1. You possess in your extempore eloquence the genius
That would be unmatched were we to seek it in words,

2. As though the achievements of the finest poets
Were obligations binding you, and their repute.

3. You have excelled, cheering us, in patience
Uncomplaining, however sore the pain.

4. Others are wearied by struggle, but you
In struggling with fate show no fatigue.

5. O Prince, your innovations are a font
Of witticisms on every tongue and lip.

6. Our newspapers ramble in confusion
Among their sisters in the states of Islam.

7. With confident spirit you have buttressed them
In truth, like one whose faith is never shaken.

8. How many have feared their impetuous onrush
And so confined them till they rued their act!

9. Majesty cannot be harmed by the passage
Of clouds or the shadow of one who takes cover.

10. Its history in Egypt goes back an age,
The epic of unbroken, relentless zeal,

11. Bearing with resignation the crushing weight
Of slights and outrages past all compute.

12. It gave light to the minds of its people
When minds were darkened all about.

13. It taught them what is life, and what
The glory of the Nile and Pyramid inspires.

14. With civil order and official decree
It sang as loud as sword and standard sing.

15. Thus validated now, upheld today
By the rule of a rightly guided prince.

16. O noble `Ali, still you stand upon
The oath of valor binding you, and pride.

17. You turn reform not from its course
But set it on the paths that straightly tend

18. To lofty goals. You do not pause
Or tire or swerve from purpose.

19. A palace you erect to native pride,
Its cornerstone cemented with our blood.

20. No hunter can attain his prey in it,
Or find asylum in that hallowed court.

21. The State Council is a chamber that gained
Perfection, and its freshness from the Pyramid.

22. You have renewed it, and all blessing lies
In renovation of the ancient and decayed.

23. Thus you have guaranteed its soundness, purged
Of all obstruction, and each lingering ill.

24. Make trusted men arbiters,
And extend ungrudgingly the judge's sway,

25. For justice is a holy thing; to it
You have recourse through wisdom and renown.

26. You seek to guard it and uplift its state
To highest place among the paramount powers.

27. Leave no soul that held authority
Still in need, make straight that which was bent.

28. For redress of wrong is meaningless
Unless assailing some usurping hand.

29. Those codes developed in each clan, at odds
With all the rest, not meshing with their aims...

30. You have desired the joining of their ranks
When peace is not a secret held close-pent

31. But wisdom to explore the extent of their
Objectives through the most discerning thought.

32. Independence now is regulated
By the unity of law and government.

33. Happy the state and prince whose pleasure
Is this pure sire, of high repute.

34. Refined, without austerity or fault,
Tolerant, above suspicion or blame,

35. Should you consult him, his concern will be
Always for every cause that's just and right.

36. Or should you seek his counsel, there you find
The winnowed grain, the wisdom harvested.

37. My eloquence confesses its defeat
Though it aspires to praise such worth.

38. Vainly might it essay to keep pace with
The sun, however hard its rider spur!