أجل هذه أعلامه ومواكبه — Hafez Ibrahim

أَجَل هَذِهِ أَعلامُهُ وَمَواكِبُه

هَنيئاً لَهُم فَليَسحَبِ الذَيلَ ساحِبُه

Yes, these are its banners and its processions.

Joy to them! Let whoever trails his robe's train trail it proudly.

هَنيئاً لَهُم فَالكَونُ في يَومِ عيدِهِم

مَشارِقُهُ وَضّاءَةٌ وَمَغارِبُه

Joy to them! For on their feast day the universe—

its eastern reaches are radiant, and its western reaches too.

رَعى اللَهُ شَعباً جَمَّعَ العَدلُ شَملَهُ

وَتَمَّت عَلى عَهدِ الرَشادِ رَغائِبُه

May God guard a people whose ranks justice has united,

and whose wishes were fulfilled under Rashad's reign.

تَحالَفَ في ظِلِّ الهِلالِ إِمامُهُ

وَحاخامُهُ بَعدَ الخِلافِ وَراهِبُه

Beneath the crescent, its imam joined in alliance,

as did its rabbi and its monk, after their discord.

خُذوا بِيَدِ الإِصلاحِ وَالأَمرُ مُقبِلٌ

فَإِنّي أَرى الإِصلاحَ قَد طَرَّ شارِبُه

Take reform by the hand: the cause is advancing,

for I see that reform's mustache has begun to sprout.

وَرُدّوا عَلى المُلكِ الشَبابَ الَّذي ذَوى

فَإِنّي رَأَيتُ المُلكَ شابَت ذَوائِبُه

Restore to the realm the youth that withered,

for I have seen the realm's forelocks turn gray.

فَمَن يَطلُبُ الدُستورَ بِالسوءِ بَعدَ ما

حَمَتهُ يَدُ الفاروقِ فَاللَهُ طالِبُه

Whoever seeks to harm the constitution, after

al-Faruq's hand has protected it—God will pursue him.

إِذا شَوكَتُ الفاروقُ قامَ مُنادِياً

إِلى الحَقِّ لَبّاهُ نِيازي وَصاحِبُه

When Shawkat al-Faruq rises, calling

to truth, Niyazi and his companion answer him.

ثَلاثَةُ آسادٍ يُجانِبُها الرَدى

وَإِن هِيَ لاقاها الرَدى لا تُجانِبُه

Three lions whom death avoids;

yet if death encounters them, they do not avoid it.

يُصارِعُها صَرفُ المَنونِ فَتَلتَقي

مَخالِبُها فيهِ وَتَنبو مَخالِبُه

The ravages of death wrestle with them, and

their claws close upon it, while its claws glance off.

رَوَت قَولَ بَشّارٍ فَثارَت وَأَقسَمَت

وَقامَت إِلى عَبدِ الحَميدِ تُحاسِبُه

They quoted Bashshar's words, then rose and swore,

and rose against Abd al-Hamid to call him to account:

إِذا المَلِكُ الجَبّارُ صَعَّرَ خَدَّهُ

مَشَينا إِلَيهِ بِالسُيوفِ نُعاتِبُه

“When the tyrant king turns his cheek in scorn,

we march to him with swords to reproach him.”

وَسارَ عَلى أَعقابِها كُلُّ سابِحٍ

عَلى مَتنِهِ بُرجٌ مَشيدٌ يُداعِبُه

And in their wake sailed every swimming vessel,

a lofty tower upon its back, bantering with it,

يَصيحُ بِهِ لا رِيَّ أَو نَبلُغَ المُنى

وَلا شِبَعٌ أَو يُرجِعَ الحَقَّ غاصِبُه

crying to it: “No quenching our thirst until we attain our hopes,

and no satisfying our hunger until the usurper restores the right.”

هُنالِكَ فَاِنهَل وَاِتَّخِذ ثَمَّ مَربَطاً

بِيَلدِزَ وَاِحمَد في الوَغى مَن تُصاحِبُه

There, drink your fill, and establish a mooring

at Yildiz; praise those you accompany in battle.

رِجالٌ مِنَ الإيمانِ مَلأى نُفوسُهُم

وَجَيشٌ مِنَ الأَتراكِ ظَمأى قَواضِبُه

Men whose souls are filled with faith,

and an army of Turks whose keen swords thirst;

صَوالِجُهُ سُمرُ القَنا وَكُراتُهُ

رُؤوسُ الأَعادي وَالحُصونُ مَلاعِبُه

its polo mallets are brown spear-shafts, and its balls

are enemies' heads; fortresses are its playing fields.

إِذا ثارَ دُكَّت أَجبُلٌ وَتَخَشَّعَت

بِحارٌ وَأَمضى اللَهُ ما هُوَ كاتِبُه

When it rises, mountains are crushed and

seas bow low, and God fulfills what He has written.

وَثُلَّت عُروشٌ وَاِستَقَرَّت مَمالِكٌ

وَلَو أَنَّ ذا القَرنَينِ فيها يُناصِبُه

Thrones are toppled, and kingdoms become secure,

even were Dhu al-Qarnayn there to oppose it.

فَمَن لَم يُشاهِد يَلدِزاً بَعدَ رَبِّها

وَقَد زالَ عَنهُ المُلكُ وَاِندَكَّ جانِبُه

Whoever has not seen Yildiz after its lord's downfall,

with kingship gone from him and his side laid low,

وَأَسلَمَهُ أَحبابُهُ لِقُضاتِهِ

وَفَرَّ وَلَم يَخشَ المَعَرَّةَ كاتِبُه

his loved ones surrendering him to his judges,

and his secretary fleeing, unafraid of disgrace,

وَقَلَّمَتِ الأَقدارُ أَظفارَ بَطشِهِ

وَدَلَّ عَلى ما تَجهَلُ الجِنُّ حاجِبُه

and fate clipping the claws of his violence,

and his chamberlain revealing what even the jinn did not know—

فَما شَهِدَ الدُنيا تَزولُ وَلا رَأى

بَلاءَ قَضاءِ اللَهِ فيمَن يُحارِبُه

has not witnessed the world pass away, nor seen

the scourge of God's judgment upon those who fight Him.

أُبيحَ حِماها وَاِنطَوى مَجدُ رَبِّها

وَقامَت عَلى البَيتِ الحَميدي نَوادِبُه

Its sanctuary was laid open, and its lord's glory folded away;

its mourners rose over the Hamidian house.

وَلَم يُغنِ عَن عَبدِ الحَميدِ دَهاؤُهُ

وَلا عَصَمَت عَبدَ الحَميدِ تَجارِبُه

Abd al-Hamid's cunning did not avail him,

nor did his experience protect Abd al-Hamid.

وَلَم يَحمِهِ حِصنٌ وَلَم تَرِم دونَهُ

دَنانيرُهُ وَالأَمرُ بِالأَمرِ حازِبُه

No fortress protected him, nor were shots fired in his defense

by his dinars, as crisis upon crisis beset him.

وَلَم يُخفِهِ عَن أَعيُنِ الحَقِّ مِخدَعٌ

وَلا نَفَقٌ في الأَرضِ جَمٌّ مَسارِبُه

No secret chamber hid him from the eyes of truth,

nor an underground tunnel with many passages.

أَقامَ عَلَيهِ مَهلَكاً عِندَ مَهلَكٍ

يَمُرُّ بِهِ رَوحُ الصَبا فَيُواثِبُه

He set around himself one deathtrap beside another;

the east wind's breath passes one, and the trap springs upon it.

تَحاماهُ حَتّى الوَهمُ خَوفَ اِغتِيالِهِ

فَلَو مَسَّهُ طَيفٌ لَدارَت لَوالِبُه

Even fancy shunned him, fearing assassination;

had a phantom touched him, his screws would have spun.

وَأَسرَفَ في حُبِّ الحَياةِ فَحاطَها

بِسورٍ مِنَ الأَهوالِ لَم يَنجُ راكِبُه

He loved life to excess, and so encircled it

with a wall of terrors that none who mounted it survived.

فَفي كُلِّ قُفلٍ لِلمَنِيَّةِ مَكمَنٌ

وَفي كُلِّ مِفتاحٍ قَضاءٌ يُراقِبُه

In every lock, death had a lurking place,

and in every key, a doom lay watching him.

وَفي كُلِّ رُكنٍ صورَةٌ لَو تَكَلَّمَت

لَما شَكَّ في عَبدِ الحَميدِ مُخاطِبُه

In every corner stood an image which, if it spoke,

would leave its interlocutor in no doubt it was Abd al-Hamid.

تَماثيلُ إيهامٍ أُنيمَت وَأُقعِدَت

تَراءى بِها أَعطافُهُ وَمَناكِبُه

Illusory statues, laid down to sleep and seated upright,

in which his sides and shoulders appeared,

تُمَثِّلُهُ في نَومِهِ وَجُلوسِهِ

وَتَخدَعُ فيهِ المَوتَ حينَ يُقارِبُه

depicting him asleep and seated,

and deceiving death about him as it drew near.

أَقامَ عَلَيهِ أَلفَ مَوتٍ مُحَجَّبٍ

لِيَغلِبَ مَوتاً واحِداً عَزَّ غالِبُه

He set around himself a thousand veiled deaths,

to defeat a single death whose conqueror is hard to find.

سَلوهُ أَأَغنَت عَنهُ في يَومِ خَلعِهِ

عَجائِبُهُ أَو أَحرَزَتهُ غَرائِبُه

Ask him: on the day of his deposition, did

his marvels avail him, or his wonders keep him safe?

وَقَد نَزَلَ المِقدارُ بِالأَمرِ صادِعاً

فَضاقَت عَلى شَيخِ المُلوكِ مَذاهِبُه

Fate had descended, openly proclaiming the command,

and every path narrowed for the elder of kings.

وَأَخرَجَهُ مِن يَلدِزٍ رَبُّ يَلدِزٍ

وَجَرَّدَهُ مِن سَيفِ عُثمانَ واهِبُه

The Lord of Yildiz expelled him from Yildiz,

and the giver of Osman's sword stripped him of it.

وَأَصبَحَ في مَنفاهُ وَالجَيشُ دونَهُ

يُغالِبُ ذِكرى مُلكِهِ وَتُغالِبُه

He found himself in exile, with the army barring his way,

struggling against the memory of his reign, as it struggled against him.

يُناديهِ صَوتُ الحَقِّ ذُق ما أَذَقتَهُم

فَكُلُّ اِمرِئٍ رَهنٌ بِما هُوَ كاسِبُه

The voice of truth calls to him: “Taste what you made them taste,

for every man is held in pledge for what he earns.

هُمُ مَنَحوكَ اليَومَ ما أَنتَ مُشتَهٍ

فَرُدَّ لَهُم بِالأَمسِ ما أَنتَ سالِبُه

Today they have granted you what you desire;

so give them back what you took away yesterday.

وَدَع عَنكَ ما أَمَّلتَ إِن كُنتَ حازِماً

فَلَم يَبقَ لِلآمالِ فَضلٌ تُجاذِبُه

Abandon what you hoped for, if you are prudent;

for no shred of hope remains for you to grasp.”

مَضى عَهدُ الاِستِبدادِ وَاِندَكَّ صَرحُهُ

وَوَلَّت أَفاعيهِ وَماتَت عَقارِبُه

The age of despotism has passed, and its edifice has crumbled;

its vipers have fled, and its scorpions have died.

لَكَ اللَهُ يا تَمّوزُ إِنَّكَ بَلسَمٌ

لِجَرحى الأَسى وَالدَهرُ تَعدو نَوائِبُه

God be with you, O Tammuz! You are a balm

for grief's wounded, while time's calamities charge on.

فَكَم رُعتَ جَبّاراً وَأَرهَقتَ ظالِماً

وَأَنصَفتَ مَظلوماً تَوالَت مَصائِبُه

How many tyrants you have terrified, and oppressors you have overburdened,

and given justice to the wronged whose calamities followed one another!

فَدَيناكَ مِن شَهرٍ أَغَرٍّ مُحَجَّلٍ

أَوائِلُهُ مَيمونَةٌ وَعَواقِبُه

May we be your ransom, O white-blazed, white-stockinged month,

whose beginnings and endings alike are auspicious.

تُقابِلُهُ الأَعيادُ في الأَرضِ كُلَّما

تَجَلّى هِلالُ الشَهرِ أَو لاحَ حاجِبُه

Festivals greet it throughout the earth whenever

the month's crescent shines forth, or its eyebrow appears.

فَفي الغَربِ عيدٌ يَنظِمُ الغَربُ حُسنَهُ

فَتَهتَزُّ مِن وَقعِ السُرورِ جَوانِبُه

In the West is a feast whose beauty the West arrays,

and its regions tremble at the impact of joy.

وَفي الشَرقِ عيدٌ لَم يَرَ الشَرقُ مِثلَهُ

تَدَفَّقُ في دارِ السَلامِ مَواكِبُه

And in the East is a feast whose like the East has never seen,

its processions pouring through the Abode of Peace.

يُطيفونَ بِالعَرشِ الكَريمِ وَرَبُّهُ

تُطيفُ بِهِم آلاؤُهُ وَمَناقِبُه

They circle the noble throne, while its lord's

blessings and virtues circle them.

لِتَهنَئ أَميرَ المُؤمِنينَ مُحَمَّداً

خِلافَتُهُ فَالعَرشُ سَعدٌ كَواكِبُه

May Muhammad, Commander of the Faithful, rejoice

in his caliphate, for the throne's stars are auspicious.

سَتَملِكُ أَمواجَ البِحارِ سَفينُهُ

كَما مَلَكَت شُمَّ الجِبالِ كَتائِبُه

His fleet shall master the waves of the seas,

as his battalions have mastered the lofty mountains.

مَمالِكُهُ مَحروسَةٌ وَثُغورُهُ

رَكائِبُهُ مَنصورَةٌ وَمَراكِبُه

His kingdoms and frontiers are guarded;

his mounts and vessels are victorious.