اليوم يومك وهو المشرق الرحب — Ahmed Al Kashef

اليوم يومك وهو المشرق الرَّحِبُ

فخذ نصيبك في الوادي كما يجبُ

Today is your day, radiant and spacious.

So take your share in the valley, as is fitting.

لكلِّ منقلبٍ في مصر موعده

وما خلا لك من نعماء منقلب

Every turn of fortune in Egypt has its appointed time,

And no turn of fortune for you has lacked blessings.

مضت وزارتك الأولى محجَّلةً

غراء وهي إلى الأخرى لك السبب

Your first ministry passed, white-footed,

Bright-browed, and it paved your way to the next.

وأنت في عهدك الثاني الوفيُّ لها

وفيه منك كما في الأوّل العجب

And in your second term you remain faithful to it,

And in it, as in the first, wonders come from you.

وحملك الحكم في ضيق وفي حرج

كخوضك الحرب ما من هولها هرب

Your shouldering rule in straitness and distress

Is like your plunging into war: no escaping its terror.

سلكت فيه سبيلاً قيّماً فدنا

لك البعيد وهان الشائك الأشب

You followed an upright path in it, so there drew near

To you the distant, and the thorny tangle grew easy.

أكبرت كل زعيم بين شيعته

تختاره لك معواناً وتنتخب

You honored every leader among his followers,

Choosing and selecting him as your staunch helper.

وأنت بالفضل للماضين معترفٌ

وأنت للمقبلين الناصر الأرب

You acknowledge the merit of those who came before,

And for those to come, you are a resourceful champion.

وما السياسة في كل العصور سوى

صناعة أنت فيها الحاذق الدرب

Throughout all ages, politics is nothing but

A craft in which you are skilled and seasoned.

وثقت من مصر بالعقبى كما وثقت

صيد الشيوخ بها والفتية النجب

You trusted in Egypt's future, as did

Her proud elders and noble youths.

كأنما انكشفت تلك الغيوب لهم

من المقادير وانشقت لك الحجب

As though those unseen things had been disclosed to them

By destiny, and the veils had parted for you.

لم تغن عدلك عن شورى هداتهم

هذي التجاريب والإيثار والدأب

Your justice was not freed from needing their guides' counsel

By these experiences, selflessness, and diligence.

نور الهدى لهمُ ما أنت رافعه

فيها وزاد المدى ما أنت محتقب

What you hold aloft is their light of guidance

There; and what you carry behind your saddle is provision for the long road.

وحَّدتَ بعد اجتماع الشمل رأيَهُمُ

فأصبحوا وهمُ الأهلون والصحب

After gathering their ranks, you united their judgment,

And so they became kinsfolk and companions.

محبة الملك الأعلى تؤلِّفهم

كما يؤلف أبرار البنين أب

Love of the exalted king unites them,

As a father unites his righteous sons.

أثنى عليك بما أحسنت فاستبقت

إلى مكانتك الألقاب والرتب

He praised you for the good you did, and they vied—

Titles and ranks—to reach your standing.

شهادة لك منه لم تكن كَلماً

لكنها لك منه المجد والحسب

A testimony to you from him, not mere words,

But, from him to you, glory and honor.

بدّلت في ساعة من شأن مملكة

ما لا تبدّله من شأنها الحقب

You changed a kingdom's affairs in an hour,

As ages could not have changed them.

والشعب بعد الذي أسلفت منتظر

من العظائم ما أزمعت مرتقب

The people, after all you have already done, are waiting,

Watching for the mighty deeds you have resolved upon.

تلك المرافق فيما أنت حافظه

جعلتها فوق ما عدّوا وما حسبوا

Those public services among the things you safeguard—

You raised them beyond all they counted or reckoned.

قسمت بينهم الأرزاق كاملةً

فطاب ما أكلوا منه وما شربوا

You allotted their livelihoods among them in full,

So wholesome was what they ate of it and what they drank.

ولم يكن غير ما دبرت مُتَّجرٌ

ولم يكن غير ما قدرت مكتسب

There was no trade but what you had arranged,

And no gain but what you had apportioned.

الشيء بالشيء في سعر وفي ثمن

وفضة الملك ملء الملك والذهب

Goods for goods, in price and value,

And the realm is filled with its silver and gold.

وما شراؤهمُ فيه وبيعهمُ

من النفائس إلا بعض ما وهبوا

And their buying and selling within it

Of precious things is nothing but part of what they gave.

ليس المتاع بأغلى من نفوسِهمُ

وهم بها أينما سايرتهم ذهبوا

Goods are no dearer than their lives,

And with their lives they went wherever you marched beside them.

وخير ما يُعمِرُ الدنيا معاملةٌ

قضت به الحال لا شرع ولا كتب

The best thing to make the world prosper is a dealing

Dictated by circumstance, not religious law or books.

ولم تُصِب في سبيل اللّه ضائقةٌ

نفساً ولا ظمأ فيه ولا سغب

No distress in the path of God befell

A soul, nor thirst or hunger there.

تقاتل الناس فوق الأرض وهي لهم

ملأى بما أنتجوا فيها وما جلبوا

People fought upon the earth, though it was theirs,

Full of what they produced there and what they brought.

يخِّربون بأيديهم ديارهمُ

وما بشيءٍ سوى أيديهمُ نُكبوا

They destroy their homes with their own hands,

And nothing but their own hands brought them disaster.

ماذا يطاول فيها المستقلّ بها

وحسبه في ثراها الماء والعشب

What heights does its sole master aspire to there,

When water and grass in its soil suffice him?

من لم تسعه بلاد اللّه عامرةً

خصيبةً لم يسعه المقفر الخرب

Whoever finds no room in God's thriving lands,

Fertile as they are, will find none in barren ruins.

أقمت دونهم السدَّ المنيع فلم

يَملْ به رعب الخصمين والرهب

You raised an impregnable barrier before them; no

Fear or dread of either adversary made it sway.

وسرت بينهمُ ثبتاً فما دفعوا

مرماك يوماً بما تأبى ولا جذبوا

You moved steadfast among them; they never pushed

Your aim, even once, toward what you reject, nor pulled it aside.

كلا الفريقين معتزٌّ بعدَّته

وللفريق الذي ناصرته الغلب

Each side is proud of its equipment,

And victory belongs to the side you supported.

وإن خلت من مثار الحرب ناحية

يوماً تناولها الإرجافُ والصَّخَب

And if a region were free of war's turmoil

For a day, alarmist rumor and uproar would seize it.

حليفك الضخم من جاراك منفعة

لا من تجاريه حيث الغرمُ والعطب

Your mighty ally is he who keeps pace with you in gain,

Not he with whom you keep pace in loss and ruin.

إن سايرت مصر في حرب حلائفها

فغنمها عظة الباغين لا السلب

If Egypt accompanies her allies in war,

Her gain is a lesson to aggressors, not plunder.

وإن أرادت لهم من جيرة مدداً

فالترك والفرس والأفغان والعرب

And if she seeks aid for them from neighboring peoples,

Then there are the Turks, Persians, Afghans, and Arabs.

منافع جمعتهم في وثائقهم

قبل الذي يقتضيه الدينُ والنسب

Interests united them in their covenants,

Before the claims of religion and kinship.

هذي قلاع وأجناد بأرضك أم

هي البروج السماويات والشهب

Are these fortresses and armies upon your land, or

Are they the towers of heaven and its shooting stars?

في حوزة الشرق حصن اللائذين بها

وفي حمى الغرب منها الجحفل اللجب

In the East's domain, a fortress for those who seek shelter in them;

And in the West's protected realm, a clamorous host drawn from them.

رددتَ خلف التخوم الراصدين لها

من بعد ما أوشك الأرصاد أن يثبوا

You drove those lying in wait for her back beyond the frontiers,

After the ambushers had almost pounced.

أغنتك عن غزوهم بالجيش في غدهم

هذي الرسائل منك اليوم والخطب

You were spared marching against them with an army tomorrow

By these messages and speeches of yours today.

وربما منع الحرب العوان وإن

جاء النذيرُ عتاد الحرب والأهب

And sometimes a raging war is averted, even if

The warning comes, by armaments and preparations for war.

خير من الظافر الغلاب مغتنماً

في الحرب من يتوقاها ويجتنب

Better than the triumphant, all-conquering taker of spoils

In war is he who guards against it and avoids it.

من لم تمكِّنه مما رام قوَّتُه

فليس ينفعه التمويه والكذب

He whose strength cannot secure what he seeks

Will gain nothing from deception and lies.

من يطلب الأمر بأساً غير مقترن

بالرأي ضاع عليه البأس والطلب

Whoever seeks a goal through force unjoined

To judgment wastes both his force and his quest.

إذا ضمنت لواديك النجاة فما

يعنيه في غيره الفولاذ واللهب

If you have guaranteed safety for your valley, what

Concern has it with steel and flame elsewhere?

وقد يشق على الناجي لرحمته

أن يشهد الخلق وهو النار والحطب

Yet compassion may make it hard for the survivor

To behold humankind as both fire and firewood.

ومصر أكرم صلحاً إن همُ اصطلحوا

ومصر أعظم حرباً إن هم احتربوا

Egypt is noblest in peace, if they make peace,

And Egypt is greatest in war, if they wage war.

بعد الجهاد الذي أنت الحفيّ به

حقَّ الثواب وقبل الراحة التعب

After the struggle to which you are so devoted,

Reward is due; toil comes before rest.

خير الفتوحات ما صُنْتَ السلام به

والأرض ترجف والأرواح تنتهب

The best conquests are those by which you have preserved peace,

While the earth trembles and lives are snatched away.

والمطمئن إلى الأقدار أنت بما

أعددته وشعوب الأرض تضطرب

You are the one at peace with destiny, through what

You have prepared, while the earth's peoples are shaken.

إن كان لا بد يوماً من دمٍ سرِبٍ

فللكرامة والحق الدمُ السرب

If one day there must be flowing blood,

Then let the flowing blood be for dignity and right.

حسبي لحكمك في واديك تهنئتي

بالعمر يمتد والآمال تقترب

For your rule in your valley, let my congratulations suffice me:

On life lengthening and hopes drawing near.

إني أخلِّد آثار الرجال على

مر الليالي وما لي فيهمُ أرب

I immortalize the deeds of men through

The passing nights, seeking no advantage from them.

وأملأ الأرض نوراً من محامدهم

وإنني في زوايا الريف محتجب

And I fill the earth with light from their praiseworthy deeds,

Though I am secluded in the countryside's corners.

يمشون في الأرض أبراراً ومن أدبي

عليهم الحلل الخلدية القُشُب

They walk the earth as righteous men, and from my verse

Upon them lie fresh robes of immortality.

أعيش في وطني عيش الغريب وإن

فرغت منه فلا ذكرٌ ولا عقب

I live in my homeland the life of a stranger; and if

I am done with it, there will be neither remembrance nor posterity.

وما غضبت لنفسي في مساورة

لكنه لبلادي ذلك الغضب

I never grew angry for myself in a clash,

Rather, that anger was for my country.

وما ذهبت إلى قوم بمعذرة

وما ضننت بعتباهم إذا عتبوا

I have never gone to a people with an apology,

Nor begrudged them satisfaction when they reproached me.