إن كان باليمن هذا اليوم قد سنحا — Khalil Mardam Bek

إن كان باليمن هذا اليوم قد سَنَحا

كم يوم شؤمٍ علينا بعده بَرَحا

If this day once dawned in blessing,

how many a day of ill omen afterward has tormented us!

ذكرى السرورِ إذا عادتك في حزنٍ

هاجتْ عَلَى قلبك الأشجانَ والترحا

When memories of joy revisit you in sorrow,

they stir sorrows and grief within your heart.

دمعانِ لاءَمَ هذا اليومُ بينهما

لميّتٍ ولمولودٍ لَقَدْ سَفَحا

Two streams of tears this day has joined together,

for one dead and one newborn, both have poured forth:

دمعٌ يفيض عَلَى ميْتِ الرجاءِ أَسى

وآخرٌ يوم ميلادِ النبي فرحا

tears flowing in sorrow over hope now dead,

and others in joy on the day of the Prophet's birth.

تبسَّمَ الفجرُ عن ميلادِ مؤتمنٍ

لولاه فجرُ الهدى في الكونِ ما وضحا

Dawn smiled at the birth of one worthy of trust;

without him, guidance's dawn would not have shone in the universe.

لولا (محمدُ) ظلَّ الناسُ بعضهمُ

ربّاً لبعضٍ وما كان الهدى رجحا

Were it not for Muhammad, people would have remained, some of them

lords over others, and guidance would not have prevailed.

سلوى بشرعتهِ ما بين أُمَّتِهِ

فأكرمُ الناسِ عند الحقِ مَنْ صلحا

Solace through his law among his community;

for the noblest of people before God is whoever is righteous.

(محمَّدٌ) وهو يدعو الرسلَ إِخوته

إلى المؤاخاةِ في الأديانِ قد طمحا

Muhammad, while calling the messengers his brothers,

aspired to brotherhood among religions.

أَبْكى الطواغيتَ في ذاتِ الإِله وكم

من مدمعٍ ليتيمٍ بائسٍ مسحا

He made tyrants weep for God's sake—and how many

a tearful eye of a wretched orphan he wiped!

واسى اليتامى وعالَ المعدمين وكمْ

عمَّنْ أَساءَ وآذاه لقد صفحا

He consoled the orphans and supported the destitute—and how often

he forgave those who wronged and hurt him!

أدالَ للشرق ممنْ كان يرهقه

ذلاً شديداً وظلماً بيّناً فدحا

He gave the East victory over those who burdened it

with severe humiliation and manifest, crushing oppression.

ولو أضاءتْ بجوِّ الغربِ دعوته

لَدانَ بالرفقِ أَو عَنْ غيّه لصحا

And had his message shone in the skies of the West,

it would have yielded to gentleness, or awakened from its error.

ما الجاهليةُ مِنْ طبعي ولستُ كمنْ

طرق التعصب في دينِ النبيِّ نحا

Ignorance is not my nature, nor am I like those

who pursue the paths of fanaticism in the Prophet's faith.

لكنْ أَراني الحجى من بعد تبصرةٍ

بأَنه خيرُ هادٍ صادقٍ نصحا

Yet reason showed me, after reflection,

that he is the finest truthful guide, sincere in counsel.

لا فرق عنديَ في الأديانِ قاطبة

لكنَّ صدري لدينِ المصطفى انشرحا

I make no distinction among religions, all of them;

yet my heart has opened to the Chosen One's faith—

لا دين مَنْ جعلوا أَركانَ دينهمُ

عمائماً ومساويكاً وطول لحى

not the faith of those who made their religion's pillars

turbans, tooth-cleaning sticks, and lengthy beards.

لم يفقه الدينَ مَنْ لاثوا عمائَمُهمْ

ولا الأُولى حملتْ أَيديهمُ السبحا

Those who wound their turbans did not understand the faith,

nor those whose hands carried prayer beads.

أَهاب في معشرٍ لا العلمُ ثقفَّهمْ

ولا الحضارة فيهمْ نورُها لُمحا

He raised his call among a people whom learning had not refined,

nor had civilization's light been glimpsed among them.

يخرّبون بأَيديهمْ بيوتَهمُ

زندُ التقاطعِ فيما بينهم قدحا

They tore down their homes with their own hands;

the firestick of estrangement struck sparks among them.

فأصبحوا بهداه يقتدى بهمُ

ديناً ودنيا فسبحانَ الذي منحا

Then, through his guidance, they became examples to follow

in faith and worldly life—glory be to Him who bestowed this!

آض الجفاءُ وآلتْ عنجهيتهمْ

إلى مكارمِ خلقٍ طاهرٍ سجحا

Their harshness changed, and their arrogance turned

into the virtues of a pure and gentle character.

إن الأولى كانتِ (الحبشانُ) تحكمهمْ

وعاملُ الفرسِ يمشي بينهمْ مرحا

Indeed, those whom the Abyssinians once ruled,

and among whom the Persian governor strode in arrogance—

(هرقل) ذعراً رمى بالصولجان لهم

وَتاجُ كسرى لديهمْ بات مطّرحا

Heraclius, in terror, cast his scepter down before them,

and Khosrow's crown lay cast aside in their midst.

خطوا عَلَى وَجه هذا الدهرِ منقبةً

آلتْ إلى خلفٍ مِنْ بعدهمُ فمحا

They inscribed a noble achievement upon the face of this age,

which passed to a later generation, who erased it.

أعظمْ بهم سلفاً وَأعجبْ له خلفاً

للذل والهونِ من بعد العلى جنحا

How great they were as forebears; how strange their successors,

who inclined toward abasement and humiliation after exaltation!

أنىّ تسكعتِ الإسلامُ في ظُلَمٍ

وَكان دينُهمُ نوراً وما برحا

How has Islam wandered aimlessly in darkness,

when their faith was light, and has never ceased to be!

المسلمون وَما يحصى لهم عددٌ

دارتْ عَلَى جمعهمْ للنائبات رحى

The Muslims—their numbers beyond counting—

the millstone of calamities has turned upon their ranks.

لا سيَّما العُرب منهم إنَّ دهرَهمُ

أشاح عنهم بوجهٍ عابسٍ كلحا

Especially the Arabs among them: their age

has turned away from them with a grim, scowling face.

مستضعفون عبيدٌ في ديارِهمُ

يدُ الشقاقِ أَدارتْ بينهمْ قدحا

They are oppressed, slaves in their own homelands;

the hand of discord has passed a cup among them.

على تقاسِمهمْ مِنْ دون غيرهمُ

يبيتُ مختلفُ الأقوامِ مصطلحا

Over dividing them up, and them alone,

the differing nations pass the night in agreement.

ما مِنْ قبيلٍ ولا شعبٍ له خطرٌ

إلا ومن دمِهمْ أو مالهم نضحا

There is no tribe or nation of consequence

that has not splashed itself with their blood or wealth.

وكلُّ شعبٍ شريكٌ في دمائِهمُ

فعجهزٌ هَبَّ يعدو إِثرَ مَنْ جرحا

And every nation shares in their blood,

so a decrepit old man sprang up, racing after whoever wounded them.

إذا شكوا ضرَّهمْ كانتْ شكايتُهمْ

شكوى الذبيح بعينيه لمن ذبحا

When they complain of their suffering, their complaint is

the slaughtered one's plea, with his eyes, to the one who slew him.

ما بال مَنْ منحوهمْ أَمسِ مملكةً

تمتدُّ مِنْ طَوْدِ (طوروس) إلى (رفحا)

What ails those who granted them yesterday a kingdom

stretching from Mount Taurus to Rafah,

ضنّوا عليهمْ (بعمان) ودمنتها

كأنَّ واعدهمْ في وعده مزحا

yet begrudged them Amman and its grounds?

As though the man who promised them had been joking in his promise.

لا غرو إمّا لقوا عقبى تخاذلِهمْ

فكلُّ شعبٍ رهينٌ بالذي اجترحا

No wonder if they face the consequences of failing one another;

for every nation is hostage to what it has committed.

أعجبْ لسيِّد (نَجْدٍ) لا يني أبداً

غير الجزيرة قطراً مغلقاً فتحا

Marvel at the lord of Najd, who never ceases

to open a barred land beyond the Peninsula.

والله لو ربح البيتُ الحرامُ بهمْ

فإِنه خاسرٌ من حيث ما ربحا

By God, even if the Sacred House gained through them,

it would still be a loser in the very gain it made.

إلى الملوكِ ملوك العربِ قارصة

تردُّ من غيّهمْ ما ندَّ أو جمحا

A stinging rebuke to the kings, the kings of the Arabs,

to check whatever in their error has strayed or run wild.

العربُ ما شقيَتْ إلاّ بمثلكمُ

وعن يديكمْ بها عادي الردى ضبحا

The Arabs have suffered only through the likes of you,

and through your hands death's charging steed has snorted among them.

لمتُ (الخوارج) حيناً في تآمرهم

عَلَى اغتيال (عليٍّ) واللذين لحا

I once blamed the Kharijites for their conspiracy

to assassinate Ali and the two whom he reviled,

حتى رأيت شقاءَ العربِ عن يدكمْ

وددتُ لو بعث الله الذي اقترحا

until I saw the Arabs' misery at your hands;

I wished God would raise up the man who proposed it.

أقولُ والعينُ لا تنفكُّ دامعةً

والقلبُ بالهمِّ والأحزان قد طفحا

I speak as my eye never ceases to weep,

and my heart has overflowed with worry and sorrows:

يا منقذَ العربِ والإسلامِ إنهما

تحت اضطهادِ شعوبِ الأرض قد رزحا

O deliverer of the Arabs and of Islam, they both

have been crushed beneath the oppression of the peoples of the earth.