1. O father of Egypt, source of its bounty
Time has aged as you grow old

2. The house of Pharaoh built palaces for you
You were worshipped in them, as you deserve

3. No soul has seen abundant, fertile grace
With no equal under the sun

4. Gratitude was the goal of its gaze
Yet the Lord of all was beyond its grasp

5. When you thank the work of another
You still fail to comprehend its maker

6. For favour is known by its recipients
And the Nile’s grace has no equal

7. O father of Egypt, long eras have passed
While you generously bestow goodness

8. Bringing it freely from the Sudan
Scattering it over the lands in abundance

9. The southern lakes are your maidens
Obeying your command as captives

10. So you sweep up Abyssinian clay and silt
Mixing it until it turns to your soil

11. Bearing it on the red camels’ backs
Making the barren plains flow in streams

12. A generous man who knows no stinginess
The sea’s abundance cannot match the Nile’s grace

13. O father of Egypt, do you know how many nations
Have been honoured then disgraced in your valley

14. You gave life long ago to dead wastelands
Replacing their barrenness with orchards

15. Their architect knew how to survey the land
And haul loads beyond imagination's grasp

16. They built the pyramids, precise in angles
With every edifice made insignificant

17. The Pole Star their continuous guide
As the centuries course by

18. In them, ingenious wonders reside
That never occurred to our builders

19. Their temples contain a chronicle
Of their kings before Memphis

20. You see their walls and inscriptions
Assuming them sorcerers' spells and signs

21. The Arabs saw them as an enigma
Remaining closed for these long years

22. But in the West are people
Who consider rejecting wonders as religion

23. So they set out with resolute horses
And succeeded in unveiling the ancient mystery

24. Histories, tales, and descriptions
Of a kingdom no season disrupted

25. Sacred structures none but them erected
In the Nile Valley as glorious ruins

26. Souls cling to them, meditating
Through prosperous, tranquil eras

27. Sustained by pilgrims' gifts
And temples' priests with hymns

28. The land's people well-endowed with charity
For the Lord of the unknown's generosity

29. Worship matters to yearning souls
For hopes without limits

30. Money for good is donated
To make the most of what's planted and reaped

31. Their tombs promise the soul's eternity
Guided by an elegant approach

32. You see the deceased's past as if a journey
Translated in precise detail

33. Their battles and the spoils attained
Including captives and precious loot

34. Their life, gifts, and aid dispensed
In hardship and at ease

35. What they hope for in bounty and grace
The soul reciting "Praise be to God"

36. The triumphs their kin claimed through time
Which the Ptolemies inherited when prevailing

37. They preserved religion's sanctuaries
Elevating temples as they ruled

38. A faithful nation they pleased who pleased them
Lifting the spirits of the commoners and land

39. Then came the Romans corrupting
Shearing wool, milking, and driving

40. After them came recurring afflictions
Armies hurrying and multiplying

41. Only the great aspired to build kingdoms
While destruction comes easily

42. O father of Egypt, long ages have passed
Bonds weakened by neglect and ruin

43. Looting wealth and lives freely
As if people were cattle and flock

44. Laid waste with no crops
Scattered people and no respite

45. The land loud with injustice and oppression
When every illness has a cure

46. God willed the dark nights passed
The nights of evil dissipated into light

47. Sending a family of reform and justice
The people deemed reform and justice enough