ولائي كما أخلصته لك دائم — أحمد الكاشف

ولائي كما أخلصتُه لك دائمُ

وحكمك بالإحسان والعدل دائمُ

My allegiance, as I sincerely devoted it to you, endures;

and your rule through benevolence and justice endures.

وحبك عندي حب مصر وأهلها

وما هو إلا الفرضُ والفرضُ لازم

And my love for you is love for Egypt and her people;

and it is nothing but duty, and duty is binding.

وتكريمك المشهود تكريم أمة

لك اجتمعت أعيادها والمواسم

And the public tribute to you is a nation's tribute;

for you, its festivals and seasons have come together.

وما الحزب والنادي الذي فيه يحْتفي

بك الحزب إلا دولة وعواصم

And the party and the club where homage is paid

to you by the party are nothing less than a state and its capitals.

وزاد لأحرار الحمى في جهادهم

وللصحُبِ الأبرار هذي الولائم

And sustenance for the free men of the homeland in their struggle,

and for righteous companions, are these banquets.

من الكوثر الخلدي ما أنت شارب

هنا ومن الفردوس ما أنت طاعم

From eternal al-Kawthar comes what you drink

here, and from Paradise comes what you eat.

ومن هذه الأخلاق يهديك ناثر

تحيتَه عطراً ويهديك ناظم

And from these virtues a prose writer offers you

his greeting as perfume, and a poet offers you his.

بلغت المدى المأمول في الملك سؤدداً

وأنت لرب الملك والملك خادم

You reached the hoped-for height of eminence in rule,

while serving the Lord of dominion and the king.

قضيت به حقاً عليك لدولة

علت واستوت أركانها والدعائم

Through it you fulfilled a duty you owed to a state

that rose high, its pillars and supports firmly set.

تواضعت فيه زاهداً وهو مأرب

سواك على ما فاته منه نادم

In it you humbled yourself, detached, though it is coveted;

another regrets what he has missed of it.

إذا كانت الأحزاب شتى فحسبها

وحسبك منها المستعد الملائم

If the parties are diverse, enough for them

and for you among them is the ready and fitting one.

وقد جمع اللّه القلوب فلم تجد

سبيلاً إلى تلك القلوب التمائم

And God has united hearts, so they found no

path into those hearts—those amulets.

إذا المثل الأعلى رأى من زمانه

له تبعاً هانت عليه العظائم

When the supreme exemplar sees in his age

followers of his own, great trials become easy for him.

وحسب الذي جافاك بالأمس أنه

على ما تجنّى من عتابك سالم

And enough for the one who shunned you yesterday is that,

despite his wrongdoing, he is safe from your reproach.

ومن لم يجد من نفسه وزمانه

مآباً إليك استدرجته المكارم

And whoever found in himself and his age no

way back to you was drawn on by noble deeds.

وليس الذي قربته وهو طائعٌ

كمثل الذي قربته وهو راغم

And one you brought close while willing is not

like one you brought close against his will.

وأكرم في الشحناء خصمٌ مدججٌ

لدى الحر من خصم مضى وهو شاتم

In enmity, a fully armed foe is more honorable

to a free man than a foe who goes away reviling.

وما أنت تياه على من نصرته

ولا متشفٍّ بالذي أنت هازم

You are not haughty toward anyone you helped to victory,

nor do you gloat over anyone you defeat.

معارك شتى لا تزال تخوضها

وليس بها غير القلوب غنائم

You still plunge into many different battles,

and their only spoils are hearts.

وما القدر المحتوم فيما ملكته

لواقعة إلا القوى والعزائم

And the ordained fate, in what you have commanded,

for a battle is nothing but strength and resolve.

رحمت فلسطين الأباة حماتُها

فكان جميع الشرق من أنت راحم

You showed mercy to Palestine, whose defenders will not yield,

so all the East became the object of your mercy.

وأدركتها من أن تبيد غزاتَها

وأبناءها تلك القنا والصوارم

And you saved her, lest her invaders be destroyed,

and her sons too, by those spears and keen swords.

ولو لم تشفعك المقادير فيهمُ

بهم خفيتْ أطلالها والمعالم

And had fate not made you an intercessor for them,

her ruins and landmarks would have vanished with them.

تكلَّم بالفولاذ كل مملَّكٍ

فكل ضمير فاحم منه جاحم

Every enthroned ruler spoke through steel,

and each of their coal-black consciences blazed.

وفي كل بر معقل منه سائر

وفي كل بحر معقل منه عائم

And on every land a fortress of it travels,

and on every sea a fortress of it floats.

وللخسف تحت العالمين وفوقهم

زلازل من أيديهمُ ورواجم

And for destruction beneath humankind and above them,

earthquakes and bombardments spring from their hands.

قيامة دنيا غير أن عذابها

على الأرض يلقاه بريءٌ وآثم

A worldly Day of Judgment, except that its torment

on earth is met by the innocent and the sinner alike.

ممالك في الدنيا لديك تهالكتْ

وأنت الموالي بينها والمسالم

Kingdoms across the world have collapsed before you,

while you, among them, are the friend and the man of peace.

وكل فريق راصد في مكانه

فلا الشر متروك ولا متفاقم

Each side keeps watch in its own place,

so evil is neither neglected nor allowed to worsen.

وليس وعيد الصاخبين بمنته

ولا عمل بعد الأقاويل حاسم

The clamorous ones' threats do not come to an end,

nor does any decisive action follow their talk.

إذا ما دعا مستبشر متفائل

أجاب العبوس المرجف المتشائم

Whenever a glad-hearted optimist calls,

the scowling, alarm-spreading pessimist replies.

وما عز سلطان لعات مسلطٍ

وسائله آثامه والجرائم

No glory attends a domineering tyrant's power

when his means are his sins and crimes.

ولا شعب في عصر العقول إلى الردى

يساق كما ترمَى إليه السوائم

Nor, in this age of reason, can a people be driven to ruin

as grazing beasts are cast into it.

وأنت وإن مكنت حصنك مشفق

على الخلق من أن يدهم الخلق داهم

And though you have fortified your stronghold, you fear

for humankind, lest a calamity suddenly overwhelm them.

إذا ما علت في الأرض دولتك استوى

هنالك مهدوم عليها وهادم

When your state rises high on earth, standing equal

there against it are the one destroyed and the destroyer.

من الشرق يأتي أم من الغرب عابث

وقد عرض الود العتيد المتاخم

Does a meddler come from the East or from the West,

when the ever-ready neighbor has offered friendship?

وجاك بالزلفى فردتْ سلامه

جواباً له منك الجيوش الخضارم

He came to you seeking favor, and his greeting was answered,

in reply to him from you, by vast armies.

أعادت إلى من جُنَّ بالغيب عقله

وفسرت الرؤيا لمن هو حالم

They restored the reason of one maddened by the unseen,

and interpreted the vision for the dreamer.

وكان الذي لاقاه وهو مدافع

نذيراً بما يلقاه وهو مهاجم

And what he encountered while defending

was a warning of what he would encounter while attacking.

وعاد مريد الحرب في الخلق باسمها

غريماً يقاضي تارة ويساوم

And he who sought war among humankind became, in its name,

a claimant, at times suing, at times bargaining.

ألح بها حيناً فلما تمثلت

له سكنت صيحاته فهو واجم

He pressed for it a while; but when it took shape

before him, his shouting ceased, and he fell silent with dismay.

وأقبل بالعهد الحليف رعاية

يخاصم في ميثاقه من تخاصم

And the ally came forward with a pledge of protection,

opposing, under his covenant, whomever you oppose.

وأصبح يدعو الترك في مصر بعد ما

تقضَّى زمانٌ وهو في الترك لائم

He began calling for the Turks in Egypt, after

a time had passed while he was censuring the Turks.

وقد كان يخشى جيشهم وهو راصدٌ

فأصبح يرجو جيشهم وهو قادم

He had feared their army while it lay in wait,

but now he hopes for their army as it approaches.

يلوذ بهم صحباً لمصر وخلفهم

أعاريب يسترعونها وأعاجم

He seeks refuge with them as Egypt's companions, and behind them

are Bedouin Arabs seeking her care, and non-Arabs.

وما قربته منك قربى ومنهمُ

ولكنها حاجاته وهو غارم

No kinship brought him near to you or to them;

rather, his needs did, while he was in debt.

وما تلك كتب بين مصر وبينهم

ولكنها تلك القلوب الحوائم

Those are not documents between Egypt and them,

but those hovering hearts.

تنافس فيك الجانبان سياسة

فكل قبيل منهما بك هائم

The two sides vied for you in politics,

so each of the two camps is enamored of you.

تخيرت معتزاً مكانك منهما

فلا أنت مظلوم ولا أنت ظالم

You chose, with pride, your place between them,

so you are neither wronged nor unjust.

كذلك يقضي البأس والبأس مالئٌ

يديك ويمضي الرأي والرأي حازم

Thus might decrees, and might fills

your hands; judgment holds sway, and judgment is resolute.

زحام حياة العالمين وما لها

بغير العتاد الضخم يقوى المزاحم

Life among humankind is a throng, and within it

no contender gains strength without massive armaments.

ولا يستوي فيها كميٌّ وأعزل

ولا تستوي عقبانها والحمائم

An armored warrior and an unarmed man are not equal in it,

nor are its eagles and its doves equal.

ولا خير في ملك إذا لم يكن له

ضراغم من أبنائه وقشاعم

There is no good in a kingdom unless it has

lions among its sons, and mighty birds of prey.

ختمت جهاد العالمين وإنما

لعود الفتوحات الكبار الخواتم

You have brought humankind's struggle to an end, yet

endings are only for the return of great conquests.

تعدُّهُمُ مستكملاً ما تريده

وأنت لهم فيه زعيم وحاكم

You prepare them, bringing what you desire to completion,

and in this you are their leader and ruler.

ومن صدقت أقواله ففعاله

رواة إلى الدنيا له وتراجم

And for one whose words prove true, his deeds

are his narrators and interpreters to the world.

وحسبيَ أني شاهدٌ ما صنعتَه

لمصر وأنّي بالعواقب عالم

And enough for me is that I witness what you have done

for Egypt, and that I know the outcomes.