فاجعة الحيّ The Tragedy of the Clan

2022 · 24 verses · ṭawīl metre

An elegy for al-Abbas ibn Asghayyar, chief of the Iblanghatan (d. 2016)

Poet: Ahmadou Mohamadalher Ishaki

Introduction

Al-Abbas ibn Asghayyar, chief of the Iblanghatan (إبلنغتان), an Idaksahak tribe, and imam of Inékar, was shot dead on the evening of 16 February 2016. On the sixth anniversary of his death, his nephew Ahmadou, his sister’s son, wrote this elegy, dated 12 June 2022.

The poet tells of the mourning of the whole clan, deprived of the man who upheld justice and forbade wrongdoing, and hails Saad al-Din, his brother, as heir to his rank. He ends by setting knowledge, on which glory is built, against those who kill scholars.

The poem

Show the translation

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم، وصلّى الله على النَّبي الكريم. قصيدة في رثاء السَّيِّد الشّيخ: العبَّاس بن أَصْغَيَّرْ «سيد قبيلة إبلنغتان الإسحاقية» بمناسبة الذِّكرى -06- من مقتله برصاص الغدر، مساء الأربعاء/16/فبراير/2016م. بعنوان: (فاجعة الحيّ)

تَفَاقَمَ حُزْنِي والْكَرَىٰ طارَ نَائِيَا ونارُ جوىٰ صدري تفُتُّ فُؤَادِيَا

My grief has deepened, sleep has flown far away, and the fire of sorrow in my breast is crushing my heart.
غَدَاةَ تَدَاعَى الهَاتِفُون بِنَعْيِهِ وأَضْحَتْ زُرَافَاتِ النِّسَاءِ بَوَاكِيَا

That morning the calls came one after another announcing his death, and the women, in groups, began to weep.
خَلَا الْأَرْضُ مِمَّن كان يَزْجُر آمِرًا ويَنْهَىٰ عنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ بالعَهْدِ وافِيَا

The land is empty of the one who rebuked and commanded, who forbade indecency and kept faith with his word.
أيجدُرُ أن يبقى كذا حالُ حيِّنَا بلا مَن يدُوسُ الظُّلْمَ للنُّكْرِ ناهِيَا

Is it right that our clan should remain like this, with no one to crush injustice and forbid wrongdoing,
ولا أمْرِ مَنْ إِنصَافُه طال جَائِرا فأذْعَنَ مَنْ عادَاهُ لِلأَمرِ شَائِيَا

nor the authority of one whose justice reached even the oppressor, so that his very enemies submitted willingly?
دَعُوني فإنِّي اليومَ في سَكْرَةِ الْبُكَآ وغُلِّقِت الأبوابُ عَنِّي لِما بِيَا

Leave me: today I am drunk with weeping, and every door has closed on me, so great is my pain.
فقالواْ أتبْكي كلَّ أمرٍ سمِعتَهُ ولم تكُ إلا مِن لظَىٰ الحُزْنِ صَالِيَا

They said: “Do you weep at every piece of news you hear? You are nothing but scorched by the blaze of grief.”
فقُلتُ لهم إنَّ البُكَآ جاء بَغْتَةً ذَرُونِي فلا أَنسابُ في الوَهْمِ ناسِيَا

I answered them: “The tears came suddenly; leave me, I will not slip into the illusion of forgetting.”
وكيف التَّنَاسِي والأسَى عالِقٌ بِنَا لِفقْدِ جَلِيلٍ قدْ أَشَابَ النَّوَاصِيَا

How can we forget, when sorrow clings to us for the loss of a great man — a loss to turn the forelocks white?
لقد غدرواْ بالخالِ في وسْط هالةٍ من الشّرِّ؛ رَقَّاهُ الرَّحيمُ المَعالِيَا

They treacherously killed my uncle in a ring of evil; may the Merciful raise him to the highest ranks.
أيا وَيْحَ أُمِّي ويْحَها ثُمَّ ويْحَنا لرُزْءِ أَمِيرِ القَوْمِ في القَلْبِ غَالِيَا

Alas for my mother, alas for her, and alas for us, at the loss of our people’s leader, so precious to the heart!
فيالكَ مَقْتُولاً بكتْهُ الْعَوَالِمُ وأبكَى الْجِبالَ الشَّامِخاتِ الرَّواسِيَا

O you, murdered man, whom all the worlds have wept, and who made the high, firm mountains weep!
إلى الله أشكو لوعةً عندَ ذِكْرِه سَقتْنِي بكأسِ الثُّكْلِ من هَوْلِ ما بِيَا

To God I complain of the anguish his memory rekindles; it has made me drink from the cup of bereavement, so terrible is my pain.
سأبكيه ما حجَّ الحجيجُ لربِّهِم وما ناحَ خاشٍ لِلزَّوَاجِرِ تَالِيَا

I will weep for him as long as pilgrims go to their Lord, as long as a God-fearing man laments while reciting the warnings,
وما غرَبَتْ شَمْسٌ وآَنَ طُلوعُها ويَهتِفُ للْخَمْسِ الإِمامُ مُنادِيَا

as long as the sun sets and rises again, and the imam calls out to the five prayers.
فيا عينُ بكّيه وجُودي بعَبْرَةٍ وبُلِّي بها وَجْهَ الثَّرَىٰ والفَيَافِيَا

O my eye, weep for him and be generous with tears; wet with them the face of the earth and the wastelands.
وباللَّيل بكّيهِ وفي كُلِّ غُدْوةٍ لأسكُنَ من حُزنٍ تَوطَّن بَالِيَا

Weep for him by night and at every dawn, so that I may find some rest from the grief that has settled in my mind.
ألا قد قضَىٰ (الْعَبَّاسُ) في هذه الدُّنَا وورَّثَ (سَعْدَ الدِّينِ) في الحَيِّ عاليَا

Yes, al-Abbas has departed this world, and he has left Saad al-Din a high standing in the clan.
فسَلَّ به سَيْفَ الرَّشادِ بحِكْمَةٍ وأَدْحَضَ فينا الغَيَّ والصُّلحَ بارِيَا

He has wisely drawn the sword of right guidance, refuted error among us and built peace.
فقُلْ للَّذِي يُرْجٍي مَسِيرةَ عَالِمٍ خَسِئْتَ ولم تَبلُغْ بذاك المَعاليَا

Say to the one who would halt a scholar’s path: “Be gone, accursed! You will not reach the heights that way.”
فبالعِلمِ يُبنَى المجدُ والجهلُ ضِدُّه وقاتلُ علمٍ لن يَّنَالَ الأَمانيَا

For glory is built on knowledge, and ignorance is its opposite; whoever kills knowledge will never attain his hopes.
فدَعْ عَّنك حُلماً لن يكونَ حقيقةً أيا من غدَا للجهلِ والفِسْقِ بانيَا

So give up a dream that will never come true, you who have become a builder of ignorance and depravity.
وصلَّى المُصَلِّي ثُمَّ كُلُّ سلامِه على المُصْطفَىٰ من كانَ لِلْعِلْمِ شَادِيَا

May the blessing of all who pray, and then all their peace, be upon the Chosen One, the herald of knowledge,
وآَلٍ وصَحْبٍ ثُمَّ من كان تابِعًا لهُم بِيسَ مَن يَسْتَصْحِبُ الْجَهْلَ راضِيَا

upon his family, his Companions and those who followed them. Wretched is he who keeps company with ignorance, content!

الشَّاعِر: ابن أخت الفقيد/ أحْمَدُو بن مُحَمَّدُ الْخَيْر بِجِّي، 12/ينيو/2022م

The Arabic text is reproduced as the poet wrote it, vowel marks included. The translation, offered verse by verse by the site’s team, follows the meaning rather than the rhyme: only the Arabic text is authoritative.