رسل الإمام المقبلين صباحا

يهدون مصر سلامها الفياحا

O envoys of the Imam, arriving in the morning,

who bring Egypt her fragrant greeting.

كثرت إلينا سبلكم فاخترتمُ

في الجو ميداناً لكم ومراحا

Many were your paths to us, yet you chose

the sky as your arena and roaming ground.

عوجوا على الوادي المقدس واهبطوا

أرضاً تفيض لكم ندى وسماحا

Turn aside to the sacred valley, and descend

to a land overflowing for you with bounty and generosity.

إن تنزلوا أبراجها وقصورها

فلقد ملكتم قبلها الأرواحا

If you alight in its towers and palaces,

you had already won souls before them.

طرتم بأجنحة الحديد إلى حمىً

ودت رباه لو تكون رياحا

You flew on wings of iron to a protected land

whose hills wished they could become winds.

وطويتمُ الآفاق وهي صحيفة

تتلون فيها البينات فصاحا

And you folded up the horizons, which were a page

on which you recite the clear signs eloquently.

ورأيتم الأوطان حول مجازكم

متطلعات أجبلاً وبطاحا

And you saw the homelands around your passage

looking upward, mountains and plains alike.

ودنوتمُ والدهر سلمٌ بعد ما

ملأ الحماة الكائنات كفاحا

And you drew near, the age at peace, after

the defenders had filled all creation with struggle.

أنتم أحق بنضرة الوطن الذي

أضحى متاعاً للعباد مباحا

You are most entitled to the flourishing of the homeland that

has become a possession freely available to all people.

وعرفتمُ أبناءه إخوانكم

وأميره ذا النجدة المناحا

And you recognized its sons as your brothers,

and its prince, valorous and lavish in giving,

والنيل وهو يود لو يجري إلى

أخويه دجلة والفرات قراحا

and the Nile, wishing it could flow to

its two brothers, the Tigris and Euphrates, pure and clear.

أهل الفتوحات التي سلفت كفى

بالعلم بعد حسامكم فتاحا

O people of bygone conquests, let it suffice

that knowledge be the conqueror after your sword.

أهلاً بعهدكم الجديد معاوداً

ذاك الفخار الطائل الوضّاحا

Welcome to your new era, bringing back

that abundant, radiant glory.

إني رأيت غريمكم قد خافكم

فوفى ونجم الشرق عاد فلاحا

I saw that your adversary had come to fear you,

so he kept faith, and the star of the East returned in triumph.

لو تحرصون على بقيّة ملككم

أرجعتمُ ما فات منه وطاحا

Were you to guard what remains of your dominion,

you would regain what was lost of it and fell away,

وسبقتمُ أرقى الشعوب ورعتمُ

شوس الملوك تطاولاً وطماحا

and surpass the most advanced peoples, and overawe

the haughty kings with your lofty reach and ambition.

إن الأمانيَّ التي ناجيتها

صدقت فجئتكمُ بها صداحا

The wishes with which I communed

came true, so I came to you singing them aloud.

وشهدت موكبكم بها متأهِّباً

فشهدت مأمول النجاة متاحا

And I saw your procession ready for them,

so I witnessed the hoped-for deliverance within reach.

وسمعت عن آت الحياة حديثكم

فشربت من هذا الحديث الراحا

And I heard your talk of life's future,

so I drank wine from that discourse.

أنا من عرفتم قلبه متلهباً

والرأي حراً والبيان صراحا

I am the one whose heart you knew to be aflame,

with thought free and speech forthright.

أسوان في بلد حُرمتُ ربيعه

ولقيت لافح صيفه اللواحا

Sorrowful in a land whose spring was denied me,

I faced the scorching blast of its searing summer.

لو كان يحمل ذا الحنين حنينه

أصبحت في بوغازكم ملَّاحا

If the yearning one's longing could carry him,

I would become a sailor in your strait,

لأرى شمائل في فروقَ كريمة

وأرى وجوهاً في فروق مِلاحا

to see noble qualities in Furuq,

and see beautiful faces in Furuq.

وعساي فيها أسترد وديعة

عند الزمان وأتقي مجتاحا

And perhaps there I may reclaim a trust

in Time's keeping, and ward off a ravager.

فمروا النسيم بأن يقل متيماً

يأبى عليه البين أن يرتاحا

So command the breeze to carry a lovesick man

whom separation will not allow to rest.

كم بات يسمع بارقاً متكلماً

عنكم ويسأل بارقاً لمّاحا

How often he spent the night hearing a lightning flash speak

of you, and questioning a gleaming flash.

ولو استحال إباؤه وولاؤه

لكمُ سيوفاً أصبحا ورماحا

And were his proud defiance and his loyalty transformed,

they would become swords and spears for you.

هذي تحية شاعر غنى بها

لكمُ وباغته النعاة فناحا

This is the greeting of a poet who sang it

for you; bearers of death-news startled him, and he lamented.

ملأوا ليَ الأقداح سمّاً بعد ما

أبصرت أيامي عليّ شحاحا

They filled my cups with poison, after

I saw how miserly my days were toward me.

إن المسرّات التي في مهجتي

عادت سقاماً في الحشا وجراحا

The joys within my soul

have become sickness and wounds in my breast.

واستلّت الأقدار سلوة خافق

ألف الأسى وتعوّد الأتراحا

And the fates snatched away the solace of a beating heart

familiar with grief and accustomed to sorrows.

وبغى على العقبان عاتٍ عاصفٌ

أعياهمُ بأساً وطال جماحا

And a wild, raging storm assailed the eagles,

exhausting them with its might and raging unbridled for long.

ألقاهمُ من بعد ما جدُّوا به

مستأمنين وأوسعوه مزاحا

It cast them down, after they had striven against it,

seeking safety and showering it with jests.

وقعوا على الصخر الأصم وليتهم

وقعوا على المهج الصحاح صحاحا

They fell upon the unyielding rock; if only

they had fallen, safe and sound, upon sound hearts.

جاروا صلاح الدين ثم تجاوروا

تعلي دمشق مقامهم والساحا

They matched Salah al-Din, then became neighbors,

while Damascus exalts their station and their resting ground.

لم يذهب الملأ السيوف ضحية

إلا ليلقى اللاحقون نجاحا

The noble company—those swords—did not perish in sacrifice

except so that those who follow might attain success.

كم مفتد أوطانه أروى الثرى

دمه الذكي فأنبت الإصلاحا

How many a man redeeming his homelands watered the earth

with his fragrant blood, causing reform to sprout.

رعياً لأبطال تواروا بعد ما

رفعوا الحجاب وأوقدوا المصباحا

Blessings on heroes who passed from sight after

they lifted the veil and lit the lamp.

إخوانهم إن السبيل ممهد

فخذوه جواً أو خذوه براحا

Brothers of theirs, the path is paved,

so take it by air, or take it across open ground.

ولئن شفى أعداءكم دمكم فكم

أنجبتمُ لدمائهم سفاحا

And even if your blood has soothed your enemies, how many

slayers have you brought forth to shed their blood!

فخذوا بثارات الرجال وآخذوا

هذا الزمان بما أسرَّ وباحا

So exact vengeance for the men, and hold to account

this age for what it concealed and what it disclosed.