ليطرب من شاء أن يطربا — Elia Abu Madi

لِيَطرَبَ مَن شاءَ أَن يَطرَبا

فَلَستُ بِمُستَمطِرٍ خُلَّبا

Let whoever wishes rejoice.

For I seek no rain from a rainless cloud.

عَرَفتُ الزَمانَ قَريبَ الأَذى

فَصِرتُ إِلى خَوفِهِ أَقرَبا

I have known time to be quick to hurt;

So I have come closer to fearing it.

وَهَذا الجَديدُ أَبوهُ القَديمُ

وَلا تَلِدُ الحَيَّةُ الأَرنَبا

This new one's father is the old;

And a serpent does not give birth to a hare.

أَرى الكَونَ يَرمُقُهُ ضاحِكاً

كَمَن راءَ في تيهِهِ كَوكَبا

I see the world watching it with a smile,

Like one who saw a star while lost.

وَلَو عَلِمَ الخَلقُ ما عِندَهُ

أَهَلّوا إِلى اللَهِ كَي يَغرُبا

And if humankind knew what it holds,

They would cry out to God for it to depart.

وَلَو عَلِمَ العيدُ ما عِندَهُم

أَبى أَن يُمَزِّقَ عَنهُ الخِبا

And if the festival knew what they hold,

It would refuse to tear away its tent-cover.

أَلا لا يَغُرَّكَ تَهليلُهُم

وَقَولَتُهُم لَكَ يا مَرحَبا

Beware: do not let their cheers deceive you,

Nor their saying to you, "Welcome!"

فَقَد لَبَّسوكَ لِكَي يَخلَعوكَ

كَما تَخلَعُ القَدَمُ الجَورَبا

For they have put you on only to take you off,

As the foot takes off a sock.

وَلوعونَ بِالغَدرِ مِن طَبعِهِم

فَمَن لَم يَكُن غادِراً جَرَّبا

They are fond of treachery by nature;

So whoever has not betrayed has tried to.

وَكائِن فَتىً هَزَّني قَولُهُ

أَنا خِدنُكَ الصادِقُ المُجتَبى

And many a youth has stirred me with his words:

"I am your faithful, chosen companion."

أُرافِقُ مِن شَكلِهِ ضَيغَماً

يُرافِقُ مِن نَفسِهِ ثَعلَبا

In his outward form, I keep company with a lion;

In his soul, he keeps company with a fox.

هُمُ القَومُ أَصحَبَهُم مُكرَها

كَما يَصحَبُ القَمَرُ الغَيهَبا

These are the people I accompany unwillingly,

As the moon accompanies deep darkness.

أَرانِيَ أَوحَدَ مِن ناسِكٍ

عَلى أَنَّني في عِدادِ الدَبى

I find myself lonelier than a hermit,

Though I am numbered among the young locusts.

وَأَمرَحُ في بَلَدِ عامِرٍ

وَأَحسَبُني قاطِناً سَبسَبا

And I frolic in a populous town,

Yet think myself dwelling on a barren plain.

وَقالَ خَليلِيَ الهَناءُ القُصورُ

وَكَيف وَقَد مُلِأَت أَذأُبا

My friend said, "Happiness lies in palaces."

But how, when they are filled with wolves?

أَلفتُ الهُمومَ فَلَو أَنَّني

قَدَرتُ تَمَنَّعتُ أَن أَطرَبا

I have grown used to cares, so if I

Could, I would refuse to rejoice.

كَأَنَّ الجِبالَ عَلى كاهِلي

كَأَنَّ سُروري أَن أَغضَبا

As though mountains lay upon my shoulders,

As though my joy were to be angry.

وَكَيفَ اِرتِياحُ أَخي غُربَةٍ

يُصاحِبُ مِن هَمِّهِ عَقرَبا

And how can an exile find repose,

Who keeps a scorpion of sorrow for company?

عَتِبتُ عَلى الدَهرِ لَو أَنَّني

أَمِنتُ فُؤادِيَ أَن يَعتَبا

I would reproach Time, if I

Felt safe from my heart's reproach.

وَجَدتُك وَالشَيبُ في مَفرِقي

وَوَدَّعَني وَأَخوكَ الصَبى

I met you with gray hair at my parting,

And youth, your brother, had bid me farewell.

فَلَيسَ بُكائِيَ عاماً خَلا

وَلَكِن شَبابي الَّذي غُيِّبا

So my weeping is not for a year gone by,

But for my youth, which has been taken away.

فَيا فَرَحاً بِمَجيءِ السِنينِ

تَجيءُ السُنونُ لِكَي تَذهَبا

So, O you who rejoice at the coming of years,

The years come only to go.

عَجيبٌ مَشيبِيَ قَبلَ الأَوانِ

وَأَعجَبُ أَن لا أَرى أَشيَبا

Strange is my graying before its time;

Stranger still would be not to see myself gray-haired.

فَإِنَّ نَوائِبَ عارَكتُها

تَرُدُّ فَتى العَشرِ مُحدَودِبا

For the calamities I have wrestled with

Would leave a boy of ten hunched over.

وَيا بِنتَ كولَمبَ كَم تَضحَكينَ

كَأَنَّكِ أَبصَرتِ مُستَغرَبا

And you, daughter of Columbus, how much you laugh,

As though you had seen something strange!

أَلَيسَ البَياضُ الَّذي تَكرَهينَ

يُحَبِّبُني ثَغرَكِ الأَشنَبا

Is not the whiteness you dislike

What makes your pearly-toothed mouth dear to me?

فَمَن كانَ يَكرَهُ إِشراقَهُ

فَإِنّي أَكرَهُ أَن يُخضَبا

So whoever may dislike its radiance,

I, for my part, hate to have it dyed.

أُحِبُّكَ يا أَيُّها المُستَنيرُ

وَإِن تَكُ أَشَمَتَّ الرَبرَبا

I love you, O shining one,

Even if you have made the gazelles gloat.

وَأَهوى لِأَجلِكَ لَمعَ البُروقِ

يَ أَعشَقُ فيكَ أَقاحِ الرُبى

And for your sake I love the gleam of lightning,

[Unclear fragment] I adore in you the daisies of the hills.

وَيا عامُ هَل جِئتَنا مُحرَماً

فَنَرجوكَ أَم جِئتَنا مُحرِبا

And, O year, have you come to us under sacred truce,

That we may hope in you, or have you come bringing war?

تَوَلّى أَخوك وَقَد هاجَها

أَقَلُّ سِلاحٍ بَنيها الظُبى

Your brother departed after stirring it up;

Its sons' humblest weapons were sword blades.

يُجَندِلُ فيها الخَميسُ الخَميسَ

وَيَصطَرِعُ المُقنَبُ المُقنَبا

There, army lays army low,

And cavalry troop grapples with cavalry troop.

إِذا اِرتَفَعَ الطَرفُ في جَوِّها

رَأى مِن عَجاجَتِها هِندِبا

When the gaze rises into its sky,

It sees chicory amid its dust-cloud.

وَجَيّاشَةٍ بَرقُها رَعدُها

تَدُكُّ مِنَ الشاهِقِ المَنكَبا

And many a raging cannon, its lightning its thunder,

Batters the shoulder of the towering peak.

يَسيرُ بِها الجُندُ مَحمولَةً

قَضاءَ عَلى عَجَلٍ رُكَبا

The troops advance with it borne along—

Doom mounted upon wheels.

يَوَدُّ الفَتى أَنَّهُ هارِبٌ

وَيَمنَعُهُ الخَوفُ أَن يَهرُبا

The youth wishes he were fleeing,

But fear prevents him from fleeing.

وَكَيفَ النَجاة وَمَقذوفُها

يَطولُ مِنَ الشَرقِ مَن غَرَّبا

And how can there be escape, when its projectile

Reaches from the east whoever goes west?

وَلَو أَنَّهُ في ثَنايا الغُيومِ

لَما أَمِنَ الغَيمُ أَن يُطلَبا

Even if he were amid the folds of clouds,

Even the clouds would not be safe from pursuit.

تَسُحُّ فَلَو أَنَّ تَهتانَها

حَيّاً أَنبَت القاحِلَ المُجدِبا

It pours down; if its streaming rain

Were life-giving rain, it would make the barren wasteland bloom.

فَما المَنجَنيق وَأَحجارُهُ

وَما الماضِياتُ الرِقاقُ الَشبا

What, then, are the catapult and its stones,

And the keen swords with slender edges?

إِن شَكَتِ الأَرضُ حَرَّ الصَدى

سَقاها النَجيعَ الوَرى صَيِّبا

If the earth complained of burning thirst,

Humankind gave it a downpour of blood to drink.

فَيا لِلحُروب وَأَهوالِها

أَما حانَ يا قَومُ أَن تُشجَبا

Alas for wars and their terrors!

Is it not time, people, that they be condemned?

هُوَ المَوتُ آتٍ عَلى رُغمِكُم

فَأَلقوا المُسَدَّس وَالأَشطُبا

Death is coming despite you;

So lay down the revolver and the grooved swords.

وَلِلخالِقِ المُلك وَالمالِكونَ

فَلا تَتبَعوا فيكُمُ أَشعَبا

And to the Creator belong the realm and its owners,

So do not follow an Ash'ab among you.

وَلَم أَنسَ مَصرَعَ تيتانِكٍ

وَمَصرَعَنا يَومَ طارَ النَبا

And I have not forgotten the sinking of the Titanic,

Nor our own downfall the day the news flew.

فَمِن شِدَّةِ الهَولِ في صِدقِهِ

رَغِبنا إِلى البَرقِ أَن يَكذِبا

From the sheer horror of its truth,

We begged the telegraph to be lying.

لَيالِيَ لا نَستَطيبُ الكَرى

وَلا نَجِدُ الماءَ مُستَعذَبا

For nights, we found no pleasure in sleep,

Nor found the water sweet to drink.

وَباتَ فُؤادِيَ بِهِ صَدعُها

وَبِتُّ أُحاذِرُ أَن يَرأَبا

And my heart lay with her fracture within it,

And I lay fearing it might heal.

وَلي ناظِرٌ غَرِقٌ مِثلُها

مِنَ الدَمعِ بِالبَحرِ مُستَوثِبا

And I have an eye drowned like her,

In tears, eager to leap into the sea.

إِذا ما تَذَكَّرتُها هِجتُ بي

أَخافُ مَعَ الدَمعِ أَن تُسرَبا

Whenever I remembered her, I grew agitated within;

I fear it may drain away with the tears.

فَأُمسي عَلى كَبِدي راحَتي

أَخافُ مَعَ الدَمعِ أَن تُسرَبا

So I spend the evening with my palm upon my liver,

I fear it may drain away with the tears.

خُطوبٌ يَراها الوَرى مِثلَها

لِذَلِكَ أَشفَقَ أَن تُكتَبا

Calamities whose like humankind witnesses;

For that reason he feared they would be recorded.

لَقَد نَكَبَ الشَرقَ نَكَباتِهِ

وَحاوَلَ أَن يَنكِبَ المَغرِبا

He has indeed afflicted the East with his calamities,

And tried to afflict the West,

وَأَشقى نُفوسُ بَني آدَمٍ

لِيُرضي السَراحين وَالأَعقُبا

And made the souls of Adam's sons miserable

To please the wolves and the eagles.

وَلَو جازَ بَينَ الضُحى وَالدُجى

لَقاتَلَ فيهِ الضُحى الغَيهَبا

And had he passed between daylight and night,

Daylight would have fought deep darkness there.

لَعَلَّك تَمحو جِناياتِهِ

فَنَنسى بِكَ الذَنبَ المُذنِبا

Perhaps you will erase his crimes,

So through you we forget the sin and the sinner.

إِذا كُنتَ لا تَستَطيعُ الخُلودَ

فَعِش بَينَنا أَثَراً طَيِّبا

If you cannot endure forever,

Then live on among us as a good legacy.

فَإِنَّكَ في إِثرِهِ راهِلٌ

مَشَيتَ السَواكَ أَوِ الهَيدَبى

For you will depart in his wake,

Whether you walk with a languid gait or a swift stride.