وفت الظنون وبرت الآمال — Ahmad Muharram

وَفَتِ الظّنونُ وبرّتِ الآمالُ

ما بعد ذلكَ للخصومِ مَقالُ

Expectations were fulfilled, and hopes came true;

after that, the adversaries have nothing to say.

إن يذكروا هِمَمَ الرّجالِ فَحسبُهم

هِمَمٌ بِمصرَ أبِيَّةٌ وَرِجالُ

If they speak of the resolve of men, enough for them are

Egypt's unyielding resolves and men.

الخير في الوادِي وفي أبنائِه

ما بَانَ عنه ولا عَراهُ زَوالُ

Goodness dwells in the valley and its sons;

it has not left it, nor has decline befallen it.

أرضٌ مُطهَّرةٌ وجوٌّ مُشرِقٌ

صَافٍ ومَاءٌ سَائغٌ وَظِلالُ

A purified land, and bright air,

clear, with water pleasant to drink, and shade.

وَطنُ الأُلىَ وَرَدوا الحياةَ شَهِيَّةً

والأرضُ عطشى والشُّعوبُ نِهالُ

Homeland of those who drank of life in its sweetness,

while the earth was parched and the peoples thirsted.

لولا العَوائقُ وَهْيَ مِن أدوائِه

ما ضَاقَ بالنَّفرِ الكِرامِ مجالُ

Were it not for obstacles, among its ailments,

noble men would never lack room to act.

يَتطلَّعونَ إلى الحياةِ بِأَعْيُنٍ

حَيْرَى اللّحاظِ ودونها أهوالُ

They look toward life with eyes

bewildered in their gaze, with terrors before them.

ما تَصنعُ الأيدي تهدُّ عِظامَها

وتشدُّ في أرساغِها الأغلالُ

What can hands do when their bones are crushed

and shackles bind their wrists?

أَخذَ السّبيلَ على الرجالِ مُسلَّطٌ

يُلقِي إليه قَنيصَهُ الرِّئبالُ

A despot has barred the way before men;

the lion casts its quarry before him.

مُتَحَكِّمٌ يبغِي الحياةَ بأسرِها

ويخالُ أنّا في يَدَيْهِ نِبالُ

A tyrant coveting life in its entirety,

and imagining we are arrows in his hands.

جَهِلَ الحياةَ لِكلِّ شَعبٍ حَقُّه

ورِضَى الشُّعوبِ بأن تَموتَ مُحالُ

He has misunderstood life: each people has its right,

and peoples' consent to die is impossible.

قُل لِلكنانةِ ما لِمجدِكِ هَادِمٌ

نَشَط البُناةُ وغامرَ الأبطالُ

Tell Kinana: your glory has no destroyer;

the builders have sprung to work, and the heroes have ventured.

رَمَتِ المضاجعُ بالنّيامِ وهَاجَهم

دَأبٌ يَشبُّ ضِرامُه ونِضالُ

The beds cast out their sleepers, and they were roused by

toil whose blaze flares up, and struggle.

فإذا الجُنوبُ كَأنهنَّ جَواشِنٌ

وإذا الأكفُّ كأنهنُ نِصالُ

And lo, their sides are as breastplates,

and lo, their palms are as blades.

نَبنِي فتَحتفلُ المَشارِقُ حَولنا

ونقول مصرُ فَتهتفُ الأجيالُ

We build, and the eastern lands gather round us;

we say Egypt, and the generations cheer.

طَالَ البِناءُ وما يَزالُ يَزيده

بانٍ أشمُّ المنكبينِ طُوالُ

The building has risen high, and still it is raised by

a towering builder, lofty of shoulder,

سَامٍ يمدُّ إلى السِّماكِ يَمينَهُ

وَيُريكَ شَأوَ النَّسرِ كيفَ يُنالُ

exalted, reaching his right hand toward Simak,

and showing you how the eagle's height is attained.

أرأيتَ طلعتَ بانياً ومُعلّماً

ورأيتَه عَلماً عليه جلالُ

Have you seen Talaat as builder and teacher,

and seen him as a banner robed in majesty?

فِقهُ الحياةِ أصابَ فيه إمامَه

وإلى الأئمةِ يرجَعُ الجُهّالُ

The understanding of life has found its master in him,

and to masters the ignorant return.

كانت بِمصرَ مقالةٌ مَطموسةٌ

حتّى جَلاها القائل الفعّالُ

In Egypt there was a saying, long obscured,

until the man of word and deed revealed it:

حَربٌ على خُلُقِ الجُمودِ وأهلهِ

صَدَقَ الرّجاءُ بهِ وَصَحَّ الفالُ

war on the habit of stagnation and its followers!

Hope in him proved true, and the omen proved sound.

حَشدَ الحواريّينَ حَولَ جُموعهِ

وَرَمى فتلك صُروحُه تنهالُ

He rallied the disciples around his ranks,

and struck—behold its citadels crumbling.

حملوا تكاليفَ الجهادِ تظاهرت

أعباؤها وتوالتِ الأثقالُ

They bore the demands of struggle; ever mounting

were their burdens, and heavy loads followed one another—

مِن كلِّ مُطَّردِ الكفاح مُظفَّرٍ

ملَّ السّلاحُ وما عَراهُ ملالُ

each one unflagging in struggle, victorious:

his weapons wearied, but weariness never touched him.

تِلكَ الحياةُ لخمسَ عشرةَ حِجّةً

لِلنّيلِ منها نَضرةٌ وجَمالُ

Such has been life for fifteen years,

giving the Nile freshness and beauty.

هي في صِباها المُرتَجى وَشَبابِها

فَرْحَى على أَيْمانِهم تختالُ

She, in her longed-for youth and prime,

walks joyfully and proudly upon their right hands.

السابحُ الجوّابُ ممّا اسْتَحدثوا

لِبلادِهم والطّائرُ الجوّالُ

The far-ranging swimmer is among their new creations

for their country, as is the roaming flyer.

هذا على مَتْنِ العُبابِ عَلامةٌ

لَهمُ وهذا في الجِواءِ مِثالُ

This is an emblem on the back of the surging sea

for them; and this, an exemplar in the sky.

وسَلِ المصانعَ هَل يَسيرُ نسيجُها

خَلَلَ البِلادِ وهل يَسيلُ المالُ

Ask the factories whether their fabrics travel

through the land, and whether money flows.

من ذا يُفاوضُها فليس لَقومِنا

وَبلادِنا مِن دُونها اسْتقلالُ

Who would debate with them? Neither our people

nor our country has independence without them.

زَعموه من نَسجِ اللّسانِ وإنّه

ممّا يَحوكُ وينسجُ المنوالُ

They claimed it was woven by the tongue, yet it

is what the loom interlaces and weaves.

جَعلوا الخيالَ مِن الحياةِ نَصِيبَهم

ومن الحياةِ حَقيقةٌ وَخَيالُ

They made illusion their share of life,

and life has both reality and illusion.

اجْعَلْ لِباسَكَ من طَرائفِ صُنعِها

نِعمَ اللّباسُ وبُورِكَ السِّربالُ

Make your clothing from the finest of their craft:

fine clothing indeed, and blessed be the garment!

وَارْغَبْ بنفسكَ عَن سِواها إن دَنا

مِنكَ الرّواحُ وآذنَ التّرحالُ

And spurn other cloth for yourself, should there draw near

your departure, and the journey sound its warning.

لولا شَفاعتُها وأنتَ رَهينُها

ما طابَ مُضْطجَعٌ وخَفَّ سُؤالُ

Were it not for its intercession, while you are its captive,

no resting place would be sweet, no questioning light.

اللهُ ألبسها السّناءَ وخصَّها

بالسرِّ يشفي الدّاءَ وهو عُضالُ

God clothed it in radiance and endowed it

with the secret that cures disease, though it be incurable.

هِيَ كالقميصِ قميصِ يُوسفَ إذ أتَى

يعقوبَ فَانْظُرْ كيف كان الحالُ

It is like the shirt, Joseph's shirt, when it came

to Jacob—see how things turned out.

البردةُ الغرّاءُ يَعبقُ طيبُها

بين المناسجِ ليس فيه جِدالُ

The radiant mantle—its fragrance wafts

among the looms; there is no dispute about it.

عَبقُ النُّبُوةِ مَالَهُ مِن جاحدٍ

إلا إذا طَمسَ العُقولَ خَبالُ

The fragrance of prophethood has no denier,

unless derangement has blotted out minds.

قُلْ لِلعروسِ تَعافُ صُنْعَ بِلادِها

أَزْرَى بقومكِ حُسنُكِ المِعطالُ

Tell the bride who spurns her country's handiwork:

your unadorned beauty has shamed your people.

فاز الأجانبُ واسْتبدَّ غُلاتُهم

أفما يسرُّكِ أَن يفوزَ الآلُ

Foreigners have prospered, and their extremists have tyrannized;

would it not delight you for your kin to prosper?

مصرُ التي وَلدتكِ أَعظمُ حُرمةً

والعَمُّ أكرمُ ذِمَّةً والخالُ

Egypt, which bore you, deserves greater reverence,

and your uncles, paternal and maternal, have a worthier claim to loyalty.

ما ضَاعَ مِن مَالِ الفَتى وعتادِه

ما تَستعيرُ مِنَ اليمينِ شِمالُ

Nothing is lost of a young man's wealth and gear

in what his left hand borrows from his right.

لا يُنكرنَّ الضّيمَ شعبٌ عاجزٌ

فالعَاجِزونَ على الشُّعوبِ عِيالُ

Let no helpless people denounce oppression,

for the helpless are dependants upon other peoples.

مَن يَبْعَثُ الهِمَمَ الكِبارَ تُعينُها

منّا نُفوسٌ بَرَّةٌ وَخِلالُ

Who will rouse the great resolves, supported

by virtuous souls and qualities among us?

مَن لي بِهنَّ فإنهنَّ مَناهجٌ

كلُّ المناهجِ بَعدهُنَّ ضلالُ

Who can bring me these? For they are paths,

beyond which all paths lead astray.

هذا زعيمُ العامِلينَ أقامَها

دُنيا لمصر عِمادُها الأعمالُ

This is the leader of men of action; he has built it:

a world for Egypt, with deeds as its mainstay.

طابتْ بَوادِرُها على يَدِه لَنا

وهو الضَّمِينُ بأن يَطيبَ مآلُ

Its beginnings have been good for us at his hands,

and he guarantees that its outcome will be good.