لك خل على الوداد أمين

صادق العهد بالوفاء قمين

You have a friend faithful in affection,

true to his pledge, worthy of fidelity.

هذبت طبعه صروف الليالي

مثلما هذب السيوف الفيون

The vicissitudes of the nights refined his nature,

as smiths tempered swords.

حل في اشرف المعادن طبعاً

فهو فيهن جوهر مكنون

By nature he settled in the noblest of metals,

so among them he is a hidden jewel.

انزلته القلوب منزل صدق

فهو في مصره العزيز المكين

Hearts have lodged him in an abode of truth,

so in his Egypt he is the mighty, firmly established one.

أوتي الحكم فهو يقضي بعدل

وله العز فيه والتمكين

He was granted judgment, and he judges justly,

possessing therein might and authority.

كلما انفق المثمر منه

زاد كنز المعارف المخزون

Whenever the fruitful one spends from him,

the stored treasury of knowledge increases.

ملك في ممالك النفس يجري

بصلاح قانونه المسنون

A king in the soul's kingdoms, he acts

through the soundness of his established law.

قد تجلت اثاره لميان

وتوارى فما تراه العيون

His effects have become plainly visible,

yet he remains hidden, unseen by the eyes.

هو ضد الهوى يصد وينهى

عنه والقلب بالهوى مفنون

He opposes desire, repelling and forbidding

it, while the heart is infatuated with desire.

ارخص الجهل قدره وهو علق

عند أهل الحجى نفيس ثمين

Ignorance cheapens his worth, though he is a treasure,

precious and valuable to people of understanding.

لا يذل العزيز في الناس قدراً

ويهون الذي به يستهين

The honored one is not humbled in people's esteem,

while whoever scorns him becomes contemptible.

كان للخالق العزيز اعز

الخلق من يوم انشئ التكوين

To the mighty Creator he was the dearest

of creations, from the day creation began.

هو للنظم في المعاش كفيل

وهو للفوز في المعاد ضمين

He guarantees order in worldly life,

and guarantees success in the life to come,

هادياً للسعادتين جميعاً

فيه دنيا الفتى وفيه الدين

guiding toward both kinds of happiness together:

in him lie the young man's worldly life and religion.

وإذا ما صحبته كان زيناً

لك والصحب خيرهم من يزين

Whenever you keep his company, he is an adornment

to you; the best companions are those who adorn.

ما لمن فاته من الخير حظ

ونصيب وذلك المغبون

Whoever lacks him has no share of goodness,

nor any portion; that is the cheated man.

هو والعلم فرقدان وكل

من سنا الفه له تزيين

He and knowledge are the two Farqad stars, and each

is adorned by the radiance of his companion.

في تساويهما الكمال والا

اصبحا عرضة لنقص يشين

In their equality lies perfection; otherwise,

both are exposed to a disfiguring deficiency.

وإذا ما تفاوت الصحب حالا

مل من صحبة القرين القرين

When companions differ in condition,

one companion tires of the other's company.

ما يبالى الذي تحصن فيه

ان عدته معاقل وحصون

He who takes refuge in him need not care

if strongholds and fortresses pass him by.

وبمرآته الصقيلة تبدو

صور الغيب تجتليه الظنون

And in his polished mirror appear

images of the unseen, which conjectures bring to view.

ان دجا الليل وهو شك جلاه

لمعان الصباح وهو يقين

If night grows dark—and it is doubt—it is dispelled

by morning's gleam, which is certainty.

من قديم له حديث مع النفس

ولكن ذاك الحديث شجون

He has long held discourse with the soul,

but that discourse has many ramifications.

حاربته وجندها شهوات

وامان خلالهن المنون

She fought him, her troops being passions

and hopes, with death among them.

ثم ما اجلت الكريهة الا

وهو للنفس خلالهن المنون

Then the bitter battle cleared only

to reveal him as death to the soul amid them.

ما نبا حده لدى الضرب لكن

اسلمت قائم اليمان اليمين

His edge did not fail when striking, but

the right hand abandoned the Yemeni blade's hilt.

اعضد السيف بالشجاعة وانظر

ضربات الحسام كيف تكون

Strengthen the sword with courage, and see

what the keen blade's strokes will be.

قوة اظهرت غرائب فعل

اعجز القول وصفها المستبين

A power that revealed marvels of action,

whose clear description defies speech.

حمل العلم من سناه وميضا

فاضاءت معارف وفنون

Knowledge bore a gleam from his radiance,

and branches of learning and arts shone forth.

ملك البحر والهواء فأضحى

وله بعد في الفنون شؤون

He mastered sea and air, and now

he still has further undertakings in the arts.

سل به الكهرباء تلق لديها

منه اسرار حكمة لا تبين

Ask electricity about him; in her you will find

secrets of wisdom from him that remain concealed.

قبس البرق منه لمعة برق

يتهاداه سلكه الموضون

The telegraph drew from him a flash of lightning,

which its woven wire carries back and forth.

اصبح الشرق عنده وهو غرب

فسواء باريسها والصين

For him, the East has become the West,

so its Paris and China are alike.

وسل البحر كيف خاض غمار

البحر في قوة البخار السفين

And ask the sea how they braved the depths

of the sea—the ships, through the power of steam.

ما خرات من المحيط عباباً

زاخراً لا يعوم فيه النون

Cleaving a billowing expanse of the ocean,

surging where the whale cannot swim.

يتدرعن بالحديد ويقذفن

بنار بها الحديد يلين

They armor themselves in iron and hurl

fire that softens iron.

وتظن الجبال سيرن في البحر

إذا سار فلكها المشجون

You would think mountains had been set moving on the sea

when its laden ships set sail.

يرهب البحر بأسهن فللموج

صراخ من خوفها ورنين

The sea fears their might, so the waves have

screams and ringing sounds from fear of them.

هن في الحسن كالرياض ولكن

قبس النار في الرياض كمين

In beauty they are like gardens, but

a spark of fire lies hidden in the gardens.

فهي تبدي طلاقة وابتهاجاً

وبأحشائها جوى وضغون

Thus they display cheerfulness and gladness,

while their innards hold burning anguish and rancor.

وسل الجو كيف طار إليه

باساطيل حصنهن حصين

And ask the air how he flew into it

with fleets whose defenses are impregnable.

هن فوق السحاب ادركن شأواً

قصرت دونه السحاب الجون

Above the clouds they reached a height

beyond the reach of the dark clouds.

حلقت في السماء فهي نسور

طائرات لها السماء وكون

They soared in the sky: they are eagles

in flight, with the sky as their nesting place.

واستقل القطار يطوي من الأر

ض فجاجاً مزارهن شطون

And board the train as it traverses the earth's

passes, whose destinations lie far away.

تنثني الريح مذ تجاريه حسرى

وهو زيافة المهب أمون

The wind turns back exhausted when it races it,

while it is a swift, sure-footed camel in the wind's path.

ما تراه العيون الا اختلاساً

لمحة ثم يشكل التعيين

Eyes see it only in a snatched glance,

one glimpse; then recognition becomes difficult.

اسد بالزئير يحمى حماه

وله سكة الحديد عرين

A lion, guarding its domain with its roar,

with the railway as its den.

وهو ينساب بالمغارة سيراً

مثلما أنساب نحوها التنين

It glides through the cavern as it travels,

just as the dragon glided toward it.

يا أميراً له سياسة رأي

كل ذي اربة به يستعين

O prince who governs through judgment,

whom everyone with a need calls upon for help.

فأذا ما سنحت للامر وافى

لذوي الأمر طائر ميمون

So whenever you appear for a task, there comes

to those in charge a bird of good omen.

وبقانونك الأساسي يرقى

للمعالي فحبذا القانون

And through your fundamental law one ascends

to lofty heights—how excellent the law!