Sol 6.1

  1. أعيى عزائمَك القضاءُ الأغلبُ

    وطوى صحيفتك الزمان القلَّبُ

    All-conquering fate has exhausted your resolve,

    and fickle time has folded your page.

  2. أرأيت كيف يفاجئُ السباق في

    غاياته ويقاطع المتوثِّبُ

    Have you seen how it surprises the frontrunner at

    his finish lines, and cuts off the one poised to leap?

  3. أنسيت محنة مصر في سودانها

    أيام هام الجيش فيه يعذّبُ

    Have you forgotten Egypt's ordeal in her Sudan,

    in the days when the army wandered there in torment?

  4. أهملته حتى إذا فتكوا به

    أمسى فؤادك جمرة تتلهب

    You neglected it; only when they slaughtered it

    did your heart become a blazing ember.

  5. ولبثت تذكر ثأر غردونٍ إلى

    أن حانت الدعوى وآن المطلب

    And you kept speaking of avenging Gordon, until

    the claim's moment came, and the demand's time arrived.

  6. وسطوت سطوة قاهرٍ متعقِّبٍ

    يفضي إليه القاهر المتعقب

    And you struck with the force of a pursuing conqueror,

    to whom the pursued conqueror comes.

  7. وفتكت بالأقوام فتكة ناقمٍ

    لا يتقي لوماً ولا يتهيب

    And you slaughtered the peoples with an avenger's savagery,

    who neither guards against blame nor flinches.

  8. ما فكَّر المصريُّ في أسلابهم

    حتى غدا المصري فيما تسلب

    The Egyptian had scarcely thought of their spoils

    before the Egyptian himself became part of what you plunder.

  9. ولبثت تبدو في زخارف مخلص

    للقوم تخفي ما اعتزمت وتحجب

    And you kept appearing in the trappings of one devoted

    to the people, concealing and veiling what you had resolved.

  10. غافلتهم حيناً فلم يتلفتوا

    إلا ونابك فيهم والمخلب

    You beguiled them for a time; they did not look around

    until your fang and claw were sunk into them.

  11. لولا خضوع وزارة هيابة

    لم يستقم لك في السياسة مضرب

    Were it not for a fearful ministry's submission,

    you would have found no firm footing in politics.

  12. هل أنت فينا فاتح أو وارث

    أو قَيِّمٌ أعلى وجار أقرب

    Are you among us a conqueror or an heir,

    or a supreme guardian and a nearer neighbor?

  13. أو أنت فينا مصلح متطوِّع

    للخير أو مستأصل مستوعب

    Or are you among us a reformer volunteering

    for good, or an uprooter who leaves nothing behind?

  14. أينوّلُ الدستورَ قيصرُ قومَه

    وتقوم فينا تستبد وترهب

    Does Caesar bestow a constitution on his people,

    while you stand among us, tyrannizing and spreading fear?

  15. مصر الأحق برحمة أم موطن

    بدماء قومك مكتس مُتَخَضِّب

    Is Egypt more deserving of mercy, or a homeland

    clothed and dyed with your people's blood?

  16. ماذا أعد لأهل مصر من يرى

    أن الأحق بحكم مصر الأجنب

    What has he prepared for Egypt's people, the one who believes

    that the foreigner is more entitled to rule Egypt?

  17. أتطيل بينهم مقامك جاهداً

    وتقول لما يتعلموا ويهذبوا

    Do you strive to prolong your stay among them,

    and say, 'They have not yet learned or been refined'?

  18. إن أخصبت أو أيسرت فبأهلها

    وبنيلها تثري البلاد وتخصب

    If she has grown fertile or prosperous, it is through her people;

    and through her Nile the country grows wealthy and fertile.

  19. وهمُ بنو أبطالها وحماتها

    هل تنكرنَّ عليهمُ أن ينجبوا

    And they are the sons of her heroes and defenders;

    will you begrudge them distinction?

  20. أم تُغلقنَّ قلوبَهم وعقولهم

    من بعدما حفظوا العظات وجربوا

    Or will you seal their hearts and minds,

    after they have memorized the lessons and gained experience?

  21. أشركت في أوطانهم نزلاءهم

    ووهبتهم في مصر ما لا يوهب

    You made their guests partners in their homelands,

    and granted them in Egypt what must not be granted.

  22. وختمت عهدك بالذي اهتزت له

    أركان مكةَ واستعاذت يثرب

    And you ended your tenure with what set trembling

    the pillars of Mecca, and made Yathrib seek refuge.

  23. وتنفس الصعداء شعبٌ حاملٌ

    همّاً يضيق به الفضاء الأرحب

    And a people heaved a sigh of relief, bearing

    a grief that cramps even the widest expanse.

  24. قلنا وقلت فأينا المتنكر ال

    متنمر المتجبر المتصعب

    We spoke, and you spoke; which of us is the hostile one, the

    bully, the tyrant, the intractable one?

  25. ماذا كسبت وأنت عنا راحلٌ

    إلا الجفاء وبئس هذا المكسب

    What have you gained as you depart from us,

    except coldness—and a miserable gain it is!

  26. إن كان ذنباً بعدنا عن مظهر

    يوم الوداع فليس منا المذنب

    If our absence from a ceremony was a sin

    on farewell day, the sinner is not one of us.

  27. ماذا علينا لو أقمت مجاملاً

    حتى تفارقنا وأنت محبب

    What harm would it have done us had you remained courteous,

    until you left us, still beloved?

  28. هل كنت تزعم أن أمرك خالد

    في أهل مصر خلود مصر وتحسب

    Did you claim that your rule would endure forever

    among Egypt's people, as Egypt endures—and suppose it so?

  29. وتهين دينهم وتنكر عرشهم

    ولواءهم وتريد أن لا يغضبوا

    And you dishonor their religion and deny their throne

    and their banner, yet want them not to grow angry.

  30. وتسبهم أيام لبثك فيهمُ

    وتود بعد العزل أن يتأدبوا

    And you insult them throughout your stay among them,

    yet wish them to be polite after your dismissal.

  31. ما زال حزبك يكبرونك في الرضى

    والسخط حتى ألهوك فعوقبوا

    Your party kept exalting you in satisfaction

    and anger, until they deified you and were punished.

  32. أهلاً وسهلاً بالجديد وليتَنا

    كالناس نفرح بالجديد ونطرب

    Welcome to the newcomer! Would that we,

    like other people, could rejoice in the newcomer and be glad!

  33. عاشرتنا زمناً وديعاً طيِّباً

    فارجع كما أنت الوديع الطيب

    You lived among us for a time, gentle and good;

    so return as you are—the gentle and good one.

  34. لولا مخافة أن تقول شماتةً

    بالمستقيل سعى إليك الموكب

    Were it not for fear that you would call it gloating

    over the one who resigned, the procession would have hastened to you.

  35. هل تقتفي أثر القديم تمادياً

    أم أنت مأمور بما تستوجب

    Will you follow the old one's track, persisting,

    or are you commanded to do what you deem necessary?

  36. ويزيد في رحماك منصبك الذي

    بُلِّغته أم يزدهيك المنصب

    And will your office increase your compassion—the office that

    you were raised to—or will the office make you vain?

  37. ولكل يوم حالة ولكل أم

    ر جدة ولكل جيل مأرب

    And every day has its state, and every

    affair its newness, and every generation its aim.

  38. واليوم مصرٌ غيرُها في أمسها

    هممٌ تجدُّ وراصدٌ يترقب

    Today Egypt is not what she was yesterday:

    resolves strive hard, and a watcher waits alert.

  39. لا تعترض تيارَها فلربما

    غمر البلاد وأنت واه متعب

    Do not obstruct her current, for it may well

    flood the country while you are feeble and exhausted.

  40. وإذا عبستَ لها أبت ضيماً وإن

    حاسنت لان لك المراس الأصعب

    And if you scowl at her, she will refuse oppression; but if

    you treat her well, the hardest temper will soften for you.

  41. وأشد من سيف الكميِّ وناره

    قلم يجادل أو لسان يخطب

    And stronger than the armored warrior's sword and fire

    is a pen that debates, or a tongue that orates.

  42. ولقد يُردُّ الجيشُ في عددٍ ولا

    ترتد عاطفةٌ لشاكٍ ينحب

    And an army may indeed be turned back in force, but

    a sobbing sufferer's feeling cannot be driven back.

  43. والسر أيسر من تقيد خاطر

    ومردِّ ألسنة تبين وتعرب

    And secrecy is easier than fettering a thought

    and restraining tongues that speak clearly and express themselves.

  44. وطلابنا تحرير مصر طبيعة

    سيان فيها ساذجٌ ومدرَّب

    And our pursuit of Egypt's liberation is instinctive;

    in it, the novice and the trained are alike.

  45. كن بيننا كسواك ضيفاً راضياً

    تصفو لنا وله الحياة وتعذب

    Be among us, like anyone else, a contented guest,

    and life will become serene and sweet for us and him.

  46. لا يخدعنك فاتن متملقٌ

    غصّان بالخبر الشنيع مذبذب

    Let no beguiling flatterer deceive you—

    choking on vile news and wavering.

  47. فالشرق مهما اشتد عزمك مشرق

    والغرب مهما امتد حزمك مغرب

    For the East, however strong your resolve, remains the East,

    and the West, however far your prudence extends, remains the West.