Between the Age of Darkness and the Break of Dawn — Page 10

Arabic text · النص

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

بَيْنَ عَصْرِ الظَّلَامِ وَمَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ.

Between the age of darkness and the break of dawn.

لَقَدْ وَجَدَ فِيهِمْ شَعْبًا ذَكِيًّا، سَرِيعَ الْبَدِيهَةِ، حَاضِرَ النُّكْتَةِ، بَارِعَ الْجَوَابِ، شَرِيفَ النَّفْسِ، أَرْيَحِيًّا طَرُوبًا.

He found them to be an intelligent, quick-witted, and humorous people, sharp in their replies, noble-spirited, generous, and joyful.

فَإِذَا اسْتَثَرْتَهُ مَرَّةً، فَهُوَ قَاسٍ غَضُوبٌ شَرِسٌ، لَا يَنِي عَنْ أَخْذِ ثَأْرِهِ، وَلَا يَرُدُّهُ عَنِ انْتِقَامِهِ شَيْءٌ.

If provoked, however, they turn harsh, angry, and fierce; they never cease in their pursuit of vengeance, and nothing can deter them.

كَانَ كَمَا يَقُولُ الشَّاعِرُ: وَكَالسَّيْفِ: إِنْ لَا يَنْتَهِ لَانَ مَتْنُهُ وَحَدَّاهُ إِنْ خَاشَنْتَهُ خَشِنَانِ!

It was as the poet said: 'Like a sword: if it does not strike, its blade goes soft; but treat it roughly, and its edges turn rough!'

ذَلِكَ هُوَ الشَّعْبُ الَّذِي اسْتَطَاعَ بَعْدَ أَنْ وَجَدَ قَائِدَهُ الْأَعْظَمَ، أَنْ يُزَلْزِلَ أَرْكَانَ الظُّلْمِ وَالِاسْتِعْبَادِ، وَيَدُكَّ صَرْحَ الْوَثَنِيَّةِ وَالشِّرْكِ فِي زَمَنٍ يَسِيرٍ.

This was the people who, after finding their greatest leader, managed to shake the pillars of injustice and enslavement, demolishing the edifice of paganism and polytheism in a short time.

إِنَّ بَعْضَ الْحَقَائِقِ تَبْدُو لِغَرَابَتِهَا أَعْجَبَ مِنَ الْخَيَالِ!

Some truths are so strange they seem more amazing than fiction!

كَانَتْ أُمَّةُ الْعَرَبِ مُفَكَّكَةَ الْأَوْصَالِ، مُتَعَادِيَةَ الْجَمَاعَاتِ، مُفَرَّقَةَ الْأَهْوَاءِ وَالنَّزَعَاتِ، تَفْتِكُ كُلُّ قَبِيلَةٍ بِالْأُخْرَى، وَلَا يَسْكُتُ أَحَدٌ عَنِ الْأَخْذِ بِثَأْرِهِ.

The Arab nation was fragmented, its tribes hostile to one another, their desires and inclinations divided; every tribe preyed upon the other, and no one would let a grievance go unavenged.

يَقْتُلُ الْأَبُ بَنَاتِهِ، خَوْفَ الْفَقْرِ وَالْعَارِ.

A father would kill his own daughters for fear of poverty and shame.

يَسْتَبِدُّ الْقَوِيُّ بِالضَّعِيفِ، وَيَسْتَعْبِدُهُ بِلَا شَفَقَةٍ وَلَا رَحْمَةٍ!

The strong would tyrannize the weak, enslaving them without a shred of pity or mercy!

رَجُلٌ وَاحِدٌ يُغَيِّرُ أُمَّةً.

One man changes a nation.

ثُمَّ يُرِيدُ اللهُ بِأُمَّةِ الْعَرَبِ الْخَيْرَ، فَيُولَدُ فِيهَا رَجُلٌ وَاحِدٌ، فَيَجْمَعُ مِنْ أَمْرِهَا مَا تَفَرَّقَ، وَيُبْدِلُهَا بِالْخِذْلَانِ نَصْرًا، وَبِالْعُبُودِيَّةِ حُرِّيَّةً وَسِيَادَةً، وَبِالظَّلَامِ نُورًا، وَبِالتَّفَرُّقِ تَجَمُّعًا، فَيَتَأَلَّفُ مِنْهَا - فَجْأَةً - شَعْبٌ جَدِيدٌ، آيَةٌ فِي الِاتِّحَادِ وَالْقُوَّةِ، مُتَمَاسِكٌ كَالْبُنْيَانِ الْمَرْصُوصِ يَشُدُّ بَعْضُهُ بَعْضًا.

Then God willed good for the Arab nation, and a man was born among them who gathered what was scattered, replaced their defeat with victory, their slavery with freedom and sovereignty, their darkness with light, and their division with unity. Suddenly, a new people emerged—a marvel of unity and strength, cohesive as a solid structure, each part supporting the other.

أَوْ كَمَثَلِ الْجَسَدِ الْوَاحِدِ، إِذَا اشْتَكَى مِنْهُ عُضْوٌ تَدَاعَى لَهُ سَائِرُ الْجَسَدِ بِالْحُمَّى وَالسَّهَرِ.

Or like a single body: if one limb suffers, the rest of the body responds with fever and sleeplessness.

اتِّسَاعُ الدَّوْلَةِ الْإِسْلَامِيَّةِ.

The expansion of the Islamic state.

ثُمَّ لَا يَكَادُ يَنْقَضِي عَلَى الدَّعْوَةِ الْمُحَمَّدِيَّةِ زَمَنٌ طَوِيلٌ، حَتَّى تَنْفَسِحَ تِلْكَ الرُّقْعَةُ الضَّيِّقَةُ الَّتِي نَشَأَ فِيهَا ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْجَدِيدُ، فَتَمْتَدَّ مِنْ صَحَارَى آسْيَا إِلَى صَحَارَى أَفْرِيقْيَا الْوُسْطَى، وَمِنْ جِبَالِ الْهِمَلَايَا إِلَى جِبَالِ الْبِرَانِسِ.

Hardly had much time passed since the Muhammadan call when the narrow territory where this new religion began expanded, reaching from the deserts of Asia to the deserts of Central Africa, and from the Himalayas to the Pyrenees.

Vocabulary · المفردات (35 verbs · 97 nouns)

• وَجَدَ — to find
• اسْتَثَارَ — to provoke
• وَنَى — to cease
• رَدَّ — to turn back
• قَالَ — to say
• انْتَهَى — to end
• لَانَ — to soften
• خَاشَنَ — to treat roughly
• خَشِنَ — to become rough
• اسْتَطَاعَ — to manage to
• زَلْزَلَ — to shake
• دَكَّ — to demolish
• بَدَا — to seem
• فَكَّكَ — to dismantle
• عَادَى — to show hostility
• فَرَّقَ — to separate
• فَتَكَ — to slaughter
• سَكَتَ — to fall silent
• قَتَلَ — to kill
• اسْتَبَدَّ — to tyrannize
• غَيَّرَ — to change
• أَرَادَ — to want
• وَلَدَ — to give birth
• جَمَعَ — to gather
• أَبْدَلَ — to replace
• تَأَلَّفَ — to consist of, to comprise
• تَمَاسَكَ — to hold together
• رَصَّ — to pack
• شَدَّ — to pull
• اشْتَكَى — to complain
• تَدَاعَى — to collapse
• انْقَضَى — to pass
• انْفَسَحَ — to expand
• نَشَأَ — to grow
• امْتَدَّ — to extend
• عَصْر — era
• ظَلَام — darkness
• مَطْلَع — beginning
• فَجْر — dawn
• شَعْب — people
• ذَكِيّ — intelligent (male)
• سَرِيع — quick (male)
• بَدِيهَة — intuition
• حَاضِر — present (male)
• نُكْتَة — joke
• بَارِع — skilled (male)
• جَوَاب — answer
• شَرِيف — noble (male)
• نَفْس — soul
• أَرْيَحِيّ — generous (male)
• طَرُوب — joyful (male)
• مَرَّة — time
• قَاس — harsh (male)
• غَضُوب — angry (male)
• شَرِس — fierce (male)
• أَخْذ — taking
• ثَأْر — revenge
• انْتِقَام — vengeance
• شَيْء — thing
• شَاعِر — poet
• سَيْف — sword
• مَتْن — back
• حَدّ — edge
• قَائِد — leader
• أَعْظَم — greatest
• رُكْن — pillar
• ظُلْم — injustice
• اسْتِعْبَاد — enslavement
• صَرْح — edifice
• وَثَنِيَّة — paganism
• شِرْك — polytheism
• زَمَن — time
• يَسِير — small
• حَقِيقَة — truth
• غَرَابَة — strangeness
• عَجَب — wonder
• خَيَال — imagination
• أُمَّة — nation
• عَرَب — Arabs
• وَصْل — connection
• جَمَاعَة — group
• هَوَى — desire
• نَزْعَة — tendency
• قَبِيلَة — tribe
• أَب — father
• بِنْت — daughter
• خَوْف — fear
• فَقْر — poverty
• عَار — shame
• قَوِيّ — strong (male)
• ضَعِيف — weak (male)
• شَفَقَة — pity
• رَحْمَة — mercy
• رَجُل — man
• وَاحِد — one
• خَيْر — good
• خِذْلَان — abandonment
• نَصْر — victory
• عُبُودِيَّة — slavery
• حُرِّيَّة — freedom
• سِيَادَة — sovereignty
• نُور — light
• تَفَرُّق — division
• تَجَمُّع — gathering
• فَجْأَة — suddenness
• جَدِيد — new
• آيَة — sign
• اتِّحَاد — union
• قُوَّة — strength
• بُنْيَان — structure
• بَعْض — some
• مَثَل — example
• جَسَد — body
• عُضْو — member
• سَائِر — rest
• حُمَّى — fever
• سَهَر — sleeplessness
• اتِّسَاع — expansion
• دَوْلَة — state
• إِسْلَامِيٌّ — Islamic
• دَعْوَة — call
• مُحَمَّدِيَّة — Muhammadan
• طَوِيل — long
• رُقْعَة — patch
• ضَيِّق — narrow
• دِين — religion
• صَحْرَاء — desert
• وُسْطَى — central
• جَبَل — mountain
• مُتَمَاسِك — coherent
• مُتَعَادِيَة — one that is hostile (feminine); an antagonist (feminine)
• مَرْصُوص — solidly built; compacted; tightly packed (passive participle)