حسب البلاد تنبؤا وتكهنا — أحمد الكاشف

حسب البلاد تَنَبُّؤاً وتكهُّنا

يا قوم أين نضالكم حول المنى

The country has had enough of prediction and conjecture.

O people, where is your struggle for your hopes?

قد كاد مؤتمر الخلافة ينقضي

من قبل أن يقضي بمقدور لنا

The caliphate conference has nearly ended

before deciding what is allotted to us.

ما للرسول قليلةٌ أنباؤه

وجد الطريق كما يود أم انثنى

Why are the envoy's reports so few?

Has he found the way he wishes, or turned back?

حامت هواجس من هنالك منكمُ

وأضرُّ عاقبةً هواجسُ من هنا

The misgivings of those of you over there have hovered;

and more harmful in outcome are the misgivings of those here.

قد راعني متشائماً متطيراً

من راقني متفائلاً متيمنا

He has alarmed me, pessimistic and fearing ill omens—

he who pleased me, optimistic and trusting in good omens.

إني حزنت عليكمُ وعجيبةٌ

أن نحمل البلوى وأن لا نحزنا

I have grieved for you, and strange it is

that we should bear affliction yet not grieve.

يا ويحكم من محنة لو أنها

نزلت من الباغي لكانت أهونا

Alas for you—what an ordeal! Had it

come from the oppressor, it would have been easier.

هل نبعث البدنَ الدفينَ من الثرى

ونخط للروح القوي المدفنا

Shall we raise the buried body from the earth

and mark out a burial place for the mighty spirit?

والحيُّ أولى بالندى من بائدٍ

بالٍ وإن جاز الكواكب ما بنى

The living deserve bounty more than one long dead,

decayed, though what he built surpassed the stars.

في الحاضر الجاري لمصر مشاغلٌ

عما حوى تاريخ مصر ودونا

In the unfolding present, Egypt has concerns

that distract it from what Egypt's history contains and records.

وطِلابها البطلُ المنجِّي قبلما

تطري وترعى الصانع المتفننا

It seeks the hero who will save it, before

it extols and supports the accomplished craftsman.

أين المعيد إلى البناء رواءه

بعد الذي بدأ البناء وكونا

Where is he who restores the building's splendor,

after him who began the building and brought it into being?

أولى بمن ذكر القديم وقد نأى

أن يستعد لما أتى ولما دنا

It is better for one who recalls the past, now far away,

to prepare for what has arrived and what draws near.

وأحق بالذكرى سجايا أمة

من قبل ذكرك أصلها والمعدنا

And worthier of remembrance are a nation's virtues,

before you recall its origin and its stock.

جل المجاهد في اختيار مصيره

عن أن يتيه بأمسه أو يفتنا

The struggler, choosing his destiny, is too noble

to vaunt his past or be beguiled by it.

عندي سرائر لا أبوح بها وإن

كانت جوىً عندي وكانت لي ضنى

I hold secrets I do not divulge, even though

they are burning grief within me and a wasting sickness to me.

أغلالُ نيلكمُ أخفُّ عقوبةً

من أن يغرَّبَ حرُّكم أو يسجنا

Your Nile's fetters are a lighter punishment

than for your free man to be exiled or imprisoned.

وتزلزل الوادي أقل كريهة

من أن يهون لواؤكم أو يغبنا

And the valley's upheaval is a lesser calamity

than for your banner to be humbled or slighted.

هل تحجمون وخصمكم متأهبٌ

متلهفٌ جبنُ الرجال هو الخنى

Will you hold back while your adversary is ready,

eager? Cowardice in men is baseness.

أطمعتموه فاستطال عليكمُ

متنمراً وانساب فيكم مثخنا

You have emboldened him, so he has lorded it over you,

acting like a tiger, and slipped among you, inflicting grievous wounds.

بذلُ الجريءِ حياتَه كحياتِه

والموتُ كل الموت في أن يجبنا

For the bold man, sacrificing his life is as living it;

and death, utter death, lies in his turning coward.

إني لأخشى ذلك الجوَّ الذي

بهر العيون تقلُّباً وتلوُّنا

I indeed fear that atmosphere which

has dazzled the eyes with its shifts and changing colors.

وأخاف أن تسعى صلالُ دهاتِه

من بعد ما عبثت عواصفه بنا

And I fear the vipers of its schemers may slither forth,

after its storms have played havoc with us.

طالت وعودهمُ فصارت عادة

منهم سئمناها وعادت ديدنا

Their promises dragged on until they became a habit

of theirs; we tired of them, and they became a fixed routine.

جربتم الأسباب وهي كثيرة

فاخترتم العف الصريح الليِّنا

You tried the means, and they are many,

so you chose the upright, forthright, gentle man.

ورأيتم الشرق العتيد مسايراً

ووجدتمُ الغرب العنيد مؤمَّنا

You saw the ready East keeping pace,

and found the obstinate West secure.

لا صلح بعد خصومة إلا إذا

وثق الغريم من الغريم وأيقنا

There is no peace after hostility unless

one adversary trusts the other and feels certain.

ما نحن أسلاب الطعين المرتمي

يوماً ولسنا بالمتاع المقتنى

We are not the spoils of a stabbed, fallen man,

at any time, nor are we possessions to be acquired.

ملكَ البلادِ وفيك سلوتُها لدى

ما كابدت من دهرها فيما جنى

O king of the land, in you is its consolation amid

what it has suffered from the wrongs of time.

وموِّطدَ الآمالِ وهي مكارمٌ

لك أطلقت أقلامنا والألسنا

And fortifier of hopes—these are noble deeds

of yours that have unleashed our pens and tongues.

ومبشرَ الأوطانِ باستقلالها

متأهباً بالبأس فيها والغنى

And herald of the homelands' independence,

prepared with might and wealth within them.

قد أعلن الشعب الأمين وحسبه

إخلاصه للتاج فيما أعلنا

The loyal people have declared—and enough for them

is their devotion to the crown in what they declared.

ورعى لجدك فضله وكفى به

لك ناصراً ولعرش مصر ممكّنا

They have honored your grandfather's merit, and they suffice

as your champion and the upholder of Egypt's throne.

ما في الضمائر غير ما ترضى به

أو ما رأيت وجوهنا والأعينا

There is nothing in our hearts but what pleases you;

or have you not seen our faces and our eyes?

أكبرت للشعب الأمين جهاده

ورعى أمانة من أنال وأحسنا

You have honored the loyal people's struggle,

and they have kept faith with the one who bestowed and did good.

وأعدَّ للحرية الزهراء ما

ترجوه فاستكمل قواه مهيمنا

And they have prepared for radiant freedom what

it hopes for, and perfected their strength, in command.

وخذوا السجل بكل شرط عادل

للجانبين معاهداً أن تضمنا

And take the document, with every condition fair

to both sides, pledging that you will guarantee it.

حكم المرافق ما ترى ولغيرنا

ولغيرهم حكم القواضب والقنا

The rule of mutual benefit is what you see; for others than us

and others than them is the rule of keen swords and spears.

ماذا عليهم لو تواصوا بالذي

قضت السماء ليسكنوا ولنسكنا

What harm to them if they urged one another toward what

Heaven decreed, so they may be at peace and we may too?

فلعلهم يجدون ودَّ مجاملٍ

من بعد ما وجدوا المراس الموهنا

Perhaps they will find a courteous man's goodwill,

after encountering struggle that sapped their strength.

إن الذي أذن الزمان ببعضه

لمبشر بجميعه أن تأذنا

Indeed, what time has permitted in part

surely heralds the whole, should you give leave.

ما الفاتح الغازي أجل مآثراً

من ناصح جمع القلوب وحصَّنا

The conquering warrior is no greater in glorious deeds

than a sincere adviser who united hearts and fortified them.

في جدِّك المثل العظيم وقدوة

لك في أب عمر البلاد ومدَّنا

In your grandfather lies the great example, and a model

for you in a father who built up and civilized the land.

لك طاعةٌ ومحبةٌ من أمة

أغنيتها لسواك عن أن تذعنا

You have obedience and love from a nation

you have freed from needing to submit to anyone else.

إنا إلى فصل الخطاب بحاجة

من بعد ما وضح الهدى وتبينا

We stand in need of a decisive pronouncement,

now that guidance has become clear and manifest.

شيعاً وأحزاباً نسير وما لنا

إلا رضى التاج المؤلف بيننا

In factions and parties we march, with nothing

but the favor of the crown that brings us together.

فإذا استرد الشعب سابق شمله

فقد استرد كيانه والموطنا

If the people regain their former unity,

then they have regained their very being and their homeland.

نغدو وعند ممالك الدنيا لنا

من حرمةٍ ما للممالك عندنا

We shall come to enjoy, among the world's kingdoms,

the same respect those kingdoms enjoy among us.

فتسرنا العقبى وترضينا وكم

أرضى وكم سر الثواب المؤمنا

Then the outcome will delight and satisfy us; how often

has reward pleased—and how often gladdened—the believer!