ضربة الدهر في أوان الوعيد

تقذف المرء في الحضيض المبيد

Time's blow, at the hour of reckoning,

Hurls a person into the annihilating depths.

قلب دنيانا قطعة من حديد

لا رعى اللّه عهدها من جدود

The heart of our world is a piece of iron.

May God not preserve its ancient covenant.

كيف أمسيت يا ابن عبد المجيد

كن رصينا على احتمال ارزايا

How have you fared, O son of Abd al-Majid?

Be steadfast in bearing calamities,

مثلما كنت في ارتكاب الخطايا

أو لست المدعو منشي البلايا

As you were in committing sins.

Are you not the one called the maker of afflictions,

مشبع الحوت من لحوم البرايا

ومجيع الجنود تحت البنود

Who fed the fish on human flesh,

And starved the troops beneath their banners?

لا إله إلاه دون جدال

ذهب الدهر بالسنين الطوال

There is no deity but Him, beyond dispute.

Time has carried away the long years.

أيها الوالي في الليالي الخوالي

كنت أبكي بالأمس منك فما لي

O ruler in the nights gone by,

Yesterday I wept because of you; why, then,

بت أبكي عليك عبد الحميد

شعبك الحر لا يطيق احتقارا

Have I come to weep for you, Abd al-Hamid?

Your free people cannot bear contempt.

طالما كانوا راضخين اضطرارا

ولدى ما رأوا عليك انتصارا

For so long they submitted under compulsion.

And when they saw victory over you,

فرح المسلمون قبل النصارى

فيك فرح الدروز قبل اليهود

The Muslims rejoiced before the Christians;

The Druze rejoiced over you before the Jews.

أرغم الأنف منك من كنت مرغم

وتولى الإلقام من كنت ملقم

Those you humbled have humbled you.

Those you silenced have undertaken to silence you.

حسبك الطرد واعتقال كمجرم

شمتوا كلهم وليس من الهم

Expulsion and imprisonment as a criminal are enough for you.

They all gloated; it is no sign of nobility—

ة أن يشمت الورى في طريد

أنت في الحالتين كالليث معقو

—for people to gloat over an exile.

In both conditions you are like a lion bound—

ل أفي الاحتجاب والسجن فرق

هوّن الخطب فالتضجر حمق

—is there any difference between seclusion and prison?

Make light of the calamity: fretting is foolishness.

أنت عبد الحميد والتاج معقو

د وعبد الحميد رهن القيود

You are Abd al-Hamid when the crown is secured—

—and Abd al-Hamid when held in chains.

أنزلوك عن عرشك المتعالي

واستردوا لهم خزائن مال

They brought you down from your lofty throne,

And reclaimed their treasuries of wealth.

أنت فيهم ذو قسوة لا تبالي

خالد أنت رغم أنف الليالي

Among them you were cruel and heedless.

You endure despite the spite of the passing nights,

في كبار الرجال أهل الخلود

ويحك اسل فما عساهي قال

Among the great men who belong to immortality.

Woe to you! Take comfort—what might be said? [Wording uncertain.]

هكذا الشأن والحروب سجال

أيضر الشموس ذاك الزوال

Such is life: wars alternate in fortune.

Does setting harm the suns?

لك في الدهر والكمال محال

صفحات ما بين بيض وسود

You have in Time—and perfection is impossible—

Pages ranging between white and black.

إنما الجند باعتناك استعدوا

فلماذا وكلهم لك ضد

The troops became ready only through your care.

Why, then, when all of them oppose you,

أظهروا الجحد للصنيع وصدوا

حاولوا طمس ما صنعت وودوا

Did they deny your beneficence and turn away?

They tried to efface what you had made, and wished

لو يطيقون طمس خط الحديد

خط ذاك الحديد أكرم واكمل

They could efface the railway line.

How noble and perfect is that railway line!

به خطا من اين مقلة أفضل

أصبح الحاج منه في الامن يرفل

How fine a line it is, finer than [Ibn?] Muqla's.

Through it the pilgrim now moves in safety.

ذاك عبد الحميد ذخرك عند ال

له باق إن ضاع عند العبيد

That, Abd al-Hamid, is your treasure with God—

—enduring, even if lost among His servants.

كل من مر للزيارة في الحي

فوق خط قد خطه فضله الحي

Everyone who passes to make a visit in the precinct—

—along a line laid by his living beneficence,

يترحم والشيء يذكر بالشي

أكرموه وراقبوا اللّه في المشي

Prays for mercy upon him; one thing recalls another.

Honor him, and be mindful of God concerning the aged man—

خ ولا ترهقوه بالتهديد

حسنات الفتى يبدن المساوي

—and do not burden him with threats.

A man's good deeds wipe out his faults.

ومن الداء قد يكون التداوي

قد وصلتم بضغطه للتساوي

And from the illness may come the remedy.

Through his oppression you have reached equality.

لا تخافوا أذاه فالشيخ هاو

ليس فيه بقيّة للصعود

Do not fear his harm: the old man is falling,

With no strength left to rise.

لبس السجن ملبس للحداد

فاقد الرشد في زمان الرشاد

He donned prison as a garment of mourning,

Bereft of right guidance in the time of Rashad.

إيه ود استرقاق كل العباد

ولي الأمر ثلث قرن ينادي

Ah! He wished to enslave all God's servants.

For a third of a century the ruler was invoked—

باسمه كل مسلم في الوجود

أخذ الحكم وحده واستبدا

—by name, by every Muslim in existence.

He took power alone and ruled despotically.

وتولى عن الهدى وتصدى

حكمه فينا نافذ لا مردا

He turned away from guidance and set himself up.

His rule over us took effect without reversal.

كلما قامت الصلاة دعا الدا

عي لعبد الحميد بالتأييد

Whenever prayer began, the caller prayed—

—for support for Abd al-Hamid.

دعوات من المشائخ وقر

ألف رتل في حقه فهي ذخر

Prayers from the shaykhs, a load—

—a thousandfold, recited on his behalf: they are a treasure.

حسبه الخلع وانتظارٌ وأسر

فاسم هذا الأمير قد كان مقرو

Deposition, waiting, and captivity are enough for him.

For this prince's name had been linked—

نا بذكر الرسول والتوحيد

لا تجوروا ولا عليه تصولوا

—with mention of the Messenger and God's oneness.

Do not act unjustly or assail him.

واستقيموا وحاذروا أن تحولوا

كلنا اليوم سائل مسؤول

Remain upright, and beware of changing course.

Today each of us questions and is questioned.

بت أخشى عليكمو أن يقولوا

إن أثرتم من كامنات الحقود

I have come to fear that people will say of you,

If you stir up the hidden hatreds:

كان عبد الحميد للنار بردا

كان عبد الحميد أصلح جندا

Abd al-Hamid was coolness against the fire.

Abd al-Hamid had better troops.

كان عبد الحميد أبذل جهدا

كان عبد الحميد بالأمس فردا

Abd al-Hamid made greater efforts.

Yesterday Abd al-Hamid was one man;

فغدا اليوم ألف عبد الحميد

إن خلع الملوك أمره معجب

Today he has become a thousand Abd al-Hamids.

The deposition of kings is a wondrous affair,

سيما خلع مثل هذا المجرب

قال فيه المستهزيء المتدرب

Especially the deposition of one so seasoned.

The practiced mocker said of him:

يا أسيرا في سنت هيلين رحب

بأسير في سالونيك جديد

O prisoner on Saint Helena, welcome—

—a new prisoner in Salonika.

ذهبت لذة التحكم فارتع

في فناء الحديقة المتوسع

The pleasure of domination is gone; roam freely

In the spacious courtyard of the garden.

كان فينا سحابة وتقشع

قل له كيف زال ملكك لم يع

He was a cloud over us, and it dispersed.

Ask him: How did your sovereignty vanish? You were not protected—

صمك إعداد عدة أو عديد

بلدز وهو بعدك اليوم مغبر

—by preparations of equipment or numbers of troops.

Baldiz, dusty today now that you are gone,

في ذيول من الحيا يتعثر

لا مفرا من القضاء المقدر

Stumbles in trailing skirts of rain.

There is no escape from ordained judgment.

لم تصنك الجنود تفديك بالأر

واح والمال يا غرام الجنود

The troops did not protect you, redeeming you with their lives—

—and wealth, O darling of the troops.

أدبر اليوم عنك ما كان أقبل

ما عساه من بعد هذا مؤجل

Today what once approached you has turned away.

What could still be deferred after this?

يا زمانا قضى عليه وعجل

قل له كيف كنت كيف ملكت

O Time that passed judgment on him and hastened it!

Ask him: How were you? How did you rule

الأرض كيف انفردت بالتمجيد

كنت كالصل تنهش القوم نهشا

The earth? How did you alone receive glorification?

You were like a viper, savagely biting the people.

ونهبت الأموال قرشا فقرشا

وتسيطرت فوق دستك وحشا

You plundered wealth, piastre after piastre.

You ruled above your throne like a beast.

فثللت العروش عرشا فعرشا

وصبغت الصعيد بعد الصعيد

You toppled thrones, throne after throne,

And stained land after land.

كم لعبد من عشرة لم تقلها

إذ وصلتم نهاية لم يصلها

How many a stumble of Abd did you leave unpardoned? [Reading uncertain.]

For you reached a limit not reached by—

صاحب النيل ويل أمك في الهالكين

كلما نلت غاية لم تنلها

—the lord of the Nile; woe to your mother among the doomed!

Whenever you reached a goal beyond—

همة الدهر قلت هل من مزيد

قدرك السامي لا سواه مفضل

—Time's aspiration, you said: Is there more?

Your lofty station alone was favored.

سيفك الماضي حده لم يفلل

أي أمر أردته ليس يفعل

Your keen sword's edge was never blunted.

What command you wished was not carried out?

ضاقت الأرض عن مداك فأرسل

ت بطرف إلى السماء عنيد

The earth grew too narrow for your reach, so you cast—

—a defiant glance toward the sky.

كاد حزب الأحرار في الفخ يحصل

من دهاه وكاد يفتك بالكل

The party of the free nearly fell into the trap

Through his cunning; he nearly destroyed them all.

إذ يعد الدستور مثله كالغل

قل له جل من له الملك لا ملك

For he considered the constitution a fetter.

Tell him: Exalted is He who owns dominion; no dominion belongs—

لغير المهيمن المعبود

حاشا رب الأنام جل تعالى

—to any but the all-protecting One who is worshipped.

Far be it from the Lord of humankind, exalted and sublime,

أن يتيح للتاكثين نضالا

قل لعبد الحميد مبكي الثكالي

To grant covenant-breakers a chance to fight. [Reading uncertain.]

Tell Abd al-Hamid, who makes bereaved mothers weep:

أنت مما شقيت أرفه حالا

من أسير الجزيرة المكمود

Despite your misery, you are more at ease

Than the grief-stricken prisoner of the island.

وأخوكم فرعون في اليم ملقى

مات في النيل حتف أنفه غرقا

And your brother Pharaoh lies cast into the sea.

He met his death by drowning in the Nile.

ولكم في الملوك من مات خنقا

واسير الأقفاص قد كان أشقى

How many kings have died by strangling!

And the prisoner of cages was more wretched,

لو سألت الأسفار عن با يزيد

قد أراد الإلاه بالسجن رفقا

If you asked the books about Bayezid.

God intended imprisonment as kindness

بالذي كان بين قومه عنقا

قيل فيه قول وقد جاء حقا

To one who had towered above his people.

A saying was spoken of him, and proved true:

كان عبد الحميد في القصر أشقى

منه في الأسر والبلاء الشديد

Abd al-Hamid was more wretched in the palace

Than in captivity and severe affliction.

لا تراه قد يمتطي ظهر خيل

لا تراه يجول في ربع ميل

You never saw him mount a horse.

You never saw him roam a quarter of a mile.

هكذا عاش في عناء وويل

كان لا يعرف القرار بليل

Thus he lived in hardship and woe.

He knew no repose at night,

لا ولا يستلذ طعم الهجود

برضا الكل قد تبوا عرشا

Nor savored the taste of slumber.

With everyone's consent he occupied a throne,

فرآه من سوء حظه نعشا

فلذا وهو ذاهل الفكر وحشا

But through his ill fortune saw it as a bier.

Thus, distracted in thought and desolate,

حذر يرهب الظلام ويخشى

خطرة الريح أو بكاء الوليد

He was wary, dreading darkness and fearing

A passing gust of wind or an infant's cry.

عاش فردا لم يصطف الدهر إلفا

خون الكل مذ تسيطر عسفا

He lived alone, never choosing a companion all his days.

He called everyone treacherous from the time he ruled oppressively.

لم يغمظ من خشية الفتك طرفا

نفق تحت طابق الارض أخفى

He never closed an eye for fear of assassination.

A tunnel beneath the earth's surface, more hidden—

في تدجبيه من ضمير الكنود

اوقف الجند حول قصره تنل

—in its concealment than the ingrate's conscience. [Wording uncertain.]

He stationed troops around his palace [unclear word],

دون عين لصرف من يتوسل

من يرى قصره ومن يتوصل

Out of sight, to turn away anyone who pleaded.

Who could see his palace, and who could gain access?

يعجز الوهم عن تلمس ذاك البا

ب باب الخليفة الموصود

Imagination cannot find that door—

—the caliph's bolted door.

حالة منها كل قلب يرق

واضطهاد على العبيد يشق

A condition at which every heart softens,

And oppression that weighs heavily upon the subjects.

انت مولى بالامس واليوم رق

اصحيح ماق يل عنك وحق

Yesterday you were a master; today, a slave.

Is what was said about you true; is it fact—

ما سمعنا عن الرواة الشهود

أنت أدهى من ابن يوسف في الشر

—what we heard from eyewitness narrators?

You are more cunning in evil than the son of Yusuf.

أنت أخذلت جيش بحرك والبر

ويقولون عنك اللّه أكبر

You failed your forces by sea and land.

And they say of you—God is greatest!—

ان عبد الحميد قد هدم الشر

ع وأربى على فعال الوليد

That Abd al-Hamid destroyed religious law—

—and surpassed the deeds of al-Walid.

نلت فيما مضى من العمر عزا

حيث ألحقت بالحقائب عجزا

You gained glory in the years of your life gone by,

As you brought a deficit upon the coffers.

استرح لا ضمير يؤذيك وخزا

ان بريئا وان اثيما ستجزى يوم

Rest; let no conscience hurt you with its prick.

Whether innocent or guilty, you will be repaid on the day—

تجزى أمام رب شهيد

وسواء جار الزمان وأنصرف

—you are repaid before a Lord who witnesses all.

Whether Time dealt unjustly and turned away,

إنه الحق وحده الله أعرف

دعك منهم وقل ولا تتوقف

It is the truth; God alone knows best.

Leave them aside and say, without hesitation:

أصحيح بكيت لما أتى الوف

د ونابتك رعشة الرعديد

Is it true you wept when the delegation came—

—and a coward's trembling overcame you?

وتلهفت والتلهف نقس

من عظيم والليث مثلك يقسو

And you lamented—and lamenting is a blemish—

—in a great man, while a lion like you is stern.

حط عنك الشهامة البأس والسو

ونسيت الآباء والمجد والسو

Distress and ill fortune stripped you of chivalry,

And you forgot your forefathers, glory, and eminence—

دد والعز يا كريم الجدود

أبكاء عن ترك تلك المساكن

—and honor, O noble descendant.

Were your tears for leaving those dwellings?

أبكاء عن فقد هذي الخزائن

أبكاء عن كشف هذي الدفائن

Were your tears for losing these treasuries?

Were your tears for uncovering these buried hoards?

عهدنا الملوك تبكي ولكن

علها نزوة الفؤاد الجليد

We have known kings to weep, but

Perhaps it was a surge of the steadfast heart.

أخضابا في ذلك الشيب مخضل

فتجلّى المبيض بالدمع مبتل

Was there a moist dye in that gray hair?

The whitened hair appeared wet with tears.

دمعة سالت فوق فؤديك كالطل

علها دمعة الوداع لذاك المل

A tear flowed over your temples like dew.

Perhaps it was a farewell tear for that sovereignty—

ك أو ذكرة لتلك العهود

إن سيف الدستور حده ماض

—or a remembrance of those bygone times.

The constitution's sword has a keen edge.

ويسيرٌ مما جرى لك قاض

بمنال الغفران شأن التغاضي

And a little of what befell you suffices—

—to win forgiveness: such is forbearance.

غسل الدمع عنك حوبة ماضي

ك ووقاك شر يوم الوعيد

Tears washed from you the sin of your past—

—and protected you from the evil of the day of reckoning.

صب عنك الدستور سوط البلايا

وتجلى المكنون ضمن الزوايا

The constitution poured its scourge of woes upon you. [Wording uncertain.]

What was hidden within the corners became visible.

هل لك اليوم في المآقي بقايا

نفع الدمع فيك عند البرايا

Have you any tears left in your eye-corners today?

Tears have benefited you in people's eyes.

ليس ذاك الشفيع بالمردود

أبكاء بالدمع أم هو بالدم

That intercessor is not rejected.

Is the weeping with tears, or with blood?

فكلا السائلين كل به اهتم

أيها الباكي خفف الوظأ والهم

For everyone took an interest in both flowing fluids.

O weeper, lessen the strain and sorrow.

دمعك اليوم مثل أمرك بالأم

س مطاع في سيد ومسود

Your tears today, like your command yesterday—

—are obeyed by master and subject.

حادثت الأيام أولئك ذعرا

فتجلد إن لم تجد لك صبرا

Time brought terror upon those men.

Be resolute, if you cannot find patience.

واذكر العم أنت بالعم أدرى

كان عبد العزيز أجمل أمرا

Remember your uncle: you know him best.

Abd al-Aziz was nobler in his conduct

منك في يوم خلعه المشهود

أنب الابن إذ أضاع المجالا

Than you on the witnessed day of his deposition.

He rebuked the son when he lost the opportunity.

وامتطى الفلك يحتذيه نعالا

ممتلي فيه عزة وجلالا

He boarded the vessel, wearing it like sandals,

Filled there with pride and majesty.

خاف مأثور قوله فتعالى

عن صغار ومات موت الأسود

He feared his remembered saying, and rose above—

—abasement, dying the death of lions.

أوصد الباب دونهن انفرادا

موهم الأم ما أراد السهادا

He shut the door on them, seeking solitude,

Giving his mother the impression he wanted no wakefulness.

غب ما كاتب الشقيق مرادا

ضم مقراضه إليه ونادى

After writing to his brother Murad,

He drew his scissors toward himself and declared:

دون ذل الحياة قطع الوريد

اقتطع منك ما يميتك والدغ

Better to sever a vein than endure life's humiliation.

Cut from yourself what will kill you, and pierce—

كل عرق حتى يسيل ويفرغ

هل سمعت ما قيل والحق أبلغ

—every vein until it runs and empties.

Have you heard what was said? Truth is more eloquent.

حي عهد الرشاد يا شرق وابلغ

ما تمنيت من زمان بعيد

Hail the era of Rashad, O East, and attain—

—what you have long wished for.

قد قطعنا بسيفنا دابر الظلم

وقطعنا من عواتقنا الغل

With our sword we have cut off the last trace of oppression.

We have cut the fetter from our shoulders.

سقط المستبد فليهنأ الكل

قد تولى محمد الخامس المل

The despot has fallen; let everyone rejoice.

Muhammad the Fifth has assumed kingship—

ك فأعظم بتاجه المعقود

يال بشرى عبد الحميد تخلى

—how splendid is his secured crown!

What glad tidings! Abd al-Hamid has relinquished power.

وتناغى دستورنا وتعلى

وتراءى رشادنا وتولى

Our constitution sang sweetly and rose high.

Our Rashad appeared and assumed power.

وتحلى في مهرجان تحلى

سيف عثمان فيه بالتقليد

He adorned himself at a festival, where there was adorned—

—Osman's sword through its ceremonial girding.

ذلك السيف ذاك حامي حمى الحي

ذلك السيف مشرق بالدم الحي

That sword is the defender of the community's sanctuary.

That sword gleams with living blood.

ذلك السيف عند نشره والطي

وذلك الدهر خاشعا إذ رأى السي

That sword, when drawn and sheathed,

And Time stood humbled when it saw the two swords—

فين في قبضة العزيز المجيد

هيىء اليوم جيش بحرك والبر

—in the grasp of the Mighty, the Glorious.

Prepare today your forces by sea and land.

وتقدم بالأسد للكر والفر

ثم ناد في الناس اللّه أكبر

Advance with the lions to attack and retreat.

Then cry among the people: God is greatest!

طألئي للجلال يا أم الأر

ض سجودا هذا مقام السجود

Bow before majesty, O mother of the earth—

—in prostration; this is the place for prostration.

قد أتاح الإله نصر العباد

مذ تظافرنا في رقي البلاد

God has granted victory to His servants

Since we joined forces to advance the country.

زه لعمري وحق تلك الأيادي

علم الله أن عهد رشاد

Bravo! By my life and the worth of those beneficent hands,

God knows that Rashad's reign

خير فال لرد عهد الرشيد

Is a good omen for restoring the age of al-Rashid.