اليوم يستقبل الآمال راجيها

وينجلي عن سماء العز داجيها

Today the hopeful one welcomes his hopes,

and darkness lifts from the sky of glory.

وتزدهي مصر والنيل السعيد بها

والملك والدين والدنيا وما فيها

Egypt exults, and the Nile, happy in her,

and kingship, religion, the world, and all within it.

قد أطلع اللَه في سعد السعود سنى

بدر بلألائه ابيضت لياليها

God has made rise in Saʿd al-Suʿūd the radiance

of a full moon whose brilliance has whitened her nights.

وقام بالأمر رحب الباع مضطلع

بالعبء جم شؤن النفس ساميها

A man of broad ability has taken charge, capable

of bearing the burden, with manifold and lofty concerns of soul.

ذو همه دون أدنى شأوها قصرت

غايات من رام في أمر يدانيها

His is an ambition: short of its least reach fall

the utmost aims of those seeking to rival it in any undertaking.

وراحة لو تحاكيها السحائب في

فيض الندى هطلت تبر اغواديها

And a palm that, were the clouds to match it in

its outpouring of bounty, their morning showers would rain raw gold.

يزهو بها قلم سام يسوس به

أمر الأقاليم نائيها ودانيها

A lofty pen glories in that palm; with it he governs

the affairs of the provinces, distant and near.

يجري بما شاء من حكم ومن حكم

يصبو لحسن معانيها مُعانيها

It flows with whatever judgments and wisdom he wills;

those who ponder its meanings yearn for their beauty.

ورأفة بعباد اللَه كافلة

بخير ما حدّثت نفساً أمانيا

And compassion for God's servants, assuring

the best that hopes have whispered to a soul.

مؤيد بالهدى والحق ملتمس

رضا البرية لاسترضاء باريها

Sustained by guidance and truth, he seeks

the people's approval, to please their Creator.

تربو على وصف مطريه محاسنه

وهل يعدّ نجوم الأفق راعيها

His virtues surpass his eulogist's description;

can their watcher count the stars of the horizon?

توفيق مصر ومولاها وموئلها

وركنها ومفدّاها وفاديها

Tawfiq of Egypt, her lord and her refuge,

her pillar, the one she would ransom, and her redeemer,

وغصنها النضر أنمته منابتها

من دوحة أينعت فيها مجانيها

her verdant branch, nurtured by her soil,

from a spreading tree whose fruits have ripened upon it.

خديوها ابن خديويها ابن فارسها

أميرها البطل الشهم ابن واليها

Her khedive, son of her khedive, son of her knight,

her prince, the gallant hero, son of her governor.

رأى الخليفة فيه رأي حكمته

وللملوك صواب في مرائيها

The caliph judged him with his wise discernment,

and kings judge rightly in what they perceive.

رآه أجدر أن يرعى رعيته

وأن يقوم بما يرجوه راجيها

He deemed him worthiest to tend his subjects,

and to fulfill what her hopeful people hope for,

وأن ينحى عنها ما أحاط بها

من الخطوب التي هالت أهاليها

and to remove from her what has beset her

of calamities that terrified her people.

فجاء مرسومه السامي تطير به

نجائب البرق يطوى البرّ ساريها

So his exalted decree arrived, borne swiftly by

lightning's noble steeds, whose night-runner folds up the land.

لِلّه يوم جلا عن نور غرته

كالشمس مزق بُرد الغيم ضاحيها

God be praised for a day that unveiled the light of its brow,

like the sun, whose bright face tore the cloak of clouds.

في موكب مثل عقد الدر في نسق

أو كالنجوم الدراري في مساريها

In a procession like a pearl necklace, ordered in a row,

or like brilliant stars along their paths,

يسير في مصر والبشرى تسابقه

في حيث سار وتسري في نواحيها

he moves through Egypt, glad tidings racing ahead,

wherever he goes and spreading through her quarters.

يحفه أخواه الماجدان به

مع الوزير شريف النفس عاليها

In it, his two illustrious brothers flank him,

with the minister, Sharif, noble and exalted of soul.

مشير صدق بحزم الرأي قد عرفت

أفكاره بين باديها وخافيها

A true counselor: his firmness of judgment is known

in his thoughts, both manifest and hidden.

لا تنثني عن صواب الرأي رغبته

لرهبة كائناً ما كان داعيها

His resolve does not turn from sound judgment

out of fear, whatever may occasion it.

حتى أتى القلعة الفيحاء فانطلقت

فيها المدافع بالبشرى تواليها

At last he reached the spacious Citadel, and rang out

its cannons, one after another, with glad tidings.

واستقبلته صفوف الجند قد نظمت

نظم القلائد زانتها لآليها

Ranks of troops welcomed him, arrayed

like necklaces adorned by their pearls,

داعين تعلن ما في النفس ألسنهم

بدعوة الخير والتأمين تاليها

praying, their tongues declaring what lay in their souls,

a prayer for good, followed by cries of 'Amen.'

فلتفتخر مصر إعجاباً بحاضرها

على محاسن ماضيها وآتيها

Let Egypt proudly boast of her present

over the glories of her past and future.

إيه لقد أبدت الأيام سر مُنى

طالت عليه الليالي في تماديها

Ah, the days have revealed the secret of wishes

over which the nights had long stretched on.

وأسعد الطالع الميمون أنفسنا

بخير أمنية كانت تناغيها

The auspicious ascendant has gladdened our souls

with the finest wish that whispered tenderly to them.

هذا الذي كانت الآمال ترقبه

دهراً وتعتدّه أقصى مراميها

This is the one whom hopes had awaited

for an age, counting him their furthest goal.

مازال في قلب مصر من محبته

سرّ تبوح به نجوى أهاليها

In Egypt's heart there has always been, through love of him,

a secret her people's intimate whispers reveal.

تصبو له وأمانيها تطاوعها

في حبه ولياليها تعاصيها

She longs for him, and her wishes obey her

in loving him, while her nights defy her.

وترتجيه من الرحمن سائلة

حتى استجيب بما ترجوه داعيها

She seeks him from the Merciful, imploring,

until her supplicant was answered with what she hoped for.

فالحمد لِلّه شكرانا لأنعمه

فالشكر حافظ نعماه وواقيها

So praise be to God in gratitude for His blessings,

for gratitude preserves His bounty and protects it.

يا ابن الذين لهم في المجد قد عرفت

أخبار صدق لسان الحمد راويها

O son of men whose glory is known

through truthful accounts told by the tongue of praise,

قادوا الجنائب من مصر مسوّمة

إلى الحجاز إلى أقصى أعاليها

they led marked steeds from Egypt

to the Hijaz, to its farthest heights,

غرّا سوابق مشهوراً سوابقها

مقرونة بأعاليها عواليها

white-blazed racers, famed for their former triumphs,

with lofty lances joined above their backs;

قبا ضوامر كالا رام يكنفها

ليوث حرب بأيديها مواضيها

slender-waisted, lean as gazelles, flanked by

lions of war, keen blades in their hands.

تموج في زرد الماذيّ سابحة

تحدى بأرجلها عدواً أياديها

They surge, swimming in rings of gleaming armor,

their forelegs urged to the gallop by their hindlegs.

رموا بهنّ صدور البيد معنقة

على نحور أعاديها عواديها

They hurled them into the deserts' breasts at a headlong pace,

their chargers upon their enemies' throats.

قد عوّدوهنّ أن لا ينثنين عن الهيجاء

إلا إذا كفت عواديها

They had trained them never to turn away from battle

except when its assaults had ceased,

وأن يطأن على هام الكماة إذا

لف الوغى بهواديها تواليها

and to trample the warriors' heads when

battle entangled their rearguard with their vanguard.

فاستنقذوا حرم من عصب

لم يرع حرمة بيت اللَه راعيها

Thus they rescued the sanctuary from bands

whose leader had not honored the sanctity of God's House.

وأوردوا الخيل نجداً فاستبوه ولم

تعسر عليها عسير في مساعيها

They brought the horses into Najd and took it captive; nor

did Asir prove difficult for them in their campaigns.

وكان تأييدها أمر الخلافة في

مواطن الحرب من جُلَّى معاليها

Their support for the cause of the caliphate in

the fields of war was among their loftiest honors.

مولاي دعوة اخلاص يكررها

داع أياديك أرضته أياديها

My lord, a prayer of devotion repeated

by a supplicant whom the bounty of your favors has pleased:

هنيت علياء قد وافتك خاطبة

تختال تيها وتزهو في تهاديها

May you enjoy a lofty station that has come to seek your hand,

swaying proudly and glorying in its graceful walk.

علياء فاتت سموّا كل منزلة

فلم يكن في سواها ما يساويها

A lofty station surpassing every rank in height,

with no equal anywhere beyond itself.

رأت علاك فشاقتها حلاك فلم

تسمح لغيرك من خل يخاليها

It saw your eminence, and your graces captivated it, so

it granted no other friend its friendship.

وكم سمت نحوها نفس تؤمّلها

من قبل لكنها ضلت مساعيها

How many a soul aspired toward it, hoping for it,

in earlier times, but its efforts went astray.

تجاذبوها فرثت في أناملهم

حباً لها وتمادت في تنائيها

They tugged at it until it frayed in their fingers,

out of love for it, while it withdrew ever farther.

قضوا غراماً ولم يقضوا بها وطرا

فكان أصل مناياهم أمانيها

They died of passion without satisfying their desire for it;

thus their hopes for it became the root of their deaths.

فاسلم أقرّبك الرحمن أعينها

ولا برحت لها مولى تواليها

So live in safety; may the Merciful gladden its eyes with you,

and may you ever remain its lord, cherishing it.

وأقرّ سمعك من حلو الثناء حُلى

يلهو بلحن المثاني صوت شاديها

May He delight your ear with ornaments of sweet praise,

whose singer's voice plays with the melody of paired strings—

حلى ما انتظم العقد الفريد على

لبات حسناء تجلوه تراقيها

ornaments, for as long as the peerless necklace is strung upon

a beauty's throat, displayed by her collarbones.

وهاك غراء من حر القريض إذا

ما أنشدت خلب الألباب تاليها

And take this radiant offering of pure verse: when

it is recited, its reciter captivates minds.

وفخرها أنها في المدح قد صدعت

بقول صدق فلا حيّ يلاحيها

Its pride is that, in praise, it has proclaimed

a truthful word, which no living soul disputes.

يسهو بها الراكب المزجي مطيته

عن حاجة راح يغدو في تقاضيها

The rider urging on his mount is so absorbed by it

that he forgets the errand he set out to pursue.

يسائل الناس أيّ الناس قائلها

وأيّ برّبه الممدوح جازيها

He asks people which person composed it,

and with what kindness the man praised will reward it.

وانما حسبها برا وتكرمه

منه قبول وإقبال يوافيها

Yet all it needs, as kindness and honor,

is his acceptance and favor bestowed upon it.

تدري القصائد أني لست أقصدها

إلا وللحب داع من دواعيها

Poems know that I never turn to them

unless love is among the motives calling me to them.

ولا تجافيت عنها قبل من حَصَر

بحمد ربي ولا ضنت قوافيها

Nor have I ever shunned them out of incapacity,

praise be to my Lord, nor have their rhymes been miserly.

لكنها نفس حر لا تهم بما

لا يستوي فيه باديها وخافيها

But mine is a free man's soul, which will not pursue anything

in which its outward and hidden selves do not agree.

تسعى إليك وفرط الشوق قائدها

إلى رحابك والاخلاص حاديها

It hastens toward you, led by overwhelming longing,

to your spacious court, with sincerity as its singing guide.

وافت تهنئ مولاها مؤرّخة

توفيق مصر بأيدي اللَه راعيها

It has come to congratulate its lord, recording the date:

Egypt's Tawfiq, sustained by God's hands, is her guardian.