1. هَواكِ هَواكِ وَالدُنيا شُؤونُ

    وَلِلصَبَواتِ آوِنَةً سُكونُ

    Love for you, love for you—and the world has its affairs;

    And passions, at times, fall still.

  2. تُقَلِّبُني الحَوادِثُ وَاللَيالي

    وَحُبُّكِ عَن تَقَلُّبِها مَصونُ

    Events and nights toss me about,

    But my love for you is shielded from their changes.

  3. ظَنَنتِ سِواهُ أَن نَزَحَت دُموعي

    وَأَن هَدَأَ التَشَوُّقُ وَالحَنينُ

    You thought otherwise—that my tears had run dry,

    And that yearning and longing had subsided.

  4. رُوَيدَكَ إِنَّ أَشقى الحُبِّ حُبٌّ

    تَمَشَّت في جَوانِبِهِ الظُنونُ

    Wait: the most wretched love is a love

    Through whose corners suspicions have crept.

  5. وَقَبلي أَعيَتِ البُرحاءُ قَوماً

    فَما وَفَتِ القُلوبُ وَلا العُيونُ

    And before me, anguish wore people out,

    So neither hearts nor eyes held true.

  6. وَإِنَّي لَو أُشاوِرُ فيكِ رَأيي

    لَكَشَّفَ غَمرَتي عَقلٌ رَصينُ

    And if I were to consult my judgment about you,

    A sound mind would surely dispel my turmoil,

  7. يَجُدُّ عَلائِقَ الأَهواءِ إِلّا

    هَوىً يُبنى بِهِ الشَرَفُ المَكينُ

    Severing the bonds of passion, except

    A love through which enduring honor is built.

  8. وَيَمنَعُني الَّذي تَبغينَ نَفسٌ

    تَهونُ الحادِثاتُ وَلا تَهونُ

    And a soul keeps me from what you seek—

    Misfortunes grow slight, but it does not abase itself.

  9. نَماها العِلمُ وَالحَسبُ المُصَفّى

    وَأَخلاقٌ هِيَ الذُخرُ الثَمينُ

    Knowledge and unblemished ancestral honor nurtured it,

    And virtues, which are the precious treasure.

  10. وَما لِلحُرِّ إِن عَددَتِ العَوادي

    سِوى أَخلاقِهِ فيها مُعينُ

    And the free man, if you count adversities,

    Has no helper against them but his virtues.

  11. إِذا الأَخلاقُ لَم تَمنَع أَخاها

    أَباحَتهُ المَعاقِلُ وَالحُصونُ

    If virtues do not protect their possessor,

    Strongholds and fortresses leave him exposed.

  12. عَزيزَ النيلِ أَنتَ لَهُ حَياةٌ

    وَأَنتَ لِمُلكِهِ الرُكنُ الرَكينُ

    O mighty one of the Nile, you are its life,

    And you are the firm pillar of its kingdom.

  13. تَرُدُّ رَوائِعَ الحِدثانِ عَنهُ

    مَهولاتٍ تَذِلُّ وَتَستَكينُ

    You drive the terrors of fate away from it,

    Dreadful things that are humbled and submit.

  14. إِذا حادَت أَماني مِصرَ يَوماً

    هَداها مِنكَ نورٌ مُستَبينُ

    If Egypt's hopes should one day stray,

    A clear light from you guides them.

  15. وَإِن رابَت مَواقِفَها اللَيالي

    فَمِن تاجيكَ يَنبَلِجُ اليَقينُ

    And if the nights cast doubt upon her positions,

    Then from your two crowns certainty dawns.

  16. أَضِئ نَهجَ الحَياةِ لَنا فَإِنّا

    أَضَلَّتنا الغَياهِبُ وَالدُجونُ

    Light the path of life for us, for we

    Have been led astray by deep darkness and gloom.

  17. وَوالِ مِنَ النَوابِغِ كُلَّ حُرٍّ

    لَهُ في قَومِهِ حَسَبٌ وَدينُ

    And befriend every free man among the gifted,

    Who has honorable standing and faith among his people.

  18. تُشاوِرُهُ فَما يَألوكَ نُصحاً

    وَلا يَجني عَلَيكَ بِما يَخونُ

    You consult him, and he spares you no counsel,

    Nor does he wrong you through betrayal.

  19. أَتَملِكُ دَوحَةُ المُلكِ اِرتِفاعاً

    إِذا مالَت حِفافَيها الغُصونُ

    Can the great tree of kingship rise high

    If the branches droop along both its sides?

  20. سَلِ التاريخَ وَاِنظُر ما أَعَدَّت

    لَكَ الأُمَمُ الخَوالي وَالقُرونُ

    Ask history, and see what has been prepared

    For you by bygone nations and centuries.

  21. عِظاتُ الدَهرِ وَالأَجيالِ مِنها

    بِبَغدادٍ وَأَندَلُسٍ فُنونُ

    The lessons of time and generations have

    Many forms in Baghdad and al-Andalus.

  22. غَوى العُلَماءُ فَالأَخلاقُ فَوضى

    جَوامِحُ ما تَريعُ وَما تَلينُ

    Scholars have gone astray, so morals are in chaos,

    Unbridled, neither turning back nor yielding.

  23. نَسيرُ مِنَ العِمايَةِ في مَخوفٍ

    تَرامى في جَوانِبِهِ المَنونُ

    In blindness, we walk through a place of dread,

    Death spreads along its sides.

  24. رَأَيتُ الشَعبَ وَالأَمثالُ جَمٌّ

    عَلى ما كانَ مالِكُهُ يَكونُ

    I have seen the people—and examples abound—

    Become what their ruler is.

  25. وَما تَبَقى المَمالِكُ لاهِياتٍ

    تُصَرِّفُها الخَلاعَةُ وَالمُجونُ

    Kingdoms do not endure in idle pleasure

    When licentiousness and debauchery direct them.

  26. إِذا غَوَتِ الهُداةُ فَلا رَشيدٌ

    وَإِن خانَ الرُعاةُ فَلا أَمينُ

    If the guides go astray, none is rightly guided;

    And if the shepherds betray, none is trustworthy.

  27. وَأَعجَبُ ما أَرى شَعبٌ نَحيفٌ

    يَسوسُ قَطيعَهُ راعٍ بَدينُ

    And strangest of what I see is a gaunt people,

    Whose flock is ruled by a fat shepherd.

  28. أَضاعَ الشَرقَ أَهلوهُ وَأَودى

    بِهِ مِن جَهلِهِم داءٌ دَفينُ

    The East's own people ruined it, and it was laid low

    By a hidden disease born of their ignorance.

  29. أَذَلَّت طاعَةُ الأَهواءِ مِنهُم

    نُفوساً بِالزَواجِرِ تَستَهينُ

    Among them, obedience to passions debased

    Souls that scorn admonitions.

  30. وَكانوا كَالأُسودِ الغُلبِ عِزّاً

    فَضاعَ العِزُّ وَاِستُلِبَ العَرينُ

    And in might they were like thick-necked lions,

    So their might was lost, and their lair was seized.

  31. إذا ما أُمَّةٌ غَلَبَت هَواها

    فَإِنّي بِالحَياةِ لَها ضَمينُ

    If ever a nation masters its passions,

    Then I stand surety for its life.

  32. عَزيزَ النيلِ وَالآمالُ ظَمأى

    تَلوبُ وَعِندَكَ الماءُ المَعينُ

    O mighty one of the Nile, hopes are thirsty,

    They circle restlessly, while you have flowing water.

  33. أَعَدَّ لَها المَشارِقُ صالِحاتٍ

    يُجانِبُ صَفوَها كَدَرٌ وَطينُ

    The lands of the East have prepared good things for them,

    Whose clarity is untouched by murk or mud.

  34. فَرِحَ الصِغارُ لِما رَأَو مِن مَنظَرٍ

    حَمَلَ المَصائِبَ وَالخُطوبَ كِبارا

    The little ones rejoiced at the sight they saw,

    That bore great calamities and ordeals.

  35. وَأَرى كِبارَ الناسِ إِن جَهلوا الَّذي

    تُطوى عَلَيهِ الحادِثاتُ صِغارا

    And I deem the great among men, if ignorant of what

    Events enfold, to be small.

  36. إِن يَضحَكوا بَينَ المَواكِبِ مَرَّةً

    فَلَقَد بَكَيتُ عَلى البِلادِ مِرارا

    If they laugh once amid the processions,

    Yet I have wept for the country time and again.

  37. في كُلِّ يَومٍ يَخلِقونَ لِأَهلِها

    مَلِكاً يُذِلُّ رِقابَهُم جَبّارا

    Every day they create for its people

    A tyrant king who brings their necks low.

  38. سَخِرَ الوُلاةُ بِنا فَساروا سيرَةً

    مَلَأَت لَنا خِزياً وَفاضَت عارا

    The rulers mocked us and followed a course

    That filled us with disgrace and overflowed with shame.

  39. يا بَني النيلِ ما عَسى أَن تُريدوا

    صَدَعَ الدَهرُ مُلكَكُم فَاِضمَحَلّا

    O sons of the Nile, what might you want?

    Time shattered your kingdom, and it dwindled away.

  40. أَكثَرُ الناسِ بِالمَمالِكِ جَهلاً

    مَن يَرى الجاهِلينَ لِلمُلكِ أَهلا

    The most ignorant of people concerning kingdoms

    Is whoever deems the ignorant fit for kingship.

  41. وَأَحَقُّ الشعوبِ بِالمَجدِ شَعبٌ

    عاشَ حُرّاً في أَرضِهِ مُستَقِلّا

    And the nation most deserving of glory is one

    That has lived free and independent in its own land.

  42. املَأوا الأَرضَ يا بَني النيلِ سَعياً

    وَاِغمُروا العالَمينَ عِلماً وَفَضلا

    Fill the earth with endeavor, O sons of the Nile,

    And flood the worlds with knowledge and excellence.

  43. تَجعَلونَ الهَوى المُضَلِّلَ ديناً

    وَتَعُدّونَ باطِلَ الأَمرِ شُغلا

    You make misleading passion your religion,

    And count worthless affairs as work.

  44. أَحَسِبتُم حَربَ اللَيالي سَلاماً

    وَظَنَنتُم ظُلمَ الحَوادِثِ عَدلا

    Have you taken the warfare of the nights for peace,

    And deemed the injustice of events to be justice?

  45. اتبَعوا الجِدَّ وَاِعصِبوها بِرَأسي

    حَسبُكُم ما مَضى مِنَ الدَهرِ هَزلا

    Pursue earnestness, and lay the responsibility upon my head;

    Enough for you is the time already spent in frivolity.

  46. إِنَّ بِالنيلِ غَمرَةً تَتَمادى

    وَأَرى كُلَّ غَمرَةٍ تَتَجَلّى

    Indeed, by the Nile an ordeal drags on,

    Yet I see every ordeal clearing away.