أنا إن طال ليلي واسمر النجم بالسما — Shibli Al Atrash

أَنا إِن طال ليلي وَاسمر النجم بِالسَما

لا بُد عَيني ما تَغيب نُجومَها

If my night grows long and the star keeps vigil in the sky,

surely the stars of my eye will never set.

لا بُعد عَيني تَسهر اللَيل دايما

لَو طال ما يقضب وسنها جُفونها

My eye still keeps vigil through the night, always;

however long it lasts, no slumber grips its eyelids.

طَرفي أَبى عَن لَذة النَوم حرما

يا لا يمين العَين بِاللَه اعذرونها

My gaze refuses sleep's pleasure, deprived of it.

O you who blame the eye, by God, excuse it.

بِاللَه اعذروا دَمعي مِن العَين لاهمي

عَلى لحية وَضح مِن الضَيم لَونَها

By God, excuse my tears as they pour from the eye

onto a beard whose color oppression has whitened.

جسمي عَلى كثر البَلاوي تهشما

وَعزي لِعَين دَمعها غرقونها

My body has shattered under so many afflictions.

Alas for an eye drowned by its tears.

مالوم طَرف العين لَو يذرف الدَما

مِن جُور أَيام سقتنا غبونها

I would not blame the eye if it shed blood,

from the cruelty of days that made us drink their sorrows,

مِن جُور أَيام بِها الظُلم خَيما

عَلَينا وَغَيم الهَم حالك ركونها

from cruel days when oppression pitched its tent

over us, and sorrow's cloud darkened every quarter.

وَعز الصَديق اللي رجونها عِندما

رَمَتنا لَيالي الفشر بِأَكبر شيونها

The friend we hoped for was nowhere to be found when

deceitful nights struck us with their greatest evils.

وَغلظ البَلاء عَلى المهاجر عَتما

وَلا مِن فَرج أَهل البَلا يَرتجونها

Affliction grew harsh and dark upon the exile,

and the afflicted had no relief to hope for.

وَلا مِن فَرج يرجا سِوى اللَه يَرحما

وَاقفوا بِنا وَعيالنا صيحونها

No relief could be hoped for except God's mercy.

They led us away while our children cried.

وَاقفوا بِنا بِالخُون عامورد الظَما

عَلى غَير جادي طفالنا شتتونها

They treacherously led us to thirst's watering place;

for no fault, they scattered our children.

وَاسوا بنا ندعات من غَير مرحما

وَصرنا أَدب حوران لَما ولونها

They dealt us blows without mercy,

and made us Hauran's warning lesson when they took charge.

صُرنا أَدب وَاحنا مثل ماء زمزما

خانوا بِنا بِالبُوق ما شيء دُونَها

We became a warning lesson, though we were like Zamzam water.

They betrayed us with unsurpassed treachery.

يا للعجب كَيف المؤامن تَيغما

وَلا ذَنب سالف قبل ما يفهمونها

How astonishing that one granted safety is plunged into grief,

without a prior offense, before they even understand it.

وَأَهل القَبايح وَالرذالة لربما

عفيوا لِأَن النَفس تَألف زبونها

Yet those of vile deeds and baseness may well

be pardoned, for the soul grows fond of its familiar companion.

خانوا أَمان اللَه بَعد أَن تختما

وَرَأي النَبي المُصطَفى ضيعونها

They betrayed God's pledge after it was sealed,

and cast aside the counsel of the Prophet, the Chosen.

مَن آمن الغدار لا شَك يَندما

يَخسر وَتهمي مِن عيونو مزونها

Whoever trusts the treacherous will surely regret it;

he loses, and rainclouds pour from his eyes.

وَمآمن عهود الربع عجلا تندما

يَأكل كفوفه عِندما يَخلفونها

Whoever trusts his fellows' pledges soon regrets it,

gnawing his hands when they break them.

لَو يَقسموا بِاللَه دينا معظما

يَهبوا مَواثيق الربع يَنكثونها

Even if they swear by God, invoking a revered faith,

they give their fellows pledges, then break them.

ما غَير وَرع هيه وَاحذر مِن العَما

وَاسمع كَلاما الخَلق جربونها

Only be wary—heed me—and beware of blindness.

Listen to words that people have put to the test.

من مارس الأَيام أَضحى معلماً

وَمَن جَرب الأَشيا تَعلم فنونها

Whoever has dealt with the days becomes a teacher,

and whoever tests things learns their ways.

خُذها نَصيحة ما بِها غُش درهما

مِن اللي جَميع أُمورهم يَبخنونها

Take this advice: not a dirham's worth of deceit is in it,

from those who know all their affairs thoroughly.

لاجوا سَوالفهم بفعلا تقدما

وَلذعاتهم مثل الذَهب نقدونها

When they come, their tales concern deeds done before,

and their biting sayings are assayed like gold.

إِن كُنت رَجل أَوصيك فَاعقل وَافهما

احذر مِن اللي كُل ديرة يَجونها

If you are a man, I counsel you: reason and understand.

Beware of those who come to every land:

إِن نَزَلوا أَرضاً بِها الجُور خَيما

كُل الرَعايا مِن الظُلم نُورونها

when they settle in a land, oppression camps there.

They scorch all the subjects with injustice,

مثل جَرب كانون للجسم يحطما

انشد رَعايا ديرة يَحكمونها

like the mange of Kanun that ravages the body.

Ask the people of a land they govern.

بَنيت مَجالسهم عَلى حُكم ظالما

بِلا الأَصفر الرَنان لا تدخلونها

Their councils are founded on unjust rule;

without ringing yellow gold, do not enter them.

لَو كُنت من ذرية الست فاطما

دَعوة بِلا بَرطيل ما يمسكونها

Even if you descended from Lady Fatima,

they will not take up a lawsuit without a bribe.

وَلا يرحموا المسكين لَو كانَ مسلما

إِلا بِرَشوة مسوكرة يَبلعونها

They show the poor no mercy, even if he is Muslim,

except for a secured bribe they can swallow.

لَو قُلت أَنا عيسى الشهيد ابن مريما

حُط المَصاري الهية يوزعونها

Even if you said, 'I am Jesus the martyr, Mary's son,'

put down the money they are to divide.

وَلا يَستَحوا مِن لَهجة الذم إِنَّما

ما يَعرفوا غَير الخمر يَشربونها

They feel no shame at words of condemnation; rather,

they know nothing but wine to drink.

أَو جاق ظُلم الرَب مِن فَوق يقصما

أَما الأَماني وَالمروة عزونها

A hearth of tyranny—may the Lord above shatter it!

As for hopes and chivalry, they have grown scarce.

وَمِن يَدخلو لا شَك ظالم مثلما

جدوع نَبق وَغرستو يَلعنونها

Whoever enters is surely an oppressor, like

jujube trunks, whose planting they curse.

عملوا الوَظايف للرذالات سلما

وَمِن كُل ملة ناس هُم قضد رقونها

They have made offices a stairway to baseness,

and from every creed are men they deliberately promote.

يَأتي أَحدهم للمخاليق يَظلما

ضَمان كرم وَمدتو تعرفونها

One of them comes to oppress the people:

a vineyard's leaseholder—you know his tenure.

حُوت البَحر وَمَن يُدانيه يلقما

يا وَيل مَن لَو دَعوة يقرضونها

A whale of the sea, swallowing whoever comes near him;

woe to anyone with a lawsuit they can gnaw at.

بوطه مثل وَدنا بها اللَه اعلما

فَكأن رَعيان الحوش جمعونها

A motley bunch, like [unclear]; God knows best about them.

As though they had gathered the cattle-yard's herdsmen!

وَشلي بِهم اللَه يُشفق وبحلما

عَلَينا وَيلطف بِهِ ما شيء دونَها

What are they to me? May God, in his forbearance, have pity

on us and show kindness; nothing is apart from him.

يَظهر سَعدنا بَعد ما غاب وَاِنطَما

بِبلادهم مَولاي يَهدم رُكونها

May our good fortune appear after vanishing and being buried;

in their lands, may my Lord destroy their foundations.

وَيحسن خلاص الكُل رَبي وَيكرما

وَيَرحم ضعاف علمها في حدونها

May my Lord grant everyone deliverance and show generosity,

and pity the weak, whose plight he knows within their confines.

مِن بَعد ذا راودت نَفسي المُتَيما

وَشاورت نَفسي وَاللَيالي عمونها

After that, I reasoned with my love-stricken soul,

and consulted my soul while the nights blinded it.

خانَت بِنا الأَيام تدهش وَتشلما

وَخانوا اللَيالي وَخان من يَأمنونها

The days betrayed us, bewildering and mangling,

and the nights betrayed us, betraying whoever trusted them.

الأَيام قَلابات تعدل وَتظلما

وَغش اللَيالي الشر غاشي رُكونها

The days turn about, acting justly and unjustly;

the nights deceive, with evil shrouding their quarters.

الأَيا لا مالوا دَعوا الفَرز أَبكما

وَدُنياك لازم يَوم تخلف ظنونها

When days turn adverse, they leave the bold man speechless.

Your world must one day disappoint your expectations of it.

أَهل المثل قالوا كَلاماً مقدما

الأَيام لا عضت تمكن سنونها

The makers of proverbs said long ago:

'When days bite, they sink their teeth in.'

وَدَهر الفَتى دُولاب بِالريح يبرما

وَالأَيام لا مالوا الصَفا يَسحنونها

A young man's lifetime is a wheel spun by the wind,

and when days turn adverse, they grind hard rock.

يَدعو العَوالي بِالهضابات نايما

مِن عُقب ماروس العُلا يسكنونها

They leave the lofty asleep upon the hills,

after they had dwelt on glory's summits.

مِن بَعد ما كُنا سَلاطين بِالحَما

في ديرة كُل الخَلق يَبخنونها

After we had been sultans in our protected lands,

in a land that all the people knew well,

جتنا لَيالي غتر شنعات مظلما

سقتنا مِن الصَبر قداح نقعونها

treacherous, ugly, dark nights came upon us.

They made us drink cups of aloe they had steeped;

سَقَتنا قداح الصَبر مَمزوج بِالدما

وَقَلبي عَلى جَمر الغَضا نجضونها

they made us drink cups of aloe mixed with blood,

and roasted my heart on ghada embers.

يا مؤامن الأَيام ما ظَن تسلما

الأَيام ذموها الَّذي بخنونها

O you who trust the days, I doubt you will escape unharmed.

Those who knew the days condemned them.

انظر إِلى الدُنيا إِذا كُنت تفهما

وَشُوف الليالي الحاضرة وَالمضونها

Look at the world, if you understand,

and behold the present nights and those gone by.

بَعض الأُمور تُريد فيها التحكما

وَبَعض الأُمور وَسومها عَلى خشومها

Some matters you wish to control,

while others bear their brands upon their noses.

أَوقات تَسقي المَرء حَنظل وَعَلقما

وَبَعض الأَوقات توردو مِن عُيونها

Sometimes they make a man drink colocynth and bitter gall;

at other times, they bring him to drink from their springs.

إشن كُنت يا مَغرور تَعقل وَتعلما

راعي المُلوك السالفة دشرونها

If, deluded one, you can reason and understand,

consider the bygone kings it has cast aside.

وَغرت برسل اللي دَحا الأَرض وَالسَما

وَشافوا بَعض أَشيا عَلى غَير لونها

It deceived the messengers of Him who spread earth and sky,

and they saw some things in colors not their own.

آدم رَماه إِبليس في مورد العَمى

وَخالف وَصايا اللَه بَعدان قرونها

Iblis cast Adam into blindness's watering place,

and he disobeyed God's commands after reading them.

وَثبت لبونا نُوح بِالصُحف وَالهَما

مِن كُل جنس سفينتو جوجونها

He confirmed it to our father Noah in the scriptures and inspired him:

they paired every kind in his ship.

وَعاد اتلاه اللي له النار تضرما

كُل الصَنام بمدتو كسرونها

Then after him came the one for whom the fire blazed;

in his time all the idols were broken.

وَبَعدين ابن داود بِالحُكم تَمما

الجن وَطُيور السَما يَتبعونها

Then David's son perfected his rule;

the jinn and the birds of the sky followed him.

لبس عباته لِلعَصا تايوهما

وَترك عمار القُدس ما تممونها

He put his cloak on the staff to mislead them,

and left Jerusalem's building unfinished.

وَموسى عَلى فرعون بِالفعل لزما

وَكُل العَجايب في عَصاه يَرونها

Moses confronted Pharaoh with his deeds,

and they saw every wonder in his staff.

وَهامان لهرون كلم وَترجما

فَرعون رَب القبط ما تعبدونها

Haman spoke to Aaron and explained:

'Pharaoh is lord of the Copts—do you not worship him?'

نكروا آلها ماليء الأَرض وَالسَما

يا للعجب كَيفَ الخَلق يَنكرونها

They denied a God filling earth and sky.

How astonishing that people deny him!

وَمِن بَعدها عيسى اِبن مَريم تَعصما

في مدتو كُل النَواحي بنونها

Afterward Jesus, Mary's son, remained protected;

in his time they built up every region.

وَعمر بِلاد اللَه بِالعَدل مِثلَما

أَمر المَعاجز كُل ساعه يَرونها

He made God's lands flourish with justice, just as

he commanded; they saw miracles every hour.

الناس بِالمَهد اِستَراحَت عِندَما

الذئب مَع سرب الغَنَم سرحونها

People rested in the cradle when

they let the wolf roam with the flock of sheep.

وَمحمد المُختار للعلم عَمما

دينو بِحَد السَيف شيد رُكونها

Muhammad, the Chosen, made knowledge universal;

with the sword's edge, he raised his religion's pillars.

ذولي بدين اللَه الناس كُلَّما

وَالأَنبياء الطغمات ما ينحصونها

These brought God's religion to all the people;

the hosts of prophets cannot be numbered.

يا ما طَوَت دُنياك مِن كُل مغرما

وَمِن كُل سُلطان الخَلق يَتبعونها

How many a love-stricken soul your world has folded away,

and how many a ruler whom the people followed!

ما دام غَير اللَه عالخلق يحكما

كُل الخَلايق رحمتو يَرتجونها

None endures but God, who rules creation;

all creatures hope for his mercy.

يا اللَه بِجاه النَبي الكلما

المُصطَفى تَفرج بَواقي غبونها

O God, by the honor of the Prophet [unclear epithet],

the Chosen, relieve the sorrows that remain.

يا رافع السَبعة الشداد المحكما

عَلى غَير عَمَد مِن الوَطا يَدعمونها

O raiser of the seven strong, firmly fashioned heavens,

with no pillars from the ground to support them;

يا باسط الخرسا عَلى الماء حينما

رَدت الخَلايق وَالمَلا يَسكنونها

O spreader of the mute earth over the water, when

you willed creatures and humankind to inhabit it;

وَاثبتها بطواد شمخ مسنما

عَالأَرض تَعلو أَلف قامة ودونها

you made it firm with towering, lofty-peaked mountains,

rising a thousand human heights above earth, and less.

وَشجرتها وَالدوح ماد وَتبسما

وَاخضر مِن كُل النَواحي ركونها

You clothed it in trees; the great trees spread out and smiled,

and its corners grew green in every region.

وَأَينع ثمرها المُستَطاب المطعما

وَتخالفت بِالطَعم أَثمار كونها

Its delicious, edible fruit ripened,

and the fruits of its world differed in taste.

وَتخالف النوار فيها المختما

بِأَشكال ما يحصر تَواصيف لَونَها

Its marked blossoms varied,

in forms whose colors no description could encompass.

في كُل عام يغشيها القطر لا همي

وَتخضر مِن فَوق البَسيطة غصونها

Every year, rain covers it when it pours,

and its branches turn green above the earth's expanse.

تفرج لَنا يا خالق الكُل تلهما

وَتَعود بِاللي في الحيل غربونها

Grant us relief, Creator of all, and inspire us.

Bring back those whom they exiled through their stratagems,

وَتحسن خَلاص اللي نفوهم مِن الحِمى

وَتَرحم ضعافاً عَالهفا وردونها

and grant deliverance to those banished from the homeland.

Have mercy on the weak whom they led to ruin.

إِنكَ قَدير وَمالنا قَط مرحما

سِوى رَحمتك أَهل البلا يَرتجونها

You are mighty, and we have no mercy at all

but yours, for which the afflicted hope.

وَاختم كَلامي بِالنَبي المعظما

يا وَيل قَوم سنتو خالفونها

I close my words with the revered Prophet:

woe to a people who defy his practice!

يَختم لَنا بِالخَير يَوم التندما

المُصطَفى خَير البَرايا وَعونها

May he grant us a good ending on the day of regret—

the Chosen, the best of creation and its helper.