1. أَكُلُّ مُتَوَّجٍ يَحمي البِلادا

    وَيَسلُكُ في سِياسَتِها السَدادا

    Does every crowned ruler protect the land

    and follow the right course in governing it,

  2. يَنامُ الحادِثُ المُعتَسُّ عَنها

    وَيَأَبى طَرفُهُ إِلّا سُهادا

    while the prowling calamity sleeps, leaving it alone,

    and his eye accepts nothing but wakefulness,

  3. فَما تَشقى رَعَيَّتُهُ بِخَطبٍ

    وَلا تَشكو اِضطراباً أَو فَسادا

    so that his subjects suffer no calamity

    and complain of neither disorder nor corruption,

  4. تَدينُ لِتاجِهِ التِّيجانُ طُرّاً

    وتسأله الرعايةَ والذيادا

    with all crowns bowing to his crown

    and asking him for care and defense,

  5. وتفديه النفوسُ على اعتقادٍ

    بِأَنَّ حَياتَهُ تُحيي العِبادا

    and souls sacrificing themselves for him in the belief

    that his life gives life to the people?

  6. أَحَبُّ المالِكينَ إِلى الرَعايا

    مَليكٌ لَيسَ يَألوها اِفتِقادا

    The best-loved of rulers among their subjects

    is a king who spares no effort in attending to them.

  7. تَغَلغَلَ في مَكانِ الحِسِّ مِنها

    فَكانَ السَمع فيها وَالفُؤادا

    He has penetrated to the seat of feeling within them

    and become their hearing and their heart.

  8. أَضَرُّ الناسِ ذو تاجٍ تَوَلّى

    فَما نَفَعَ البِلادَ وَلا أَفادا

    The most harmful of men is a crowned ruler who took power,

    yet neither benefited the land nor did it good,

  9. وَكانَ عَلى الرَعِيَّةِ شَرَّ راعٍ

    وَأَشأَمَ مالِكٍ في الدَهرِ سادا

    and was the worst shepherd to his subjects,

    and the most ill-omened ruler ever to reign.

  10. تَبيتُ لَهُ الأَرائِكُ في عَناءٍ

    تُمارِسُ مِنهُ أَهوالاً شِدادا

    His couches spend the night in torment,

    enduring grievous terrors from him.

  11. وَيُمسي مُلكُهُ في زِيِّ ثَكلى

    كَساها فقدُ واحدِها الحِدادا

    And at evening his kingdom wears a bereaved mother's garb,

    whose only child's loss has clothed her in mourning.

  12. كَأَنَّ المُلكُ في عَينَيهِ حُلمٌ

    يَلُذُّ بِهِ فَما يَألو رُقادا

    As though kingship, in his eyes, were a dream

    in which he delights, never stinting on sleep.

  13. يُنادي صارِخُ الحَدَثانِ مِنهُ

    فَتىً يَزدادُ وَقراً إِذ يُنادى

    The herald of calamities cries out to him,

    a youth who grows deafer whenever he is called.

  14. وَتَدعوهُ الرَعِيَّةُ وَهوَ لاهٍ

    فَتَصدَعُ دونَ مَسمَعِهِ الجَمادا

    His subjects call to him while he is heedless,

    so they shatter lifeless stone, yet never reach his ear.

  15. فَلا هُوَ يُرتَجى يَوماً لِنَفعٍ

    يَعَزُّ بِهِ الرَعِيَّةَ وَالبِلادا

    So he can never be counted on for any benefit

    that might strengthen his subjects and the land;

  16. وَلا هُوَ مالِكٌ كَشَفاً لِضُرٍّ

    إِذا ما كائِدُ الحَدَثانِ كادا

    nor does he possess a remedy for harm

    when scheming calamity lays its plots.

  17. حَياةٌ توسِعُ الأَحياءَ عاراً

    وَذِكرٌ يَملَأُ الدُنيا سَوادا

    A life that heaps disgrace upon the living,

    and a memory that fills the world with darkness.

  18. وَهَل عَزَّ المَليكُ بِغَيرِ عَزمٍ

    يُقيمُ بِهِ مِنَ المُلكِ العِمادا

    And has a king ever gained might without resolve

    with which to erect the pillars of his kingdom,

  19. وَحَزمٍ تَنثَني عَنهُ العَوادي

    وَيُلقي عِندَهُ الدَهرُ القِيادا

    and firmness from which adversities recoil,

    and before which Time lays down the reins?

  20. عَزيزَ النيلِ وَالآمالُ حيرى

    تُسائِلُكَ الهِدايَةَ وَالرَشادا

    O mighty lord of the Nile, with hopes bewildered

    and asking you for guidance and right direction,

  21. أَضِئ قَصدَ السَبيلِ لَها وَأَلِّف

    أَوابدَها فَتوشِكُ أَن تُعادى

    illuminate the straight path for them, and tame

    their wild strays, for they are close to facing hostility.

  22. وَقُدها قَودَ مَأمونٍ عَلَيها

    يُصاديها بِأَحسَنِ ما تُصادى

    And lead them as one entrusted with their care,

    coaxing them by the finest means of persuasion.

  23. فَإيهٍ يا عَزيزَ النيلِ إيهٍ

    أَم تَرضى لِمُلكِكَ أَن يُشادا

    So go on, O mighty lord of the Nile, go on!

    Or would you be pleased to have your kingdom raised high,

  24. وَلِلشَعبِ المُصَفَّدِ أَن تَراهُ

    وَقَد نَزَعَ الأَداهِمَ وَالصِفادا

    and to see the fettered people

    having cast off their iron fetters and shackles?

  25. أَلَستَ تَرى البِلادَ وَكَيفَ أَودى

    بِها المَقدورُ أَو كادَت وَكادا

    Do you not see the land, and how ruin was brought

    upon it by fate—or how it nearly perished and fate nearly ruined it?

  26. عَناها ما تُكافِحُ مِن خُطوبٍ

    تَزيدُ عَلى هَوادَتِها عِنادا

    The calamities it battles have worn it down,

    growing more obstinate despite its forbearance.

  27. أَلَستَ تَرى بَنيها في شِقاقٍ

    فَما يَرجونَ ما عاشوا اِتِّحادا

    Do you not see its sons in discord,

    expecting no unity for as long as they live?

  28. أَتَترُكُهُم يَهُبُّ الشَرُّ فيهِم

    وَنارُ الخَطبِ تَتَّقِدُ اِتِّقادا

    Will you leave them while evil blows among them

    and the fire of calamity blazes fiercely?

  29. أَتُسلِمُهُم إِلى صَمّاءَ تَثني

    فُؤادَ الدَهرِ يَرتَعِدُ اِرتِعادا

    Will you surrender them to an unyielding calamity that bends

    the heart of Time and makes it tremble and quake?

  30. أَتَقذِفُهُم إِلى لَهَواتِ ضارٍ

    مَلِيٍّ أَن يَغولَهُمُ اِزدِرادا

    Will you fling them into the jaws of a ravening beast,

    fully able to destroy them by swallowing them down?

  31. لَقَد طَلَبَت عَلى يَدِكَ الرَّعايا

    طَريفَ الخَيرِ وَالشَرَفَ التِلادا

    Your subjects have indeed sought at your hands

    fresh blessings and ancestral honor.

  32. فَخُذها في قَويمٍ مِن حَياةٍ

    تَكونُ لَها قِواماً أَو عَتادا

    So lead them into an upright way of life

    that will be their support or provision,

  33. وَحِصناً تَرتَمي نُوَبُ اللَيالي

    هَوالِكَ عَن ذُراهُ أَو تفادى

    and a fortress: the calamities of night are hurled

    away from its heights, destroyed—or else keep clear.

  34. أَقِم مِنآدَها وَاِشدُد قُواها

    وَجاهِد في سِياسَتِها جِهادا

    Straighten what is bent in them, and reinforce their strength,

    and strive mightily in governing them.

  35. وإما رامَ جاهلُها فساداً

    وزَيغاً عن سبيلك وابتعادا

    And if their ignorant one seeks corruption

    and straying from your path and drawing away,

  36. فأرجِعه إليك فإنَّ أسمى

    خِلالِكَ أن تكون لنا معادا

    bring him back to you, for the loftiest

    of your qualities is to be a refuge for us.

  37. وعَوِّدنا خلالَ الخير إنّي

    رأيتُ الخيرَ والشرّ اعتيادا

    And accustom us to the ways of goodness, for I

    have found good and evil to be matters of habit.

  38. وما شُغِفَ المَسودُ بِمِثلِ خُلقٍ

    يَكونُ لَدى المُسَوَّدُ مُستَجادا

    And nothing so captivates the ruled as a trait

    which the ruler regards as excellent.

  39. وَلِلأَخلاقِ بِالأُمَمِ اِنتِقالٌ

    تَدانى الحينُ مِنها أَم تَمادى

    And morals travel among nations,

    whether their doom draws near or is delayed.

  40. فَهَذي في مَجاهِلِها تَرَدّى

    وَهَذي في مَعالِمِها تَهادى

    So one nation falls headlong in their trackless wastes,

    while another walks gently among their landmarks.

  41. تُسايِرُها الأَماني وَالمَنايا

    فَما تَنساقُ في قَومٍ فرادى

    Hopes and deaths keep pace with them,

    so they do not move among a people singly.