عنيت بحزبك حتى اكتمل — أحمد الكاشف

عنيت بحزبك حتى اكتملْ

وسرت بركبك حتى وصلْ

You tended your party until it was complete.

And you journeyed with your caravan until it arrived.

وجئت الرفاق بفضل الخطاب

وأشهدتهم ثمرات العمل

And you came to the comrades with eloquent speech,

And showed them the fruits of labor.

وحملت كل أخ عبئه

وأنت المعين على ما حمل

And you charged each brother with his burden,

And you are his helper in what he bears.

ومن طاف حولك فهو الرشيد

ومن جد خلفك فهو البطل

And whoever gathers around you is rightly guided,

And whoever strives behind you is a hero.

ومن كان إيمانه زاده

تنقل بين يديه الجبل

And for whoever had faith as his provision,

The mountain moved before him.

يكابر في فضلك الخارجون

عليك وقد أكبرتك الدول

Your merit is stubbornly denied by those who rebel

Against you, though nations have held you in esteem.

وقد كاد يطغي عليهم نداك

ويشملهم بعد فيما شمل

Your bounty has nearly overwhelmed them,

And still embraces them among those it has embraced.

فمالهمُ وثقوا بالغري

مِ وهو على مطله لم يزل

Why, then, have they trusted the debtor,

Who still persists in delaying repayment?

يعدون من جانب المعرضين

رسول الرضى كل ضيف نزل

They deem, from the side of those who turn away,

Every guest who arrives a messenger of goodwill.

ويرجون بالمخزيات السبيل

إلى الحكم وهو مكان العلل

They hope, through disgraceful deeds, to find a path

To power, though it is the seat of ills.

وما هم سوى عقبات الزما

ن أخليته منهمُ فاعتدل

They are nothing but stumbling blocks of the age;

You cleared it of them, and it found its balance.

تفانوا وما ملكوا موعداً

لأمر ولا لوفاء أجل

They spent themselves, yet secured no date

For any undertaking, nor a deadline for fulfillment.

وقاضوا زمانك وهو البريء

وألقوا عليه ذنوب الأول

They put your age on trial, though it is innocent,

And laid upon it the sins of those who came before.

وترجِفُ صحْفُهم بالوعيد

وما هو إلا الجوى والوجل

Their newspapers quiver with threats,

Yet it is nothing but anguish and fear.

وما هي إلا بقايا اليمي

ن هاموا بها في بقايا الطلل

They are only remnants of the right wing,

Which they loved madly amid what remains of the ruins.

وقد خجلت مصر مما انتهوا

إليه وما يعرفون الخجل

Egypt has felt shame at what they have come

To, while they themselves know no shame.

فإن كنت منتظراً نية

تواصَوا بها فهي أخرى الحيل

So if you are awaiting an intention

They have urged one another to adopt, it is another of their tricks.

منعت زعيمهم أن يعي

شَ مما ادعاه ومما انتحل

You prevented their leader from living

On what he claimed and what he falsely appropriated.

جنون الرياسة ينتابه

وما في الرياسة غير الفشل

A madness for leadership seizes him,

And in leadership there is nothing but failure.

ولو يسرتها الليالي له

تجنبها ثانياً واعتزل

Even if the nights made it easy for him,

He would shun it again and withdraw.

وكان خليقاً بترك المجا

لِ وهو شقي به لو عقل

And he would have done well to leave the arena,

Where he is wretched, had he any sense.

وذنب الحوادث عند الحسو

دِ نيلك منها الذي لم ينل

In the envious man's eyes, the fault of events

Is your gaining from them what he did not attain.

وهل في المقادير يغني العتاب

وهل في العيان يفيد الجدل

Can reproach avail against fate's decrees?

Can argument help against what is plain to see?

وللأمة البيتُ أم للذئاب

تدبر للناس فيه الغيل

Is the house the nation's, or the wolves',

Who plot treacherous murder for the people within it?

وهل لسوى الكيد تلك الصلاة

صلاة المشعوذ بين الهمل

Is that prayer for anything but scheming—

The charlatan's prayer among the rabble?

وهل في المساجد هذا النفاق

وهل في الكنائس ذاك الدجل

Is this hypocrisy to be found in mosques?

Is that fraud to be found in churches?

وهل للمحبة هذا العناق

وهل للكرامة تلك القبل

Is this embrace for love?

Are those kisses a mark of honor?

وهل في الدروب يكون الجها

دُ بالهرْج والهَزَجِ المبتذل

Is the struggle in the streets to be waged

Through turmoil and vulgar chanting?

ألاعيب يلهو بها في النهار

ولو سترته الدياجي قتل

Tricks with which he amuses himself by day—

And were the dark nights to conceal him, he would kill.

تحديت من جد في بغيه

عليك وأغضيت عمن هزل

You challenged whoever was earnest in his aggression

Against you, and turned a blind eye to whoever jested.

وعقبى الأواخر من زمرة ال

غضاب إليك ورُجعى الأُوَل

And the last of the angry band will ultimately come

To you, and the first will return.

وإني ابن إقليمِك المطمئن

إلى ما جرى وإلى ما حصل

And I am a son of your region, at ease

With what has happened and what has come to pass.

وإني نصيرك فيما اعتزمت

قوي اليقين عظيم الأمل

And I am your supporter in what you have resolved,

Strong in conviction, great in hope.