بعدلك والاحسان والبأس تحكم — Ahmed Al Kashef

بعدلِك والاحسان والبأس تحكمُ

وإن جل ما تلقى وما تتجشَّمُ

By your justice, beneficence, and might you govern,

however great what you face and undertake.

حملت الذي لا يحمل الخلقُ بعضه

وألزمت هذي النفس ما ليس يلزم

You bore what mankind cannot bear even in part,

and bound this soul to what was not its duty.

وقد صدقت تلك اليمين التي مضت

وهذي يمين اليوم أوفى وأكرم

That former oath has indeed proved true,

and this oath of today is more faithful and noble.

وجئت بحد بين عصر مبارك

وعصر مضى وهو الكريه المذمم

You brought a boundary between a blessed age

and an age gone by, hateful and condemned.

تعيد إلى الوادي أمانته التي

حرصت عليها وهي أقوى وأقوم

You restore to the Valley the trust that

you carefully guarded, stronger and sounder now.

فتوح قلوب لا فتوح معاقل

ظفرت بها والنصر بالرأي أعظم

Conquests of hearts, not conquests of strongholds,

you won; and victory through judgment is greater.

وليس حديد الجند ما أنت مالك

ولكنه العزم القوي المنظم

The soldiers' iron is not what you possess;

rather, it is strong, disciplined resolve.

تربصت حتى أعوز الناس منقذ

فكنت إليهم خير من يتقدم

You waited until the people lacked a savior,

then you were the best to come forward to them.

وسرت ولم تنكر مدى كل عامل

وأنت الموفِّي للأمور المتمم

You went forward, not denying any worker's full measure,

and you are the fulfiller and completer of affairs.

وإنك باني الدار فيحاء فخمة

وأنت بسكناها على مصر تنعم

You are the builder of the house, spacious and grand,

and by dwelling there you bestow your favor on Egypt.

وجاءتك في نوابها وشيوخها

تشاورهم في نفعها وتكلم

She came to you in her deputies and senators,

whom you consult for her welfare and address.

وهم مصطفوك المنفذو ما رجوته

وأنت لما يرجونه مصطفيهم

They are those who chose you, carrying out what you hoped,

and you, to fulfill their hopes, are their chooser.

ثقاتٌ هُمُ مِن زَلَّةٍ لك عصمةٌ

وأنت لهم أرعى وأهدى وأعصم

Trustworthy men, they safeguard you against a misstep,

and you are more caring, guiding, and protective toward them.

هو اليوم فيه استجمع الدهر كله

مقاليده تلقى إليك وتسلم

This is the day when all of time gathered

its keys, offered up to you and surrendered.

رأى الملك المحبوب فيه مكانه

من الشعب وهو الآمل المتوسم

On it the beloved king saw his standing

among the people, hopeful and discerning.

ولاقى على العهد الجديد حماته

وقد أكَّدوا العهد الجديد وأحكموا

Under the new covenant he met his defenders,

who had reaffirmed the new covenant and made it firm.

وألقى خطاب العرش وهو قواعد

لحكمك يوحيه إليك ويلهم

He delivered the speech from the throne, foundations

for your rule, imparted to you as counsel and inspiration.

وأنت له في خير أفعاله يد

وأنت له في خير أقواله فم

You are his hand in the best of his deeds,

and you are his mouth in the best of his words.

فما للغضاب الحاسدين تخلفوا

وقد شمل القطرين عيد وموسم

Why have the angry, envious men stayed behind,

when a festival and season of celebration embraced both lands?

تعاموا عن الآفاق أم أنكرتهمُ

وشق عليهم أن يهونوا ويحرموا

Did they feign blindness to the horizons, or did these disown them?

And did it pain them to be humbled and denied?

وعادوا إلى الأقدار يتهمونها

فهل كلفتهم أن يثوروا ليهزموا

They turned back to fate, accusing it:

did it charge them to revolt, only to be defeated?

وطالت دعاويهم فلما انقضت سدى

عليك دعاويهم إليك تظلموا

Their claims dragged on; when they came to nothing—

their claims against you—they appealed to you for redress.

أيشكون ما يقضي الزمان به وهم

لأنفسهم منه أضر وأظلم

Do they complain of what time decrees, when they

are more harmful and unjust to themselves than it is?

يريدون منه المستحيل عليهم

ويجري كما شئت القضاء المحتم

They demand from it what is impossible for them,

while inescapable fate runs as you wish.

قضوا ليلهم سهداً فلما تعذرت

أمانيهمُ ناموا نهاراً ليحلموا

They spent their night sleepless; then, when thwarted

were their wishes, they slept by day to dream.

وما استجمعوا للحكم إلا وسبْلهم

إليه الأذى والكيد والإفك والدم

They never rallied for power without their paths

to it being harm, intrigue, falsehood, and bloodshed.

وكم بدّلوا من سنة وشريعة

وكم حللوا مستكبرين وحرموا

How many customs and laws they altered,

and how much they arrogantly made lawful and forbade!

وما يركبون الإثم إلا ليحكموا

وما يطلبون الحكم إلا ليأثموا

They commit sin only to rule,

and seek rule only to sin.

ولو حدَّثتهم أرضهم وسماؤهم

أحاديث زجر أوَّلوها وأبهموا

Even if their earth and sky told them

tales of warning, they would twist and obscure them.

ومن يتجاهل دفع ما هو سامع

فإن عصا الأيام نعم المترجم

Whoever feigns ignorance to reject what he hears,

the rod of days is an excellent interpreter.

مقاطعة أم عزلة حجبتهمُ

ومؤتمرات أم مآدب تولم

Is it a boycott or seclusion that has hidden them?

And are these conferences or banquets being prepared?

وأين الصناديد الألى عقدوا على

مواعيدهم ميثاق أمس وأقسموا

And where are the champions who bound

their promises with a pact yesterday, and swore?

أولئك أبطال الزعيم وجنده

مشائيم يزجيهم إلى الشر أشأم

Those are the leader's champions and soldiers:

men of ill omen, whom one more ill-omened drives toward evil.

غزاة دروب حطموها وأحرقوا

وما علموا ما أحرقوه وحطموا

Raiders of alleyways, which they smashed and burned,

not knowing what they had burned and smashed.

وعادوك فما أنت للملك صانع

ولولا تماديهم لأغضيت عنهم

They opposed you—what, then, will you do for the throne?

But for their persistence, you would have overlooked them.

أمامهم الدنيا فهل يطلبون من

يديك اغتصاباً ما به تتكرم

The world lies before them; do they seek from

your hands by force what you bestow so generously?

وما جهل الجارون خلفك عجزهم

ولكنهم يغرون من ليس يعلم

Those running behind you were not ignorant of their impotence,

but they deceive those who do not know.

تحملت ما عدوا عليك وما جنوا

وأنت لهم مما جنوا متألم

You bore their transgressions against you and their crimes,

yet you grieve for them over what they committed.

ولو وجدوا بعض الشقاء عذرتهم

ولكنهم أشقوا سواهم لينعموا

Had they suffered some misery, you would have excused them,

but they made others miserable so they might live in comfort.

كأن الحمى والملك والشعب بينهم

متاع مشاع أو تراث مقسم

As though the homeland, the throne, and the people were, among them,

common possessions or an inheritance divided up.

ستلقاهمُ يوم الحساب وإنهم

لأنفسهم أهجى وأعدى وألوم

You will meet them on the Day of Reckoning, and they

are their own harshest satirists, enemies, and accusers.

ولست بخيلاً بالحياة عليهمُ

وأولى بمن يحيى ليطغى جهنم

You do not begrudge them life,

and Hell is fitter for one who lives to tyrannize.

ولو كان ما لاقوه منك مقسماً

على الخلق لم يلبث على الأرض مجرم

Had what they received from you been shared

among mankind, no criminal would have lingered on earth.

تركتهمُ يستعجلون مصيرهم

وما لهمُ إلا الحديث المرجَّم

You left them hastening toward their fate,

with nothing but conjectural talk.

وعادوا إلى الجبار يستعطفونه

بمن خدعوا وهو البغيض إليهم

They returned to the tyrant, begging his compassion,

invoking those they deceived, though he is hateful to them.

وطال بأبواب الغريم وقوفهم

ولا بد يوماً أن يملوا ويسأموا

Long have they stood at their adversary's gates,

and one day they must grow weary and sick of it.

لحرية الوادي مضوا أم لقيده

وقهاره أم عونه اليوم يمموا

Did they go for the Valley's freedom or its fetters?

Did they head today toward its oppressor or its helper?

يشق على وجدانك الحر أن ترى

صديقك عوناً للطغاة وهمْ همُ

It pains your free conscience to see

your friend aiding tyrants, who remain what they are,

ويطلب ثارات لهم منك بعد ما

أخذتَ له ثاراتِه أمس منهم

and seeking revenge for them upon you, after

you took his revenge on them only yesterday.

نقيض يرائيه نقيض تعلَّةً

ويخفي الخنا هذا لهذا ويكتم

One opposite feigns regard for another, as a pretext,

and this one hides and conceals the other's baseness.

بلوتهما ضدين هذا مكابرٌ

وهذا على ما فات يأسى ويندم

You have tried them both as opposites: this one obstinate,

and that one grieving and regretting what is past.

وما ائتلفا إلا ليختلفا هوىً

وهل يستوي يوماً غراب وقشعم

They joined only to differ in desire;

can a crow and an old eagle ever be alike?

وما الرهط إلا جانبٌ آن هدمه

وهادمه ذاك الأليف المرمم

The faction is but a side whose time for demolition has come,

and its demolisher is that friendly restorer.

كفى ما تراموا من معايبهم به

إذا ما أقمتَ البينات عليهم

The faults they have hurled at one another suffice,

when you present clear proofs against them.

فما لزعيم الرهط من بعد ما افترى

عليك الذي لم يغنه راح يشتم

What ails the faction's leader, who, after fabricating

against you what availed him nothing, has turned to insults?

يُصلِّي الضحى للكيد عمداً فإن خلا

إلى نفسه فهو الولوع المتيَّم

He deliberately prays the forenoon prayer for intrigue; but when alone

with himself, he is the ardent, love-stricken one.

تسير المنايا خلفه وهو هازلٌ

ويرثي الضحايا وهو يسقي ويطعم

Death walks behind him while he jests,

and he mourns the victims while giving drink and food.

وليس يبالي أن يرى النيل راجعاً

إلى منبعيه أو يميد المقطَّم

He does not care if he sees the Nile returning

to its two sources, or al-Muqattam swaying.

تعوذ بك الأوطان من أن تعيده

إلى حكمها للدهر فوضى ومأزم

The homelands seek refuge in you lest you restore him

to ruling them—chaos and crisis for all time.

وقد ترجع الموتى وليس بعائد

إلى الرهط يوماً عهده المتصرم

The dead may return, but never will return

to the faction its bygone era.

حسمتَ الذي بين الأمير وعمه

من الخلف بعد الظن أن ليس يُحسم

You settled what lay between the prince and his uncle

of discord, after it was thought beyond settlement.

ووفقت بين الجانبين فأثنيا

عليك ولاقى الراحةَ المتبرِّم

You reconciled the two sides, and both praised

you, and the discontented man found relief.

وإن الذي نولته من منيله

لأضخم من سلطان أمس وأفخم

What you bestowed on him from his benefactor

is greater and more splendid than yesterday's sovereignty.

تقدمت بالدستور في صَفَرٍ كما

يقدم بالأكفاء منك محرم

You came forward with the constitution in Safar, just as

Muharram comes, through you, bearing men of merit.

وإن عتاد اليوم منك مبشر

بما يحمل المستقبل المتبسم

And your preparations today give glad tidings

of what the smiling future holds.

وإني سجلُّ الطيبات أعدها

مخلدة والشاعر المترنم

I am the register of good deeds, recounting them

as immortal, and the poet who sings.

وما ليَ في الدنيا سوى الحقِّ صاحبٌ

وما ليَ في الدنيا سوى الذكر مغنم

I have no friend in this world but truth,

and no gain in this world but remembrance.