1. O knights, pioneers of the sky,
We are a people thirsty for glory,

2. Tell us and quench our thirst,
How is it with the mighty victors,

3. How is the atmosphere of conquest when
The minds of scholars have subjugated the cities of the world,

4. How is the atmosphere of genius when
Pillars sway in it like motes of dust,

5. The banners of the West have fluttered but
Until yesterday we had no banner among them,

6. So today we have wings among them
And we have our heroes and our martyrs,

7. The eagle descended with its fledglings and
None but fate was their hunter,

8. What line in the heights did they inscribe
With that pure blood of the virtuous,

9. They were killed in love of Egypt and
We are all ransom for it with wealth and soul,

10. We in the abode of sorrow mourn them
While they are among the eternal happy ones,

11. It is an honor that if one sacrificed
His life for it, life would not equal it,

12. Between one who eulogizes and one eulogized
Most of the living are more deserving of elegy,

13. O accompanying formation, may it bring
Solace for its two dear departed,

14. Give us a waft of pure breeze
Unblemished by any speck to mar its clarity,

15. Pure from the taint of poison which
Corrupts the open air with disgrace,

16. What are a person’s feelings at that summit
When he ascends and holds sway over space,

17. Does he see in the towering, spreading
Beneath him the fate of arrogance,

18. Does he see the sea thrust back to the
Juncture of its two edges—what is the limit of permanence,

19. Does he see opposites of lowness and
Loftiness made equal in the end,

20. A flight for a person, if he takes it,
Therein is all contentment before oblivion,

21. The fleet descended before our eyes
In the position of power and radiance from it,

22. And the songs of praise received it descending,
The place of awakening and hope from it,

23. The living rejoiced in Egypt for it
An unalloyed joy admitting no doubt,

24. And there settled, leaving behind disquiet,
In their haunts the relics of the ancients,

25. What an honor, O formation, let not
The disavowal of fools trouble your pride of victory,

26. Can the erratic arrows reaching
The eagle’s orbit be anything but air,

27. Life is apportioned, and the lowest
Share of it is for the submissive weaklings,

28. Since you ventured a course and beyond it
Dangers lurked in that atmosphere,

29. Every soul trembled in awe
And felt what torment it was undergoing,

30. Distance from the heart only intends
A construct, not one who withdraws from the eye,

31. Let one describe the passion they felt
When the day of meeting drew near,

32. They inclined their hearing to the unseen, and
Held their breaths until the word came,

33. And there materialized for them in an image
No eye of a beholder saw one more splendid,

34. Egypt in the two faces, a grieving aspect,
Fluttered for the returning heroes,

35. And she admired exceedingly, redoubled
By the motive of wonder and pride’s claim,