أعد يا فتى الوادي مطافك في القرى

فيومك فيه بعد أمسك عيدُ

Repeat, O youth of the valley, your circuit through the villages.

For your day there, after your yesterday, is a festival.

ولاق من الترحاب في كل جانب

وناحية ما تشتهي وتريد

And receive, from the welcome on every side,

And in every quarter, whatever you desire and wish.

وللشهداء الذكريات تعيدهم

فهم حضَّرٌ فيمن جمعت شهود

And as for the martyrs, memories bring them back;

They are present, witnesses among those you have gathered.

لقد عرف الغلاب ما أنت نائل

وما زال يقوى حوله ويزيد

The conqueror has learned what you will attain,

And his might keeps growing stronger and greater.

وأدرك ما تخفي وما أنت معلن

فما هز وعدٌ عطفَهُ ووعيد

He has understood what you conceal and what you proclaim;

Neither promise nor threat has swayed him.

وهل من له هذي القلوب تحبه

كمثل الذي نار له وحديد

Is he whom these hearts love

Like him who has fire and iron?

وهل تدفع الفتاكَ وهو مدججٌ

معاقلُ عُزْلٌ دونه وجنود

Can the deadly assailant, fully armed, be repelled

By unarmed strongholds and troops in his path?

وهل تدفع الصيحات في غير مشفق

ولو أنها في مسمعيه رعود

Can cries drive back one who knows no fear,

Even if they are thunderclaps in his ears?

وهل تخرج المحتلَّ مصرُ وحولها

مغيرٌ قريب يحتذيه بعيد

Can Egypt expel the occupier, when around her

A nearby invader is imitated by a distant one?

وهل بعد تمهيد الحماة لفاتح

ترد تخومٌ فاتحاً وحدود

And after the defenders have paved the way for a conqueror,

Can frontiers and borders turn a conqueror back?

ولا شمل بين العاملين مؤلف

ولا رأي بين القائلين سديد

No common bond unites those who act,

Nor is there sound judgment among those who speak.

أمن أزمات المال أرثي لأمة

وبي من تعاديها مآزم سود

Is it for financial crises that I pity a nation,

While its mutual hostility leaves me in dark straits?

وإنيَ لا أدري أفي مصر سادة

بنو مصر أم هم للنزيل عبيد

And I do not know: are they masters in Egypt,

Egypt's sons—or are they slaves to the newcomer?

وفي كل يوم للغريب تقلبٌ

فهل في انقلاب اليوم منه جديد

And each day the foreigner changes his stance;

Is there anything new from him in today's reversal?

وهل غيرّ المندوب ما خط قبله

من السيرة النكراء أمس عميد

And has the commissioner changed what was laid down before him,

That odious course of conduct set by a chief yesterday?

فإن فك قيداً عن غضاب يروضهم

فما برحت في الملك منه قيود

If he loosens a shackle from angry men to tame them,

His shackles still remain upon the realm.

نعالجه بالعتب حيناً وبالرضا

عسى أحد الأمرين فيه يفيد

We approach him with reproach at times, and with approval,

Hoping one of the two approaches will have an effect on him.

وما هو إلا راصد بشباكه

يخادع أو صعب المراس شديد

And he is only one lying in wait with his nets,

Deceiving, or one fierce and hard to contend with.

فهل عجزت في مصر كل زعامة

وما أعوزتها عدة وعديد

Has all leadership in Egypt proved powerless,

Though lacking neither equipment nor manpower?

وليس يبالي المستعد لحقه

بحجته أن الغريم عنيد

And one prepared to claim his right cares not—

Armed with his proof—that his adversary is stubborn.

ومن قاد جمعاً ليس يدري مصيره

فقد سار فيمن قاد وهو وحيد

Whoever leads a crowd that knows not where it is bound

Has walked among those he led, yet is alone.

إذا فرط الأبناء لم يغن عزهم

بما مد آباء وشاد جدود

If the sons are remiss, their glory will not avail them—

Glory in what fathers extended and grandfathers built.

وهل بعد تمهيد الحماة لفاتح

ترد تخومٌ فاتحاً وحدود

And after the defenders have paved the way for a conqueror,

Can frontiers and borders turn a conqueror back?