كذا تكشف الغماء بعد ظلامها — Sharif Al Murtaza

كذا تُكشفُ الغَمّاءُ بعد ظلامِها

وتبرأ أوطانُ العُلا من سَقامِها

Thus the grievous calamity is dispelled after its darkness,

And the realms of glory recover from their sickness.

وتُغمدُ بِيضُ الهندِ من بعد فَجْعِها

جُسومَ الكُماة المُصْلِتين بِهامها

And India's bright swords are sheathed, after bereaving

The bodies of sword-brandishing champions of their heads.

وتُركَزُ سمر الهندِ من بعد خَرْقِها

نُحورَ العِدا طعناً وفَضِّ ختامِها

And India's brown lances are planted, after piercing

The enemies' throats with thrusts and breaking their seals.

وتُضحِي رياضُ الحَزْنِ خُضْراً أريضةً

وَقد رويتْ كما اِشتهتْ مِن غمامِها

And the meadows of the rugged uplands become green and lush,

Having drunk their fill, as they wished, from their clouds.

وَيَضحكُ وَجهُ الخَطْبِ بعد عُبوسِهِ

وتخمدُ نارُ الحربِ بعد اِضطرامِها

And calamity's face smiles after its frown,

And war's fire dies down after its blaze.

فيا رُكْنَ دينِ اللَّه وَالعروةُ الّتي

كُفينا بُصْنعِ اللَّهِ شَرَّ اِنفِصامِها

So O pillar of God's faith, and the bond

From the harm of whose breaking God's providence has spared us:

هَنيئاً بِها مِن نِعمةٍ فاتتِ المنى

فلم يَبْقَ للآمالِ غيرُ دوامها

Joy to you in this blessing, which surpassed all wishes;

No hope remains except that it endure.

وما قادَها من بعد أنْ أعيَتِ الورى

إليك سوى ربِّ الورى من خِطامها

And none led it, after it had baffled mankind,

To you by its halter but the Lord of mankind.

فَلَم تكُ إلّا عَزْمةً منك في التُّقى

كفَتْك من الأيّامِ سوءَ اِعتزامها

It was only a resolve from you in piety

That spared you the evil of the days' designs.

دعوتَ لها مَن لا يخيبُ دعاؤهُ

فأرعاك منها مِنْ أجَلِّ مَسامِها

For it you invoked Him whom no one invokes in vain,

And He let you graze in the noblest of its pastures.

فكان ضميناً بعدها بدُنُوِّها

وَكانَ كفيلاً صَدْعها باِلتئامِها

He guaranteed its nearness despite its distance,

And guaranteed its rift would heal.

وما زلتُ أرجوها ومنتظراً لها

كمنتظرٍ من حاملٍ لتمامِها

I never ceased to hope for it and await it,

Like one awaiting a pregnant woman's full term.

وبشّرنِي ظنّي بها قبل كونها

وأظهرها لِي في زمانِ اِكتِتامها

My expectation gave me glad tidings of it before it came to be,

And revealed it to me while it was concealed.

وكنتَ إذا ما حادثاتٌ تعرّضَتْ

رأيتَ جَلاها من خِلالِ قَتامها

And whenever calamities arose before you,

You saw their clearing through their dust-darkness.

فكفكَفْتَ منها قبل حين طلوعها

وروّأتَ فيها قبلَ وَشْكِ اِنهجامِها

So you checked them before their hour of rising,

And pondered them before their imminent onrush.

فإنْ كنتَ قد قاسيتَ منها عظيمةً

فإنّ العظيمَ مُبتَلىً بعظامِها

If you have borne a great trial from them,

The great are indeed tried by great calamities.

فإنْ أجرمتْ فيك اللّيالِي فقد أَتَتْ

على عَجَلٍ منها بمحوِ اِجتِرامها

If the nights have wronged you, they have now come

In haste to efface their wrongdoing.

وقد وادَعَتْنا اليومَ فَاِغفر لها الّذي

مضى من تجنّيها وفَرْطِ عُرامِها

Today they have made peace with us; forgive them what

Has passed of their injustice and excessive fierceness.

وداوتْ جروحاً من يديها رغيبةً

وعَفّتْ نُدوباً من نُدوبِ عِذامِها

And they healed grievous wounds inflicted by their hands,

And effaced the scars left by their biting.

ووقّرْتَها بعد الجنونِ وقد ثَوَتْ

خَبوطاً عَثوراً خُفُّها بزمامِها

You steadied it after madness, when it had lain

Blundering and stumbling, its hoof caught in its halter.

فها هِيَ لا تُقذى بشيءٍ من القَذى

ولا يستطيع الدّهرُ حلَّ نظامِها

So here it is, untroubled by the slightest mote,

And time cannot unravel its order.

حمىً يتّقيهِ المُقدِمون وخِطَّةٌ

أبَتْ لمُغيرٍ ثُلَّةً من سَوامِها

A protected preserve that the bold avoid, a domain

That denied any raider a flock from its grazing herds.

فيا بُعْدَ مَرْمى ليلها من صباحها

ويا بُعْدَ مَرْمى نَبعها من ثُمامِها

How far the reach of its night is from its morning!

And how far the reach of its nabʿ-wood is from its thumam grass!

وعلّمْتَ أملاكَ الورى إنْ تعلّموا

لدى نكْبَةٍ أنْ يخلصوا من مَذامِها

You taught the kings of mankind—if they will learn—

Amid disaster, to escape its reproaches.

وإنْ يشتروا في ساحةِ العِزِّ رُتبةً

تجاذبُها الأيدي بحكمِ اِستِيامِها

And if they buy a rank in the arena of glory,

Hands contend for it under the rules of bidding.

رَمَتْك فلمّا لم تُصِبْك تناكصتْ

مُخَيَّبَةً مجروحةً بسهامِها

It shot at you, but when it failed to hit you, it recoiled,

Thwarted and wounded by its own arrows.

ولمّا رأتْ منك الصّريمةَ أَبدَلَتْ

على مَضَضٍ إقادمها باِنهزامِها

When it saw your firm resolve, it exchanged,

In bitter reluctance, its advance for retreat.

فروّيتَ ظمآنَ الثّرى من دمائها

وأشْبعتَ ذُؤْبانَ الفضا من عظامِها

You quenched the thirsty earth with its blood,

And sated the wolves of the wilderness with its bones.

وما بَرِحتْ حتّى أدَرْتَ وما دَرَتْ

كؤوسَ رَداها لا كؤوس مُدامِها

It did not desist until, without its knowing, you passed round

The cups of its death, not the cups of its wine.

ولمّا تركتَ السَّيفَ فيهمْ وحُكمَه

جعلتَ بُكاها في مكان اِبتسامِها

When you let the sword and its judgment loose among them,

You put its weeping in place of its smiles.

عصابةُ بَغْيٍ بوعِدَتْ عن حلومها

فلم تدرِ جهلاً شيخَها من غلامها

A band of rebels, estranged from its good sense,

Could not, in ignorance, tell its elder from its youth.

أقامتْ على دار العُقوقِ فلم تَرِمْ

وَما رَدَّدَتْ إلّا طويلَ ملامِها

It dwelt in the house of disobedience and would not leave,

And only renewed the long reproach against it.

ولمّا رأَتْك مُقبلاً حار فَهْمُها

وأشْكَلَ فيها رُمْحُها من حسامِها

When it saw you advancing, its understanding faltered,

And it could not tell its spear from its sword.

وَطاح الّذي غُرّتْ بهِ من وساوسٍ

وصارتْ كحُلمٍ أبصرتْ في منامها

The delusions by which it had been deceived collapsed,

And became like a dream it had seen in its sleep.

هُمُ ثوّروها فتنةً لم تفِدهُمُ

سوى حزِّهم أَوصالَها واِنتقامها

They stirred it into a sedition that brought them nothing

But their severing of its limbs, and its vengeance.

وقد نَكَّروها جُهْدَهمْ فعرفتَها

وقد طلعتْ من قبل حَطِّ لِثامها

They disguised it as best they could, but you recognized it,

Even as it appeared, before its veil was removed.

وهمْ أوقدوها جَهْلَةً بمآلها

فَما اِحتَرقوا إلّا بشبِّ ضِرامِها

They kindled it, ignorant of its outcome,

So they burned only in the blaze they had kindled.

وَهُمْ زَعزعوها وَاِرتَجَوْا لذّةَ الجنى

فلم يجتنوها اليومَ غيرَ حِمامِها

They shook it, hoping for the sweetness of the harvest,

But today they reaped nothing from it but death.

نَثَرْتَهمُ ضرباً وطعناً بقفرةٍ

كأنّهُمُ بالعين بعضُ رَغامِها

You scattered them with blows and thrusts in a wasteland,

As though, to the eye, they were part of its dust.

وزدتَ وقد طَرَّحْتَهمْ حِزَقاً بها

بطرْقِ المنايا في عِدادِ إكامِها

And, having flung them there in clusters, you added,

With death's blows, to the number of its hillocks.

وَلَم تكُ إلّا مثلَ قَبْسَةِ قابِسٍ

ونُغْبَةِ كُدْرٍ ما اِرتَوَتْ من أُوامِها

It was no more than a flame snatched by one seeking fire,

And a sip of murky water that left its burning thirst unquenched.

وكان تَوَلِّيها عقيبَ مجيئها

وكان الرّضاعُ في جوارِ فطامِها

Its departure followed immediately upon its arrival,

And its suckling stood beside its weaning.

وأنت على مَعْروقةٍ عند شدّها

كذئبِ الفلا أوْ شِدَّةً كسِلامها

And you are astride a lean steed, in its gallop

Like a desert wolf, or in hardness like its rocks.

تُخال وقد هزّ المَراحُ كَلِيلَها

نجومُ الثُرَيّا حِلْيَةً للجامِها

One might fancy, when high spirits stir its weary frame,

The Pleiades' stars an ornament for its bridle.

كأنّك منها فوقها أوْ كراكبٍ

من الشُّمِّ أعلى هَضْبَةٍ من شَمامها

As though, atop it, you were part of it—or like a rider

On the highest crag of its Shamam among the lofty peaks.

فكفّاك في تصريفها كعِنانِها

ورِجْلاك في إمساكِها كحِزامها

Your hands, in guiding it, are like its reins,

And your legs, in holding it, like its girth.

تدوس بك القتلى وقد ملأوا الثّرى

بِغيرِ تَوقّيها وغيرِ اِحتشامِها

Bearing you, it treads the dead, who have filled the earth,

Without taking care or shrinking back.

فخذها كما أعطاك ربُّك دولةً

حباك بما تهوى بدار مُقامِها

So take it as your Lord has given it to you—a dominion;

He has granted you what you desire in its abiding home.

مجدَّدَةً ما للخطوبِ معرَّجٌ

عَليها ولا إلمامةٌ من لِمامِها

Renewed, with no way for calamities

To reach it, nor any passing touch of their assaults.

ورام العِدا أنْ يسلبوك ثيابَها

وقد حالت الأقدارُ دون مَرامِها

The enemies sought to strip you of its robes,

But fate's decrees thwarted their aim.

وأنْ يُنزلوك عن قَراها كأَنَّهمْ

بما فعلوا عالوْك فوق سنامِها

And to cast you down from its back—as though,

By what they did, they had raised you above its hump.

فلا طَرَقتْها للحوادثِ طَرْقةٌ

ولا عبثتْ أيدي الرّدى باِنثلامها

May no stroke of calamity ever strike it,

Nor may death's hands toy with its ruin.

ولا زِلْتَ مَحْبُوّاً بها كلَّ ليلةٍ

مُحَيّاً على طولِ المدا بسَلامِها

May you never cease to be favored with it every night,

Greeted, through all time, with its peace.