في الفن معنى حسنه لا يعرف

حتى يمثل ما بمثل يوسف

In art lies a meaning whose beauty is unknown

Until it is portrayed by someone like Yusuf.

جاء العراق يزوره فبه احتفت

ابناؤه وسبيلهم ان يحتفوا

He came to visit Iraq, where he was feted

By its sons, whose way it is to celebrate.

حيته عاصمة الرشيد فشيبها

وشبابها للعبقرية تهتف

The capital of al-Rashid greeted him; its elders

And its youth cheered for genius.

هبت تصفق عند رؤيتها له

حتى اذا قلت انتهت تستأنف

It sprang up applauding at the sight of him;

Even when I said it had finished, it began again.

طربت على تمثيله وترنحت

فكأنما قد اسكرتها قرقف

It delighted in his acting and swayed,

As though strong wine had intoxicated it.

لولا جمال حواره وجلاله

كانت حياة الفن شيئا يسخف

Were it not for his dialogue's beauty and grandeur,

The life of art would be something trivial.

يبكي العيون بما يقول ممثلا

ويعود في رفق لهن يجفف

He makes eyes weep with what he says while acting,

Then gently returns to dry them.

يجد الذي يرنو الى تمثيله

ان الحياة تعاد ثم تكيف

Whoever gazes at his acting finds

That life is recreated, then given shape.

وهناك تشترك النفوس بحسها

وهناك اشتات القلوب تألف

There souls share their feelings,

And there scattered hearts find harmony.

الفن حر لا يلين لقاهر

والفن لا يعنو ولا يتزلف

Art is free: it does not yield to a tyrant;

And art neither submits nor curries favor.

انا اكبر الفنان يمشي مطلقا

من كل قيدلا كمن هو يرسف

I revere the artist who walks free

Of every bond, unlike one who shuffles in chains.

ما اجمل النجم الذي في ليلتي

يرنو الي من السماء ويشرف

How beautiful the star that, in my night,

Gazes toward me from the sky and looks down from on high.

اكبر بيوسف ثم اكبر انه

في فنه ببراعة يتصرف

How great Yusuf is! How great indeed, for he

Practices his art with such dexterity.

قد انجبته مصر فناناً ومن

قد انجبته مصر فهو مطرف

Egypt bore him an artist; and anyone whom

Egypt has borne is a bringer of rare delights.

مصر وما مصر سوى ام على

من قد غذتهم من بنيها تعطف

Egypt—and Egypt is nothing but a mother

Who cherishes the sons she has nourished.

قد كنت اسمع انها سكن له

فيكاد بي شوقي اليها يقذف

I had heard that she was a home to him,

And my longing would almost fling me toward her.

يصف الحياة مصوراً الوانها

فتراه يذكي نارها ويخفف

He describes life, portraying its colors;

You see him kindle its fire and temper it.

ويريك مختلف الوقائع مثلما

حدثت فجائعها وليس يحرف

He shows you the various events just as

Their tragedies occurred, never distorting them.

تبقى العيون اليه شاخصة فما

هي عنه زائغة ولا هي تطرف

Eyes remain fixed upon him;

They neither stray from him nor blink.

يمشي على سنن الطبيعة راشداً

لا الفن يسبقه ولا هو يجنف

He walks rightly along nature's ways;

Art neither outruns him, nor does he stray.

مالي اذا شاهدت في تمثيله

صور الفجيعة للدموع اكفكف

Why, when I see in his acting

Scenes of tragedy, do I wipe away my tears?

ذرفت على تلك المشاهد مقلتي

عبراً وعهدي انها لا تذرف

My eye poured out, over those scenes,

Tears, though I had known it never to shed them.

ما كنت آذن بالبكاء لأعيني

حتى شجاني حين جد الموقف

I had never allowed my eyes to weep

Until he saddened me when the scene grew grave.

كم مشهد للبؤس من جرائه

يبكي الحكيم ويضك المتفلسف

How many a scene of misery, through him,

Makes the wise man weep and crushes the would-be philosopher!

واذا الرواية مثلت فنجاحها

شيء على اسلوبها يتوقف

And when a play is staged, its success

Is something that depends upon its style.

كالشعر معناه يتم بلفظه

فكأنه خود عليها مطرف

Like poetry, whose meaning is completed by its wording,

As though it were a maiden wearing a bordered cloak.

اللفظ والمعنى جناحا طائر

غرد يطوف بروضه ويرفرف

Words and meaning are a bird's two wings,

Singing as it circles its garden and flutters.

في المسرح المشهود اسمع رنة

فاخال ان الريح هبت تعصف

In the thronged theater, I hear a ringing cry,

And imagine that the wind has risen, storming.

تشكو صبابتها ويشكو بثه

هيفاء فاتنة العيون واهيف

She laments her yearning; he laments his anguish:

A slender woman, enchanting to the eyes, and a slender man.

شر المصائب ما يجيء مفاجئا

كالسيل يطغى في الصباح فيجرف

The worst calamities are those that come suddenly,

Like a torrent overflowing in the morning and sweeping away.

طب بالحياة ومالها من ظاهر

يلهيك منه عن الخفى الزخرف

Take pleasure in life and its outward appearance;

Its ornament distracts you from what lies hidden.

واترك حقيقتها فرب حقيقية

يدمى فؤادك فهمها ويخوف

Leave its reality alone, for many a truth,

Once understood, makes your heart bleed and frightens you.

اما الغرام فأنني في كبرتي

شوقا الى ايامه اتشوف

As for love, in my old age I

Look longingly toward its days.

ووددت لو اني اعود الى الصبا

ولكل احلامي به استأنف

I wished I could return to youth

And begin all my dreams in it anew.

اذ كنت اقرأ بينات ربيعه

سوراً ووجه الارض دوني مصحف

When I read the clear signs of its spring

As chapters, the earth's face before me a Qur'an.

واسير من جناته في روضه

غناء اجني ما اشاء واقطف

And walked, among its gardens, through its meadow,

Lush and verdant, gathering and plucking whatever I wished.

والمورقات مفتحات زهرها

والطير فوق المورقات ترفرف

The leafy trees had opened their blossoms,

And birds fluttered above the leafy trees.

ولربما ابعدت في دلج الهوى

والليل ساج والكواكب ترعف

Often I ventured far on love's nocturnal journey,

While night was still and the stars bled.

والنفس دامية تعاني جرحها

وتبث شكواها لمن لا ينصف

The soul was bleeding, suffering its wound,

And voiced its complaints to one who would not be fair.

الحب كان مسددا عند السرى

لخطاى آتي حيث شاء واصدف

Love used to guide, on my nightly travels,

My footsteps: I went where it willed and turned aside.

واليوم لا ادري أاقوى قائما

وحدي باعباء الهوى ام اضعف

Today I do not know: can I stand strong,

Alone beneath love's burdens, or do I weaken?

وكأن في الشيخ الرقاد طريدة

وكأن فيه الهم جيش يزحف

As though, in an old man, sleep were hunted prey,

And worry within him an advancing army.

يا ايها الفنان فنك جامع

حكما وفنك خالد لا يتلف

O artist, your art gathers

Wisdom; your art is immortal and never perishes.

ان كان غيرك غارفا من جدوك

ضحل فانك من خضم تغرف

If others draw from a stream

That is shallow, you draw from a vast sea.

تأتي الذي تأتي به متطبعاً

اما سواك فانه يتكلف

You do what you do with natural ease;

As for anyone else, he must strain.

الفن انت امامه ووليه

والفن انت اميره المتصرف

Art—you are its leader and guardian;

Art—you are its prince, directing its affairs.

والفن للروح العصي مروض

والفن للطبع الغليظ ملطف

Art tames the rebellious soul,

And art softens a coarse disposition.

تتثقف الاخلاق راشدة به

وبغيره الاخلاق لا تتثقف

Through it, morals are refined and rightly guided;

Without it, morals are not refined.

صحبتك اقدر فرقة قد مثلةا

ولعبرة المتجمهرين استوكفوا

The ablest troupe has accompanied you and acted,

And drawn tears from the assembled crowds.

واخص احمد فهو علام بما

في الفن من سبل فلا يتعسف

I single out Ahmad: he knows well

Art's paths and does not tread them blindly.

قد احسنت فردوس في ادوارها

فكأنها القمر الذي لا يخسف

Firdaus has excelled in her roles;

She is like a moon that never suffers eclipse.

وامينة ابكت عيون شهودها

وامينة هي بالعواطف اعرف

Amina made her spectators' eyes weep,

And Amina knows the emotions best.

يا حبذا المختار فهو ممثل

حلو الحديث يقول ما يستظرف

How admirable al-Mukhtar is, an actor

Sweet in speech, who says what delights.

ولعل فتوحا له في دوره

ما يستفز النفس ساعة يكلف

And perhaps Futuh has, within his role,

Something that stirs the soul when he is called upon.

حسن الى علوية ومنسة

وسرينة واولئكم قد احصفوا

Hasan, alongside Alwiyya and Mansa,

And Sarina—all these have shown sound judgment.

اني لاذكر بالتجلة قاسما

فهو الاديب وبالرجاحة يوصف

I recall Qasim with reverence,

For he is a man of letters, known for sound judgment.

اما الفؤاد فحدثوا عن قدرة

فياضة فيه وطبع يلطف

As for Fu'ad, speak of a talent

Overflowing within him, and a gentle nature.

لا تنس توفيقا فتوفيق له

في ظل موقفه لسان مرهف

Do not forget Tawfiq, for Tawfiq has,

In the shadow of his scene, a keen-edged tongue.

وبثينة اما مضت في شدوها

انحى يشايع ما تقول المعزف

And when Buthayna went on with her singing,

The instrument bent to accompany what she said.

يا يوسف السمح الذي ما ان تفي

بجميله كلماتنا والاحرف

O generous Yusuf, whose goodness

Our words and letters can never do justice to,

لا يكتفي منك العراق بزورة

فيود لها ثنيتها تستأنف

Iraq will not be content with one visit from you;

It longs for you to renew it with a second.

متمنياً وعد الكريم بمثلها

اما الكريم فانه لا يخلف

Hoping for a generous man's promise of another such visit;

A generous man, after all, never breaks his word.

واذا الزمان لنا تبسم وجهه

فالشمل بعد شتاته يتألف

And if time's face smiles upon us,

The company will reunite after its dispersal.