إلى مصر أزف عن الشآم — Khalil Gibran

إِلَى مِصْرٍ أَزُف عَنِ الشَّآمِ

تَحيَّاتِ الكِرَامِ إِلَى الكِرَامِ

To Egypt I bring, on Syria's behalf,

the greetings of the noble to the noble;

تحِياتٍ يَفُضُّ الْحَمْدُ مِنْهَا

فَمَ النَّسَمَاتِ عَنْ عَبَقِ الْخَزَامِ

greetings through which praise unseals

the breezes' mouth, releasing lavender's fragrance.

نُدِبْتُ لَهَا وَجرَّأَنِي اعْتِدادِي

بِأَقْدَارِ الَدعَاةِ عَلَى الْقِيامِ

I was chosen for them, and my regard emboldened me—

regard for the worth of those who called me—to rise.

إذَا مَا كَانَ مَعْرُوفٌ وَشُكْرٌ

مَبَادَلَةَ التَّصَافِي وَالْوِئَامِ

If kindness and gratitude are

an exchange of sincere affection and harmony,

فَحُبّاً أَيُّهَا الوْطَنَانِ إِنَّي

وَسِيط الْعِقْدِ فِي هَذَا النِّظَامِ

then, out of love, O you two homelands, I am

the necklace's central jewel in this string.

وِسِيطُ الْعِقْدِ لا عَنْ زَهْوِ نَفْسٍ

أَقَلُّ الرَّأْيِ يُلْزِمَنِي مَقَامِي

The necklace's central jewel—not from self-conceit;

even the slightest reflection keeps me in my place.

وَلَكِنْ عَنْ وَلاءٍ بِي أكِيدٍ

وَعَنْ رَعْيٍ وَثِيقٍ لِلذِّمَامِ

But from loyalty firmly rooted in me,

and from steadfast observance of bonds of honor.

أعِرْنِي ثَغْرَ بَيْرُوتَ ابْتِساماً

أصُغْ فَرْضَ الجَمِيلِ مِنَ ابْتِسَامِ

Lend me, O mouth of Beirut, a smile,

that I may fashion gratitude's due from a smile.

وَيَا بَحْراً هُنَاكَ أعِرْ ثَنَائِي

نَفيسَ الدُّرِّ يُنْظَمُ فِي الْكَلامِ

And O sea out there, lend my praise

precious pearls to be strung into words.

وَيَا غَابَاتِ لُبْنَانَ المُفَدَّى

مِنَ الدَّوْحِ المُجَدَّدِ وَالْقُدَامِ

And O forests of beloved Lebanon,

of spreading trees, both new and old,

أَرَاكَ عَلَى الْكِنَانَةِ عَاطِفَاتٍ

وَقَدْ ذُكِرَتْ أَمَيْلُكَ مِنْ غَرَامِ

I see you leaning fondly toward al-Kinana,

and, at her mention, I sway you with love.

أَمِدِّيني بِأَرْوَاحٍ زَوَاكٍ

لأُقْرِئَهَا الزَّكِيَّ مِنَ السَّلامِ

Supply me with pure, fragrant breaths,

that I may offer her the purest greetings.

بِلادِي لا يَزَالُ هَوَاكَ مِنِّي

كَمَا كَانَ الْهَوَى قَبْلَ الْفِطَامِ

My country, my love for you still endures

as it did before weaning.

أُقَبِّلُ مِنْكَ حَيْثُ رَمَى الأعادِي

رَغَاماً طَاهِراً دُونَ الرَّغَامِ

I kiss, where the enemies fired upon you,

pure dust, no ordinary dust.

وَأُفْدِي كُلَّ جُلْمُودٍ فَتِيتٍ

وَهَى بِقَنَابِلِ الْقَوْمِ اللِّئَامِ

And I would give my life for every shattered boulder,

crumbled by the bombs of those vile men.

فَكَيْفَ الشِّبْلُ مُخْتَبطاً صَرِيعاً

عَلَى الْغَبْرَاءِ مَهْشُومَ الْعِظَامِ

What, then, of the lion cub, battered and fallen

on the dusty earth, his bones crushed?

وَكَيْفَ الطِّفْلُ لَمْ يُقْتَلْ لِذَنْبٍ

وَذَاتُ الخِدْرِ لَمْ تُهْتَكْ لِذَامِ

And what of the child, slain for no sin,

and the secluded woman, violated for no fault?

لَعَمْرُ المُنْصِفِينَ أَبَعْدَ هَذَا

يُلامُ المُسْتَشِيطُ عَلَى المُلامِ

By the lives of the just, after all this,

is the enraged man blamed for his reproaches?

لَحَى اللهُ المَطَامِعَ حَيْثُ حَلَّتْ

فِتِلْكَ أشَدُّ آفَاتِ السَّلامِ

God curse greed wherever it settles;

for these are peace's direst scourges.

تَشُوبُ المَاءَ وَهْوَ أَغَرُّ صَافٍ

وَتَمْشِي فِي المَشَارِبِ بِالسِّقَامِ

It taints the water, though it is bright and clear,

and walks through the drinking places bearing sickness.

أَيُقْتَلُ آمِنٌ وَيُقَالُ رَفِّهْ

عَلَيْكَ فَمَا حِمَامُكَ بِالحِمَامِ

Is a man at peace slain and told, 'Rest easy;

for your death is no death at all.

سَتَسْعَدُ بِالَّذِي يَشْفِيكَ حَالاً

وَتَنْعَمُ بَعْدَ خَسْفٍ بِالمَقَامِ

You will rejoice in what heals you at once,

and enjoy your abode after being laid low.

فَإِمَّا أَنْ تَعِيشَ وَأَنْتَ حُرٌّ

فَذَاكَ مِنَ التَّغَالِي فِي المرَامِ

But as for living while you are free,

that is an excessive ambition;

وَإِمَّا أَنْ تُسَاهمَ فِي المَعَالي

فَطَائِشَةٌ بِمَرْمَاكَ المَرَامِي

and as for sharing in lofty achievements,

the shots fly wide of your mark.'

مَضَى عَهْدٌ يُجَارُ الْجَارُ فِيهِ

وَيُؤْخَذُ لِلْحَلامِ مِنَ الحَرَامِ

Gone is an age when the neighbor was protected,

and lawful right was recovered from the unlawful.

وَهَذَا الْعَهْدُ مَيْدَانُ التَّبَارِي

بِلا حَدٍ إِلَى كَسْبِ الْحُطَامِ

This age is a field of competition,

without limit, to amass worldly dross.

مُبَاحٌ مَا تَشَاءُ فَخُذْهُ إِمَّا

بِحَقِّ الرَّأْيِ أَوْ حَقِّ الْحُسَامِ

All you desire is permitted; take it, either

by right of reason or by right of the sword.

وَلا تَكُرُثْكَ نَوْحَاتُ الثَّكَالَى

وَلا شَكْوَى ضَمِيرِكَ فِي الظَّلامِ

And let not the bereaved mothers' wails trouble you,

nor your conscience's complaint in the dark.

أَساتِذَةً المَطَامِعِ مَا ذَكَرْتُمْ

هُوَ النَّامُوسُ يَقْدُمُ وَهْوَ نَامِ

O masters of greed, what you have described

is the law, growing old even as it grows.

فَلا يَضْعُفْ ضَعِيفٌ أَوْ نرَاهُ

لِنابِ الليْثِ يُصْلَحُ فِي الطَّعَامِ

Let no weakling weaken, or we shall see him

made fit food for the lion's fang.

فَهِمْنَا مَأْخَذَ الْجَانِي عَلَيْنَا

وَإِعْذَارَ المُسِمِينَ الْعِظَامِ

We have understood our assailant's rationale,

and the great poisoners' justifications.

وَإِنَّ بَدِيلَ عَصْرٍ كَانَ فِيهِ

عِجَافُ الْقَوْمِ مِلْكاً لِلضِّخَامِ

And the successor to an age in which

the lean among the people were owned by the stout

زَمَانٌ سَادَ شَعْبٌ فِيهِ شَعْباً

وَأَنْزَلَهُ بِمَنْزِلَةِ السَّوَامِ

is a time when one people rules another

and lowers it to the rank of grazing cattle.

فَقَوْمٌ مِنْ مُلُوكٍ كَيْفَ كَانَتْ

مَرَاتِبُهُمْ وَقَوْمٌ مِنْ طَغَامِ

Thus one people consists of kings, whatever

their ranks may be, and another of rabble;

وَبَيْنَ الْعُنْصُرَيْنِ خِلافُ نَوْعٍ

عَلَى كَوْنِ الْجَمِيعِ مِنَ الأَنَامِ

and between the two groups lies a difference of kind,

though all belong to humankind.

أَقُولُ وَقَدْ أَفَاقَ الشَّرْقُ ذُعْراً

مِنَ الْحَالِ الشَّبِيهَةِ بِالمَنَامِ

I speak, now that the East has awakened in terror

from its dreamlike state,

عَلَى صَخَبِ الرَّوَاعِدِ فِي حِمَاهُ

وَرَقْصِ المَوْتِ بَيْنَ طُلىً وَهَامِ

to the clamor of thunder within its sanctuary

and death's dance between necks and heads.

أَقُولُ بِصَوْتِهِ لِحُمَاةِ دَارٍ

رَمَاهَا مِنْ بُغَاةِ الغَرْبِ رَامِ

I speak in its voice to the defenders of a home

struck by a shooter from the West's aggressors:

أُبَاةَ الضَّيمِ مِنْ عَرَبٍ وَتُركٍ

نُسُورَ الشُّمِّ أسَادَ المَوَامِي

O resisters of oppression, Arabs and Turks,

eagles of lofty peaks, lions of the wastes,

قَرُومَ العَصْرِ فُرْساناً وَرَجْلاً

نُجُومَ الكَرِّ مِنْ خَلْفِ اللِّثَامِ

champions of the age, horsemen and foot soldiers,

stars of the charge from behind the veil:

بَنَا مَرَضُ النَّعِيمِ فَنَسِّمُونَا

وَغىً يَشْفِي مِنَ الصَّفْوِ العُقَامِ

We suffer luxury's sickness; breathe upon us

battle that heals us of sterile tranquility.

بِنَا بَرْدُ المُكُوثِ فَادْفِئونَا

بِحُمَّى الْوَثْبِ حَيْثُ الْخَطْبُ حَامِ

We suffer the chill of staying still; warm us

with the fever of leaping forth where the crisis burns.

بَنَا عَطَلُ السَّمَاعِ فَشَنِّفُونَا

بِقَعْقَعَةِ الْحَدِيدِ لَدَى الصِّدَامِ

Our hearing is unadorned; deck our ears

with the clatter of iron at the clash.

لَقَدْ جِئْتُمْ بِبُرْهَانٍ عَظِيمٍ

عَلَى أَنَّا نَعُودُ إِلَى التَّمَامِ

You have indeed brought mighty proof

that we are returning to completeness,

وَأَنَّا إِنْ جَهِلْنَا أَوْ غَلِطْنَا

أَنِفْتَا أَنْ نُعَاتَبَ بِاحْتِكَامِ

and that, if we have been ignorant or mistaken,

we disdain being rebuked through domineering judgment;

وَأَنَا حَيْثُ فَاتَحَنَا كَذُوبٌ

بِمِيعَادٍ فَطِنَّا لِلْخِتَامِ

and that, when a liar approached us

with a promise, we discerned the ending.

فَإِنْ زِينَتْ لَنَا الأَقْوَالُ عِفْنَا

تَعاطِيهَا كَمَاكِرَةِ المُدَامِ

If words are adorned for us, we reject

imbibing them, as we do treacherous wine.

عَلَى هَذَا الرَّجَاءِ وَنَحْنُ فِيهِ

نَسِيرُ مُوَفَّقِينَ إِلَى الإمَامِ

On this hope—and within it

we march forward, favored with success—

مُثُولِي رَافِعاً إِجْلالَ قَومِي

إِلَى عَبَّاسٍ المَلِكِ الْهُمَامِ

I stand, raising my people's reverence

to Abbas, the magnanimous king,

إِلَى مَلِكِ التَّضَامُنِ وَالتَّآخِي

عَمِيدِ الشَّرْقِ مِنْ بَعْدِ الإمَامِ

to the king of solidarity and brotherhood,

leader of the East, after the Imam;

وَجَهْرِي جَهْدَ مَا تَسَعُ المَعَانِي

بِمَدْحِ شَقِيقِهِ السَّنِمِ المقَامِ

and proclaim, to the full extent meanings allow,

the praise of his brother, lofty in station,

مُتِمِّ إمَارَةِ الأَصْلِ المُعَلَّى

بِفَضْلٍ بَاذِخٍ كَالأَصْلِ سَامِ

completing his exalted lineage's princely dignity

with towering merit, as lofty as that lineage.

وَأَدْعُو أَنْ يُعِزَّ اللهَ مِصْراً

وَيَولِيَهَا السُّعُودَ عَلَى الدَّوَامِ

And I pray that God may exalt Egypt

and grant her happiness forever.