أدركت بالحسنى هوى الجبار — أحمد الكاشف

أدركت بالحسنى هوى الجبارِ

واجتزت بالنجوى مكان النارِ

Through kindness you won the mighty one's affection,

And through private counsel crossed the place of fire.

وظفرت بالحق الذي استخلصته

من قوة الأنياب والأظفار

And you won the right that you had wrested

From the might of fangs and claws.

وأخذت للشعب الأمين مصيره

من قُلَّب الأدوار والأطوار

And you secured the faithful people's destiny

From the wily manipulator of roles and phases.

وحفظت للوادي المقدس نيله

ومددته لصديقه والجار

And you preserved for the sacred valley its Nile,

And extended it to its friend and neighbor.

يجري ولولا محكمات سدوده

وحدوده لطغى على الأقطار

It flows; were it not for its firmly built dams

And its bounds, it would overflow the lands.

ملآن لولا البحر وهو مصبه

أمددت منه سائر الأنهار

Brimming full—were it not for the sea, its outlet,

You would supply all rivers from it.

لك أن تصرَّفَه بمعيار إلى

أمد وتصرِفَهُ بلا معيار

You may regulate it by measure until

A set time, and release it without measure.

لم تبق في المجرى نزاعاً بعد ما

ملكت يداك مواقع الأمطار

You left no dispute in the channel once

Your hands gained mastery of the places where rain falls.

ذهب الغريم إلى شروطك وانتهى

ما كان من عنت ومن إصرار

The adversary accepted your terms, and there ended

The harshness and insistence that had prevailed.

ورأت سفارتك الجليلة عنده

ما شئت من زلفى ومن إكبار

And your distinguished mission found with him

The favor and reverence you wished.

وأتتك تحمل عن جناه وظله

حلو الحديث وطيبَ الأخبار

And came to you bearing, of his fruit and shade,

Sweet words and pleasant tidings.

لا يكتفي بالود ترعاه له

إلا وأنت له من الزوار

He is not content with the affection you tend for him

Unless you are among his visitors,

في صحبة الملك الكريم ممكناً

فيها لمصر علائق الأمصار

In the noble king's company, making firm

Egypt's ties with other lands through that company.

ذكرتك جامعة الرفاق وجددت

فيها لعهدك أفضل الآثار

The companions' university remembered you and renewed

Within it the finest reminders of your former days.

ودعتك تكرم فيك مصر وتصطفي

قوماً رفعتهمُ على الأقمار

And invited you, honoring Egypt in your person, and singling out

A people whom you raised above the moons.

تهدي إليك الضخم من نسب ومن

لقب ومن صلة بها وشعار

Bestowing on you grandeur of lineage and

Title, of a bond with it and an emblem:

شرف الشهادة بعد ما استحققته

بعد اعتراف القوم والإقرار

The honor of the degree, after you had merited it,

After the people's acknowledgment and affirmation.

أبقى العلائق والمرافق ما أتى

بتآلف الأخلاق والأفكار

The most enduring ties and benefits are those born

Of harmony between characters and ideas.

وأحب ميثاق إلى حُفَّاظه

ما جاءهم من طائع مختار

And the covenant dearest to its keepers

Is one that comes to them from someone willing and free to choose.

والعلم ما دارت به الأيام لا

ما جاء في كتب وفي أسفار

And knowledge is what the turning days have borne, not

What is found in books and tomes.

وإذا امتلكت من القويِّ سريرة

فقد امتلكت أعنة الأقدار

And when you win the mighty one's heart,

You have indeed gained the reins of fate.

ما بعته إلا المودة حرة

ولك الجزاء بها وربح الشاري

You sold him nothing but unfettered affection,

And yours are its reward and the buyer's profit.

حمل الغضاب على جميلك عنده

غضب المريب على القضاء الجاري

What drove the angry against your kindness toward him

Was the suspect's anger at the judgment taking its course.

أرضاك فاتهموا ولو أرضاهمُ

وضعوه منهم موضع الأبرار

He pleased you, so they accused him; had he pleased them,

They would have placed him among their righteous ones.

واستنكروا ما لو أُنيلوا بعضه

طاروا بما نالوه كل مطار

And they denounced what—had they been granted some of it—

Would have sent them flying in every direction with their gain.

أيكلفونك أن تضر وإنهم

لا يحملون عواقب الضّرار

Do they demand that you cause harm, though they

Do not bear the consequences of harm?

ويعرّضونك للذي أعياهم

في كل مضطرب وكل مثار

And expose you to what left them helpless

In every troubled arena and every upheaval?

ثقل الحساب عليهمُ فترددوا

بين العتاب لديك والإعذار

The reckoning weighed heavily on them, so they wavered

Between reproach before you and making excuses.

وتلمسوا الأنصار ممن ساءهم

لك أن تراه أصدق الأنصار

And they sought supporters from one who had vexed them;

You may see him as the truest of supporters.

يتطلبون الثأر منك وما رعوا

معروفك الجاري مكان الثار

They seek revenge upon you, and have not heeded

Your kindness flowing in place of vengeance.

دع ما ادعوه فلن تعود سياسة

كانوا بها من أخسر التجار

Leave their claims aside: no policy will return

Through which they were among the traders who lost the most.

واحكم فما لوزارة العمال من

أمر ولا لوزارة الأحرار

And judge: the Labour ministry has no

Authority, nor does the Liberal ministry.

طلع النهار بما يسر وليس في

ضوء النهار مكامن الأسرار

Day has dawned with what delights, and in

Daylight there are no hiding places for secrets.

فَتْحُ السلامِ برأيك المتبوع لا

فتحُ الوغى بالجحفل الجرار

Peace's triumph through your heeded judgment, not

Battle's triumph through a vast marching host.

إني مودِّعك المشوق إلى غد

ولتحمدن عواقب التيار

I bid you farewell, longing for tomorrow,

And you shall surely praise the outcomes of the current.

ولترجعن إلى حماك موفقاً

بين المآرب فيه والأوطار

And you shall surely return to your sanctuary, successful,

Amid the aims and desires within it.

وأنا المبشر بالقريب من المنى

والصدق كل الصدق في أشعاري

And I bring glad tidings of wishes close at hand,

And truth—all truth—is in my verses.