The Trial of Staying and Leaving: The Judgment of Exile

Imad wrote this poem about staying or leaving, the question that has divided people since the war. He sees a man carrying the key to a house that no longer exists and another holding a passport while searching for a homeland, refuses to put anyone in a cage of judgment, and defines heroism as remaining human, whichever road a person took.

لا أسألُ من بقي...I do not ask who stayed...

ولا أسألُ من رحل.Nor do I ask who left.

ففي محاكم التاريخ الكبرى،In history's greatest courts,

لا يجلس القاضي على المنصة.The judge never sits upon the bench.

بل يجلس داخل ضمير الإنسان.He sits within the human conscience.

رأيتُ رجلاً يحمل مفتاح بيته،I saw a man carrying his house key,

لكن البيت لم يعد موجودًا.Yet the house no longer existed.

ورأيتُ آخر يحمل جواز سفر،I saw another holding a passport,

لكنه كان يبحث عن وطن.Yet searching for a homeland.

وعرفتُ يومها...Then I understood...

أن المنفى ليس مكانًا.Exile is not a place.

إنه سؤالٌ لا يجد جوابًا.It is a question without an answer.

الحرب لم تقسّم البشر،War did not divide humanity,

بل كشفت ما كان مختبئًا في القلوب.It revealed what had always hidden within hearts.

ليس كلُّ من بقي بطلاً،Not everyone who stayed was a hero,

وليس كلُّ من رحل خائنًا.Nor was everyone who left a traitor.

فالبطولة ليست عنوانًا،Heroism is not an address,

بل قدرةٌ على البقاء إنسانًا.It is the courage to remain human.

والخيانة ليست السفر،Betrayal is not departure,

بل أن تموت الرحمة في القلب.It is when mercy dies within the heart.

لقد هُدمت مدنٌ كثيرة،Many cities have fallen,

لكن أخطر الخراب كان في الداخل.Yet the deepest ruin was within.

ولذلك...Therefore...

لن أضع أحدًا في قفص الأحكام.I will place no soul inside a cage of judgment.

فالذين مرّوا من النار،Those who have walked through fire,

يعرفون أن الرماد يشبه الجميع.Know that ashes resemble everyone.

وأما الله...As for God...

فهو وحده يعلم،He alone knows,

كم مرةً مات إنسانٌ بصمت،How many times a person died in silence,

ثم ابتسم في الصباح،Only to smile the following morning,

كي لا يزيد وجع العالم.So the world's pain would not grow heavier.

More epics on this subject are in the library's Human Story collection, and more essays in the journal's Human Story section.