يا عيد الاستقلال أن

تَ لهُ خيال أم حقيقَهْ

O Independence Day, are you

its phantom, or its reality?

للعتق أم للرقِّ ما

خطّوه في تلك الوثيقه

Was it for freedom or for bondage—

what they inscribed in that document?

أبمهرجان تحتفي ال

ظمأى وتحتفل الغريقه

Does she rejoice at a festival—the

thirsty one—and does the drowning one celebrate?

وتنال مصر مرامها

من بعد ما سدّوا طريقه

And can Egypt attain her goal

after they have blocked the road to it?

يتكلفون الصالحا

ت لها وتأباها السليقه

They affect good deeds

for her, though their nature rejects them.

إن أطلقوا أمس البلا

د فمنهمُ ليست طليقه

Even if yesterday they freed the land,

she is not free of them.

وحديقة أضحت ولَ

كن للغريب جنى الحديقه

And she has become a garden, but

the garden's fruit belongs to the foreigner.

وإن استبد بنيلها

قتل الشقيقة بالشقيقه

And if he monopolizes her Nile,

he kills one sister through another.

هل تملك اليوم اختيا

ر مصيرها الأمم المسوقه

Can they choose today

their fate, these herded nations?

ليس التعلل بالمنى

سبباً إلى العقبى السحيقه

Taking comfort in wishes is no

means to the far-off outcome.

أيضن بالغيث السحا

ب وطالما والى بروقه

Does the cloud withhold the rain,

though it has long sent lightning flash after flash?

في بوقه نفخ النذي

رِ وقد بلوناه وبوقه

The warning herald has blown his trumpet,

and we have tested him and his trumpet.

أي الأذى بعد الذي

ذقناه نخشى أن نذوقه

What harm, after what

we have tasted, do we fear to taste?

أيريد ما في سوقنا

نهباً ولا نرتاد سوقه

Does he want what is in our market

as plunder, while we do not frequent his market?

يا دولة نأبى عدا

وتها ونرضاها صديقه

O state, we reject your enmity

and accept you as a friend.

هل تنزلين بنا الهوا

ن ولا نحاول أن نعوقه

Would you bring humiliation upon us

without our trying to prevent it?

لا أنت راحمة ولا

مصر الأبية بالمطيقه

You are not merciful, nor

can proud Egypt bear it.

واحرَّ أكباد إلى

حرية الوادي مشوقه

Ah, the burning livers, yearning for

the valley's freedom!

هذا ذكيّ دمي لها

أجد الرضا في أن أريقه

Here is my fresh blood, for her;

I find contentment in shedding it.

أجريه شعراً يملأ ال

دنيا ويستصغي الخليقه

I let it flow as verse that fills the

world and makes all creation listen.

أجد السلُوَّ وأتقي

نكدَ الزمان به وضيقه

I find solace, and ward off

with it the misery of time and its distress.

وأعيد أيام الشبا

ب الغض فاخرة أنيقه

And I bring back the days of

tender youth, splendid and graceful.

من سار في تياره ال

يوم استحق غداً رحيقه

Whoever follows its current

today deserves its nectar tomorrow.

من نال من ضخم العظا

ت ينل من الملح الرشيقه

Whoever partakes of weighty admonitions

will partake of graceful witticisms.

أتخاذلٌ زعماءَ مص

ر أمام هاوية عميقه

Do you forsake one another, leaders of Egypt,

before a deep abyss?

أي العقاب أحق بال

رجل الذي يؤذي رفيقه

Which punishment is most fitting for the

man who harms his companion?

عاد الغريم لمصر يع

بس بعد خدعته الدقيقه

The adversary has returned to Egypt,

scowling after his subtle deception.

يقضي بشدة بأسه

فيها لدعواه الرقيقه

He judges by his overwhelming might,

within her, in favor of his flimsy claim.

فإن افترقتم عنده

كنتم جميعكم فريقه

So if you split before him,

you will all be on his side.

إن تستفق منه فما

هي منكمُ بالمستفيقه

If she recovers from him,

she will not recover from you.

برهانكم ما تعملو

ن اليوم لا التحف العتيقه

Your proof is what you do

today, not antique treasures.

بجديدها وقديمها

تتأهب الأمم العريقه

With their new and their old,

long-established nations make ready.