressor should lack a supporter,

The oppressed will never lack a free man to champion them.