لبيك يا قلب ماض فيك ناداني — Elias Abu Shabaki

لَبَيكَ يا قَلبِ ماضٍ فيكَ ناداني

خَبَّأتُ في عِطرِهِ حُبّي وَإيماني

Here I am, O heart—a past within you called me.

In its fragrance I hid my love and my faith.

أَيّامَ كانَ الهَوى الغِرّيدُ يَضحَكُ بي

وَيَرتَمي مَرَحُ الدُنيا بِأَلحاني

In days when songful love laughed at me,

And the world's gaiety flung itself into my melodies.

وَكانَ لِلنّاسِ آمالٌ مُحَبَّرَةٌ

تَفَكَّكَت عَن كَلاليبٍ وَأَرسانِ

And people had beautifully adorned hopes,

That had broken free from hooks and halters.

فَقَد دَهى الحُكمَ أَمرٌ لا مَرَدَّ لَهُ

هانَ القَوِيُّ لَهُ وَاِستَأسَدَ الواني

For an event had struck the government, beyond all reversal;

Before it the strong were humbled, and the feeble grew lion-bold.

كانَت لَهُ القُرعَةُ الحَمقاءُ في بَلَدٍ

بَلا النقيضَينِ مِن جَهلٍ وَعِرفانِ

The foolish lot was his, in a country

That had experienced both opposites: ignorance and knowledge.

فَكانَ كَالجَهلِ لِلعُرفانِ عَجرَفَةٌ

وَكانَ لِلجَهلِ كَالعِرفانِ عُرفانِ

So knowledge, like ignorance, had its arrogance,

And ignorance, like knowledge, had its own understanding.

عَذيرُهُ وَمضَةٌ في لَيلِ مُدلِجٍ

باقٍ لَهُ أَمَلٌ في قَلبِ حَيرانِ

His excuse was a glimmer in a night traveler's darkness;

He still had hope in a bewildered heart.

كَسائِحٍ ضَلَّ في صَحراءَ مُحرِقَةٍ

كَأَنَّها قَلَقٌ في حُلمِ ظَمآنِ

Like a wanderer lost in a scorching desert,

As though it were anxiety in a thirsty man's dream.

يَمشي وَلِلنّارِ في أَجفانِهِ زَبَدٌ

عَلى لَظى الرَملِ مِن وادٍ لِوِديانِ

He walks with fire foaming in his eyelids,

Over the blaze of sand, from one valley to others.

وَلِلسَّرابِ خِياناتٌ عَلى فَمِهِ

كَأَنَّها هُزءُ شَيطانٍ بِإِنسانِ

And the mirage lays betrayals upon his mouth,

Like a devil's mockery of a human being.

حَتّى أَصابَ سَراهَ العَصرِ ناحِيَةً

يَمُجُّ فيها سَحابَ الظِلِّ كَهفانِ

Until his afternoon journey reached a place

Where two caves poured forth clouds of shade.

فَما تَخَيَّرَ بَل أَهوى عَلى ظَمَإٍ

فَصادَفَت شَفَتاهُ حَلقَ ثُعبانِ

He did not choose, but plunged down in thirst,

And his two lips met a serpent's throat.

في ذلِكَ الزَمَنِ العاتي لَبِستُ فَتىً

أَلَمَّ في خُلقِهِ أَمجادَ غَسّانِ

In that ruthless age, I donned a young man's guise,

Who gathered in his character the glories of Ghassan.

مِن سالِفِ الكَرَمِ المَسلوخِ عَن يَدِنا

باقٍ عَلى يَدِهِ إيماءُ إِدمانِ

Of the old generosity stripped from our hands,

A gesture of long habit still lingered upon his hand.

أَحلامُ لُبنانَ أَجسادٌ عَلى فَمِهِ

كَأَنَّ لُبنانَ لَم يَبرَح كَلبنانِ

On his lips, Lebanon's dreams took flesh,

As though Lebanon had never ceased to be like Lebanon.

تُصغي إِلى السِحرِ يُحييهِ بِهِ فَتَرى

في كُلِّ رابِيَةٍ بَعثاً لإيوانِ

You listen to the magic through which he revives it, and see

On every hill, the resurrection of a vaulted hall.

وَلَيسَ كَالفَألِ في الآدابِ داعِيَةٌ

لِهَديِ حَيرانَ أَو تَنبيهِ وَسنانِ

And there is no summons in literature like a good omen

For guiding the bewildered or rousing the drowsy.

وَكَالخَيالِ لِسانٌ يُستَفَزُّ بِهِ

شَعبٌ أَبِيٌّ إِلى تَجديدِ بُنيانِ

Nor is there a tongue like imagination, through which

A proud people is stirred to renew its edifice.

وَكانَ أَنَّ البَيانَ الحُرَّ في دَمِهِ

أَشاعَ حِقدَ اللَظى في الحاكِمِ الجاني

And it came to pass that the free eloquence in his blood

Stirred a blazing hatred in the criminal ruler.

فَقالَ نَهجُكَ في ما تَدَّعي خَطَرٌ

عَلى الرَعِيَّةِ يَحدوها لِعِصيانِ

So he said: “Your course, in what you claim, is a danger

To the subjects, driving them to rebellion.

أَما سَمِعتَ صُدورَ الشَعبِ تَهتِفُ لي

فَالشَعبُ مِلكيَ وَالأَيّامُ أَعواني

Have you not heard the people's breasts cry out for me?

For the people are my property, and the days are my allies.”

فَأَغمَدَ الحُرُّ في عَينَيهِ فُوَّهَةً

مِن ناظِرَيهِ كَبُركانٍ بِبُركانِ

Then the free man drove a crater into his eyes,

From his own two eyes—volcano against volcano.

وَقالَ مِلكُكَ لَيسَ الشَعب يا مَلِكي

فَلَستَ تَملِكُ إِلّا بَعضَ عُميانِ

And said: “The people are not your property, my king;

For you own only some blind people.

كُن مَن تَشاءُ كُنِ الدُنيا بِكامِلِها

فَلَستَ تَعدِلُ صِدّيقاً بِميزاني

Be whomever you wish; be the world in its entirety:

In my scales, you cannot equal a man of truth.

جَمالُ قَلبي عُريانٌ عَلى شَفَتي

وَنورُ نَفسي مَعقودٌ بِأَجفاني

The beauty of my heart is naked upon my lip,

And my soul's light is bound to my eyelids.

وَكَيفَ أَكذِبُ وَالدُنيا تُصارِحُني

حَتّى قُشوريَ حَتّى جِسمِيَ الفاني

And how could I lie when the world is frank with me,

Even my husks, even my perishing body?

أَنظُر إِلى النَهرِ في صَفوٍ وَفي كَدَرٍ

فَهَل تَخفّى عَلى الصَفصافِ وَالبانِ

Look at the river in clarity and in murk:

Has it hidden itself from the willows and the moringa trees?

لِلنّورِ في كُلِّ مَجرىً مِنهُ مِصقَلَةٌ

وَكُلِّ مُنعَطَفٍ لِلحُبِّ ثَديانِ

In each of its channels, light has a burnisher,

And at every bend, love has two breasts.

فَذلِكَ الجَبَلُ الجَبّارُ أَطعَمَني

قوتَ النُسورِ وَهذا النَهرُ رَوّاني

For that mighty mountain fed me

The eagles' fare, and this river quenched my thirst.

خَفِّف عُتُوَّكَ وَاِغسِل قَلبَكَ الجاني

لِلظُّلمِ يَومٌ وَلِلمَظلومِ يَومانِ

Abate your tyranny and wash your guilty heart:

Oppression has one day; the oppressed have two.

عَرشُ العَتِيِّ عَلى بُركانِ مُنكِرِهِ

شَتيمَةٌ رَخَمَت في قَلبِ سَكرانِ

The tyrant's throne atop the volcano of one who rejects him

Is an insult brooding in a drunkard's heart.

ما كانَ سُلطانُ هذا الشَعبِ سَيِّدَهُ

إِنَّ السِيادَةَ ما اِحتاجَت لِتيجانِ

The sovereign of this people was never its master;

Sovereignty has never needed crowns.

هذي الرَعِيَّةُ مَهما تَطغَ نافِرَةٌ

وَمَن تَكُن لَستَ فيها غَيرَ سُلطانِ

These subjects recoil, however much you tyrannize;

Whoever you may be, among them you are only a ruler.

تَعصي ضَميرَكَ وَالدُنيا تُناطُ بِهِ

وَحينَ أَعصي ضَلالاً فيكَ تَنهاني

You defy your conscience, though the world is bound to it,

Yet when I defy the error in you, you forbid me.

فَاِخلَع وَبَدِّل لَكَ الحِرباءُ قاعِدَةٌ

لَكَ الوَداعَةُ وَالطُغيانُ ثَوبانِ

So cast off and change; the chameleon is your model:

Gentleness and tyranny are two garments for you.

مَن أَنتَ أَنتَ يَدٌ سَوداءُ ما اِرتَفَعَت

إِلّا لِتَفريقِ أَحبابٍ وَإِخوانِ

Who are you? You are a black hand that never rose

Except to divide loved ones and brothers.

مِن أَينَ أَنتَ مِنَ الفَحشاءِ لَو شَعَرَت

روحي بِها لَم أَبع سَهلي وَأَظعاني

Where are you from? From depravity. Had it been sensed

By my soul, I would not have sold my plain and my caravans.

مَن جاءَنا بِكَ حُمقُ الشَعبِ يا مَلِكي

لا بُؤسُهُ فَبِكَ الهَدّامُ لا الباني

Who brought you to us? The people's folly, my king,

Not their misery; in you is the destroyer, not the builder.

لَقَد بَطِرتَ فَلَم تُستَر مُخَدّرَةٌ

وَقَد زَنَيتَ فَلَم يَهنَأ حَبيبانِ

Indeed you grew insolent, and no secluded woman was kept safe;

And you committed adultery, so no two lovers found happiness.

لَكَ الحُسامُ عَلى رَأسي تُسَرِّحُهُ

وَلي عَلَيكَ وَلَو حُجِّبتَ عَينانِ

You have the sword, which you unleash above my head,

And I have two eyes upon you, even if you are veiled.

لَم يَبقَ غَيرُ ثَمارٍ مِنكَ فانِيَةٍ

خَدائِعٌ نَتَنَت في بَعضِ عيدانِ

Nothing remains of you but perishing fruits,

Deceptions that have rotted in some branches.

أَما سَمِعتَ هُبوبَ الريحِ إِنَّ لَهُ

صَدى تَزَحُّفِ أَشباحٍ وَأَكفانِ

Have you not heard the blowing wind? It has

The echo of creeping ghosts and shrouds.”

فَدَمدَمَ الحاكِمُ الغَضبانُ وَاِرتَسَمَت

عَلَيهِ أَشباحُ غيلانٍ وَحيتانِ

Then the furious ruler rumbled, and there appeared

Upon him the phantoms of ghouls and whales.

وَأَصدَرَت نَفسُهُ ما في قَذارَتِها

الحَمراءِ مِن شَهوَةٍ لِلأَحمَرِ القاني

And his soul poured out what lay in its filth,

Its red filth—a craving for deep crimson.

وَصاحَ إِن يَكُ ذا حَدٍّ لِسانُكَ بي

فَلي لِسانٌ عَلَيهِ المَوتُ حَدّانِ

And he cried: “If your tongue has an edge against me,

Then I have a tongue on which death has two edges.”

فَحَملَقَ الحُرُّ في العاتي وَقالَ لَهُ

أَقضي غَداً أَو أَموتُ اليَومَ سِيّانِ

Then the free man stared hard at the tyrant and said to him:

“Whether I perish tomorrow or die today, it is all the same.

فَكُلُّ ما أَبتَغي أَن لا تُقاطِعَني

دَعني أُكَمِّل دِفاعِيَ أَيُّها الجاني

For all I seek is that you not interrupt me:

Let me finish my defense, you criminal.”