قبل أن يبصر الظلام الضياء — Saleh Al Sharnoubi

قبل أن يبصر الظلام الضيا

ء وتكون الحياة والأحياء

Before darkness beheld the light

and life and the living came to be,

كان من كان بدؤه بدء دنياه

ومن لا يحده الانتهاء

there was He whose beginning was His world's beginning,

and whom no end can bound.

كان والفكرة العظيمة حلم

بعضه الأرض والسما والفضاء

He existed, while the great idea was a dream,

of which earth, sky, and space were a part.

حلمٌ يعجزُ الخيال سموّاً حق

قته الإراده العصماء

A dream surpassing imagination in sublimity, made

real by the infallible Will.

وصحا الكون بعد غفوته

الكبرى وفي جفنه رؤى عذراء

And the universe awoke after its

great slumber, with virgin visions beneath its eyelid.

واستخف الوجود حسن مجاليه

وهامت بكلها الأجزاء

The beauty of its manifestations enraptured existence,

and the parts fell in love with their whole.

ورأى الله كل شيء كما شاء

ولله أن يرى ما يشاء

God saw everything as He willed,

and God may behold whatever He wills.

وتراءى فاهتز قلب الروابي وتجلى

فاستغشت الأنحاء

He appeared, and the hills' heart trembled; He revealed Himself,

so the regions were shrouded.

وتسامت إليه من كل أفق

صلوات ينساب فيها الدعاء

And to Him, from every horizon, rose

prayers through which supplication flows.

رب هذا الوجود من صنع كفي

ك فأنت الباني ونحن البناء

Lord, this existence is the work of Your two hands;

You are the builder, and we are the building.

رب والكون كله صفحات لك

فيها الأسرار والآلاءُ

Lord, the whole universe is pages for You,

bearing secrets and blessings.

رب هذا الجمال جوهر معناك

فمعناه مستسِرٌّ خفاءُ

Lord, this beauty is the essence of Your meaning;

so its meaning is a hidden mystery.

ربّ والكائنات روحك فيها فم

داها صيرورةٌ لا فناءُ

Lord, Your spirit is in all beings; their span

is becoming, not annihilation.

ربّ كل الأشياء تبنض فيها حيَ

واتٌ لكنّها خرساءُ

Lord, lives throb in all things,

but they are mute.

رب أعجزت فليُذع سرّ إعجاز

ك صوتٌ تشيعه الأصداء

Lord, You have confounded us; let the secret of Your wondrous power

be proclaimed by a voice that echoes spread.

رب هذا الإنسان ظلّك في الأرض

شعور وحكمةٌ وذكاء

Lord, this human being is Your shadow on earth:

feeling, wisdom, and intelligence.

رب والناس كالقطيع وهذي الدار

الدنيا لها صحراء

Lord, people are like a flock, and this abode—

the earthly world—is a desert for that flock.

رب فاختر من القطيع حداةً

يتناهى بهم إليك الحداء

Lord, choose from the flock singing drovers,

through whom the drovers' song may reach You.

دينه أنت والحقيقة والحب

فكل الأديان فيه سواء

His faith is You, and truth, and love;

so all religions are equal in him.

واسقه خمر المقدّس حتى

تتناسى كيانَها الأعضاء

And give him the wine of the sacred to drink, until

the limbs forget their own existence.

وتُنَوّر له الطريق فقد يعثر

فيها وقصده الاهتداء

And illumine his path, for he may stumble

on it, though his purpose is to find the way.

واحبه من عوالم السحر نايا

تتناغى بهمسه الأرجاء

And grant him, from the realms of magic, a flute

whose whisper sets the far reaches murmuring,

ويراعا مؤلّمها أبدياً تتساقى

رحيقه الآناء

and a reed-pen, forever their tormentor; the moments share

its nectar with one another.

وليكن في اسمه من الخلد معنى

تتمنّى جماله الأسماء

Let his name bear a meaning of immortality,

whose beauty other names desire.

قالت الحكمة القديمة هذا

مطلبٌ لا يجيبه الأرجاء

Ancient Wisdom said: This

is a request the far reaches cannot answer.

فلتهنأ بما تحب البرايا

فبحولي الإيجاد والإنشاء

Let created beings rejoice in what they love,

for origination and creation are by My power.

بع حين تجرى المقادير بالدهر

وفيها السراء والضراء

In time, the decrees of fate course through the ages,

and in them lie joy and adversity.

بعد حين ينوح من خانه الحظ

ويشدو بالفرحة السعداء

In time, the one betrayed by fortune laments,

and the fortunate sing with joy.

لم يكن من تناقض الخلق بدٌّ

فمحال أن تيتوى الأشياء

Creation's contradictions could not be avoided,

for things cannot all be alike.

كل شيء مسخر لسواه

فلنور الصباح كان المساء

Everything is made to serve something else;

for morning's light, evening came to be.

وشقاءٌ مميّزٌ بهناء وهناء

يدبّ فيه الشقاء

And misery marked by bliss, and bliss

through which misery creeps;

وقلوب مخمورة بالأماني

وقلوب إلى الأماني ظماء

and hearts intoxicated with hopes,

and hearts thirsting for hopes.

والذي يجمع الشتات مثال عش

قته الأضدادُ والنظراء

What unites the scattered parts is an ideal loved

by opposites and equals.

ذلك الخالق الذي أنا فيه

قوة يشتفى بها الضعفاء

That creator, in whom I am

a power by which the weak are healed,

شاعر الكون لا يقيده الكون

وإن ضمه تراب وماء

is the poet of the universe, whom the universe cannot bind,

even though dust and water enclose him.

ساحر النور والظلام وكم يسمو

فتفنى في نوره الظلماء

A sorcerer of light and darkness; how often he soars,

so darkness vanishes in his light.

هو قلب الحياة يشدو إذا غنّت

ويبكى إذا شجاها البكاءُ

He is life's heart, singing when it sings,

and weeping when weeping saddens it.

هو روح مجسدٌ روحه الله

وفكر عقل هويّه إسراء

He is an embodied spirit whose spirit is God,

and a mind's thought, whose descent is a night journey.

صورته مشاعر الناس أفقاً

تتلاشى في جوه الأجواء

The feelings of humankind shaped him into a horizon,

in whose air all skies dissolve.

قلقٌ كالحياة تقتله الأغلال

وهو المُقَيّد العداء

Restless as life, fetters kill him,

yet he is the fettered runner.

ساكن كالفناء يخلق بالأحلام

مالا يجرى عليه القضاء

Still as annihilation, he creates through dreams

what fate's decree cannot govern.

يستلذّ الآلام في نشوة الوحي

وفيها الدواء والأدواء

He savors pain in revelation's rapture,

where both the cure and maladies reside.

طائر عشّه الزمان ومهوى

جانِحَيه القلوب والأهواء

A bird whose nest is time, whose wings alight

on hearts and passions.

مِزهرٌ لحنُه الحياة وينبوع أغ

نيه ما تظل السماء

A lute whose melody is life, whose songs' wellspring

is all that the sky shades.

غنوةٌ ذابت الأحاسيس

فيها وصداها القلوب والأهوان

A song—feelings have melted

within it, and its echo is hearts and humiliations.

قلبه العالم الكبير ونجواه حنان

ورحمة وإخاء

His heart is the vast world; his whispers are tenderness,

mercy, and brotherhood.

خلقه كالضياء في كل حال

فهو في الحان والمصلى ضياء

His character is like light in every state,

so in the tavern and the prayer-place he is light.

عقله مسرح بنته المقا

دير ووشّت ظلاله الأضواء

His mind is a stage built by fate,

its shadows embroidered by lights.

مسرح مخرج الروايات

فيه من إليه الإحياء والإفناء

A stage where the director of its dramas

is He to whom giving life and annihilation belong.

أزليّ ممثّلوه رؤاه والأماني

المجنونة الحسناء

Eternal; its actors are his visions and wishes,

mad and beautiful.

يشهد الليل والنهار عليها

قصة جنّ دونها العقلاء

Night and day witness in them

a story before which the wise went mad.

قصّة الموت والحياة وكم حارت

لديها وضلّت الآراء

The story of death and life—how bewildered

and lost before it opinions have been!

شغلته عن الحياة معانيها وأغرا

ه بالدفين الطلاء

Life's meanings distracted him from life, and he was lured

toward the buried depths by the surface sheen.

فاستحال الظهور فيه خفاءً

واحتوى الكون كونه الوضاء

So in him appearance became concealment,

and his radiant universe encompassed the cosmos.

وانتشت روحه الطليقة في الدهر

بخمر مزاجها الإيحاء

His unfettered spirit grew drunk through the ages

on wine whose blend was inspiration.

ومضى كالشعاع يستبق العمر

ودنياه ثورة وامتلاء

He sped like a ray, outrunning his years,

his world all revolt and fullness.

جامح الفكر مستثار الخيالات

قصاراه لذّة وانتشاء

Unbridled in thought, his imaginings stirred,

his utmost aim pleasure and intoxication:

لذّة الخالق الصغير إذا ما

أشهدته الحقيقة العلياء

the pleasure of the little creator whenever

the sublime Truth made him its witness.

يسأل الله وهو في ذاته الحي

رى وجود مشعشع لألاءُ

He asks God, while in his bewildered self he is

a radiant, glittering existence.

فيناديه لا تُرَع إن تعامت

عن سناك الظواهر الجوفاء

Then He calls to him: Do not fear if they feign blindness

to your radiance, those hollow appearances.

أنت منّى منذ استوى الكون طفلا

واستقلّت عن ذاتها الأشلاء

You are of Me, since the universe took shape as a child,

and the severed limbs broke free of their own being.

فأنر للأنام ما تحجب الأغلال

عنهم والشهوة الرقطاء

So light for humankind what fetters hide

from them, as does speckled desire.

رسلٌ كلهم وأنت كتابي

ولساني والوحي والأنباء

They are all messengers, and you are My book,

My tongue, revelation, and tidings.

سوف تشقى وسوف تسعد كالناس

وكل الذي تراه ابتلاء

You shall suffer and shall be happy like other people,

and everything you see is a trial.

فاحي للناس لا لنفسك يا شاعر

واصدح حتى يموت الغناء

So live for people, not for yourself, O poet,

and sing aloud until song dies.

فإذا مات وانطلقت من القيد

فعندي لأصغريك الجزاء

Then, when it dies and you break free of the fetter,

with Me is the reward for your heart and tongue:

جنّة عرضها السماوات والأرض

وخلدٌ يناله الأصفياء

a garden as wide as the heavens and the earth,

and immortality attained by the chosen.

لا يهولنك الحديث عن النار

فإني الرحيم والرحماء

Let no talk of the Fire terrify you,

for I am the Merciful, and the merciful ones.

فأدر لولب السفين كما شئت

ولا تقهرنك الأنواء

So turn the ship's propeller as you will,

and let no storms overpower you.

فهنا الشاطىء المغلف بالأسرار

حيث المسيرُ والإرساء

For here is the shore shrouded in secrets,

where lie the voyage and the anchorage.

وغداً تلتقى بذاتك ذاتي لت

قول الحياة والأحياء

And tomorrow, through your own essence, you will meet My essence, so that

life and the living may say:

مات فردٌ ممّن شدا الحق

فيهم أنتم الناس أيّها الشعراء

One has died among those of whom Truth sang:

You are humankind, O poets!