ليت شعري ماذا أرى ليت شعري

من جديد الأمور في أرض مصرِ

Would that I knew what I shall see—would that I knew—

of new affairs in the land of Egypt.

كاد ما في الغيوب ينكشف اليو

مَ ولم يبق دونه أي ستر

What lies unseen is almost revealed

today, with no veil left before it.

وأتى الوعد والوعيد مع القا

دم من قومه بعرف ونكر

Promises and threats came with the

newcomer from his people, bearing favor and hostility.

واستعد الرجال ينتظرون ال

فصل من مقلق الرجال المقرِّ

The men made ready, awaiting the

judgment of him who unsettles men and confirms them in place.

والتقى عنده مقرِّبُ زلفىً

ومجاري هوىً وموفٍ بنذر

At his side met one bringing an offering for favor,

one indulging a whim, and one fulfilling a vow.

وهمُ بين سخطه ورضاه

في مريب من الظنون ومغري

Between his anger and his favor, they stand

amid suspicions both disquieting and seductive.

وهو في كل موضع تاجر السو

ق يبيع النفوس فيها ويشري

And everywhere he is a trader in the

market, selling souls there and buying them.

شغل القوم بالكراسيِّ يلقي

ها لمكرٍ بهم عليها وغدر

He kept the people busy with chairs, casting

them out to ensnare and betray those seated on them.

وهي في يوم لينه فوق موج

وهي في يوم بأسه فوق جمر

In his days of gentleness, those chairs ride waves;

in his days of severity, they rest on burning coals.

وعجيب أن يطلبوها سؤالاً

وهي معروضة بأبخس سعر

Strange that they should beg for them,

when they are offered at the lowest price.

ورضا الحاكمين في حوزة الخص

م رضىً منهمُ بذل وقهر

The rulers' consent, while in the grasp

of the foe, is their consent to humiliation and subjugation.

وجزاء المسخرين لأعدا

ئهمُ المنع بعد حمد وجر

The reward of those pressed into service

for their enemies is denial, after praise and being led along.

شهوات تداولوها فكانت

نوب الداء أو خيالات سكر

Desires they passed around proved to be

bouts of illness or drunken phantoms.

وملاهٍ عن المقادير طالت

والمقادير بالمكاره تجري

Long have their diversions from fate continued,

while fate runs its course with misfortunes.

ملأ الناس من حديد ونار

كل جو وكل بر وبحر

People have filled with iron and fire

every sky, every land and sea.

وتلاقى الملوك يلتمسون ال

سلم بالكتب بين قصر وقصر

Kings met, seeking

peace through letters between palace and palace.

ونذير الحرب الجديدة في الأف

ق ومن بالعواقب السود يدري

The harbinger of a new war is on the

horizon—who knows its dark consequences?

وإلى من تسير مصر بخير

وإلى من تسير مصر بشر

To whom will Egypt march, bringing good,

and to whom will Egypt march, bringing harm?

ويريح الغريم قوميَ أم ير

مي بقومي عداه في كل قطر

Will the adversary spare my people, or hurl

my people at his enemies in every land?

ويخوضونها عواناً إلى غي

رِ عدوٍّ وغير فتح ونصر

Will they plunge into a renewed war against

no enemy of their own, for neither conquest nor victory?

ولقد يقذفون بالنار جيرا

ناً وأهلاً وما لهم من مفر

They may well cast their fire upon

neighbors and kin, with no escape for them.

ويودون بالقيود جزاء

بعد قتل تجشموه وأسر

And chains will be their recompense,

after the killing and captivity they endured.

أيها الناعمون في رغد العي

شة والغافلون عن كل ذكر

O you luxuriating in the ease of

life, heedless of every reminder!

لست أدري دعوت منكم رجالاً

لا يجيبون أم جلاميد صخر

I do not know: have I called upon men among you

who do not answer, or solid blocks of rock?

وعلى الرأي أنتمُ أم على الجا

ه شقيُّون بالخصام المضرِّ

Is it over principle, or over

rank, that you are wretched with ruinous strife?

فأخ مشتفٍ برزء أخيه

وأب من بنيه طالب ثأر

One brother gloats over his brother's calamity,

and a father seeks vengeance against his sons;

ومغير بعسكريه على اللا

ئذ منه بمسجد أو بقبر

another raids with his two armies the man

seeking refuge from him in a mosque or at a grave.

وأرى الصحْفَ بينكم فأرى الحي

ية تسعى إليَّ في كل سطر

I see the newspapers among you, and see

a serpent slithering toward me in every line.

ودعاة الحمى بقذف وعسف

كنعاة الحمى بطبل وزمر

Those championing the homeland through slander and oppression

are like heralds of its death with drums and piping.

والذي ينقل المثالب للعي

ش كمن يضرب الرقاب بأجر

One who spreads scandal to earn a

living is like one who beheads for pay.

كلكم يطلب الزعامة في مص

ر ولو كان في الحياة ابنَ عشر

Each of you seeks leadership in

Egypt, even if he is but ten years old.

لم يخلَّد لواحد ما تنازع

تم ولكنه ولاية شهر

No one holds forever what you have fought

over; it is merely a month's tenure.

وقديماً نصحتكم فأبيتم

فخذوا اليوم بعد حلويَ مري

Long ago I counseled you, but you refused;

so take my bitterness today, after my sweetness.

وخليق بمن رآني بشيراً

عنده أمس أن يصدق نذري

It befits whoever saw me bringing glad tidings

to him yesterday to believe my warnings.

ضاق بالمحرجات صدري فجاهر

ت بسري ولم يرحنيَ جهري

My breast grew tight with troubles, so I proclaimed

my secret, yet speaking openly brought me no relief.

وأطال القضاء عمري ولو كا

ن كما أشتهى لما طال عمري

Fate prolonged my life; had it

been as I wished, my life would not have lasted long.

أزمات الأخلاق لا أزمة الأر

زاق همي الذي أعاني وعسري

Crises of morals, not a crisis of

livelihood, are the concern I suffer and my hardship.

والذي جاد بالحياة حناناً

لا يبالي ذهاب ملك ووفر

He who gives his life freely out of compassion

cares nothing for the loss of possessions and plenty.

مرت الحادثات عجلى وأنتم

كالتماثيل في زوايا الممر

Events swept past in haste, while you stood

like statues in the corners of the passage.

وأتى ثامن الدهاة حسيباً

يحمل السم في شراب وزهر

The eighth of the cunning men arrived, well-born,

carrying poison in drink and flowers.

يتلقاكمُ وقد كتم الني

يَةَ نكراء بابتسام وبشر

He greets you, having concealed his

sinister intent, with smiles and cheerfulness.

لو عقلتم لكان خيراً لكم أن

يتلقاكمُ بناب وظفر

Had you sense, it would be better for you that

he greet you with fang and claw.

خلت الصين منه أمس وهذا

يومكم وهو يوم بعث وحشر

China was rid of him yesterday; this is

your day—a day of resurrection and gathering.

لم يدع ما ألفتموه من الحم

رِ ولو جاء في غلائلَ خضر

He has not abandoned what you knew in men in red,

even if he comes in robes of green.

شغلتني هواجسٌ من نواحي

ه فلم أنتفع بصوم وفطر

Forebodings from his quarter occupied me,

so I found no benefit in fasting or breaking fast.

وشجاني اطلاعه لكم قب

ل ملاقاتكم على كل أمر

It grieved me that he had learned, before

meeting you, every detail of your affairs.

كيف كيف النجاة من مستعد

بالسلاحين من مراس وخير

How, how is there escape from one equipped

with the twin weapons of experience and bounty?

نبئوني ماذا ملكتم من العز

م لهذا المسلط المستمر

Tell me: what resolve do you possess

against this unrelenting man set over you?

هل لكم إن رأيتمُ منه كبراً

أن تجازوه مرة بعض كبر

If you see arrogance from him, can you

repay him once with some arrogance?

اجمعوا الشمل قبل أن تصلوا من

ه إلى الجانب العنيد المصرِّ

Unite your ranks before you encounter

his stubborn, unyielding side.

واحرسوا النيل في منابعه واب

نوا على النيل ألف سد وجسر

Guard the Nile at its sources, and

build a thousand dams and bridges upon the Nile.

وخذوا ما يضيعه البحر منه

لخصيب به أحق وقفر

Take what the sea wastes of its waters

for fertile fields and wasteland more entitled to it.

إن خزّانة السماء لكم لا

ما رفعتم من شامخ مشمخر

Your reservoir is heaven's, not

the lofty, towering structures you have raised.

واستغلوا بما ملكتم وإن قل

لَ عتاداً لكلِّ جيلٍ وعصر

Use what you possess, however little, to produce

supplies for every generation and age.

ومن الممكنات ما هو أولى

بأناةٍ إلى الأوان وصبر

Among possible things are those better met

with deliberation until the proper time, and patience.

نال كلٌّ من حكم مصر ومن لي

بنصيب من حكم مصر وقدر

All have had a share in Egypt's rule; who will grant me

a share and a portion of Egypt's rule?

فلعلي أرى البلاد لعلي

وزمام البلاد في يد حر

Perhaps I may see the country—perhaps—

with the country's reins in a free man's hand,

يتولى سبيلها وهو حق

وسلام إلى المصير الأغر

guiding its course, a course of truth

and peace toward a radiant destiny.