لك الولاء الذي لم يخفه أحد — Ahmed Al Kashef

لك الولاء الذي لم يخفه أحدُ

ولا خلت أمة منه ولا بلدُ

Yours is the allegiance that no one has concealed,

and no nation or land has been without it.

قد قمت بالحكم عدلاً لا يميل بك ال

هوى ولا يتخطى رأيَك الرشد

You have ruled justly; you are not swayed by

desire, nor does sound judgment surpass your counsel.

وسرتَ بالملك مأمون المذاهب مي

مون المساعي على القرآن تعتمد

You have guided the realm, secure in your ways, blessed

in your endeavors, relying on the Qur'an.

وبت تدفع عنه الحادثات كما

يبيت يقظانَ يحمي غيلَهُ الأسد

Through the night you ward calamities from it, as

the lion keeps vigil, guarding its thicket.

حتى رفعت له فوق النجوم حمى

الحزم أسبابه والحكمة العمد

Until you raised for it a sanctuary above the stars,

with resolve for its ropes and wisdom for its pillars.

فبات ممتنعَ الأركان تحرسه

عين الأله إذا حراسه رقدوا

So it stood, its foundations impregnable, guarded by

the eye of God when its sentries slept.

والناس قسمان عانٍ موثقٌ ضجرٌ

في قبضتيك وراجٍ عيشه رغد

People are of two kinds: a captive, fettered and anguished,

in your hands, and a hopeful man whose life is ease.

فللمعادين أدوار بهن شقوا

وللموالين أدوار بها سعدوا

For adversaries are turns of fortune through which they suffered,

and for the loyal, turns through which they prospered.

إن شئت أعطيت هذي الأرض نضرتَها

وإن تشأ أصبحتْ بالشر تتقد

If you wish, you give this earth its bloom;

and if you wish, it becomes ablaze with evil.

وما غضبت لغير اللّه منتقماً

وما قهرت سوى القوم الألى حقدوا

You have never raged in vengeance save for God,

nor subdued any but those who bore malice.

وما فتحت لغير الدين مملكة

رأيتها عن سبيل الخير تبتعد

You have conquered no kingdom except for the faith,

seeing it stray from the path of goodness.

أنهضته مسترداً فيه قوته

فقام يمتد في الدنيا ويَطَّرد

You raised the faith, restoring the strength within it,

and it rose, spreading through the world and advancing steadily.

لك الجيوش التي كم فرجت كرباً

كأنها قسطل في الجو منعقد

Yours are the armies that have so often relieved distress,

like battle-dust gathered thick in the air.

يسدد اللّه مرماها يؤيدها

من الملائك في غاراتها مدد

God guides their aim; they are reinforced

by succor from the angels during their raids.

لها على الموثق الدينيِّ متَّكلٌ

يوم الكفاح ومن إيمانها عدد

Their reliance is upon the covenant of faith

on the day of battle, and their belief supplies their arms.

لك اللواء الذي نال الهلال فلا

تنال رفْعتَه للعاديات يد

Yours is the banner that reached the crescent moon; no

hand of assailing foes can reach its height.

في خفقه طرب للمستظل به

وللعدى رهب في طيِّه كمد

In its flutter is delight for those beneath its shade,

and for enemies terror, with anguish in its folds.

لك الأساطيل كالأطواد شامخة

تجري فيحدث رعداً حولها الزبد

Yours are the fleets, towering like mountains;

they sail, and the foam raises thunder around them.

لولا أمانك ثار البحر مشتعلاً

بنارهنَّ وسال البر والجمد

Without your protection, the sea would rage ablaze

with their fire, and land and ice would flow.

لك القباب التي تعلو محلقة

في الجو والجند حراس بها رصد

Yours are the domes that soar aloft

in the air, with soldiers inside as watchful guards.

وفي محيّاك نور للخلافة قد

أضحى لدى الناس برهاناً لما اعتقدوا

And in your face is a light for the caliphate that has

become proof to the people of what they believe.

لو تستطيع النجوم النيرات هوت

شوقاً وصارت مكان التاج تنتضد

If the radiant stars could, they would fall

in longing, and array themselves in the crown's place.

مولاي عيدك وافى في ميامنه

يهدي البرية أفراحاً كما عهدوا

My lord, your festival has arrived amid its blessings,

bringing mankind joys, as they have always known.

بدا له الكون في أبهى مظاهره

واستجمعت حسنها الأيام والأبد

For it, the universe appeared in its fairest guise,

and the days and eternity gathered all their beauty.

فالأرض باهرة الأنوار ناضرة

ريا الشباب كساها الوشي والبرد

The earth is dazzling with light, fresh,

lush with youth, clothed in brocade and striped mantles.

تختال ضاحكة للعالمين كما

تختال ذات دلال زانها الغيَد

It struts, smiling upon all the world, as

a coy woman struts, adorned with supple grace.

وللوفود ازدحام تحت عرشك لم

يضق به بابك العالي ومحتشد

Delegations throng beneath your throne, yet never

has your lofty gate proved too narrow for their gathering.

تشفي القلوب من الشوق الشديد بما

لاقوا من الطلعة الكبرى وما شهدوا

You heal hearts of their fierce longing through what

they behold of your august presence and what they witness.

كأنهم شربوا راحاً بها طربوا

وغير منهلك الخلديِّ ما وردوا

As though they had drunk wine and rejoiced in it,

yet they have drunk from none but your everlasting spring.

يا صاحب الباقيات الصالحات ويا

رب الأيادي التي لم يحصها عدد

O possessor of enduring righteous works, and O

lord of favors no reckoning can encompass!

تحية ودعاء نبتغي بهما

شرح المسرة والحب الذي نجد

A greeting and a prayer, by which we seek

to express the joy and love we feel.

أقبلت والقوم في أهوائهم فرق

شتى طرائقُهم من غيهم قِدَد

You came while the people were divided by their passions,

their paths diverse, splintered by their error.

فاستسلموا لك لما قمت ترشدهم

واستمسكوا بعرى الميثاق واتحدوا

They submitted to you when you arose to guide them,

and held fast to the covenant's bonds and united.

وذدت عنهم جماهير العدى فنجوا

وأنت في حومة الميدان منفرد

You drove the enemy multitudes away from them, and they escaped,

while you stood alone in the thick of the battlefield.

وصلت فيهم فخانتهم عزائمهم

عند اللقاء وطار الصبر والجلد

You charged among them, and their resolves failed them

at the encounter, and patience and endurance fled.

واستصرخوا فأتاهم جحفل لجب

من دولة الوهم فيه اليأس والنكد

They cried for help, and a clamorous host came to them

from the realm of illusion, filled with despair and misery.

غلبت مكرهمُ واغتلت غدرهمُ

ودست كيداً لهم في دسه اجتهدوا

You overcame their cunning and struck down their treachery,

and trampled the plot they had labored to conceal.

ماذا عليك من القوم الذين غووا

واستكبروا ولما أوليتهم جحدوا

What harm can come to you from those who went astray

and grew arrogant, repaying your favors with denial?

فهل يضرُّ أبٌ أبناءه امتلأوا

حباً له وعصاه منهمُ ولد

Would a father harm his children, filled

with love for him, when one child among them disobeys?

لا ييأس المذنب المحروم منك إذا

نهاه عن أن يعود الأسر والصفد

No guilty, bereft man need despair of you, if

captivity and fetters have deterred him from relapsing.

يا آل عثمان رفقاً بالعداة ولا

تجردوا فيهمُ سيفاً فقد قعدوا

O house of Osman, be gentle with enemies; do not

draw a sword against them, for they have sat back.

على السعادة باتوا يحسدونكمُ

فلم يضر سواهم ذلك الحسد

They spend the night envying you your happiness,

yet that envy harms none but themselves.

ففي قلوبهمُ من بغضكم مرضٌ

وفي عيونهمُ من نوركم رمد

For in their hearts is sickness from hatred of you,

and in their eyes, soreness from your light.

فلا يزالون في هذا الشقاء إلى

أن ييأسوا فتراهم كلهم خمدوا

So they remain in this misery until

they despair, and you see them all extinguished.

مهلاً بني الترك في فتح البلاد أما

لحبكم في الأمانيِّ العلى أمد

Gently, sons of the Turks, in conquering lands! Is there no

limit to your passion for lofty aspirations?

لولاكمُ ما بدت للدين حجته

ولا استقام لباقي عزه أود

Without you, the faith's proof would not have appeared,

nor would the crookedness in its remaining glory have been set right.

عبد الحميد لك الإخلاص فاستمع ال

حمد الذي يتوالى واجز من حمدوا

Abd al-Hamid, yours is devotion; listen to the

praise that keeps coming, and reward those who praised.

وإن ملكَك في إشراق زينتِه

لجنة أنا فيها الطائر الغرد

And your realm, in the radiance of its adornment,

is truly a paradise, where I am the warbling bird.

سينجز اللّه في الدنيا التي ابتسمت

للمسلمين على أيديك ما وُعدوا

God will fulfill, in the world that has smiled

on Muslims through your hands, what they were promised.

فاستبشروا يا بني الإسلام وانتظروا

غداً فقد ضمن النصرَ المبين غد

Rejoice, then, sons of Islam, and await

tomorrow, for tomorrow has guaranteed manifest victory.