لك في البلاد المهرجان الأكبر — أحمد الكاشف

لك في البلاد المهرجان الأكبرُ

يملى صحائفك الزمان وينشرُ

Yours is the greatest celebration in the land;

Time dictates your chronicles and publishes them.

أحيى ابن إسمعيل ليلة ذكره

فيها له بك خير ما تتذكر

Ismail's son revived the night of his remembrance;

on that night, through you, he has the best of what you remember.

أعطى الذي أعطى أبوه مباركاً

وأناله الجد الأجل الأشهر

He bestowed what his father had bestowed, blessed,

and his most exalted, most renowned grandfather had granted him:

قربان مصر إليك وهو مقدس

أضحت تثاب عليه مصر وتؤجر

Egypt's offering to you—and it is sacred—

for which Egypt now receives reward and recompense.

سر في المسامع والقلوب مكرماً

سمحاً يسايرك الربيع الأخضر

Go forth, honored, through ears and hearts,

gracious, with green spring keeping pace with you.

اليوم شارف كل فرد باب ما

تقضي السماء به له وتقدر

Today each person approaches the gateway to what

heaven decrees and ordains for him.

وخلا لمصر طريقها ومجازها

تختار فيه مصيرها وتقرر

And for Egypt her road and passage lie open;

there she chooses her destiny and decides.

أولى بهذي الغاية العظمى غداً

هذا الجهاد المستمر المثمر

Most deserving of this supreme goal tomorrow

is this unceasing, fruitful struggle.

يا مانح الشورى تعز بفضلها

مصر التي حررتها وتحرر

O giver of consultation, through its merit grows strong

Egypt, whom you have freed and continue to free.

أشركت شعبك في رعاية أمره

يرضيك منه مهيمن ومسيطر

You have made your people partners in managing their affairs;

an overseer and one in command from among them please you.

عبء قد احتملته عنه كواهل

قويت وأنت لها المعين الأقدر

A burden shoulders have borne on their behalf;

they have grown strong, and you are their most capable helper.

سر حرصت عليه ثم أذعته

وكذا يسر المطمئن ويجهر

A secret you guarded closely, then made public;

thus the assured one keeps secrets and speaks openly.

المستشيرُ بكل أمرٍ ظافرٌ

والمستبد وإن يصب متعثر

He who seeks counsel succeeds in every matter;

and the autocrat stumbles, even when he is right.

ومظاهر الملك المؤيد تاجه

ولواؤه ومناره والمنبر

And the emblems of upheld kingship are its crown,

its banner, its beacon, and the pulpit.

ودعائم استقلال كل عشيرة

آثارها وخلالها والعنصر

And the pillars of every tribe's independence

are its heritage, its virtues, and its ancestry.

ووثيقة للشعب طاعته إذا

أرضى الوزير الشعب والمستوزر

And the people's obedience is assured when

the minister pleases the people and the one who appoints him.

يا صاحب البلد الأمين وإنه

لأبر ما تحت السماء وأطهر

O master of the secure land—indeed, it

is the most righteous and purest beneath heaven.

رجع العتاة إليه سلماً بعدما

وثبوا عليه مرجفين وأنذروا

The tyrants returned to it peacefully, after

they had assailed it, spreading alarm and issuing threats.

ووفى له أحرارهم فتهافتوا

يتلمسون رضاه وهو مخير

And their free men kept faith with it and rushed forward,

seeking its approval, while it was free to choose.

وغدا القليل الفخم فيما قدّموا

سبب الجليل الضخم فيما أخروا

And the small yet splendid part of what they offered became

the cause of the great and vast part of what they deferred.

وإذا خلا الجمعان من بيض ومن

سود إليك مضى الغريب الآخر

And when the two hosts are empty of whites and of

blacks, the other stranger will make his way to you.

حرية الإنسان حق شائع

فيه استوى باديه والمتحضر

Human freedom is a right shared by all;

in it, desert-dweller and city-dweller stand equal.

اللّه سخر أرضه لعباده

ونهاهم أن يرهقوا ويسخِّروا

God placed His earth at His servants' disposal,

and forbade them to oppress and enslave.

هل ضاق يوماً عن بنيه موطن

فيبيح مأوى الآمنِ المستعمرُ

Has a homeland ever been too narrow for its sons,

that the colonizer should violate the refuge of one living in safety?

يا آل مصر تنافست زعماؤكم

فكلوا الأمور لهم جميعاً وانظروا

O people of Egypt, your leaders have competed;

so entrust affairs to them all, and watch.

سيؤلف القدر المحتم شملهم

ويعود نائيهم ويصفو الأكدر

Inevitable fate will unite their ranks;

and their distant one will return, and the murkiest will clear.

يا حبذا فصل الخطاب به اكتفى

مرتابكم وتفاءل المتطير

How welcome the decisive word: it was enough for

your doubter, and the omen-fearer grew hopeful.

هل بعد هذا النور في آياته

لكمُ يهيم مؤول ومفسر

After this light in its signs, can

an interpreter or commentator wander astray for you?

طوت السنين مراحلاً حتى انتهت

عدد السنين إليه هذي الأسطر

They traversed the years as stages, until they reached

it—these lines, as many in number as the years.

وخلا فريق بالكتاب يخطه

وأتى فريق بالكتاب يبشر

And one group secluded itself with the document, writing it;

and another came with the document, bearing good news.

شغل القرائح والنفوس ليالياً

شغل الوغى فيها أخف وأصغر

It occupied creative minds and souls for nights,

during which the toil of battle was lighter and less.

إن الألى صبروا على عنت العدى

أولى إلى يوم الندى أن يصبروا

Indeed, those who endured their foes' oppression

should all the more endure until the day of bounty.

وإذا أتى ميعاد مقدور فما

تستصعبون مذلَّلٌ وميسر

And when the destined appointed time comes, what

you deem difficult is tamed and made easy.

أكبرتم نعمى أخ ونعيذكم

أن تجهلوا نعمى أخ أو تنكروا

You have prized a brother's kindness, and we would shield you

from failing to recognize a brother's kindness or denying it.

أنرى من الأعمى الأصم سكوته

ذنباً ويعتذر السميع المبصر

Shall we regard the blind, deaf man's silence

as a sin, while the hearing, seeing man makes excuses?

هذي عقيدتكم وذاك يقينكم

تتغير الدنيا ولا يتغير

This is your creed, and that your certainty;

the world changes, but it does not.

نلتم به ما لم ينله قشعم

ماضي الجناح ولم ينله قسور

Through it you attained what no mighty eagle attained,

swift of wing, nor did a lion attain it.

وغدوتمُ في الشرق أكبر قدوة

لشعوبه تغريهمُ وتسيِّر

And you have become the greatest example in the East

for its peoples, inspiring them and guiding them onward.

سيروا على حذر من الدنيا وإن

ضاء الدجى واستأنس المتنمر

Go forward, wary of the world, even if

the darkness shines and the tiger-like aggressor grows tame.

وتناولوا هذا النصيب وجاهدوا

في غيره واسترسلوا واستكثروا

And take this share, and strive

for more; press onward and seek abundance.

يحميكم الرأي الموفق قبلما

يحميكمُ أسطولكم والعسكر

Sound judgment protects you before

your fleet and army protect you.