محمد البكر — Jawahiri

تَعَجَّلَ بِشْرَ طلعتِكَ الأفُولُ

وغالَ شبابَكَ الموعودَ غُولُ

Sunset overtook the gladness of your face too soon,

And a ghoul ravaged your promising youth.

وطافَ بربعكَ المأنوسِ ليلٌ

تزولُ الدَّاجياتُ ولا يَزولُ

And night circled your welcoming home—

Dark nights depart, but it does not depart.

وأثقلكَ الحِمامُ فلستَ تصحو

ويصحو الرَّوضُ أثقلَهُ الذُّبولُ

Death weighed you down, and you do not awaken,

While the garden awakens, though withering weighed it down.

وقاسَمَكَ الرَّدى مَنْ تَصطفيهِ

كما يَتقاسَمُ الشَّفَقَ الأصيلُ

And death claimed its share of those you cherished,

As evening divides the twilight glow.

لعمرك إن سائمة الرزايا

لها في سوحنا مرعى وبيل

By your life, the grazing herd of calamities

Has a baneful pasture in our courtyards.

يظل الحي إثر الميت فيها

يودّ لَوَ أنّه عنه البديل

The living, left behind the dead amid them,

Keep wishing they had taken the dead one's place.

يسمِّم لحمه موهوم ظنٍ

ويخطف لبَّه لمح ضئيل

An imagined suspicion poisons his flesh,

And the faintest glimpse snatches away his reason.

وينهَشُهُ على التِّذْكار وحشٌ

شروبٌ من حُشاشتِهِ أكول

At each remembrance a beast gnaws at him,

Drinking deeply of his remaining life, voracious.

وحيداً عند معترك الليالي

ينازله من البلوى قبيل

Alone on the battlefield of nights,

A tribe of afflictions challenges him.

يزيد تفكراً فيزيد همّاً

وتستدعي له العُقَد الحلول

The more he reflects, the more his sorrow grows,

And solutions summon complications for him.

ويبتعث الدخائل قد تناسى

دفائنها، فيقتله القتيل

He stirs his secret depths, though he had forgotten

Their buried contents; then the slain one slays him.

أسلتُ الآهة الحرّى تلاقتْ

عليها دمعةٌ حرَّى تَسيلُ

I let a burning sigh flow; it was met

By a burning tear streaming over it.

على " قَمريْنِ " لَفَّهُما حفيرٌ

تُجَرَّرُ فوقَه حُزناً ذُيولُ

For two moons enfolded by one grave,

Over which trailing hems are dragged in mourning.

وآخرَ ثالثٍ حلوٍ كشملٍ

يُلَمُّ على الرَّدى منه فُلولُ

And another, a sweet third, like a gathering

Whose scattered remnants are united in death.

فيالكَ مَوقفاً جَلَلاً فظيعاً

يَنوءُ بِثِقْلِهِ " الشيخُ الجليلُ "

What a momentous, terrible ordeal—

The venerable elder staggers beneath its weight.

تَنازَعَ وجْهَه فَبَدا شفيفاً

مَهيبُ الحزنِ، والصبرُ الجميلُ

They contended over his face, which grew translucent:

The solemn majesty of grief and beautiful patience.

عجبتُ له وبعضُ العَجْبِ حَمْدٌ

وبعضُ الشكِّ حُكْمٌ لا يَفيلُ

I marveled at him—some wonder is praise,

And some doubt is a judgment that does not err.

أمن صُلْبٍ بركبٍ من " نعوشٍ "

يُسارُ، ولا يَخورُ، ولا يَميلُ ؟!

Is he made of steel, amid a procession of coffins,

Borne onward, neither faltering nor swaying?

وتُمتَحنُ الرجولةُ في محكٍ

يُمازُ به المزيَّفُ، والأصيلُ

Manhood is tested on a touchstone

That distinguishes the counterfeit from the genuine.

وعند النفس شامخةً سفوحٌ

مطامنةٌ، ومن دَعَةٍ سهول

Even the towering soul has slopes

Gently descending, and plains of ease.

يراوحها على الضراء رَوْحٌ

وفي " النكباء " أنسام قيول

Relief visits it amid adversity,

And in the ill wind come breezes of noonday rest.

فلا تَبعدْ " محمَّدٌ " المُزَكّى

دعاءَ مُحاوِلٍ ما يَستحيلُ

May you not be far, O pure Muhammad—

The prayer of one attempting the impossible.

ذكرتُكَ فاستجدَّتْ شاخِصاتٌ

كأن غيابَها عندي مُثُولُ

I remembered you, and vivid presences rose anew,

As though their absence were, to me, their presence:

خِصالٌ كلُّها شرفٌ رفيعٌ

ونفسٌ كلُّها خُلقٌ نبيلُ

Qualities that were all lofty honor,

And a soul entirely noble character,

وطبعٌ صِيغَ من أدبٍ ولُطفٍ

كعطرِ الزَّهرِ فوَاحٌ خجولُ

And a nature fashioned from courtesy and gentleness,

Like flowers' fragrance, diffusing yet shy.

ورُحتُ أعيشُ غصَّةَ ذكرياتٍ

سجالٍ ما تُشيحُ، وما تُنيلُ

I began to live the choking pain of memories,

Taking turns, neither departing nor granting solace.

أعقّب ما تغيَّبَ من رؤاها

كما يتعقّب القِدحَ المجيل

I pursue the visions of them that have vanished,

As the lot-caster follows the arrow.

أُسَرُّ على تَمثُّلِهنَّ أني

وُجِدتُ على هُدَى فيما أقولُ

As they take shape before me, I rejoice that I

Have proved rightly guided in what I say.

ويُؤلمني بهنَّ مزيدُ عِلمٍ

وقد يُتَحَسَّدُ الرجلُ الجهولُ

Yet greater knowledge of them hurts me,

And an ignorant man may well be envied.

فهنَّ بأمسِ في عيني سِراجٌ

وهنَّ اليومَ في كبدي نصولُ

Yesterday they were a lamp before my eyes;

Today they are blades within my liver.

أقولُ أصونُهنَّ من التشكِّي

فيأبى ذلك البرَحُ الدَّخيلُ

I say: I shall shield them from complaint,

But the torment lodged within refuses this.

فلا وَأبيكَ ما نَهنهتُ نفسي

على أيٍّ وأيَّتما تَميلُ

No, by your father, I have not restrained my soul,

Whatever its course, whichever way it leans.

تركتُ القلب يَعصِره التياعٌ

فيمضي رسلَهُ جَفنٌ بَليلُ

I left my heart to be wrung by anguish,

And a tear-drenched eyelid dispatches its messengers.

وعالجتُ الأسى بأسىً جديدٍ

على أنَّ الطبيبَ هو العليلُ

I treated grief with a new grief,

Though the physician is himself the sick one.

وقد يُوقَى بفرط الوجدِ وَجدٌ

وقد يشفى بحرقتهِ الغليلُ

One sorrow may be warded off by excessive sorrow,

And thirst may be cured by its own burning.

وكم همٍّ به انفرجتْ همومٌ

وقد عُمّين وارتمت السدول

How often one care has relieved many cares,

Though all had darkened and the curtains had fallen.

وتلتئم الفُروع على التأسي

بما مدّت وشائجَها الأصول

The branches come together in mutual consolation,

Through the bonds their roots have stretched between them.

وقفت على القُبور وليس فيها

حبيبٌ لي ولا صَحبٌ حُلول

I stood beside the graves, though in them

No beloved of mine, no friends lay dwelling.

فقلت مسلماً ودمي دموع:

بُيوتُ أحبّةٍ هذي الطُّلول

I spoke in greeting, my blood all tears:

These ruins are the homes of loved ones.

أبثُّكَ يا " ابنَ أحمدَ " هدهداتٍ

بهنَّ يُسامِرُ الخِلَّ الخليلُ

I confide to you, O son of Ahmad, soothing murmurs,

With which one friend keeps another company at night.

أتعلمُ أنَّ طيفَكَ لا يحولُ

يَحومُ فيزحفُ الرَّبْعُ المُحيلُ

Do you know your phantom never departs?

It hovers, and the desolate dwelling stirs

بأشباحٍ تُحالُ بناتِ يومٍ

ويعدلُ ساعةً منهنَّ جيلُ

With apparitions transformed into daughters of a day,

And a generation equals one hour of them.

وأخيلةٍ يُراعُ بها خَليٌّ

وهنَّ لواجِدٍ نِعْمَ المخيلُ

And visions that terrify the carefree,

Yet to the grieving, what welcome visions they are!

صدى قَدَمٍ هنا، ومَدِبُّ همسٍ

هناكَ يَشلُّه فزَعٌ مَهولُ

The echo of a footstep here, the creeping of a whisper

There, arrested by a terrible dread.

وعُشٌ عافَهُ نَسرٌ مَهيضٌ

يُلَمُّ بهِ على شَعَثٍ نَسيلُ

And a nest forsaken by a broken-winged eagle,

In which a brood is gathered in disarray.

وألواحٌ كوجهِ الصُّبحِ بيضٌ

يُجلَّلُ بالسوادِ لها فُضولُ

And panels white as the face of dawn,

Whose trailing edges are shrouded in black.

وخيلٌ سابقتْ بَرقاً .. وكادتْ

ولكنْ خانَها لَحظٌ كليلُ

And horses that raced lightning and almost won,

But a dulled glance betrayed them.

وأرسالٌ من " الفُرسانِ " تَهوي

فيلقَفُهنَّ من " وحش " رَسيلُ

And companies of horsemen plunging down,

Then an emissary from the beasts snatches them up.

و " أغْرِبَةٌ " على جَدَثٍ، و " رفشٌ "

وأتربةٌ يغص بها المُهيلُ

And ravens upon a grave, and a shovel,

And earth that chokes the one who heaps it.

ولفحُ عَجاجةٍ، ورؤى دُخانٍ

على سفح، ونبعٌ سَلسبيلُ

And the blast of a dust storm, and visions of smoke

On a hillside, and a sweet-flowing spring.

وحُورٌ يَبْتَرِدْنَ به، وحشدٌ

من " البجعاتِ " أسرابٌ شُكُولُ

And houris cooling themselves in it, and a throng

Of swans in matching flocks.

وَنَضْحُ " دمٍ " على الجُرفْينِ يُسقى

به زرعٌ، وينتهضُ " النخيلُ "

And blood splashed on both banks—watered

By it are crops, and palm trees rise.

وسيلٌ يرتمي شفقاً، فَتُدحى

به أرْضٌ، ويَصطبغُ المسيلُ

And a torrent hurls itself in twilight red, laying

The earth flat beneath it and dyeing the channel.

وتضحكُ غيمةٌ، وتعودُ " جِنُّ "

ملائكةً وتزدهرُ الحُقولُ

And a cloud laughs, and jinn become

Angels, and the fields flourish.

أبا المغوارِ " هيثم " حَوَّطَتْهُ

بإخوتِهِ مَغاويرٌ فحولُ

O father of valiant Haytham, encircled

With his brothers by mighty champions,

تَعَزَّ .. ولا يَحُنْكَ كريمُ صبرٍ

وأنتَ لكلِّ مَكرُمَةٍ عَديلُ

Take comfort; may noble patience not fail you,

For you are a match for every noble deed.

يحزُّ النفسَ أنْ يُمسي حزيناً

عرينُكَ أيُّها الأسَدُ الثَّكولُ

It cuts the soul to see it sunk in grief—

Your lair, O lion bereaved of your young.

ولكنْ ما السبيلُ ؟ وكلُّ حيٍّ

سيقطعُ يومَه هذا السبيلُ

But what recourse is there? Every living being—

This road will cut short his day.

هي الدنيا أساطيرٌ تدولُ

وأفراسٌ مُغَفّلةٌ تجولُ

Such is the world: legends passing in turn,

And unmarked horses roaming.

ودارٌ يَستديرُ بها عَذابٌ

عليه يُصلبُ " الحيُّ " النزيلُ

And a dwelling where torment circles,

Upon which the living guest is crucified.

ومجزرةٌ تُساطُ بها جِباهٌ

وَتَسحقُ عندَها الغُرَرَ الحُجولُ

And a slaughterhouse where foreheads are lashed,

Where white-socked feet crush white-blazed brows.

كَفَيْءِ الشَّمسِ تأكلُنا تِباعاً

بما يتأكًّلُ الظلُّ الظليلُ

Like the sun's shadow, it devours us in succession,

As the sheltering shade is eaten away.

و " ذَرّاً " نستطيرُ بها شَعاعاً

ونُمحقُ .. لا المثالُ ولا المثيلُ

And as motes we scatter through it in all directions,

And are erased—neither image nor likeness remains.

وتذبحُنا سُيوفٌ من غُيوبٍ

عَويلُ النائحاتِ لها صَليلُ

And swords from unseen realms slaughter us,

Their clang the wailing of mourning women.

على أنَّ " المصابَ " إذا تلاقتْ

عليهِ الناسُ يَسْهُلُ أو يَحولُ

Yet when, around a calamity, there gather

People, it grows lighter or passes away.

بكى لمصابكَ الشَّعبُ الأصيلُ

وردَّ على الرَّعيلِ بهِ الرَّعيلُ

The true-hearted people wept for your loss,

And company answered company in weeping.

وصاحَ يُوزِّعُ الحَسَراتِ ناعٍ

وطارَ بها إلى الدنيا رَسولُ

A death-crier called out, scattering sorrows,

And a messenger flew with them to the world.

تَعَزَّ " أبا محمد " إنَّ حُزناً

يُشَارَكُ فيهِ عن ألمٍ بَديلُ

Take comfort, Abu Muhammad: sorrow

That others share is a substitute for pain.