القرد في السفينة – لأمير الشعراء أحمد شوقي
الترجمة: محمود عباس مسعود
The Monkey in the Ark
By: Ahmad Shawqi
Translated by: Mahmoud Abbas Masoud
لـم يـتـفــق مـما جــرى فِي المركبِ
ككــــذب القـــــرد على نوحِ النبي
Of all the things that happened in Noah’s Ark,
The strangest ever was when the monkey lied to Prophet Noah
فَـإِنَّــه كَـان بِـأَقـصَى السَّــطْــــحِ
فَاشْــتَــاقَ مِــنْ خِــفَّــتِـــهِ للمَــزْحِ
One day he climbed onto the roof of the Ark,
And felt a hankering after some mischievous antics
وصاح يَــا للطَّيـر والأسـمــــاك
لـموجــــــــةٍ تَجِدُّ فِي هَـــــلاكي !
Therefore, he let out a very loud scream:
Help birds and fishes, help!
A mighty wave is about to overcome and destroy me
فَـبَـعَـثَ الـنَّـبِـيُّ لــه الـنُّـسُـــورا
فَـوَجَــدَتْـــهُ لاهِـــــياً مَـــسْــــــرُورَا
At once, the Prophet dispatched the eagles to him;
However, they found him playing and having fun
ثُـمَّ أَتــَــى ثَـــانِــيَـــةً يَــصِــيــــحُ
قَــدْ ثُــقِــبَـتْ مَـركَــبُـنَـــا يَــا نُــــوحُ !
Soon after, he cried out again:
There is a hole in the Ark, Help Noah, help
فَـأَرْسَــلَ النَّـبِـيُّ كُــلَّ مَــنْ حَــضَــرْ
فَـلَمْ يَــرَوْا كَمَا رَأَى القِــــــرْدُ خَـــطَــرْ
Again, the Prophet sent whoever was present,
But they saw not the danger reported by the monkey
وَبــَيْنــَمَـــا السَّــفِـيـهُ يَــوْمـاً يَــلْــعَــبُ
جَـــادَتْ بِــهِ عَـلَى الـمِــيَــاهِ المرْكَـــبُ
One day, while the same insolent monkey was playing.
Lo and behold! He was knocked out of the Ark and landed in water
فَـسَـمِـعُـوهُ فِي الدُّجَى يَـــنُـــوحُ
يَــقُــولُ : إِنّـــِي هَـــالِكٌ يــَــا نُـــــوحُ
Soon he was heard wailing in the dark:
Noah, I am about to drown
سَـقَـطْــتُ مِـنْ حَمَــاقَــتِي فِي الـمَـاءِ
وَصِـــــــرْتُ بَـيْـنَ الأرضِ والسَّمَـــاءِ
My recklessness has landed me in deep water,
Now I am lost between the sea and the sky
فَـلَمْ يـُصَـدِّقْ أَحَــدٌ صِــيَـاحَــهْ
وَقِــيــلَ : حَــقّــاً هَـــذِهِ وَقَاحَــْة
This time, however, no one believed his cries.
Rather, they mocked his audacity instead
قَدْ قَالَ فِي هذا الـمَقَــامِ مَـنْ سَـبَـقْ:
أَكْــذَبُ ما يُـلْـفَـى الكذوبُ إنْ صَـدَقْ
It was said in old times:
A liar will always be considered a liar,
Even when he speaks the truth
مَـنْ كَانَ مَـمْـنُـوّاً بِــدَاءِ الكَــــذِبِ
لا َيـَـــتْــرُكُ اللهَ وَلاَ يــُعْــفِــي نَـــبِـي
He who is a pathological liar,
Will go on lying until he eventually tempts the fates
المفضلات