طرطرا — Jawahiri

أيْ طرطرا تطرطري

تقدَّمي تأخَّري

O Tartara, blather on.

Advance; retreat.

تَشيَّعي تسنَّني

تَهوَّدي تَنصَّري

Become Shi'i; become Sunni.

Become Jewish; become Christian.

تكرَّدي تَعرَّبي

تهاتري بالعُنصرِ

Become Kurdish; become Arab.

Trade insults over ethnicity.

تَعمَّمي تَبَرنطي

تعقَّلي تسدَّري

Wear a turban; wear a brimmed hat.

Act sensibly; act heedlessly.

كوني – اذا رُمتِ العُلى

من قُبُلٍ او دُبُرِ

Be—if you seek the heights—

from the front or from behind,

صالحةً كصالحٍ

عامرةً كالعُمري

righteous like Salih,

flourishing like al-Umari.

وأنتِ إنْ لم تَجِدي

أباً حميدَ الأثَر

And if you cannot find

a father of praiseworthy legacy,

ومفَخَراً من الجُدودِ

طيَّب المُنحدرَ

and a source of pride among ancestors

of noble descent,

ولم تَرَي في النَفْس ما

يُغنيكِ ان تفتخري

and see nothing in yourself that

would suffice for you to take pride,

شأنُ عِصامٍ قد كفَتْه

النفسُ شَرَّ مفْخَر

as with Isam, who was spared

by his own self the bane of ancestral boasting,

فالتَمِسي أباً سِواهُ

أشِراً ذا بَطَر

then seek another father,

insolent, full of arrogance.

طُوفي على الأعرابِ من

بادٍ ومن محتَضِر

Roam among the Bedouin Arabs, whether

nomadic or settled.

والتَمِسي منهم جدوداً

جُدُداً وزَوِّري

And seek among them ancestors,

new ones, and falsify.

تزَّيِدي تزبَّدي

تعنَّزي تَشمَّري

Claim Zayd descent; claim Zubayd descent.

Claim Anaza descent; claim Shammar descent.

في زَمَنِ الذَرِّ إلى

بَداوةٍ تَقَهْقَري

In the atomic age, to

Bedouin life retreat.

تَقَلَّبي تَقَلُّبَ الدهرِ

بشتّى الغِيَر

Change as time changes,

through its many vicissitudes.

تصرَّفي كما تشائينَ

ولا تعتَذري

Act as you please,

and do not apologize.

لمن؟!! أللناسِ ؟!! وهم

حُثالةٌ في سَقَر

To whom? To the people? They are

dregs in Saqar,

عبيدُ أُجدادِك من

رِقًّ ومن مُستَأجَر

your ancestors' slaves, whether

bonded or hired.

أمْ للقوانين وما

جاءَتْ بغَير الهَذَر

Or to laws, which

have brought nothing but babble?

تأمرُ بالمعروف والمنكَر

فوقَ المِنبَر

They command good and evil

from atop the pulpit:

شيء أبى المعروفِ في

شَويِّ امُّ المنكر

something of 'Father Good,' amid

a little of 'Mother Evil.'

أمْ للضميرِ والضميرُ

صُنْعُ هذا البَشَر؟!

Or to conscience? Conscience is

the invention of these humans!

تَعِلَّةٌ لصائمٍ

فَطيرةٌ لمُفطِرِ

A pretext for one who fasts,

a pastry for one who breaks the fast.

لمن؟!! اللتأريخ ؟!!وهو

وفي يَدِ المُحَبِّر

To whom? To history? It is,

while in the scribe's hand,

مُسخَّرٌ طَوْعَ بنانِ

الحاكم المُستَحِر

subjugated, obedient to the fingers

of the raging ruler.

بدَرْهَمٍ تُقَلِّبُ الحالَ

يَدُ المُحرِّر

For a dirham, the state of things is reversed

by the editor's hand.

قد تَقرأُ الاجيالَ في

دُفَةِ هذا المحضَر

Generations may read within

the cover of this record,

عن مِثْلِ هذا العَصْر أن

قد كان زينَ الاعصُر

about an age such as this, that

it was the finest of ages,

وأنَّه من ذَهَبٍ

وأنّه من جَوهر

and that it was of gold,

and that it was of jewels.

أم للمقاييس اقتضاهنَّ

اختلافُ النَظَر؟

Or to standards called for by

differences of opinion?

إنَّ أخَا طَرْطَرَ من

كلِّ المقاييس بَري

Indeed, Tartar's brother is

free of every standard.

أي طرطرا إن كانَ شَعبٌ

جاع او خُلقٌ عَري

O Tartara, if a people

starves, or folk go naked,

او أجْمَعَ الستُ الملايينُ

على التذمُّر

or all six million agree

in discontent,

او حَكمَ النساءُ حُكم

الغاصبِ المقتَدِر

or women rule with the rule

of the powerful usurper,

او صاحَ نَهباً بالبلاد

بائعٌ ومشتري

or a cry to plunder the land is raised

by seller and buyer,

او نُفِّذَ المرسومُ في

محابِرٍ وأسطر

or a decree is carried out in

inkwells and written lines,

او أُخِذَ البريءُ بالمجرِم

اخذَ طرطري

or the innocent is seized with the criminal,

in a Tartara-style seizure,

او دُفِع العراقُ

للذلِّ أو التدهورِ

or Iraq is driven

to humiliation or decline,

فاحتكمي تحكَّمي

وتُحمَدي وتؤجَري

then arbitrate; rule at will,

and be praised and rewarded.

أي طرطرا تطرطري

وهلِّلي وكَبّري

O Tartara, blather on,

and cry 'There is no god but God!' and 'God is greatest!'

وطَبِّلي لكلِّ ما

يُخزي الفَتَى وزمِّري

And beat the drum for all that

disgraces a man, and pipe away.

وسَبِّحي بحمدِ مأمونٍ

وشكرِ أبتَر

And sing praises of Ma'mun,

and give thanks to one without posterity.

اعطي سماتِ فارعٍ

شَمَردَلِ لبُحتر

Grant the traits of a towering,

strapping man to a squat one.

واغتَصِبي لضِفدِعٍ

سماتِ ليثٍ قَسْور

And usurp for a frog

the traits of a mighty lion.

وعَطرِّي قاذورةً

وبالمديح بَخرِّي

And perfume filth,

and fumigate it with praise.

وصيرِّي من جُعَلٍ

حديقةً من زَهَر

And make of a dung beetle

a garden of flowers.

وشَبِّهى الظلامَ ظُلماً

بالصبَاح المُسفِر

And unjustly liken darkness

to the radiant dawn.

وألبسي الغبيَّ والاحمقَ

ثَوبَ عبقري

And clothe the stupid and the foolish

in the garb of a genius.

وأُفرِغي على المخانيثِ

دُروع عنتر

And cast upon effeminate men

the armor of Antar.

إن قيلَ إنَّ مَجدَهمُ

مزيَّفٌ فأنكِري

If it is said that their glory

is counterfeit, deny it;

او قيلَ إن بطشَهم

من بَطْشة المستِعمر

or it is said that their violence

comes from the colonizer's violence,

وانَّ هذا المستعيرَ

صولةَ الغَضَنفرَ

and that this borrower of

the lion's fierce charge

اهونُ من ذبابةٍ

في مستحَمٍّ قَذِر

is more contemptible than a fly

in a filthy bath,

فهي تطير حُرّةً

جَناحُها لم يُعَر

for it flies freely,

its wing was not lent to it,

وذاكَ لو لم يستعِرْ

جناحَه لم يطر

while that one, had he not borrowed

his wing, would not have flown—

فغالِطي وكابري

وحَوِّري وزوِّري

then use sophistry and persist in denial,

and distort and falsify.

أي طرطرا سِيري على

نَهجِهِمُ والاثَر

O Tartara, walk along

their path and in their footsteps.

واستَقْبلي يومَك من

يومهمُ واستدبِري

And face your day according to

their day, and turn back.

وأجمِعي أمرَكِ من

أمِرهِمُ تَستَكِثري

And settle your course according to

theirs, and you will gain plenty.

كُوني بُغاثاً وأسلَمي

بالنفسِ ثم استَنْسِري

Be a weakling bird, surrender

yourself, then play the eagle.

انْ طوَّلوُا فطَوِّلي

او قصَّروا فقَصِّري

If they lengthen, then lengthen;

or shorten, then shorten;

او أجَرمُوا فاعتذري

او أنذروا فبشِّري

or commit crimes, then apologize;

or warn, then bring glad tidings;

او خَبَطوا عشوا فقُولي

أيُّ نجمٍ نَيِّرِ

or blunder blindly, then say:

'What a shining star!'

او ظَلَموا فابرزي

الظُلمْ بأبهَى الصُوَر

Or if they oppress, then present

oppression in its fairest forms.

شَلَّتْ يَدُ المظلوم لم

يَجْن ولم يُعَزِّر

May the wronged man's hand wither! He did not

commit a crime or abet one.

او صَنَعوا ما لم

يبرَّرْ منطقٌ فبرِّرِي

Or if they do what no

reasoning can justify, then justify it.

أي طرطرا لا تنكري

ذَنْباً ولا تَسْتَغفِري

O Tartara, do not deny

a sin, and do not seek forgiveness.

ولا تُغطِّى سوءةً

بانت ولا تَتَّزِري

And do not cover shame

once exposed, nor put on a waistcloth.

ولا تغُضيِّ الطرفَ عن

فَرط الحيا والخَفرَ

And do not lower your gaze out of

excessive modesty and bashfulness.

كُوني على شاكلةِ

من امرهم تُؤَمَّري

Be in the likeness of

those by whose orders you are commanded.

كُوني على شاكلةِ

الوزيرِ بادي الخَطَر

Be in the likeness of

the minister of manifest eminence.

أيْ طرطرا كُوني

على تاريخِك المحتُقَر

O Tartara, be,

for your despised history,

احَرصَ من صاحبة

النِحيْين ان تذكَّري

more eager than the woman of

the two butter-skins to be remembered.

طّولي على كِسرى ولا

تُعَني بتاج قَيصر

Tower above Kisra, and do not

concern yourself with Caesar's crown.

كوني على ما فيك من

مساوئٍ ، لم تُحصَرِ

Be, despite all your

faults beyond number;

كوني على الاضداد في ِ

تكوينك المُبعثرِ

be, despite the contradictions in

your disordered makeup,

شامخةً شموخَ قَرن

الثورَ بين البَقرِ

as lofty as the horn of

a bull among cattle.

أيْ طرطرا أُقسم

بالسويكةِ المشهَّر

O Tartara, I swear

by the notorious Suwayka,

والخَرزِ المعَقود في البطن

فوَيق المشعر

and by the beads strung at the belly,

just above the pubic hair,

بوجهكِ المعتكر

وثَغِرك المنوَّرِ

by your clouded face,

and your radiant mouth,

وعينِك الحمراءِ ترمِي

حاسداً بالشَررَ

and your red eye, pelting

an envier with sparks,

وصنوك الثور يُثار

غيظٌه بالأحمر

and by your twin, the bull, whose

rage is stirred by red.

اقسم بالكافور لا

اقصِدُ شَتم العَنْبر

I swear by camphor, not

intending to insult ambergris.

فوقَ جميع البشَرَ

فوق القضَا والقَدرَ

Above all humankind,

above fate and destiny.

أي طْرطرا " يالَك مِن

قُبرَّة بمَعَمر

O Tartara, 'what a

lark you are in Ma'mar!

خلا لكِ الجوُّ " وقد طاب

" فبيضي واصفِري "

The sky is yours alone,' and has grown fair,

'so lay your eggs and whistle,'

" ونقِّري " من بَعدِهم

ما شئت ان تُنَقِّري "

'and peck,' after them,

'at whatever you wish to peck.'

قد غَفَل الصيّادُ في

لندنَ عنك فابشِري

The hunter has grown heedless, in

London, of you—so rejoice!