خلقت ولكن كي أموت بها حبا — Rashid Ayoub

خُلِقتُ ولكن كي أموت بها حُبّا

لِذاكَ تَرَاني مُستَهاماً بِهَا صَبّا

I was created, but to die of love for her.

That is why you see me besotted with her, lovesick.

وإني مَشُوقٌ كُلّما شابَ رأسهُ

بحُبِّ التي يشتاقُهَا كُلّما شَبّا

And I am one who yearns whenever his head grows gray,

with love for her whom he yearns for whenever he reaches youth.

إِذا مَلأت دَهري الخُطوبُ فإنّهَا

لَتَلقى بِصَدري الرّحبِ مُستَودَعاً رَحبَا

When calamities fill my life, they

will surely find an ample lodging in my spacious breast.

يُصَاحِبُني صَبرٌ أُكَتِّمُهُ إِذا

لَدى نُوَبِ الأيّامِ نادَيتُهُ لَبّى

Patience accompanies me; I keep it hidden, and when

amid the days' ordeals I call it, it answers.

فما أنا ممّن إِن ترَامَت بِهِ النّوَى

تَرَوّعهُ الدّنيَا ولَو مُلئَت رُعبَا

For I am not one whom, if separation casts him far away,

the world terrifies, even if it is filled with terror.

ولكنّ لي في سَفحِ صِنّينَ مَوطِناً

إِذا مَا ذكَرتُ الأهلَ فِيهِ فَإنّني

But I have a home at the foot of Sannine;

whenever I recall my kin there, I

لَدى ذِكرِهم أستمطِرُ الدمعَ منصَبّا

أُعلَلّلُ نفسي إن سئِمتُ بِعَودَةٍ

on remembering them, call down a pouring rain of tears.

I soothe myself, if I grow weary, with the hope of return;

وَلكِنّها الأيّام تَبّاً لها تَبّا

فَلِلّهِ هاتِيكَ الرّبى وربوعها

but such are the days—a curse upon them, a curse!

To God belong those hills and their dwelling places,

فإنيَ قَد ضَيّعتُ في تربها القَلبَا

وَيا حَبّذا ذاكَ النّسِيمُ فإنّني

for I have lost my heart in their soil.

And oh, how lovely that breeze! For I

لَيُنعِشُني ذاكَ النّسِيمُ إِذا هَبّا

تَنادَوا بدستُورٍ وقالوا لَنَا انظُرُوا

am surely revived by that breeze whenever it blows.

They called out for a constitution and told us, 'Look:

فإنّا طَرَدنا الفَقرَ عَنكُمُ والجدبا

ولاحَ لَنَا بَرقٌ على البعدِ ضاحِكٌ

for we have driven poverty and drought away from you.'

And a smiling flash of lightning appeared to us in the distance,

فَخِلنَا بأن قَد صَارَ يابِسُنَا رَطَبَا

وما كان إِلاّ خُلّباً أضحَكَ الفَضَا

so we thought our dry ground had turned moist.

But it was only rainless lightning that made the sky smile,

وخَلّفَ قَوماً نادبينَ المُنَى نَدبَا

وَرَاحَ المُنادى فِيهٍِ يوماً كَأنّهُ

and left a people lamenting their hopes in grief.

And the call once raised about it became as though it were

صِيَاحٌ بِقِيعانٍ إِلى أن قضى نحبَأ

عَلى مَهَلٍ يا دولَةَ التُّركِ واسمعي

a cry on open plains, until it died.

Easy now, O state of the Turks, and listen:

فإني بقولِ الحقّ لم أرتكِب ذَنبَا

مشى العِلمً في شرق البلادِ وَغَربِهَا

for I have committed no sin by speaking the truth.

Knowledge walked through the lands, east and west,

ولكن بتركِيا لقد ضَيّعَ الدّربَا

فما تَنفَعُ الأحزَابُ وهيَ كَثيرَةٌ

but in Turkey it has surely lost its way.

So what use are the parties, numerous as they are,

إِذا كانت الأحزابُ لا تَنفَعُ الشّعبَا

يَقُولونَ إِنّ التُّركَ أُسدٌ أشَاوِسٌ

if the parties do not benefit the people?

They say the Turks are fearless lions;

كماةُ التركِ كانوا لدى الوَغَى

ولم يدفعوا البلغارَ عنهُم ولا السّربَا

the champions of the Turks were amid the fray,

yet they drove neither the Bulgarians nor the Serbs away from them.

فما هُوَ إِلاّ الجهلُ مدّ بساطهُ

عليهم وأرخى من غَياهِبِهَِ حُجبَا

For it was only ignorance that spread its carpet

over them and let down veils from its deep darkness.

ألا لا أرانا اللهُ عَوداً لِدَولَةٍ

نكونُ لها أسرَى وأموالُنَا نُهبى

Oh, may God never let us see a return to a state

where we would be captives and our wealth plunder.

ألَسنَا الأولى عَافوا الحَيَاةَ بِظِلّهَا

وجابوا بلادَ الله واستَوطَنوا الغَربَا

Are we not those who spurned life beneath its shadow

and roamed God's lands and settled in the West?

فَكَم من شريدٍ طافَ في كلّ بقعةٍ

من الأرضِ حتى كاد يكتشف القطبَا

And how many an exile has roamed through every corner

of the earth, until he almost discovered the Pole!

وَرُبّ جَهُولٍ هاجَ فيهِ تَعَصّبٌ

فَأعماهُ واغتَال البصيرَةَ واللُّبَا

And in many an ignorant man fanaticism raged,

so it blinded him and murdered insight and reason.

يُنادي جهاد الدين جَهلاً وما درَى

مُنَاداتهُ للدين مذمومة العُقبى

He ignorantly calls for holy war, not knowing

that his call for religion has a blameworthy outcome.

لِيَعلَم أليفُ الطيشِ يوماً إذا اهتدى

بأنّ أُسودَ الغابِ لا تَرهَبُ الضّبَا

Let the companion of recklessness learn one day, if he finds guidance,

that the lions of the forest do not fear the lizard.

إذا كانَ إنسانٌ يَغَصّ بِريقِهِ

فَكيفَ بِموجِ البَحرِ يشرَبُه غَبّا

If a man chokes on his saliva,

how, then, could he drink the sea's waves on alternate days?

سَلامٌ عَلى باريس والرّوضَةِ الّتي

ينابِيعُها أضحَت لَنَا مَورِداً عَذبَا

Peace upon Paris and the garden whose

springs have become for us a sweet watering place.

سلامٌ لأهلِ العِلمِ فيها فإنّهُم

لَدى كُرَبِ الأيّامِ كم فَرّجوا كربا

Peace to the people of learning there, for they

amid the days' afflictions, have eased so much distress!

سَلامٌ لِنابوليونَ وَهوَ بِقَبرِهِ

فتى الحربِ مَن قد رام يفتَتح الشُّهبا

Peace to Napoleon, as he lies in his grave,

the young hero of war who sought to conquer the shooting stars.

سَلامٌ عَلى رَبّ الحُروبِ فَإنّهُ

إِلى حَدّ هذا اليَومِ يدعى لها رَبّا

Peace upon the lord of wars, for he

to this very day is called their lord.

سَلامٌ عَلى الأحرَار في كلّ موقفٍ

بِهِ أُنشِدُ الأشعَارَ مُمتَدِحاً عُربا

Peace upon the free in every gathering

where I recite poems, praising Arabs.

إذا ما ذوَى دوحُ القريضِ سَقَيتُهُ

لُعَابَ يَرَاعٍ تاهَ في مدحِهم عُجبَا

When poetry's spreading tree withers, I water it

with the saliva of a reed pen that swaggered proudly in their praise.