جدد لمصر شبابها المأمولا

وأعد لها أفراح إسماعيلا

Renew for Egypt her longed-for youth.

And restore to her the joys of Ismail.

وأَرِحْ بيمن المهرجان وسعده

قلباً بكل عظيمة مشغولا

And soothe, with the festival's blessing and good fortune,

A heart preoccupied with every weighty affair.

وتَلَقَّ من دار الخلافة شاكراً

وفداً يحيّي عرشك المحمولا

And gratefully receive from the seat of the caliphate

A delegation saluting your throne, borne aloft.

مستقبلاً من كل إقليم له

بالتهنئات الغاليات رسولا

Welcoming, from each of its provinces,

A messenger bearing precious congratulations.

زلفى يقر بها العباد وموسم

عال تقدمه الربيع جزيلا

A favor in which the people find contentment, and a festival

Lofty, preceded by a bounteous spring.

عرس الإمارة عرس مصر وأهلها

والنيل إذ جارى نداك النيلا

The princely wedding is the wedding of Egypt and her people,

And of the Nile, as your generosity rivaled the Nile.

فرح العزيز ببنته مجلوة

فرح البلاد برغدها موصولا

The sovereign's joy in his daughter, unveiled as a bride,

Is joined to the nation's joy in its prosperity.

اللّه زان كرائماً أنجبتها

بالصالحات فزادها تجميلا

God adorned the noble daughters you begot

With virtues, thus enhancing their beauty.

الكابرات مخايلاً وشمائلاً

والطاهرات منابتاً وأصولا

Noble in bearing and in character,

And pure in their roots and ancestry.

خير البنات أبوَّةً وأمومةً

خير النساء بنوة وبعولا

The finest daughters in paternal and maternal lineage,

The finest women in offspring and husbands.

أهدى الأمير إلى فروقَ نبيلةً

منه وأهدى الصدرُ مصرَ نبيلا

The prince bestowed on Furuq a noblewoman

From his family, and the Grand Vizier bestowed on Egypt a nobleman.

عقدوا على النعمى لنائلها ضحىً

وأتت بموكبها إليه أصيلا

In the forenoon they wed this blessing to the man who won her;

And in late afternoon she came to him with her procession.

زَفُّوا الرفاء إلى الوفاء وإنما

زفوا إلى الملك الكريم بتولا

They escorted harmony to fidelity; in truth,

They escorted a virgin bride to the noble king.

الشعب أوفد بالولاء سراتَه

واللّه أوفد بالرضى جبريلا

The people sent their nobles in allegiance,

And God sent Gabriel in approval.

يلقى على العَلَوِيِّة الزهراء ري

حانا ويهدي التاج والإكليلا

Upon the radiant Alawi lady he scatters sweet

Basil, and offers the crown and wreath.

سالت ضروب الحيِّ وهو مكبِّرٌ

زمراً تسابق للنعيم سيولا

All sorts of townsfolk streamed forth, proclaiming God's greatness,

In throngs, racing like torrents toward bliss.

يا بنت خير أبٍ وحسبك عدله

فينا على استقلال مصر دليلا

O daughter of the finest father—his justice is enough for you,

Among us, as proof of Egypt's independence.

يا أخت خير أخ وإن لمصر في

غده ضميناً بالنجاة كفيلا

O sister of the finest brother; surely Egypt has, in

His future, a guarantor of deliverance, a surety.

حياك جيش أبيك وهو مدجج

فكأنه متأهب ليصولا

Your father's army saluted you, fully armed,

As though it were poised to charge.

غنتك في ميدانه أعلامُه

خفقاً وغنتك السيوف صليلا

Its banners sang to you upon its parade ground,

With their fluttering, and the swords sang to you with their ringing.

إن سار هذا الركب من قصر إلى

قصر فقد أخذ القلوب سبيلا

If this procession traveled from palace to

Palace, it has surely taken hearts as its path.

ستمر بالمدن المواكب سمحة

غرّاً وتجتاز العباب ذلولا

The processions will pass through the cities graciously,

Radiant, and cross the surging sea, subdued.

وتؤمُّ عاصمة الخلافة نضرةً

والحصنَ حراً والخليج صقيلا

And make for the caliphate's capital, radiant,

And the free fortress and the gleaming gulf.

يستقبلون جلالك استقبال من

يرعى لجدّك عهده المسئولا

They will welcome your majesty as those

Who honor their binding pledge to your grandfather.

يتذكرون جهاده وفتوحه

وصنيعه والطيبات الأولى

They remember his struggles and his conquests,

And his benefactions, and the good things of old.

متوسمين وزهر روضك بينهم

عصراً كما ترجو البلاد وجيلا

Foreseeing—with the blossom of your garden among them—

An age and a generation such as the land hopes for.

لم تتركي صرحاً هنا متعالياً

إلا لتمتلكي هنالك غيلا

You left no towering palace here

Save to possess a lion's thicket there,

وتجدّدي نعماً تساير أنعماً

لأبيك في تلك المواطن طولى

And renew blessings that keep pace with the blessings

Of your father in those lands, so far-reaching.

وفت الليالي للبلاد وإنما

وفَّى المدين غريمه الممطولا

The nights kept faith with the land; it was only that

The debtor repaid his creditor, so long kept waiting.

وتدارك النصر المبين جوانحاً

كادت تثور ضغينة وغليلا

And manifest victory rescued hearts

That nearly erupted in rancor and burning resentment.

وترقَّبَ السلم البهيج دعاته

والصلح عند أباته مقبولا

And its advocates awaited joyous peace,

And reconciliation acceptable to those who had refused it.

أَرْضَيْتَ يا عباس كل موحد

وأعنت هذا المشرق المخذولا

You have pleased, O Abbas, every monotheist,

And aided this forsaken East.

أيقظته وبعثت فيه حياته

ورفعت عبئاً عن بنيه ثقيلا

You awakened it and revived its life within it,

And lifted a heavy burden from its sons.

لو كان في أمرائه ما فيك من

حزم لجاز مدى أخيه عجولا

Had its princes possessed what you have of

Resolve, it would swiftly have surpassed its brother's reach.

حسب الخليفة من صِلاتك أن يرى

لك في حماه سليلة وسليلا

Enough for the caliph, among your gifts, is to see

A daughter and a son of yours under his protection:

بطلاً يرد إلى الخلافة مجدها

ويقود جيش الملك والأسطولا

A hero who restores the caliphate's glory

And commands the realm's army and the fleet.

أعلنت للقوم الأمانيَّ التي

نعمت نفوسُهُمُ بها تعليلا

You proclaimed to the people the hopes

In which their souls found happy consolation.

وهمُ أصحُّ عقيدة من أن يروا

في مصر غيرك نائلاً ومنيلا

And their faith is too sound for them to see

In Egypt anyone but you as receiver and bestower.

إن الذي هبط البلاد تعده

ضيفاً وإن طال المنى ونزيلا

Indeed, the man who came to the country you count

A guest and a sojourner, however far his hopes extend.

يتلو الرعيةُ في جبينك آيةً

مشروحةً لا تقبل التأويلا

The subjects read upon your brow a verse

Plainly explained, admitting no reinterpretation.

لم يعلموا نجواك حتى أصبحوا

أزكى الشعوب خلائقاً وعقولا

They did not know your private counsel until they became

The purest of peoples in character and intellect.

إن أصبحوا خير القبائل مالكاً

فلأنت خير المالكين قبيلا

If they have become the best of tribes through their ruler,

You are surely the best of rulers through your tribe.

أمنوا الخطوب وطالما هزَّتهمُ

هزّ الجريح حسامه المفلولا

They are safe from calamities, which so often shook them

As a wounded man shakes his notched sword.

أزلفت تهنئتي وحسبي أن أرى

حَكَماً لديك وشاهدين عدولا

I have brought my congratulations near; enough for me to see

An arbiter before you and two upright witnesses,

يتداركون الشاعر المطبوع من

أغلاله والمخلصَ المجبولا

Who rescue the naturally gifted poet from

His shackles, and the man whose loyalty is inborn.