سبق الثناء عليك والتبريكا — أحمد الكاشف

سبق الثناءَ عليك والتبريكا

أمل الرعية والبرية فيكا

Before praise and blessings upon you came

the hope your subjects and all creation place in you.

دامت مواسمك التي تحيي بها

مصراً ودام لك الزمان ضحوكا

May your festive seasons endure, through which you bring life

to Egypt; and may time ever smile upon you.

وليهن نيلك من جديد أموره

أن يخلف الصيدُ النيام النوكى

And may your Nile rejoice at this new turn in its affairs:

noble chiefs replacing the sleeping fools.

بالعيد أم بوزارة مختارة

يزجي البشائرَ والمنى مطريكا

Is it for the feast, or for a chosen ministry,

that your panegyrist offers glad tidings and hopes?

لم يتركوا لك أمرها وعنانها

إلا لتحمل عبأها المتروكا

They left you its affairs and reins

only to have you shoulder its abandoned burden.

نعمت صنائعك الكبيرة والأُلى

آثرت واستوزرت لو نصروكا

Fine are your great benefactions, and those whom

you favored and made ministers—if only they would support you!

لولا رضاك بهم وعهدك فيهمُ

ملأ الحمى المتطيرون شكوكا

But for your approval of them and your trust in them,

those fearing ill omens would have filled the realm with doubts.

فاحذر على وجدانهم عدوى الأُلى

سلفوا فإن دواهُمُ يعييكا

So guard their consciences against contagion from those

who went before, for treating them would exhaust you.

يا تابع الأجداد والآباء في

حكم البلاد أعد صنيع أبيكا

O follower of your forefathers and fathers in

ruling the land, repeat your father's deed.

وامنح رعيتك الذي سألوكه

وعلى الطغاة الأثم إن منعوكا

And grant your subjects what they asked of you;

and the guilt rests with the tyrants if they hinder you.

ماذا عليك إذا انتزعت أمورها

منهم وشاطرك الأمورَ بنوكا

What harm to you if you wrest control of its affairs

from them, and your sons share those affairs with you?

هذي نفوسهم لديك رهينةٌ

ولو استطاعوا غيرها منحوكا

These lives of theirs are held in pledge with you;

and if they could offer anything more, they would give it to you.

لا يسألونك مدفعاً وصوارماً

هم يسألونك آية من فيكا

They do not ask you for a cannon or keen swords;

they ask you for a sign from your mouth.

اليوم لا ترجو رعيتك التي

علَّمتَ إلا ما قضى راعيكا

Today your subjects hope for nothing—those whom

you have instructed—save what your shepherd decreed.

لك في الخليفة أسوة محمودة

ولتتبعنَّ سبيله المسلوكا

In the caliph you have a praiseworthy example,

and surely you will follow his well-trodden path.

أسوى الخليفة يستطيع شفاعة

فينا إليك لعله يرضيكا

Can anyone but the caliph intercede

for us before you, perhaps to please you?

يا مطلق الآمال كيف سباقها

إن لم يكن ميدانها ناديكا

O you who set hopes free, how can they race

if their arena is not your assembly?

أهلاً وسهلاً بالوفاق ومرحباً

لو كان فيه قضاء ما وعدوكا

Welcome to concord—a warm and hearty welcome—

if it means fulfilling what they promised you.

إن كنت مشترط الجلاء فواجبٌ

لك أن نودَّهمُ كما ودوكا

If you stipulate withdrawal, then it is a duty

we owe you to love them as they loved you.

خير لنا أن يعلنوا البغضاء من

أن يعلنوا لك موثقاً مفكوكا

Better for us that they declare their hatred than

that they proclaim to you a pledge with its bonds undone.

نعم الرضى عنهم إذا هم أسلموا

لك في البلاد الملك والتمليكا

It is good to approve of them when they surrender

to you dominion in the land and the power to bestow it.

حاسنتهم لترد عنا شبهة

كم حاربوك بها وما حربوكا

You dealt amicably with them to dispel a suspicion against us,

with which they often fought you, yet never despoiled you.

لم يفتنوك وإنما داريتهم

حيناً كما داراهم أهلوكا

They did not beguile you; you merely humored them

for a time, as your kin had humored them.

ما كان حباً ما ترى لكنه

كتم المخاتل سره المهتوكا

What you see was not love, but rather

the deceiver's concealment of his exposed secret.

أرأيت كيف وشى بكل مهذب

حرٍّ فكان الآفك المأفوكا

Have you seen how he slandered every refined

free man, and proved a deceiver himself deceived?

اليوم يشكونا إليك وما بنا

غير الوفاء وفي غد يشكوكا

Today he complains of us to you, though we have

nothing but loyalty; tomorrow he will complain of you.

أعيا على أوهامه ووعيده

هذا المراس فقام يستصفيكا

Despite his delusions and threats, he was worn out by

this struggle, and began to court your friendship.

ماذا ترى في قادرين يسوءهم

أنا نحسُّ وأننا نرجوكا

What do you think of powerful men distressed

that we feel, and that we place our hope in you?

حسبوا الرعية وهي عند يقينها

تُرْضِي العواذلَ فيك أم حسبوكا

Did they suppose the subjects, firm in their conviction,

would appease those reproaching them over you—or did they suppose you would?

هل كان مسمعك السلام مشاغباً

أم كان غير مشوّقٍ رائيكا

Was the one who greeted you a troublemaker,

or was the one who saw you unstirred by longing?

وعليك يجني أم على أعدائه

من لا يرى لك في البلاد شريكا

And does he wrong you, or his enemies—

the one who sees no partner for you in the land?

لم يبق غيرك للبلاد وأهلها

فاحرص على تأييد مستبقيكا

None but you remains for the land and its people;

so be intent on supporting whoever preserves you.

لك من يقينك والتجارب عاصم

للمخلصين يقيهم ويقيكا

You have in your conviction and experience a safeguard

for the loyal, protecting them and protecting you.

إنا لنطمع في النجاة وسبْلُها

شتى وحولك دولة تفديكا

We surely hope for deliverance, and its paths

are diverse; around you stands a state that would ransom you.

في آل عثمان لشعبك أسوة

ضمنت له استقلال مصر وشيكا

In the House of Osman your people have an example

that has assured them of Egypt's imminent independence.

فكأنني بك قد مددت إليهمُ

يدك التي تجدي الذي يجديكا

So it is as though I see you extending to them

your hand, which helps whoever helps you.

وكأنني بهمُ أتوك أعزة

يتداركون المُثقَلَ المنهوكا

And it is as though I see them come to you in might,

rescuing the burdened, exhausted one.

يا حبذا يوم الجلاء ولا نرى

جنداً يصول ولا دماً مسفوكا

How welcome the day of withdrawal, when we see no

troops charging, nor any blood spilled!

هذي خواطريَ الحسان وغيرتي

أرأيتني أغريك أم أوصيكا

These are my fine thoughts and my protective zeal;

do you see me inciting you, or counseling you?

لا راقني عيد بمصر وموسم

حتى يعود محرراً واديكا

May no feast or festive season in Egypt delight me

until your valley is free once more.