لك الأمر منتظر أم لنا

وعندك عقباه أم عندنا

Is the awaited decision yours, or ours?

And is its outcome with you, or with us?

وكيف تسير غداً نحونا

وكيف تدور غداً حولنا

And how will you proceed toward us tomorrow?

And how will you circle around us tomorrow?

وكيف الطريق إلى ما أرا

د من لك أوحى ومن لقّنا

And how is the path to what was intended

by whoever inspired you and whoever instructed you?

ملأت هنالك هذا الجراب

فأفرغ على القوم منه هنا

You filled this sack over there;

so empty it upon the people here.

وهات كما شئت فصل الخطاب

مسيئاً قضاؤك أو محسنا

And give, as you wish, the final verdict,

whether your judgment does harm or good.

وما هو إلا ضمير الزمان

تعود به بادياً بيننا

And it is only the age’s hidden intent

that you return bearing, appearing among us.

وتشغل بعد الإياب القلوب

به والمسامع والأعينا

And after returning, you occupy hearts

with it, and ears and eyes.

وتنفذ في مصر ما خطه

لمصر السجلُّ وما دونا

And you carry out in Egypt what has been inscribed

for Egypt by the record, and what it has set down.

وتعطى المنافع طلابها

على أن تكال وأن توزنا

And benefits are given to those who seek them,

on condition that they be measured and weighed.

وتلقى ضمائرهم خلفها

إلى أن تباع وأن ترهنا

And their consciences are cast after them,

until they are sold and pawned.

فهذا أبيُّهمُ طائعاً

وهذا عزيزهمُ هينا

So here is their defiant one, obedient,

and here their mighty one, abased.

وكل مسوق بميعاده

يكاد يجيئك مستأذنا

And each is driven at his appointed time,

almost coming to you to ask permission.

وتشهد في موطن إخوة

تعادوا فما عرفوا الموطنا

And you behold brothers in one homeland

who became enemies and knew not their homeland.

فهم يترامون بالسيئا

ت لا بالسيوف ولا بالقنا

So they pelt one another with insults,

not with swords or spears.

فغضبان يتهَّم المعرضي

ن عنه وعن رهطه بالخنا

An angry man accuses those who turn

away from him and his clan of vileness.

تفرد وهو وراء الصفوف

يقول أنا الشعب وحدي أنا

He stands apart, though behind the ranks,

saying, “I am the people, I alone—I!”

وينكر هيمنة الآخرين

وإن جاء بالخير من هيمنا

And he rejects the sway of others,

even if whoever holds sway brings good.

ولا يرتضي ما بنى غيره

ولو كان حصن الحمى ما بنى

Nor does he approve what another has built,

even if that building were the homeland’s fortress.

كأن البلاد أبت نده

وجاءت به وحده معدنا

As though the land had refused his equal

and yielded him alone as its ore.

ومضطرب مائج صوته

بمصر ونجواه في لندنا

And a restless man, his voice surging

in Egypt, his whispered counsel in London.

رأى في الشقاق تعلاته

فصار الشقاق له ديدنا

He found his pretexts in discord,

so discord became his constant habit.

وأظلم ظالمٍ المشتكي

إلى الأجنبي نأى أو دنا

And the worst oppressor is he who complains

to the foreigner, whether far or near.

ومن مكَّن الخصمَ من أهله

فللخصم من نفسه مكّنا

And whoever gives the foe power over his own people

has given that foe power over himself.

وداهية راض أعداءه

وأرضى فأمَّن واستأمنا

And a shrewd man tamed his enemies

and pleased them, granting safety and seeking it.

وكوَّن سلطانه بالصنيع

فضاع الصنيع وما كوَّنا

And he built his authority through favors,

but the favors and all he built were lost.

ولو شاء وهو القؤول الفعول

طوى الصحف واعتقل الألسنا

Had he wished—so prolific in speech and deed—

he would have folded up the papers and imprisoned tongues.

أمالته علته فالتوى

ولو صدَّه جبل ما انثنى

His illness bent him, and he bowed,

though a mountain blocking him would not have made him bend.

ولما مضى ارتد أنصاره

وهم شر أعدائه مطعنا

And when he departed, his supporters turned against him,

the fiercest of his enemies in their attacks.

وما زال يطمع في أن يعود

إلى ما استحال وما أمكنا

And still he hopes to return

to what has become impossible and is beyond reach.

ومستخلف مطمئن السبيل

إلى ما أسر وما أعلنا

And a successor, assured in his course

toward what he concealed and what he proclaimed,

مضى وسطاً بين حدّيه لا

عنيف المراس ولا لينا

took the middle way between the two extremes, neither

harsh in his dealings nor pliant.

لعل السفينة من بعد ما

تولى السفينة تنجو بنا

Perhaps the ship, now that

he commands the ship, will carry us to safety.

وصحف تضجُّ بما لا يليق

ولا يستفاد ولا يقتنى

And newspapers clamor with what is unseemly,

neither useful nor worth keeping.

وتروى من الدهر ما في الغيوب

كأن لها عنده مخزنا

And they recount from Time what lies in the unseen,

as though they had a storehouse in its keeping.

وتلقى النفاق من الجانبي

ن من شك فيها ومن أيقنا

And they find a ready market on both sides:

among those who doubt them and those convinced.

فهذا يطير بها مرجفاً

وذلك يعنو لها مذعنا

This one circulates them, spreading alarm,

while that one bows before them in submission.

وما كل متبعٍ مبدأً

يكون بمبدئه مؤمنا

And not everyone who follows a principle

believes in his principle.

وكم قلَّب الناس هذا الزما

ن للعيش فيه وكم كوَّنا

And how often this age has turned people about

to live within it, and how often shaped them!

أولئك مرضى أداويهمُ

من الداء من بعد ما أزمنا

Those are sick men; I treat them

for their disease, after it has grown chronic.

وأحمل أعباءهم عنهمُ

إلى أن أشرَّد أو أُسجنا

And I bear their burdens for them

until I am exiled or imprisoned.

كأنيَ بينهمُ ما أتي

تُ إلا لأغضب أو أحزنا

As though I had come among them

only to grow angry or grieve.

ولو غسل الدم ذنب الزمان

غسلت لهم بدمي ما جنى

And if blood could wash away the age’s sin,

I would wash away its crimes for them with my blood.

ولو لم أقم بينهم شاعراً

لما ذقت هذا الأسى والعنى

And had I not lived among them as a poet,

I would not have tasted this sorrow and hardship.

ولو كنت بينهمُ تاجراً

لكان نعيمي وكان الغنى

And had I been a merchant among them,

then bliss and wealth would have been mine.

عناء حملنا قديم التراث

إلى غدنا اليوم من أمسِنا

A hardship is our carrying the ancient inheritance

today, from our yesterday into our tomorrow.

وما جرَّه سلفٌ قبلنا

سيُجزَى به خلفٌ بعدنا

And for what our forebears brought about before us,

our successors after us will be made to pay.

وما مدَّه شركاً بعضُنا

لبعضٍ تناولنا كلنا

And what some of us spread as a snare

for others has caught us all.

ونحن الذين دعونا الغريم

وجئنا به حكماً بيننا

And we are the ones who summoned the adversary

and brought him as an arbiter among us.

يغرقنا بالمنى تارة

ويجمعنا تارة بالمنى

At times he drowns us in hopes,

and at times he unites us with hopes.

وإن شاء سلَّط جنداً وإن

يشأ سلَّط الرصد المتقنا

And if he wishes, he unleashes troops; and if

he wishes, he deploys meticulous surveillance.

وقد يذكر الحق مستدرجاً

ليفتن من شاء أن يفتنا

And he may invoke justice as a lure,

to lead astray whomever he wishes to lead astray.

وما أمعن الفاتحون الغزا

ة في الأرض يوماً كما أمعنا

Never have conquering invaders gone

so far upon the earth as he has gone.

وقفنا وجاوزنا العالمُون

فيا ليتنا معهم ليتنا

We stood still, and the world’s peoples passed us by;

oh, if only we were with them—if only!

وقد جرَّبت مصرُ أحزابها

فمن صان مصر ومن حصنا

And Egypt has tried her parties;

so who has protected Egypt, and who fortified her?

وضاقت بمختلف الغارسين

وأين الظلال وأين الجنى

And she has wearied of the various planters:

where is the shade, and where is the fruit?

أتدري فأسألها أيُّنا

شهيدُ قضيتها أيُّنا

Do you know? Then I ask her: which of us

is a martyr to her cause—which of us?

ومن هو فيها الزعيم العظيم

بما يجمع اليوم من شملنا

And who is the great leader in her midst,

by how he unites our ranks today?

ومن لا يفاوض ذاك الغري

م وهو كما هو في أرضنا

And who does not negotiate with that adversary

while he remains as he is upon our land,

ويضمن للشعب ما شاء من

أمانيِّه الشعب أن يضمنا

and guarantees the people whatever they wish

to have guaranteed of their aspirations?