جهاد بما ترضى انتهى لا كما تأبى

وعاد سلاماً ما تجشمته حربا

A struggle ended as you wished, not against your will;

And what you endured as war became peace.

تعال بما أديته من أمانة

وهات كما شئت الوثائق والكتبا

Come with the trust you have discharged,

And bring, as you please, the documents and books.

وأشرف على الوادي بما نلت آخذاً

له في نفوس القوم سبلَك والركبا

And look out over the Valley with your gains, taking

Your paths and caravans through the people's hearts for its sake.

وفصِّل لهم في عيدهم بك أمرهم

ودعه حديثاً في محافلهم عذبا

And explain their affairs to them at their celebration of you,

And leave it a sweet tale in their gatherings.

تناوله من ثغرِك الجوُّ عاطراً

وطيره شرقاً وسيره غربا

The air took it, fragrant, from your lips,

And sent it flying east and traveling west.

غوادٍ به منك الرياحُ روائحٌ

إليك ولولا الصيفُ لانعقدت سحبا

The winds go forth with it from you at dawn, returning at dusk

To you; but for summer, they would have gathered as clouds.

دعاك ولباك الحليف وحسبه

وحسبك صنعاً أن دعاك وأن لبى

Your ally called you and answered you; enough for him,

And enough for you as an achievement, that he called you and answered.

أخذت كما أعطيت قسمة عادل

وما كان غير الحق بينكما كسبا

You took as you gave, in a just man's apportionment;

And nothing but justice was gained between you.

وجاءك بالأمن الذي جئته به

وقد ملأ الأقطار أقطابها رعبا

He brought you the security you brought him,

While the lands' potentates had filled them with terror.

وما هذه قربى دم لك عنده

ولكنها الجدوى الأجل من القربى

This is no bond of blood you have with him,

But a benefit nobler than kinship.

وأولى بمن حالفته أن تعده

بغابك ليثاً ريِّضاً لك لا ذئبا

It is more fitting that you count your ally

A lion tame to you in your forest, not a wolf.

رفعت بهذا كلفة العهد بينه

وبينك حتى صار متَّسعاً رحبا

With this you lifted the burden of the pact between him

And you, until it became spacious and broad.

ولو لم تملِّك مصر ميعاد نقضه

لكان جميل العاقدين له ذنبا

Had you not given Egypt control of the date of its annulment,

The kindness of those who concluded it would have been a sin.

ولو لم تحمِّله لها بعض عبئه

لمادت غداً من حمله كله كربا

And had you not made him shoulder some of its burden for her,

She would have reeled tomorrow in anguish beneath its whole weight.

ومن ملك التعديل بالود والرضى

فقد ملك التبديل في حينه غصبا

Whoever has the power to amend through friendship and consent

Has the power to replace it, in due time, by force.

وسيان في نيل المنى إن تيسرت

معالجُها خطواً وطالبُها وثبا

And in attaining wishes, if they prove attainable, alike are

One who works toward them in steps and one who seeks them in leaps.

سموت فما أبقيت في الأرض حيلة

لمن يضع الأستار دونك والحجبا

You rose so high you left no stratagem on earth

For those who set curtains and veils before you.

وعاد إلى الإيمان في رونق الضحى

بنعمة ما أدركت من ظنه خطبا

And in the radiance of morning, faith was restored

In your achievement's blessing, to one who had deemed it disaster.

ولو ساير الأيام في مصر أهلها

لعادت إليها اليوم أحزابها حزبا

Had Egypt's people kept pace with the times,

Her parties would have returned to her today as one party.

ولو أنصفوا أوطانهم وهي أمهم

تلاقوا جميعاً حول أمهم حبا

Had they done justice to their homeland, their mother,

They would all have gathered lovingly around their mother.

وما يتوقى السيف والنار مشفق

كما يتوقى سمعيَ القذف والسبا

No fearful soul guards against sword and fire

As my ears guard against slander and abuse.

لعل الكلام الشاغل الآن بعضهم

أمامك باقي العتب تُتبعه العتبا

Perhaps the talk now preoccupying some of them

Is lingering reproach before you, which you answer with reproach.

فيدرك بأساً عقل من شاب منهمُ

ويدرك عقلاً منهم بأس من شبّا

So the wisdom of those grown gray among them gains courage,

And the courage of their young gains wisdom.

ومعجزة إرضاؤك الناس كلهم

ولا بد بين الناس من فئة غضبى

It would be a miracle for you to satisfy everyone;

There must be an angry faction among the people.

غنيت بخصب الخلق عن كل حاجة

وكل الغنى أن تملك الخلق الخصبا

Your rich character has freed you from every need,

And all true wealth is to possess a rich character.

كفاك متاعاً في الحياة وراحة

عناؤك في الدنيا لإسعادك الشعبا

Enough enjoyment and comfort in life for you is

Your toil in this world to bring the people happiness.

وحسبك أجراً عن عباد أعنتهم

على حدثان الدهر إرضاؤك الربا

And enough reward for aiding God's servants

Against time's calamities is your pleasing the Lord.

بروحك لطفاً لا بجسمك قوة

بلغت المنال الضخم والمطلب الصعبا

Through your spirit's gentleness, not your body's strength,

You attained the mighty goal and the difficult aim.

ولم تتخذ فيما أردت وسيلة

ولا عدة إلا ضميرك واللبَّا

And for what you sought, you took no means

Nor equipment save your conscience and mind.

ولو كنت تجزَى في جهادك صحة

على قدر نجواك امتلكت بها الشهبا

Had your struggle earned you health

To match your secret communing, with it you would have possessed the shooting stars.

تواضعت في عقباك حتى قسمت ما

لنفسك بين القوم من شرف العقبى

You were humble in your triumph, even sharing

Among the people the honor of the outcome that was your own.

ولم تسترح من مصر حتى تناولت

سياستك الأبطال جيرانها العربا

And you took no rest from Egypt before

Your statesmanship reached the heroes, her Arab neighbors.

لعلك في إنجادهم مالك يداً

كما أنت في إنجادهم مالك قلبا

May you possess a hand to come to their aid,

As you possess a heart to come to their aid.

فما حولهم غير الحنان عليهم

وقد ذهبت أوطانهم وهمُ نُهبا

For nothing surrounds them but compassion for them,

Their homelands gone, and they themselves left as plunder.

بقيت إلى أن أدركت ما بلغته

حياتي فطالت في محامده حقبا

I lived on until what you attained was witnessed

By my life, which then stretched through ages in its praise.

وأنت الزعيم الصب بالمجد كله

وما زلتُ بالحسنى لك الشاعر الصبا

You are the leader in love with glory in all its fullness,

And I remain your poet, in love with goodness.

وصحبك أحرار الحمى لا تراهمُ

وتشهدهم إلا لنجدته صحبا

Your comrades are the homeland's free men; you never see them

Or behold them as comrades except in coming to its aid.