وشب بأرض بوليفا — Qustaki Al Himsi

وشبّ بأرض بوليفا

وجارتها على تخم

In Bolivia's land there flared,

and its neighbor's, over a border,

نزاع آثر الخصما

ن فيه وساطة الحكم

a dispute; the two adversaries chose

the arbiter's mediation in it.

فقالوا كلما يكفي

لفهم وجوه خلقهم

They said all that was enough

to understand the facets of their character,

وظلوا يرقبون صدو

ر حكم مذهب الغمم

and kept awaiting the issuing

of a ruling that would dispel their griefs.

ومر الشهر عقب الشه

ر والحكام في عقم

Month passed after month,

while the judges remained barren of results.

وعقبى عصر ادمغة

تسيل الفهم كالدسم

And the outcome of squeezing brains

that oozed understanding like fat:

قضوا بسفارة منهم

تعاين مركز الحرم

they decreed an embassy of their own

to inspect the heart of the sanctuary.

فسارت بعد تزويد

وتلقين ومحتزم

It departed after provisioning,

instruction, and girded readiness,

وعادت بعد تغريب

يحاكي دهر ذي ألم

and returned after a sojourn abroad

that seemed an age to one in pain.

وظلت بين إمهال

وتسويف إلى سأم

It lingered amid postponement

and procrastination, to the point of weariness,

إلى أن سعر التسو

ف شر الحرب والضرم

until procrastination kindled

the evil of war and conflagration.

ولما طالت البلوى

تنادى القوم للشيم

When the ordeal grew long,

the people called one another to noble conduct,

وقالوا عل أهل الحك

م ينعطفون للكرم

and said, 'Perhaps the men of judgment

will incline toward generosity.

نعاودهم لعل خمي

ر رأي خلف صمتهم

Let us approach them again; perhaps a ferment

of thought lies behind their silence.'

إذا بالمجلس العالي

يذيع سخيف حكمهم

Then suddenly the High Council

broadcast its foolish ruling,

ملخّصه بأن سفا

رة العرفان والحكم

the gist being that the embassy

of knowledge and judgment

أتت بفؤائد جلت

لدى العلماء كالنعم

had brought benefits that shone

to the scholars like blessings;

ولكن حل ما لم ي

ك في حسبان محتلم

but something occurred that had never

entered any grown man's reckoning:

وذلك أن بعضا من

ذويها أنجم الظلم

namely, that some among

its members—the stars of darkness—

طغت انهار علمهم

فقاتت وسع فهمهم

the rivers of their knowledge overflowed,

outstripping their understanding's reach;

وبعضهم تجاوز فه

مهم افلاك علمهم

while, for others, their understanding surpassed

the celestial spheres of their knowledge.

فىبوا بالذي لم يح

فظوا من تلكم التخم

So they returned with what they had not

retained from those borderlands,

وأنسوا كل ما من أج

له رجعوا كمنهرم

and were made to forget all for whose sake

they had returned, like a senile man;

على أنهم من غي

ر تحقيق ولا زعم

though they, without

verification or even conjecture,

يرون الحق للاقوى

بلا شك ولا جرم

held that right belongs to the stronger,

without doubt or sense of wrongdoing.

فصب عليهم الخصما

ن شيئا ليس كالديم

Then the two adversaries poured upon them

something unlike gentle rains,

وقالا ليتكم خرس

وليت القوم في صمم

and both said, 'Would that you were mute,

and the people utterly deaf!

ولا رحم الاله فتى

يعاونكم على الظلم

May God show no mercy to any man

who helps you in injustice.

فانتم أهل تدمير

وتشتيت لملتئم

For you are agents of destruction

and of scattering what is united.'

وشنّت أمّة الطليا

ن حرب الثأر والنهم

The nation of the Italians launched

a war of vengeance and greed

على الحبشان فالتجأوا

إلى مخلوعة الأمم

against the Abyssinians, who sought refuge

with the nations' dethroned assembly,

وقالوا إننا منكم

وانتم قبة الذمم

and said, 'We are of your number,

and you are the dome of pledges;

وانتم كعبة العرفا

ن والانصاف والنعم

you are the Kaaba of knowledge,

fairness and blessings.

فقولوا قولكم يشفي

مسامع كل ذي صمم

So speak your word, that it may heal

the hearing of every deaf man,

وينعش كل مدحور

ويطرد كل مقتحم

revive every one cast down,

and drive away every invader.

وقد عاينتم ما ح

ل فينا من اذى عمم

You have witnessed what has befallen

us of widespread harm.

وهذا اليوم يومكم

لردع عظيم إثمهم

This day is your day

to restrain their grievous sin.'

فاغنوهم بتمهيل

وتعليل بمغتنم

So they enriched them with postponements

and consoling promises of gains,

ومنوّهم بتهويل

وانذار لمجترم

and fed them hopes with bluster

and warnings to the wrongdoer.

فآبوا بين تهليل

وشكر غير منكتم

They returned amid cries of joy

and unconcealed gratitude.

وهل يدفع وعد أو

وعيد جيش مستقم

But can a promise or

a threat repel a steadfast army?

وهل يردع انذار

صبيب الغيظ والضرم

Can a warning restrain

the torrent of wrath and fire?

وهل يقعد عن ثأر

كمي أو سليل كمي

Can it hold back from vengeance

a warrior or a warrior's descendant?

فذاقوا طعم تقتيل

جزاء قديم غدرهم

So they tasted slaughter,

the recompense for their old treachery,

بنسف غير منفصل

وضرب غير منفصم

with unceasing demolition

and unbroken blows.

وصاحوا يا لهول الخط

ب بتنا في يد العدم

They cried, 'Oh, the terror of this calamity!

We have fallen into annihilation's hands.

فأين عهود أقوام

وأقيال ألي عظم

Where are the pledges of peoples

and princes of great stature?

وأين صروح آمال

بنيناها على قمم

Where are the towers of hope

we built upon the peaks?

وأين الحكم هل يبع

ث أرواحا إلى رمم

Where is arbitration? Can it send

spirits into decayed remains?

وهل يحيي اصطبارا ما

ت بالتسويف والسأم

Can it revive the patient endurance that died

of procrastination and weariness?

أماتَ الحق والانصا

ف بين الهدم والحمم

It killed right and fairness

amid destruction and lava.

أجيبوا يا دهاة الار

ض بل يا غصة الألم

Answer, O wily men of the earth—

rather, O choking pang of pain!'

إذا بالصوت يتلو شب

ه وحي حط من علم

Then a voice recited something like

revelation descended from a peak,

يقول قضى رجال الحك

م أهل العلم والهمم

saying, 'The men of judgment have ruled—

men of knowledge and lofty resolve—

بأن الحق مشكوك

به في هذه الظلم

that right is doubtful

in this darkness.

وكيف بين حق دو

ن أشهاد ذوي قيم

How can a right be clear without

witnesses of worth?

ولا حق لمغلوب

ولو قد عاذ بالحرم

The vanquished has no right,

even if he has sought the sanctuary.

وان الظلم يأباه

رجال الحكم والشمم

And injustice is rejected by

the men of judgment and proud honor.

ولكن لا جديد تح

ت هذي الشمس في النظم

But there is nothing new beneath

this sun in the order of things:

فإن الحق للقو

ة شرع الله من قدم

for right belongs to strength—

God's law since ancient times.

أنعصي الله أم نقضي

بما قد خط بالقلم

Shall we disobey God, or judge

by what the pen has written?'

فغمرهم بنو الحبشا

ن باللعنات والسخم

The sons of the Abyssinians overwhelmed them

with curses and rancor,

وقالواشر أهل الأر

ض قوم فرنجة الأمم

and said, 'The worst people on earth

are the Frankish peoples among the nations!

أنحن البربر الاجلا

ف أهل النكث والشؤم

Are we the uncouth barbarians,

the people of treachery and ill omen,

وأنتم أمة الاشرا

ف أهل العدل والذمم

and you the nation of noblemen,

the people of justice and pledges?

عليكم لعنة الرحما

ن في الاصباح والظلم

Upon you be the All-Merciful's curse

at dawn and in darkness!

أضعتم ملكنا بالمطل

ل والتغرير والبرم

You lost us our kingdom through delay,

deception and vexation.

وانتم شر مخلوق

براه خالق النسم

You are the worst creature

the Creator of living souls has made.

فلا اختلجت لكم عين

ولا سرتم على قدم

May no eye of yours ever twitch,

nor may you ever walk on a foot!'

وشم الترك ريح النف

ط يصعد من ربى إرم

The Turks smelled the scent of oil

rising from the heights of Iram.

ولم تك قصة للنف

ط شاعت عند مقتحم

No tale of oil had

spread among invaders.

وللاتراك طرمذة

تسمى البلف بالعجمي

The Turks have a boastful trick

called 'bluff' in a foreign tongue;

وتدعى عندنا نفخا

وشعوذة لمختصم

among us it is called puffery

and a disputant's trickery.

وجاءتهم جواسيس

بنقل غير متهم

Spies came to them

with an account beyond suspicion;

فقالوا ذاك عن باري

ز عن صحب ذوي كرم

they said, 'That is from Paris,

from friends endowed with generosity:

أناس قد ملكناهم

ببلف غير محتشم

people whom we have mastered

with shameless bluff.

فقبل الحرب ربوات

أدانونا بلا عتم

Before the war, sums in their tens of thousands

they lent us without delay.

سبكناها رصاصا قد

تغلغل في جسومهم

We cast them into lead that

penetrated their bodies.

وعقب الحرب اغنونا

باسلحة بلا قيم

After the war, they enriched us

with weapons at no price,

إلى أن مكنونا من

هلاك ارامن التخم

until they enabled us to bring about

the destruction of the borderland Armenians.

وودعناهم بفنا

ء قسم من جنودهم

We bade them farewell with the annihilation

of a portion of their troops.

سلوا أهل الرها عما

دفنا في جوارهم

Ask the people of al-Ruha what

we buried in their neighborhood.

وما غضبوا ولا عتبوا

وذاك دليل بأسهم

They neither grew angry nor reproached us:

that is proof of their courage!

لهم ولع بنا ولئن

ولفنا في دمائهم

They are infatuated with us, even though

we have made ourselves at home in their blood.

شبيه الشيء منجذب

وفينا بعض شكلهم

Like is drawn to like,

and we share something of their kind.

وليس لهم بنا شغف

ولكن غيرة بهم

It is not that they are passionately fond of us,

but rather jealousy within them.

وان سميتها حسدا

فلم تبعد بوصفهم

If you call it envy,

your description of them is not far off.

فهم للانكلين عدى

ولو مجوا دما بدم

For they are enemies of the English,

even if they spew blood upon blood.

وخافوا ان تصير فرو

ق غنما فوق غنمهم

They feared that Faruq would become

spoils on top of their own spoils.

فمدونا بأعتدة

وامداد كذي رحم

So they supplied us with equipment

and reinforcements, like kinsmen.

وما بالوا بعسكرهم

ولا بالارمن للفدم

They cared nothing for their own soldiers,

nor for the Armenians—how dull-witted!

وقالوا دونكم إزمي

ر فاقتحموا كمنتقم

They said, 'Here is Izmir for you:

storm it like avengers.

ولا تدعوا من اليونا

ن طفلا أو أخا هرم

Leave not among the Greeks

a child or an aged man.

وجدوا نحن إستبو

ل واحتكموا بطردهم

Press on toward Istanbul,

and impose your judgment by expelling them.

ونحن نسير عنكم أو

ل الحلفاء كالحشم

We shall lead away from you the foremost

of the Allies, like servants.

وسوف ترون منا الغن

م يتلو الغنم كالديم

You shall see from us spoils

following spoils like steady rains.'

ولما أن حللنا في

ربوع الأمن والحرم

When we had settled in

the abodes of safety and sanctuary,

أتانا نحو أنقرة

رسول من جنابهم

there came to us toward Ankara

a messenger from their presence,

شفيع الاسم والكني

ة والسحنة والنغم

an intercessor in name and surname,

in countenance and tone.

سألنا العلج ما ذا الاس

م قال كنيت بالوخم

We asked the foreigner, 'What is this name?'

He said, 'I am surnamed Unwholesomeness.'

فقلنا قبح المرس

ل من بكم

We said, 'Shame upon the envoy

for his muteness!'

واملينا عليه نص

عهد غير عهدهم

We dictated to him the text

of a pact unlike their pact.

وقيل الترك مندفعو

ن للعدوان والنقم

It was said, 'The Turks are rushing

toward aggression and vengeance.'

وسرا لفقوا كذبا

سداه غير ملتحم

In secret they concocted a lie

whose warp was not tightly joined;

أذاعوا أن إخوانا

تنادوهم من التخم

they announced that brothers

were calling to them from the borderlands,

يقاسون البلا من جو

ر عرش خصم جنسهم

suffering affliction from the tyranny

of the throne of their people's enemy.

لذلك طالبوا ذات ال

حليفة حق منظلم

Therefore they demanded of the ally

the right of one oppressed.

فقال لهم ذوو الانصا

ف هذي قرية الخصم

The men of fairness told them,

'This is the enemy's village.

أليسوا منذ اقصى الده

ر في دعة وفي حرم

Have they not, since remotest times,

lived in ease and sanctuary?

وهل شم الكرام العر

ب ريح الحكم والعلم

Have the noble Arabs ever smelled

the scent of government and learning?'

اجابوا انتم الاغفا

ل تخبطون في الظلم

They replied, 'You are the heedless,

stumbling about in darkness!

أما هذي حليفهم

تعلونا على الغنم

Is not this their ally,

outstripping us in gains?

أيبلغنا بنو التامي

ن ثم نبيت كالبهم

Shall the sons of the Tamin overtake us,

and we then spend the night like beasts?

ولسنا في جوار المو

صل الحدباء والضرم

We are not in the neighborhood of Mosul

the Hunchback, and of conflagration,

ولكن في جوار بني

فرنسا اللطف والكرم

but in the neighborhood of the sons

of France—courtesy and generosity!

نشاركمهم بلطفهم

ونشركهم بنفطهم

We share with them in their courtesy,

and give them a share of their oil.

وأحيانا نهددهم

وأحيانا ذوو رحم

Sometimes we threaten them,

and sometimes we are kinsmen;

وننبش عهدة الخنزي

ر فرنكلين ذي الوخم

we dig up the pledge of that pig,

Franklin, the unwholesome.

فقد بهرته هيبتنا

فامضى وهو شبه عم

Our majesty so dazzled him

that he signed, almost blind.

وسوف تعيننا جمي

ة الاسقام والسخم

The assembly will also help us,

that gathering of sickness and rancor.

بلوناها وفيها زم

رة الاغفال كالنعم

We have tried it; within it is a band

of heedless men, like cattle:

غباوة جاهل قد حك

موه في ذوي القيم

the stupidity of an ignoramus whom they made

judge over men of worth.

نسيرها كما نهوى

فتتلو الوحي كالصنم

We steer it as we please,

and it recites revelation like an idol.

يساعدنا خبيث عن

دنا منهم كمختصم

A scoundrel helps us, here

among us, one of them, like a disputant.

وكنا قد عهدناه

قديما من ذوي البكم

We had known him

long ago as one of the mute;

ويسعفه سفير الان

كليز لخير مختتم

and the English ambassador aids him,

for the best of endings.'