نظر الزمان بمقلة عمياء — Salah Magdy

نَظَر الزَمان بِمقلةٍ عَمياءِ

لابن اللئيمة مَيّت الأَحياءِ

Time looked with a blind eye

Upon the vile woman's son, dead among the living,

الأَبكم المَعروف أَخبَث مَن مَشى

في الناس مُختالاً عَلى الغَبراء

The well-known mute, the vilest who ever walked

Among people, swaggering upon the dusty earth,

بَيت الضَلال أَخو الخيانة وَالخَنى

ركن الفَساد وَنكبة الفُقراء

The house of error, brother of treachery and obscenity,

The pillar of corruption and scourge of the poor.

حبّ الدَراهم دينُهُ فصلاته

لِبَقائها في صبحه وَمَساء

Love of dirhams is his religion, so his prayer

Is for their preservation, in his morning and evening.

ضحكت لَهُ الدُنيا فَزادَ سُرورُه

وَلَسوفَ يَبكي مِن أَليم عَناء

The world smiled upon him, and his joy increased;

Yet surely he will weep from painful suffering.

وَعَلى يَديه يَعضُّ مِن أَسَفٍ عَلى

غَدر اللَيالي بَعد حُسن وَفاء

He will bite his hands in regret over

The nights' treachery after their fine faithfulness.

فَأَقول عِندَ مَصابه أَو ما تَعي

يا غرّ مَعنى جاءَ في السَفهاء

Then at his calamity I say: Do you not understand,

You fool, the meaning spoken concerning fools?

حَتّى إِذا فَرِحوا بِما أُوتوا ضَحىً

أُخِذوا بِلَيلٍ حالك الظَلماء

Until, when they rejoiced in what they were given at forenoon,

They were seized on a night of pitch-black darkness.

يا ابن الغَبية كَم ركضتَ حَماقةً

أَفراسَ جَهلك في رُبى البَغضاء

Son of the foolish woman, how often you foolishly galloped

The horses of your ignorance over the hills of hatred!

وَسَعيت في كسب المَعالي بِالأَذى

فَجسرتَ حَيث وَقعت في الضَرّاء

You strove to gain high honors through harm,

And grew bold where you fell into adversity.

هَذا مِن الدُنيا نَصيبك فَاِنتَظر

يَوم القِيامة صَفقة البُخَلاء

This is your portion of the world; now await

The misers' bargain on the Day of Resurrection.

وَاِعلَم بِأَن اللَه لَيسَ بِغافل

عَن قَطع دابر آثمٍ وَمُرائي

And know that God is not heedless

Of cutting off the last remnant of a sinner and hypocrite,

لِلخَير مَناع عُتُلٌّ معتدٍ

بِنميمة بَينَ الوَرى مَشّاء

A persistent withholder of good, coarse and transgressing,

Going about among humankind with slander.

بِالغَيظ مُت كَمداً فَقَد نَزَل القَضا

وَالسَعي ضلّ وَخابَ كُل رَجاء

Die in rage and grief, for fate has descended;

Your striving has gone astray, and every hope has failed.

وَلَنا اِستَجاب اللَه فيك دُعاءَنا

بِالشرّ إذ هو أَرحم الرُحَماء

God has answered for us our prayer against you

For harm, since He is the most merciful of the merciful.

طَردوك عَن باب الرِياسة عِندَما

عَلِموا بِأَنك سَيّئ الآراء

They expelled you from the doorway of leadership when

They learned that your opinions were unsound.

هَيهات تَظفر بِالمُنى بَينَ الوَرى

بِتَقلُّبٍ كَتَقلُّب الحرباء

Never will you attain your wishes among humankind

Through changes like the chameleon's.

فَاِخلَع لِباس العلم عَنكَ بِدَولة

شَهدت بِأَنك أَجهَلُ الجُهَلاء

So strip off the garb of learning in a realm

That has testified you are the most ignorant of the ignorant.

وَاندب زَماناً كُنتَ فيهِ مُوارياً

لِغباوة بِمَلابس حَسناء

Mourn a time when you were concealing

Stupidity beneath handsome garments.

مِن أَين للتَرتيب فيكَ لياقة

وَعَليكَ تَعجم سائر الأَشياء

How could you have any aptitude for organization,

When all things are obscure to you?

كَم تَدعي لا كُنت أَنكَ فاضل

وَالحَق جاءَ وَزَالَ كُل خَفاء

How often you claim—may you be no more!—that you are worthy,

Yet truth has come, and all concealment has vanished.

وَغَدَوت عندَ الامتحان كَباقلٍ

عَرقت جَبينك في نَهار شِتاء

At the examination you became like Baqil,

Your brow sweating on a winter's day.

وَصرفت عمرك في الفضول سَفاهة

وَزَعمت أَنكَ فزت بِالعَلياء

You spent your lifetime foolishly on trifles,

And claimed you had attained the heights.

وَنسبت نفسك لِلمَعارف باطِلاً

وَجَعلت عَينك عِندَنا كَذَكاء

You falsely affiliated yourself with learning,

And made your eye before us like Dhuka, the sun.

وَلَبثت في دار العُلوم فَلَم تَكُن

تَدري بِها شيأً سِوى الأَسماء

You stayed in the House of Sciences, yet did not

Know anything there beyond the names.

ما الفَخر في كسب النَوال وَسَلبه

ظلماً مِن العافين وَالضُعَفاء

Glory is not in acquiring bounty and seizing it

Unjustly from supplicants and the weak,

وَالكدّ في تَكثيره ومآله

لمخنث وَسقيمة عَوراء

Or in toiling to increase it, when its ultimate destination is

An effeminate man and a sick, one-eyed woman;

وَالزُهد في فَرض الصِيام لريبة

في الدين من جَهل بِلا إِغراء

Or in disdaining obligatory fasting because of doubt

In religion, from ignorance, without inducement;

وَالقَدح في الرسل الكِرام وَصحبهم

أَهل الوَفاء السادة الحُنَفاء

Or in disparaging the noble messengers and their companions,

The faithful, the masters, the upright monotheists;

وَالمَيل عَن سِنَن الصلاة وَفَرضها

وَالحَج عِندَ تَطوّع برضاء

Or in turning from prayer's practices and its obligation,

And from pilgrimage when freely and willingly undertaken;

والجدّ في ذم الزَكاة وقبحها

مِن خَوف فَقر عاجل وَبَلاء

Or in zealously condemning almsgiving and vilifying it

For fear of imminent poverty and affliction;

وَالكَف عَن غَسل الجَنابة حَسبما

هُوَ واجبٌ شَرعاً بِغَير مراء

Or in refraining from the bath for sexual impurity as

It is prescribed by sacred law, beyond dispute;

وَإضافة التَكوين وَهيَ ضَلالة

لِلدَهر مِن فهم أَسير غَباء

Or in ascribing creation—and this is error—

To Time, through an understanding captive to stupidity;

وَالكفر بِالرَحمن جَل جَلاله

وَجَحود ما أَسداه مِن نَعماء

Or in disbelief in the All-Merciful—exalted be His majesty—

And denial of the blessings He has bestowed.

ثَكَلتك أُمك إِنَّما فَخر الفَتى

بِإِغاثة المَلهوف عِند نداء

May your mother lose you! A young man's glory is only

In rescuing the distressed when they call,

وَالبر يا أَعمى بِوالدك الشَقي

مَع أَنَّهُ مِن ألأم اللؤماء

And in kindness, blind man, to your wretched father,

Though he is among the vilest of the vile;

وَبأمك المشؤومة الوَجه الَّتي

عُرفت بأَم الألكن الزلاء

And to your ill-omened-faced mother, who

Is known as the flat-buttocked mother of the stammerer;

وَبعمةٍ لك أَصبحت مَشهورة

بَينَ النِسا بِالمرأة الفَدعاء

And to an aunt of yours who has become known

Among women as the crooked-jointed woman;

وَشَقيقة تُمسي وَتُصبح في الشِتا

تَحتَ النَدى وَالطل وَالأَنواء

And to a sister who passes winter's evenings and mornings

Beneath the dew, the drizzle, and the rainstorms;

وَطفيلة تَبكي بِدَمع هاطل

فَوقَ الخُدود لِقَطع حَبل غِذاء

And to a little girl who weeps streaming tears

Down her cheeks, because her cord of nourishment is severed;

وَالسَعي في طَلَب الرَضا مِن خالق

غَمر الوَرى بِسَحائب الآلاء

And in striving to seek the favor of a Creator

Who has flooded humankind with clouds of blessings;

وَرِجا شَفاعة أَحمدٍ كنزُ العَطا

مفني جَميع الشرك بِالتَقواء

And hoping for Ahmad's intercession, the treasure of bounty,

Who annihilates all idolatry through piety;

وَالأَمر بِالمَعروف لا بتكبر

وَالنَهي عَن نُكر وَفعل زِناء

And enjoining what is right, not with arrogance,

And forbidding evil and acts of fornication;

وَالعَدل بَين الأَهل والرحم الَّذي

أَوصى بِهِ المُختار في الأَنباء

And justice among family and kin, which

The Chosen One enjoined in the reports;

وَالبُعد عَن مال اليَتيم وَأَكله

بِالزور مِن شَرِهٍ عَديم دَواء

And keeping away from the orphan's wealth and consuming it

Wrongfully, through a greed beyond remedy;

وَبعفة وَأَمانة وَصَداقة

مَمزوجة بِتَواضع وَحَياء

And in chastity, trustworthiness, and friendship

Blended with humility and modesty;

وَصِيانة لِلنَفس عَن شَهواتها

وَجُموحها أَبداً عن الصَهباء

And guarding the soul against its desires,

And its always shying away from ruddy wine;

وَتَجنب عَن ميسر عَنه نَهى

وَتَباعدٍ عَن سائر الأَهواء

And avoiding gambling, which He forbade,

And distancing oneself from all passions;

وَشَهادة بِالحَق تَنفع يَوم لا

وَلدٌ يَجود لِوالد بِفداء

And testimony to the truth, useful on the day when no

Child will offer ransom for a father;

وَتَفقه في الدين يُنجي في غد

مِما يمزق كامل الأَعضاء

And understanding religion, which saves one tomorrow

From that which tears every limb apart;

وَتجمل بِالمكرمات وَبِالنَدى

وَمَحبة للجار وَالنُزَلاء

And adorning oneself with noble deeds and generosity,

And love for one's neighbor and guests;

وَوَفا بِعَهد للإله وَخلقه

وَنَجاز وَعَدهم بِلا إِغضاء

And keeping a pledge to God and His creatures,

And fulfilling promises to them without neglect;

وَعِيادة المَرضى بِحسن تَودّد

وَتَردّد مِن ضَحوة لِعشاء

And visiting the sick with warm affection,

And returning frequently from forenoon until evening;

وَالمَشي خَلف جَنازة بِتَطوّع

لا من مُلامة لائم هجّاء

And walking behind a funeral of one's own accord,

Not from the reproach of a scathing censurer;

وَعَداوةٍ لِلملحدين وَنصرة

بِمهند للدين عِندَ لِقاء

And enmity toward atheists, and support

With an Indian sword for the faith at the encounter.

هَذا هُوَ الأَمر الَّذي ما عابه

أَحد مِن الأَحبار وَالفُقَهاء

This is the conduct that none has faulted

Among learned scholars and jurists.

فَاِنظر إِلى مرآة شِعرٍ رائق

ما نالَها شَيء مِن الأَصداء

So look into the mirror of clear poetry,

Which no trace of rust has touched,

كَيما بِها تَلقى أَمامك سحنة

بِالمَسخ قَد كسيت وَبِالأقذاء

So that in it you may find before you a face

Clothed in disfigurement and filth.

وَاحلف بِانك تَنتَهي عَن فتنة

وَدَناءة مَنقولة عَن رائي

And swear that you will desist from sedition

And baseness reported by an eyewitness.

وَعَساك تَحنث في اليَمين فَإِنني

لَكَ آفة في سائر الأَنحاء

Perhaps you will break your oath; for I am

A scourge to you in every quarter.

فَأريك أَبياتاً يَشيب لَهولِها

رَأس الوَليد بَليلة شَهباء

Then I will show you verses whose terror turns gray

A newborn's head in an ashen night.

وَأَقول مِن شغف بذمك وَالهِجا

مت يا جَهول مَخافة الرقباء

And in my passion for censuring and satirizing you, I say:

Die, ignorant fool, in fear of the watchers!

وَاِقطَع رَجاك مِن الرِياسة وَاِنتَحب

لِنفورها يا أَخبث الخُبَثاء

Abandon your hope of leadership and sob

At its aversion to you, vilest of the vile.

كُشف الغِطاء عَن الحَقيقة فَاقتصر

وَاِسمَع نَصيحة ناصحٍ بِصَفاء

The veil has been lifted from the truth; desist,

And hear a counselor's advice with sincerity.

عش بِالصَداقة بَينَ أَرباب الحجا

وَدَع النَميمة في حمى الأَمراء

Live in friendship among men of understanding,

And forsake slander in the princes' precincts.

وَالبس ثِياب تَواضع وَتَخضُّعٍ

وَأَمط قِناع الكبر كَالعقلاء

Wear the garments of humility and submission,

And remove arrogance's mask, like the wise.

وَاشكر صَنيعة محسن متفضل

أَولاك كُل الخَير في السَرّاء

Thank the kindness of a gracious benefactor

Who bestowed all good upon you in prosperity.

وَاِطلُب رضا هَذا الأَمير وَعَفوه

فَهُوَ الجَدير لَدى الوَرى بِثَناء

Seek this prince's favor and forgiveness,

For among humankind he is worthy of praise.

هَل كانَ عِندَك يَستَحق بِسَعيه

ما كانَ مِن بُغض وَفَرط جَفاء

Did he, in your eyes, deserve for his efforts

Such hatred and excessive estrangement?

وَاِنزَع جَلابيب التَمَلُّق إِنَّها

مَقرونة بِتذلل وَشَقاء

Strip off the robes of flattery; they are

Joined to abasement and misery.

وَصل الأَقارب يا سَفيه فَرُبَّما

وَاساك عاجزهم ببعض دُعاء

Keep ties with your relatives, fool; perhaps

The helpless among them may console you with a little prayer.

وَاِقطَع حِبال البخل وَاِنقض عَهده

فَالبُخل في الإِنسان أَقبَح داء

Cut avarice's cords and break its covenant,

For avarice is the ugliest disease in man.

وَاحلل رِباط الحقد وَالشَرهِ الَّذي

عقدوا له في القَدح كُلَّ لِواء

Unfasten the bond of rancor and greed, for which

They have raised every banner of censure.

وَاطو السجل لغيّ نَفسك وَاستقم

وَاِنشُر شِراع قراك كَالكرماء

Roll up the scroll of your soul's error, and be upright;

Unfurl the sail of your hospitality, like the generous.

فَلَئن هُديت وَلم تُخالف ناصِحاً

أَصبَحت في أَمن وَفَرط هَناء

If you are guided and do not oppose a counselor,

You will dwell in safety and abundant bliss.

وَلَئن عَكَفت عَلى مَساويك الَّتي

شهرت لَدى القطان وَالغرباء

But if you persist in your vices, which

Are notorious among residents and strangers,

وَجَعلت نَفسك لِلهَوان قَرينة

مِن أَجل مال قابل لِفَناء

And make yourself a companion to humiliation

For the sake of wealth destined to perish,

فاحسد يَتيمة فكرة عَربية

نَطقت بِما أَربى عَلى الجَوزاء

Then envy the peerless gem of an Arabic thought

That voiced words rising above al-Jawza.

فَلَكَم تَعاديني وَأصرف هِمَتي

عَنكَ اِحتِقاراً لا لِخَوف جَزاء

How often you show me hostility, while I turn my attention

Away from you in contempt, not for fear of reprisal;

وَلَكَم أَغضُّ الطَرف عَنكَ سَماحة

مِني فَما تَزداد غَير تَنائي

How often I avert my gaze from you out of generosity

On my part, yet you only grow more estranged,

حَتّى بَدا لي أَن ذمك واجب

في مَذهب السادات وَالفضلاء

Until it became clear to me that censuring you is a duty

In the creed of noble and worthy men.

فَاِغضَب إِذا ما شئت وَاعتزل الرضا

لُؤماً فَإني أَكرم الأَكفاء

Then be angry if you wish, and shun contentment

Out of baseness; I am the most generous of peers.

وَاِطلق عَنانك في مَيادين الأَسى

وَاحمل عَليّ بِسائر الخُصماء

Give your rein free play in the fields of sorrow,

And charge at me with all adversaries.

وَارم النِبال إِلى مقاتل ضَيغم

لَم يَكتَرث بِالصَعدة السَمراء

Shoot arrows at the vital spots of a lion

Untroubled by the brown spear.

وَامكُر وخن وَاغدر وبارز إن تَكن

يَوم الكَريهة فارس الهَيجاء

Plot, betray, act treacherously, and duel, if you are

A horseman of battle on the day of hardship.

وَاِنطق بِحَرف واحد في مَحفل

كَيما تعدّ به مِن الفَصحاء

Utter a single letter in an assembly,

So that through it you may be counted among the eloquent.

وَاِفَهم حَقيقة ما يقال بمجلس

إِن كُنت مَعدوداً مِن النَبهاء

Grasp the truth of what is said in a gathering,

If you are reckoned among the discerning.

وَاِقدَح زِناد الرَأي إِن كُنتَ امرأً

بِالحَزم مَعروفاً لَدى الحُكَماء

Strike the flint of judgment, if you are a man

Known among the wise for sound resolve.

وَاضرب خِيام النُصح في أَرض النُهى

إِن كُنت في مَصر مِن النُصَحاء

Pitch the tents of counsel on the land of reason,

If you are among Egypt's counselors.

وَاهزم جُيوش الجَهل إِن كُنت الَّذي

لِلعلم في الدُنيا مِن الحُلَفاء

Rout the armies of ignorance, if you are one

Of learning's allies in this world.

وَاِشرَح لَنا أَعمال غش لَم تَزَل

متردّيا مِنها بشرّ رِداء

Explain to us the acts of fraud you have never ceased

To cloak yourself in, as the worst of robes.

وَاِحفَظ مَع الأَطفال لَوحَك وَاِمتثل

أَمر المؤدّب وَيك وَالعرفاء

Memorize your tablet with the children, and obey

The tutor's command—woe to you!—and the monitors.

وَاعرف مَقامك في دِيار لَم تَكُن

فيها سِوى كالظلمة السَوداء

Know your station in abodes where you have been

Nothing but black darkness.

وَاِنزل بِساحة فتية عَربية

عَرَفوا مَدى الأَزمان بِالنَجباء

Come down into the courtyard of Arab youths

Known throughout the ages as the noble.

ما فيهم عَيب سِوى عرفانهم

وَدُخولهم في زُمرة البُلَغاء

They have no fault except their knowledge

And their entering the company of the eloquent,

وَرُكوبهم مَتن العُلا بِمَعارف

مَصرية جلّت عَن الاحصاء

And their riding the back of glory through branches of knowledge

From Egypt, too great to number.

أَولا فَدَعني يا غَبيّ كَما تَرى

أَصميك من نَظمي بِسَهم هِجاء

Otherwise, leave me, fool, as you see,

To strike you dead with an arrow of satire from my verse.

وَاصلح قَفاك لِسَوط كُلِّ مَذَلة

حَتّى تَموت بغصة الحرصاء

Ready your nape for the lash of every humiliation,

Until you die of the covetous one's choking grief.

وَسأَقتفيك بِمجملٍ وَمفصَّلٍ

لِتذوق طَعم مَرارة الإِنشاء

I shall pursue you with summaries and detailed accounts,

So you may taste the bitterness of composition.

وَعَليك إن جَعَلوه وَقفاً جاءهم

بِالصدق تَوقيعٌ مِن العُلَماء

If they make it an endowment against you, they will receive

A truthful endorsement from the scholars.

فاصبر عَلى هَجو يَلوح كَأَنَّهُ

بَدر نَمَت أَنواره بِسَماء

So endure satire that shines as though it were

A full moon whose lights have grown in a sky.

وَاحذر عَداوة مَعشر زُمر الهَوى

تَخشاهم في ظُلمة وَضِياء

Beware the hostility of a company—the bands of passion—

Whom you fear in darkness and in light.

فهم البَديع مَع البَيان وَنطقهم

بالشعر أَخرس ناطق الغرماء

They are rhetorical artistry and eloquence; their speech

In verse has silenced the spokesman of their adversaries.

وَاخسأ فَقَد أَنشدت فيكَ مؤرّخا

يا ألكناً أَنا أَرشد الشُعَراء

And cower! I have recited about you, marking the date:

O stammerer, I am the most discerning of poets.