حسب البلاد تنبؤا وتكهنا — Ahmed Al Kashef

حسب البلاد تَنَبُّؤاً وتكهُّنا

يا قوم أين نضالكم حول المنى

Enough of prediction and divination for the land!

O my people, where is your struggle for your aspirations?

قد كاد مؤتمر الخلافة ينقضي

من قبل أن يقضي بمقدور لنا

The Caliphate congress has almost ended

before it decides upon our destined lot.

ما للرسول قليلةٌ أنباؤه

وجد الطريق كما يود أم انثنى

Why is the envoy's news so scant?

Has he found the way he wishes, or turned back?

حامت هواجس من هنالك منكمُ

وأضرُّ عاقبةً هواجسُ من هنا

Misgivings of yours have come hovering from there;

and more harmful in consequence are misgivings from here.

قد راعني متشائماً متطيراً

من راقني متفائلاً متيمنا

He has alarmed me, pessimistic and seeing ill omens—

he who delighted me, optimistic and seeing good omens.

إني حزنت عليكمُ وعجيبةٌ

أن نحمل البلوى وأن لا نحزنا

I have grieved for you; and it is strange

that we should bear affliction and not grieve.

يا ويحكم من محنة لو أنها

نزلت من الباغي لكانت أهونا

Alas for you in an ordeal that, had it

come from the oppressor, would have been easier to bear!

هل نبعث البدنَ الدفينَ من الثرى

ونخط للروح القوي المدفنا

Shall we raise the buried body from the dust

and mark out a grave for the mighty spirit?

والحيُّ أولى بالندى من بائدٍ

بالٍ وإن جاز الكواكب ما بنى

The living deserve bounty more than one who has perished,

decayed, though what he built surpassed the stars.

في الحاضر الجاري لمصر مشاغلٌ

عما حوى تاريخ مصر ودونا

In the unfolding present, Egypt has concerns

apart from what Egypt's history holds and records.

وطِلابها البطلُ المنجِّي قبلما

تطري وترعى الصانع المتفننا

And she seeks the rescuing hero before

she extols and supports the accomplished craftsman.

أين المعيد إلى البناء رواءه

بعد الذي بدأ البناء وكونا

Where is the one to restore the edifice's splendor

after the one who began the building and brought it into being?

أولى بمن ذكر القديم وقد نأى

أن يستعد لما أتى ولما دنا

It better befits one who recalls the far-off past

to prepare for what has come and what draws near.

وأحق بالذكرى سجايا أمة

من قبل ذكرك أصلها والمعدنا

And a nation's virtues have first claim on remembrance,

before you recount its origin and its stock.

جل المجاهد في اختيار مصيره

عن أن يتيه بأمسه أو يفتنا

The fighter choosing his destiny is too noble

to glory in his past or be beguiled by it.

عندي سرائر لا أبوح بها وإن

كانت جوىً عندي وكانت لي ضنى

I harbor secrets I do not divulge, though

they are anguish within me and a wasting sickness to me.

أغلالُ نيلكمُ أخفُّ عقوبةً

من أن يغرَّبَ حرُّكم أو يسجنا

Shackles on your Nile are a lighter punishment

than your free man being banished or imprisoned.

وتزلزل الوادي أقل كريهة

من أن يهون لواؤكم أو يغبنا

And the valley's shaking is a lesser calamity

than your banner being humbled or denied its due.

هل تحجمون وخصمكم متأهبٌ

متلهفٌ جبنُ الرجال هو الخنى

Do you hold back while your foe is ready,

eager? Men's cowardice is baseness itself.

أطمعتموه فاستطال عليكمُ

متنمراً وانساب فيكم مثخنا

You whetted his appetite, so he lorded it over you,

fierce as a tiger, and slithered among you, dealing grievous wounds.

بذلُ الجريءِ حياتَه كحياتِه

والموتُ كل الموت في أن يجبنا

A brave man's sacrifice of his life is like life to him,

and death—utter death—is for him to turn coward.

إني لأخشى ذلك الجوَّ الذي

بهر العيون تقلُّباً وتلوُّنا

I truly fear that atmosphere which

dazzled eyes with its shifts and changing colors.

وأخاف أن تسعى صلالُ دهاتِه

من بعد ما عبثت عواصفه بنا

And I fear the vipers of its schemers may slither forth

after its tempests have played havoc with us.

طالت وعودهمُ فصارت عادة

منهم سئمناها وعادت ديدنا

Their promises dragged on until they became a habit

of theirs; we tired of them, and they became routine.

جربتم الأسباب وهي كثيرة

فاخترتم العف الصريح الليِّنا

You tried the means—and they are many—

so you chose the honorable, forthright, gentle course.

ورأيتم الشرق العتيد مسايراً

ووجدتمُ الغرب العنيد مؤمَّنا

And you saw the ready East willing to cooperate,

and found the stubborn West assured of safety.

لا صلح بعد خصومة إلا إذا

وثق الغريم من الغريم وأيقنا

There is no peace after hostility unless

one adversary trusts the other and is certain.

ما نحن أسلاب الطعين المرتمي

يوماً ولسنا بالمتاع المقتنى

We are not the spoils of a wounded man laid low,

ever; nor are we goods to be acquired.

ملكَ البلادِ وفيك سلوتُها لدى

ما كابدت من دهرها فيما جنى

O king of the land, in you is its solace amid

all it has endured of time and the wrongs time inflicted.

وموِّطدَ الآمالِ وهي مكارمٌ

لك أطلقت أقلامنا والألسنا

And you who strengthen hopes—these are noble deeds

of yours that have set our pens and tongues free.

ومبشرَ الأوطانِ باستقلالها

متأهباً بالبأس فيها والغنى

And herald of the homelands' independence,

ready within them with might and wealth.

قد أعلن الشعب الأمين وحسبه

إخلاصه للتاج فيما أعلنا

The faithful people have declared; sufficient for them

is their devotion to the crown in what they declared.

ورعى لجدك فضله وكفى به

لك ناصراً ولعرش مصر ممكّنا

They honored your grandfather's merit; sufficient are they

to champion you and strengthen Egypt's throne.

ما في الضمائر غير ما ترضى به

أو ما رأيت وجوهنا والأعينا

There is nothing in our hearts but what pleases you;

or have you not seen our faces and eyes?

أكبرت للشعب الأمين جهاده

ورعى أمانة من أنال وأحسنا

You esteemed the faithful people's struggle,

and they kept faith with the one who gave and did good.

وأعدَّ للحرية الزهراء ما

ترجوه فاستكمل قواه مهيمنا

And they prepared for radiant freedom what

you hope for, attaining their full strength and mastery.

وخذوا السجل بكل شرط عادل

للجانبين معاهداً أن تضمنا

And take the charter with every condition just

to both sides, with a pledge to uphold it.

حكم المرافق ما ترى ولغيرنا

ولغيرهم حكم القواضب والقنا

What you see is the rule of interests; for others than us

and others than them is the rule of sharp swords and spears.

ماذا عليهم لو تواصوا بالذي

قضت السماء ليسكنوا ولنسكنا

What harm to them if they urged one another to heed what

Heaven decreed, so they and we might live in peace?

فلعلهم يجدون ودَّ مجاملٍ

من بعد ما وجدوا المراس الموهنا

Then perhaps they would find a courteous person's goodwill,

after encountering exhausting resistance.

إن الذي أذن الزمان ببعضه

لمبشر بجميعه أن تأذنا

What time has permitted in part

surely heralds your permitting it in full.

ما الفاتح الغازي أجل مآثراً

من ناصح جمع القلوب وحصَّنا

The conquering invader is no greater in glorious deeds

than a true counselor who united and fortified hearts.

في جدِّك المثل العظيم وقدوة

لك في أب عمر البلاد ومدَّنا

In your grandfather lies the great example, and a model

for you in a father who developed and civilized the land.

لك طاعةٌ ومحبةٌ من أمة

أغنيتها لسواك عن أن تذعنا

You have obedience and love from a nation

you have freed from having to submit to anyone else.

إنا إلى فصل الخطاب بحاجة

من بعد ما وضح الهدى وتبينا

We have need of a decisive word,

now that guidance has grown clear and manifest.

شيعاً وأحزاباً نسير وما لنا

إلا رضى التاج المؤلف بيننا

We go forth in factions and parties, with nothing for us

but the approval of the crown that unites us.

فإذا استرد الشعب سابق شمله

فقد استرد كيانه والموطنا

Then, when the people regain their former unity,

they have regained their very being and homeland.

نغدو وعند ممالك الدنيا لنا

من حرمةٍ ما للممالك عندنا

We shall go forth, accorded by the world's kingdoms

the same respect we accord to kingdoms.

فتسرنا العقبى وترضينا وكم

أرضى وكم سر الثواب المؤمنا

So the outcome will gladden and satisfy us; how often

has reward satisfied, and how often gladdened, the believer!