شسع لنعلك ... كل موهبة — Jawahiri

يا مُطْعِمَ الدنيا وَقَدْ هُزِلَتْ

لحماً بشحمٍ منه مقطوبِ

O you who feed the world, though she has grown lean,

with flesh mingled with its own fat;

ومزيرَها يقظى وغافيةً

أطيافَ بادي البطش مرهوبِ

And making her, awake and asleep, encounter

specters of one whose violence is manifest and feared;

يا حالباً من ضَرْعِها عَسَلاً

عن غيرِ سُمٍّ غيرَ محلوبِ

O you who milk honey from her udder,

drawn from nothing but poison;

وَمُرَقِّصاً منها كما انتفضتْ

نُطَفُ الحَبابِ بكأسِ شِرِّيبِ

And making her people dance, as quivered

drops of foam in a heavy drinker's cup;

وكما تراقصت الدمى عبثاً

ما بين تصعيد وتصويب

And as puppets danced to no purpose,

between raising and lowering;

يا طاعنا أعجاس صفوتها

بمطي شديدِ الصُلبِ أُلهوب

O you who jab the bow-grips of her elite,

with strong-backed, fleet-footed mounts;

شِسْعٌ لنعلِكَ كلُّ مَوْهِبةٍ

وفداءُ " زندِك " كلُّ موهوبِ

A strap for your sandal is every talent,

and a sacrifice to your forearm, every gifted soul.

وصدى لُهاثِكَ كلُّ مُبتَكَرٍ

من كلِّ مسموعٍ ومكتوبِ

And an echo of your panting is every invention,

among all things heard and written,

من كلِّ ما هَجَسَ الغواةُ بهِ

عن فرط تسهيدٍ وتعذيبِ

of all the wayward have conceived

from excessive sleeplessness and torment.

يا سالبا بِجِماعِ راحتِهِ

أغنى الغنى، وأعزّ مسلوبِ

O you who seize with the whole of your palm

the richest wealth and the most precious spoil;

ما الشعرُ ؟ .. ما الآدابُ ؟..

ما بِدَعٌ للفكر ؟.. ما وَمَضاتُ أُسلوب ؟

What is poetry? What are the literary arts?

What are thought's inventions? What are flashes of style?

شِسْعٌ لنعلِكَ كلُّ قافية

دوَّتْ بتشريق وتغريب

A strap for your sandal is every rhyme

that resounded eastward and westward,

وشدا بها السُّمَارُ مالئةً

ما يُفرِغُ النَّدمانُ من كوبِ

And night companions sang it, filling

what the drinking companion drains from a cup.

ومَعيلُها يجترُّ من ألمٍ

دامٍ على الأسَلاتِ مسحوب

While its sustainer chews the cud of pain,

bloody, dragged across the tips of tongues,

يُلغى ويُنفى شأنَ مُنتَبَذٍ

سَقَطٍ من الأغلاطِ مشطوبِ

he is erased and banished, like one cast aside,

a worthless scrap crossed out among errors.

يا سيّدَ " اللّكَماتِ " شامخةً

تهزا بمنسوبٍ، ومحسوبِ

O lord of towering punches

that mock the well-born and the esteemed,

ومربِّبَ الضَّرَباتِ، ما مَسَحَتْ

يوماً على أكتافِ مَربوبِ

And nurturer of blows that never caressed

a ward's shoulders, even for a day;

مجّدْ ذراعَكَ، إنّها هِبَةٌ

أغنتْكَ عن أدبٍ وتأديبِ

Glorify your arm: it is a gift

that made learning and discipline needless for you.

محبوكةُ " الأليافِ " في نَمَطٍ

عَجَبٍ، مُعَنّى فيه، مطلوبِ

Its fibers are tightly woven in a pattern

wondrous, painstakingly wrought, sought after.

وتغنَّ فيها، واسْتَجِدَّ لها

غَزَلاً، ولا تبخلْ بتشبيبِ

And sing its praises; seek for it anew

love-poetry, and do not stint on amorous verse.

لله نسجُك .... أيُّ ذي عَصَبٍ

من عالَمِ القُدُراتِ مجلوب

Wondrous is your weave! What a sinewed creature,

brought from the realm of powers!

ما كان إلا أن مددت به

سبباً لمجدٍ جدِّ مكذوبِ

You had only to stretch out with it

a cord toward utterly counterfeit glory,

حتى انثنيت بخيرِ ما حَفَلَتْ

حَلَباتُ موروثٍ ومَكْسوبِ

before returning with the best of what filled

the arenas of all things inherited and earned.

يفدى عروقكَ كل ما حملت

أعراق داود، ويعقوب

A ransom for your veins is all that was borne

by the bloodlines of David and Jacob.

ونثارُ عُرسِكَ كلُّ مُقْتَرِنٍ:

من خاطبٍ عِرساً، ومخطوب

And the gifts strewn at your wedding are all those paired,

whether courting a spouse or being courted.

سُبحانَ ربِّكَ كيف عَوَّضني

عن " حَوْملٍ " قفرٍ و " ملحوبِ "

Glory to your Lord! How He has compensated me

for desolate Hawmal and Malhub,

رَبْعاً أنيساً في ملاعبِهِ

ما شئتُ من لهوٍ وتطريبِ

with a welcoming dwelling whose playgrounds hold

all the amusement and music I desire.

مُتحاضنَيْنِ، وبيننا مُلَحٌ

من عاتبٍ صبٍّ، ومعتوبِ

Embracing one another, with pleasantries between us,

from a lovesick reproacher and one reproached,

نتبادلُ " اللّكمات " نحسَبُها

قبلاتِ محبوبٍ، ومحبوبِ

We exchange punches, imagining them

kisses from one beloved to another.

يا سيّدَ " اللكمات " يَسْحَرُها

ذهَبَاً بِذِهْنٍ منهُ مَشبوبِ

O lord of punches, who conjures them

into gold, with a mind kindled by it;

نحنُ الرعيةُ .. عِشْتَ من مَلِكٍ

بِمَفاخِرِ " العَضَلاتِ " معصوبِ

We are the subjects. Long may you live—a king

crowned with the proud glories of muscle!

زَنْدٌ بزندٍ .. والورى تَبَعٌ

لكما، وَعُرْقوبٌ بِعُرقوب

Forearm against forearm; all mankind follows

you both, and heel-tendon meets heel-tendon.

مَرِّغْهُ.. مَزِّقْ ثوبَ سَحْنَتِهِ

رَقِّعْهُ من دَمِهِ بِشُؤبوبِ

Roll him in the dust; tear the garment of his face;

patch it with a downpour of his blood.

لَدِّغْه بالنَّغَزاتِ لاذعةً

ما لم يُلدِّغْ سُمُّ يعسوبِ

Sting him with searing jabs,

as no king bee's venom has ever stung.

سَلِمَتْ يداك... أأنت صُغْتَهما

أمْ صوغُ ربٍّ عنك محجوبِ

May your hands stay safe! Did you fashion them,

or are they the handiwork of a Lord hidden from you?

قل لي أبيْتَ اللّعْن مُمتَدَحاً

وَكَرُمْتَ عن لَوْمٍ وتثريبِ

Tell me—may curses be far from you, so praised,

and too noble for blame or reproach—

ألملهمونَ أأنتَ ترسُمُهُمْ

خَوَلاً من الشُّبّانِ والشِّيبِ ؟!

The inspired ones: do you depict them

as bondsmen, young and gray-haired alike?

خَدَماً " لقصرِكَ " صُنْعَ ساحرةٍ

ذي ألف سَقْفٍ فيه مَذهوبِ ؟!

Servants to your palace, wrought by a sorceress,

with a thousand gilded ceilings within?

ذي ألفِ " باطيةٍ " وساقيةٍ

وبألفِ رُعبوبٍ وَرُعْبُوبِ

With a thousand wine-bowls and female cupbearers,

and a thousand tender beauties, male and female?

أمْ أنتَ تخشى أن تَعيثَ به

نزواتُ " مَرْعوصٍ " وَمَجْذوبِ

Or do you fear it may be ravaged

by the whims of a twitching wretch and a madman?

" أمحمَّدٌ " والدهرُ مَلْحَمَةٌ

من غاصبٍ عاتٍ وَمَغْصوبِ

O Muhammad, time is a bloody battle

between a ruthless usurper and the dispossessed.

والناسُ ذُؤبانٌ تَضيقُ بها

أسلابُ تثقيفٍ، وتهذيبِ

And people are wolves, cramped within

the trappings of education and refinement.

لا يرتضونَ لِفَرْطِ مَكْلَبةٍ

وَثَبَات ذئبٍ غير مَكْلُوبِ

They will not accept, in their excessive rabid frenzy,

the pounces of a wolf that is not rabid.

ويُصفِّقُونَ لِمحْرِبٍ شَرِسٍ

ويُبَصِّقونَ بوجهِ محروب

And they applaud a savage despoiler,

and spit in the face of the despoiled.

يُذكي " الهِراشُ " حماسَهمْ طرَباً

لِدَمٍ بِعُرفِ الدِّيكِ مَسكوبِ

The brawling fires their fervor into delight

at blood spilled on a rooster's comb.

وكأنّهُمْ يُسْقَوْنَ صافية

بنزيفِ رأسٍ منهُ مَنخوبِ

As though they were being served pure wine

from the bleeding of its pierced head.

و " الثَّوْرُ "، تصطخِبُ الجراحُ بهِ،

مدعاةُ تهليلٍ وترحيبِ

And the bull, his wounds clamoring,

is cause for jubilation and acclaim.

وكأنَّ مُرْتَكَزَ الرِّماحِ بهِ

نَغَمٌ بِعُودٍ منه مضروبِ

And as though the spears' lodging in him

were a melody played on an oud made of him.

كُنْ حيثُ أنتَ تَجِئكَ صاغرةً

دُفَعُ اللُّهى، والزَّهْوِ، والطيبِ

Stay where you are: they will come to you, submissive—

waves of largesse, pomp, and delight.

تَسعى لذي بَطَرٍ، وقد زُوِيَتْ

عن نابغٍ، أسيانَ، مغلوبِ

They hasten to the insolent, though withheld

from a genius, grief-stricken and defeated.

كم " عبقرياتٍ " مشتْ ضَرَماً

في جُنحِ داجي الجنْحِ غِربيبِ

How many geniuses walked aflame

beneath the wing of a dark-winged, raven-black night,

وتنفَّستْ رئةُ الحياةِ بها

من بَعْدِ تعبيسٍ، وتقطيبِ

And through them the lung of life breathed

after frowning and scowling.

عاشتْ وماتتْ في حِمى جَشِبٍ

جاسٍ، شَتيمِ العيشِ مسبوبِ

They lived and died within a meager refuge,

hard, ugly in its living, reviled,

مَجْلودةً تُولى أعنَّتُها

بسياطِ ترغيبٍ، وترهيبِ:

Flogged, their reins governed

with whips of enticement and intimidation:

بمرجّمين ... نهارِ مُرْتَخَصٍ

وبليْلِ نابي الجنبِ، مرعوبِ

By two stone-hurlers: a day held cheap,

and a restless, terror-stricken night.

حِجَجٌ مِئونٌ، دون شهقتِها

شَهَقاتُ مخنوقٍ، ومصلوبِ

Hundreds of years—their gasping surpasses

the gasps of the strangled and crucified.

أعطتْ، وأغنتْ، وَاسْتُرِدَّ بها

أنفاسُ محزونٍ، ومكروبِ

They gave and enriched; through them were restored

the breaths of the grief-stricken and distressed.

ما عادلتْ أعشارَ " ثانيَةٍ "

عُمِرتْ بساحٍ مُوحشٍ مُوبي

They did not equal the tenths of a second

spent in a grim, deadly arena.

تلكَ " الملايينُ " التي سُحِبَتْ

سَحْبَ " المخاضةِ " عَبْرَ " أُنبوبِ "

Those millions that were drawn out,

like a ford's water sucked through a tube,

نُثِرَتْ على قدميْنِ خُضِّبَتَا

بِدَمٍ لآخرَ منهُ مخضوبِ

Were strewn at two feet dyed

with the blood of another, himself stained with it.

يا أيُّها " العملاقُ " نَازَعَهُ

" قَزَمٌ " على سَبَبٍ، ... وتسبيبِ

O giant, challenged

by a dwarf, through cause and contrivance,

كم جاءَ دهرُكَ بالأعاجيبِ

من كلِّ مرفوضٍ ومشجوبِ

How many wonders your age has brought,

of every rejected and condemned kind!

كم راغبٍ نَحّى، وَمُرْتَغَبٍ

وكم استعزَّ بِغيْرِ مرغوبِ

How many a seeker and one sought has it cast aside;

and how often it has sought strength in the unwanted.

وكمِ اصطفى هَمَلاً بنادرةٍ

وكم ابتلى فَحْلاً بمجبوبِ

How often it has chosen the worthless over a rare talent;

how often plagued a virile male with a castrate!

شسْعٌ لنعلِكَ كلُّ موْهبةٍ

وَفِداءُ زندِكَ كلُّ موهوبِ

A strap for your sandal is every talent,

and a sacrifice to your forearm, every gifted soul.