1. يا آل مصر كفاها ما بها جزعا

    أعائدٌ لكمُ الشمل الذي انصدعا

    O people of Egypt, what she suffers is anguish enough.

    Will your shattered unity return to you?

  2. جد الزمان ولم يذهب تخاذلكم

    إن الذي كنت أخشى منكم وقعا

    The times have grown grave, yet your disunity has not ceased.

    What I feared from you has indeed come to pass.

  3. إن الذي كاد من ماضي مراسكمُ

    يرتد عنكم تمادى فيكمُ طمعا

    Indeed, he who, because of your earlier resistance, almost

    drew back from you has pressed on in his greed for you.

  4. أيحرس البيت ساه في جوانبه

    مضلل وعليل يشتكي الوجعا

    Can a house be guarded by one heedless within its walls,

    misguided, and by an ailing man complaining of pain?

  5. طلبتم الغاية القصوى وآفتها

    أن تذهبوا فرقاً أو ترجعوا شيعا

    You sought the highest goal, but its bane

    is that you go divided or return in factions.

  6. أما يوفِّق في الوادي سياستَكم

    هاد كما وفق الآحاد والجمعا

    Will your politics in the Valley not be brought into accord

    by a guide, as he reconciled individuals and multitudes?

  7. وكلما قام منكم نابهٌ فطن

    إلى الوزارة صحتم حوله فزعا

    And whenever a distinguished, discerning man among you rose

    to ministerial office, you clamored about him in alarm.

  8. وكلما رامها منكم أخو ثقة

    أثرتمُ ريباً واهتجتمُ بدعا

    And whenever a trustworthy man among you sought it,

    you stirred up suspicions and whipped up strange new notions.

  9. للخصم أم لكم المستوزرون به

    أقرَّ مَن ضرها يوماً ومن نفعا

    Are ministers for the foe or for you? This

    both those who once harmed her and those who helped have acknowledged.

  10. وما استوى القصد منكم والغلوُّ لها

    وليس من راح يغريها كم شفعا

    Your moderation and your excess toward her are not alike,

    nor is one who sets out to incite her like one who intercedes.

  11. خذوا عليه عهود اللّه وانتظروا

    لعله خير من أوفى بها ورعى

    Bind him by God's covenants, and wait;

    perhaps he will prove the best at fulfilling and keeping them.

  12. أليس في أمسه ذكرى وموعظة

    مما رأى غيره منكم وما سمعا

    Is there not in his past a reminder and an admonition

    from what others have seen at your hands and what they have heard?

  13. يرضى وزارتكم فرضاً عليه لكم

    وليس يرضى بها مرعى ومنتجعا

    He accepts your ministry as a duty he owes you,

    nor does he accept it as pasture and a foraging ground.

  14. أولى بمن تبعت شوراه أمته

    أن لا يكون لباغ حولها تبعا

    It better befits one whose nation has followed his counsel

    not to follow an aggressor hovering around her.

  15. لكم عليه رقيب من سريرته

    إن لم يجد مشرفاً منكم ومطَّلعا

    You have a watcher over him in his own conscience,

    if he finds among you neither overseer nor observer.

  16. تربّص الخصم وامتدت حبائله

    إلى يقينكمُ بعد الذي انتزعا

    The foe has lain in wait, and his snares have stretched

    to your certainty, after what he has already seized.

  17. أنترك الأمر للباغي يصرِّفه

    في كل ناحية سنّاً ومشترعا

    Shall we leave affairs to the aggressor to direct,

    setting rules and making laws in every sphere?

  18. قد استوى لينه فيها وشدته

    كما استوى من تحداه ومن ضرعا

    His gentleness and his harshness there have proved alike,

    just as those who defied him and those who submitted have fared alike.

  19. طال النزاع حماة الملك بينكمُ

    أماله حاسم من بعد ما اتسعا

    Your quarrel has lasted long, guardians of the realm;

    has it no one to end it, now that it has spread?

  20. كادت تضيع ضحاياه عليه سدى

    ويذهب الثمن الغالي الذي دفعا

    The sacrifices made for it have nearly gone to waste,

    and the dear price paid for it is nearly lost.

  21. دعوا جميعاً لذاك الخصم حقكم

    أو جاهدوا فيه يا أحزاب مصر معا

    Either all of you surrender your right to that foe,

    or strive for it together, O parties of Egypt.

  22. ما حيلة الأعزل المغبون في شكس

    تقلد النار والفولاذ مدَّرعا

    What recourse has an unarmed, wronged man against an intractable foe

    girt with fire and armored in steel?

  23. إيمانكم واليقين اليوم عدتكم

    وهل رأيتم لطاغٍ مؤمناً خضعا

    Your faith and certainty are your weapons today;

    and have you ever seen a believer bow before a tyrant?

  24. أيطلب النيلُ يسقي زرعَه رجل

    منكم ولا يملك الحقل الذي زرعا

    Would a man ask the Nile to water his crop—

    one of you, though he does not own the field he sowed?

  25. خذوا الأمان من الدنيا لأنفسكم

    من قبل أن تسألوها الري والشبعا

    Secure safety for yourselves from the world,

    before you ask it for drink and your fill of food.

  26. تعاونوا وخذوا للأمر عدته

    كم يسَّر الحزم أمراً بعد ما امتنعا

    Help one another, and make the preparations the task requires;

    how often has firm resolve eased a task once intractable!

  27. لا يقنع الشرف المنقوص ذا شمم

    وإن يكن بعسير العيش مقتنعا

    Diminished honor does not satisfy a man of proud spirit,

    even if he is content with a life of hardship.

  28. أين المعيد إلى الوادي غريبكمُ

    من النوى والمريح الواله الولعا

    Where is he who will bring your exile back to the Valley

    from far away, and soothe the distraught, yearning one?

  29. وأين من صنع النعمى لأمته

    والعرش غير مباه بالذي صنعا

    And where is he who did good for his nation

    and the throne, without boasting of what he had done?

  30. إني سمعت خطيباً وعده لكمُ

    دين لعل الرضا فيما دعا وسعى

    I have indeed heard an orator whose promise to you

    is a debt; perhaps satisfaction lies in what he urged and strove for.

  31. إن لم تنل فئة إجماعكم فلكم

    بين الضمائر من ساوى ومن جمعا

    If no faction wins your unanimous support, you have

    one who has treated all hearts equally and brought them together.

  32. ستحرجون إذا سادت نصيحته

    فيكم غريمكم من بعد ما خدعا

    You will corner—if his counsel prevails

    among you—your adversary, after he has deceived you.