1. شوطُك الحاضر اقتبلتَ أوانَهْ

    وتخيَّرتَ للمدى فرسانَهْ

    You have welcomed the hour of your present race,

    and chosen its horsemen for the course.

  2. وتقدّمت للجهاد جديداً

    في رجال تعودوا ميدانه

    You have advanced, a newcomer, to the struggle,

    among men accustomed to its arena.

  3. دار هذا الزمان بالعقد والحل

    ل وبالقرب والنوى دورانه

    This age has made its rounds through binding and unbinding,

    and through nearness and separation, in its course.

  4. ما جرى ردّ راضيَ الحال غضبا

    ن كما رد راضياً غضبانه

    What happened turned the man content with his lot angry,

    just as it turned its angry man content.

  5. كان سر الأقدار عهدك حتى

    أعلنته فأحسنتْ إعلانه

    Your mandate was the fates' secret until

    they proclaimed it, and proclaimed it well.

  6. وأتت تشرح الكتاب الذي أن

    تَ من النور كاتبٌ عنوانه

    And they came to expound the book whose

    title you are writing out of light.

  7. اختياراً أو اضطراراً تقلد

    صورة العبء كله وعيانه

    By choice or necessity, shoulder

    the burden's full form and its visible reality.

  8. وامض بالحزم والسداد وصرّف

    ما توليتَ قيده وعنانه

    Press on with resolve and sound judgment, and direct

    all whose tether and reins are in your charge.

  9. دُولاً سادت الشؤون ليلقى

    كل شأن ميعاده وضمانه

    Affairs have held sway in turn, so that

    each affair may find its appointed time and its guarantee.

  10. أنت من في قواه جالت مرامي

    ه وساوى مراسه برهانه

    You are one whose aims range within his powers,

    and whose practical experience matches his proof.

  11. لك في الحكم نية السلم كانت

    غاية قبل أن ترى سلطانه

    Your intention in ruling is peace; it was

    your aim before you ever knew the power of rule.

  12. وأحق الحكام بالطاعة العف

    فُ ومن كان حزبه إحسانه

    The ruler most worthy of obedience is the upright man,

    and he whose benevolence is his party.

  13. ومقيم الميزان في الناس عدلاً

    يُكبرُ الناس بينهم ميزانه

    And he who sets the scales justly among the people—

    the people hold his scales in honor among them.

  14. والذي مارس المعارك جوّاً

    هو أدرى بصيده عقبانه

    And he who has fought battles in the air

    knows best how to hunt with his eagles.

  15. وحليف الجبار بعد خصام

    هو أولى بدفعه عدوانه

    And the tyrant's ally after conflict

    is best placed to repel his aggression.

  16. وأجل الأبطال والأرض نارٌ

    من حمى من لهيبها أوطانه

    The noblest hero, when the earth is fire,

    is he who shields his native lands from its blaze.

  17. وإذا هادن الكريم كراماً

    من أعاديه أصبحوا أعوانه

    When a noble man makes a truce with noble men

    among his enemies, they become his helpers.

  18. ورواسي الجبال أيسر للإن

    سان حملاً من حمله أضغانه

    The mountains' rooted masses are easier for a man

    to carry than his own grudges.

  19. فاز من يطلب الوزارة لل

    ه ويرجو نيابة وحصانه

    He succeeds who seeks ministerial office for God's sake,

    and hopes for deputyship and immunity.

  20. لم ينل عزة المناصب إلا

    من أطالت بلاءه وامتحانه

    None has attained the dignity of office except

    one whose trials and testing it has prolonged.

  21. منعت عصمة التجاريب فيها

    أن تكون الخداعة الفتانه

    Experience's safeguard in office has kept it

    from becoming the deceitful seductress.

  22. وإذا مكن الولاة مشيرو ال

    ملك بالرأي مكنوا أركانه

    When the king's advisers strengthen the governors

    through counsel, they strengthen his pillars.

  23. والصواب احترام آت لماض

    مَهَّدَ المرتقَى له وأبانه

    The right course is a newcomer's respect for a predecessor

    who paved the ascent for him and made it clear.

  24. وأبر الأخلاف من وجد الأس

    لاف في كل صالح أقرانَه

    The most dutiful successor is he who finds his predecessors

    his peers in every worthy deed.

  25. وتعادي الحماة في الأزمة الكب

    رى أمام الخطوب كل الخِيانه

    Mutual enmity among defenders in the gravest crisis,

    in the face of calamities, is utter treachery.

  26. والأخ الحامل المعاذير أهل

    من أخيه أن لا يرى هجرانه

    The brother who offers excuses deserves

    not to suffer his brother's abandonment.

  27. ولسان الفتى هواه فإن تم

    لكْ هواه فقد ملكت لسانه

    A man's tongue is his passion; if you master

    his passion, you have mastered his tongue.

  28. كل عتب لم يأت إلا لِعُتْبَى

    لا تخَف ذكره ولا نسيانه

    Any reproach intended only to restore goodwill—

    fear neither mentioning it nor forgetting it.

  29. والذي هابه الأباعد لا تس

    لِبُهُ فرقة القريب أمانه

    He whom outsiders fear will not be stripped

    of his security by a close one's estrangement.

  30. ولقد يفقد الفتى عيشه الرغ

    د ولا يفقد الفتى إيمانه

    Indeed, a man may lose his life of ease,

    yet a man does not lose his faith.

  31. فإذا مال جانب عنك فاترك

    ه لنجواه وانتظر رضوانه

    If one side turns away from you, leave

    it to its private counsel, and await its goodwill.

  32. أين من ضجة الزمان بياني

    بعد ما ردَّدَ الزمانُ بيانه

    Where is my eloquence beside the clamor of the age,

    after the age has echoed its own declaration?

  33. أنا من حاسب الرجال وأعطى

    كل ندٍّ من جانبيه مكانه

    I am one who has called men to account and given

    each peer on either side his place.

  34. أنا للمصلحين أبقى وأوفى

    من قضى واجباً وأدَّى أمانه

    For reformers, I am the most steadfast and faithful

    of those who have fulfilled a duty and discharged a trust.

  35. أتجوع البلاد والنيل جارٍ

    في رباها والمال ملء الخزانه

    Can the country starve while the Nile flows

    through its hills, and wealth fills the treasury?

  36. وأمام الرعية الملك الصا

    لح تلقى حنوَّهُ وحنانه

    Before the subjects stands the righteous king;

    they receive his tenderness and compassion.

  37. حسبنا الطيبات منه وعقبى ال

    أمر للّه وحده سبحانه

    The good things from him suffice us; the outcome

    of the matter belongs to God alone—glory be to Him.