1. كَبيرُ السابِقينَ مِنَ الكِرامِ

    بِرُغمي أَن أَنالَكَ بِالمَلامِ

    O foremost of the noble forerunners,

    It is against my will that I reproach you.

  2. مَقامُكَ فَوقَ ما زَعَموا وَلَكِن

    رَأَيتُ الحَقَّ فَوقَكَ وَالمَقامِ

    Your standing is above what they have claimed, but

    I saw the truth above you and your standing.

  3. لَقَد وَجَدوكَ مَفتوناً فَقالوا

    خَرَجتَ مِنَ الوَقارِ وَالاِحتِشامِ

    They found you beguiled indeed, and said:

    You have forsaken dignity and decorum.

  4. وَقالَ البَعضُ كَيدُكَ غَيرُ خافٍ

    وَقالوا رَميَةٌ مِن غَيرِ رامِ

    And some said: your guile is not concealed;

    And they said: a shot from one who is no archer.

  5. وَقيلَ شَطَطتَ في الكُفرانِ حَتّى

    أَرَدتَ المُنعِمينَ بِالاِنتِقامِ

    And it was said: you went so far in ingratitude

    That you targeted your benefactors for revenge.

  6. غَمَرتَ القَومَ إِطراءً وَحَمداً

    وَهُم غَمَروكَ بِالنِعَمِ الجسامِ

    You lavished praise and thanks upon those people,

    And they lavished immense favors upon you.

  7. رَأَوا بِالأَمسِ أَنفَكَ في الثُرَيّا

    فَكَيفَ اليَومَ أَصبَحَ في الرِغامِ

    Yesterday they saw your nose among the Pleiades;

    How, then, has it come to lie in dust today?

  8. أَما وَاللَهِ ما عَلِموكَ إِلّا

    صَغيراً في وَلائِكَ وَالخِصامِ

    Indeed, by God, they have known you only

    As petty in your loyalty and in quarrels.

  9. إِذا ما لَم تَكُن لِلقَولِ أَهلاً

    فَما لَكَ في المَواقِفِ وَالكَلامِ

    If you are not fit to speak,

    What business have you in public forums and speech?

  10. خَطَبتَ فَكُنتَ خَطباً لا خَطيباً

    أُضيفَ إِلى مَصائِبِنا العِظامِ

    You gave a speech, but were a calamity, not an orator,

    Added to our grievous misfortunes.

  11. لُهِجتَ باِلاِحتِلالِ وَما أَتاهُ

    وَجُرحُكَ مِنهُ لَو أَحسَستَ دامي

    You dwelt on the occupation and its deeds,

    Yet your wound from it, if you felt it, is bleeding.

  12. وَما أَغناهُ عَمَّن قالَ فيهِ

    وَما أَغناكَ عَن هَذا التَرامي

    And how little it needs anyone who speaks of it,

    And how little you need this headlong rush!

  13. أَحَبَّتكَ البِلادُ طَويلَ دَهرٍ

    وَذا ثَمَنُ الوَلاءِ وَالاِحتِرامِ

    The country loved you for a long time,

    And this is the price of loyalty and respect!

  14. حَقَرتَ لَها زِماماً كُنتَ فيهِ

    لَعوباً بِالحُكومَةِ وَالذِمامِ

    You belittled, before it, a rule in which you were

    Playing fast and loose with government and pledges.

  15. مَحاسِنُهُ غِراسُكَ وَالمَساوي

    لَكَ الثَمَرانِ مِن حَمدٍ وَذامِ

    Its virtues are your plantings, and its faults as well;

    Both fruits are yours: praise and blame.

  16. فَهَلّا قُلتَ لِلشانِ قَولاً

    يَليقُ بِحاِلِ الماضِيَ الهُمامِ

    Why, then, did you not speak words for the occasion,

    Befitting the stature of the valiant man of old,

  17. يَبُثُّ تَجارِبَ الأَيّامِ فيهِم

    وَيَدعو الرابِضينَ إِلى القِيامِ

    Imparting the experience of the days to them,

    And calling those crouching to rise?

  18. خَطَبتَ عَلى الشَبيبَةِ غَيرَ دارٍ

    بِأَنَّكَ مِن مَشيبِكَ في مَنامِ

    You addressed the youth, unaware

    That your gray hair has left you in a slumber.

  19. وَلَولا أَنَّ لِلأَوطانِ حُبّاً

    يُصِمُّ عَنِ الوِشايَةِ كَالغَرامِ

    And were it not that love of one's homeland

    Makes one deaf to slander, like passion,

  20. جَنَيتَ عَلى قُلوبِ الجَمعِ يَأساً

    كَأَنَّكَ بَينَهُم داعي الحِمامِ

    You would have inflicted despair on the gathering's hearts,

    As though among them you were death's herald.

  21. أَراعَكَ مَقتَلٌ مِن مِصرَ باقٍ

    فَقُمتَ تَزيدُ سَهماً في السِهامِ

    Did a vital spot still left in Egypt alarm you,

    So you rose to add an arrow to the arrows?

  22. وَهَل تَرَكَت لَكَ السَبعونَ عَقلاً

    لِعِرفانِ الحَلالِ مِنَ الحَرامِ

    And have your seventy years left you reason

    To distinguish the lawful from the forbidden?

  23. أَلا أُنبيكَ عَن زَمَنٍ تَوَلّى

    فَتَذكُرَهُ وَدَمعُكَ في اِنسِجامِ

    Shall I not tell you of a time now gone,

    So you recall it while your tears flow freely?

  24. سَلِ الحِلمِيَّةَ الفَيحاءَ عَنهُ

    وَسَل داراً عَلى نورِ الظَلامِ

    Ask spacious al-Hilmiyya about it,

    And ask a house on Nur al-Zalam,

  25. وَسَل مَن كانَ حَولَكَ عَبدَ جاهٍ

    يُريكَ الحُبَّ أَو باغي حُطامِ

    And ask whoever stood around you, a slave to rank,

    Displaying love to you, or seeking worldly scraps.

  26. رَأَوا إِرثاً سَيَذهَبُ بَعدَ حينٍ

    فَكانوا عُصبَةً في الاِقتِسامِ

    They saw an inheritance that would vanish after a while,

    So they formed a band to share it out.

  27. وَنالوا السَمعَ مِن أُذُنٍ كَريمٍ

    فَنالوا مِنهُ أَنواعَ المَرامِ

    And they won a hearing from a generous man's ear,

    And from him obtained all kinds of things they sought.

  28. هُمُ حِزبٌ وَسائِرُ مِصرَ حِزبٌ

    وَأَنتَ أَصَمُّ عَن داعي الوِئامِ

    They are one party, and the rest of Egypt another,

    And you are deaf to the caller for concord.

  29. وَكَيفَ يَنالُ عَونَ اللَهِ قَومٌ

    سَراتُهُمُ عَوامِلُ الاِنقِسامِ

    And how can a people gain God's aid

    When their leaders are agents of division?

  30. إِذا الأَحلامُ في قَومٍ تَوَلَّت

    أَتى الكُبَراءُ أَفعالَ الطَغامِ

    When sound judgment deserts a people,

    The great commit the deeds of the rabble.

  31. فَيا تِلكَ اللَيالي لا تَعودي

    وَيا زَمَنَ النِفاقِ بِلا سَلامِ

    So, O those nights, never return!

    And you, age of hypocrisy, depart without a farewell!

  32. أُحِبُّكِ مِصرُ مِن أَعماقِ قَلبي

    وَحُبُّكِ في صَميمِ القَلبِ نامي

    I love you, Egypt, from the depths of my heart,

    And love of you grows in my heart's very core.

  33. سَيَجمَعُني بِكِ التاريخُ يَوماً

    إِذا ظَهَرَ الكِرامُ عَلى اللِئامِ

    History will unite me with you one day,

    When the noble prevail over the base.

  34. لِأَجلِكِ رُحتُ بِالدُنيا شَقِيّاً

    أَصُدُّ الوَجهَ وَالدُنيا أَمامي

    For your sake I have lived wretched in the world,

    I turn my face away, though the world lies before me.

  35. وَأَنظُرُ جَنَّةً جَمَعَت ذِئاباً

    فَيَصرُفُني الإِباءُ عَنِ الزِحامِ

    And I behold a paradise that has gathered wolves,

    So proud refusal turns me from the throng.

  36. وَهَبتُكِ غَيرَ هَيّابٍ يَراعاً

    أَشَدَّ عَلى العَدُوِّ مِنَ الحُسامِ

    Fearlessly I have given you a reed pen,

    More formidable to the enemy than a sharp sword.

  37. سَيَكتُبُ عَنكِ فَوقَ ثَرى رِياضٍ

    وَفي التاريخِ صَفحَةَ الاِتِّهامِ

    It will write of you, above the dust of Riyad,

    And in history, the page of indictment.

  38. أَفي السَبعينَ وَالدُنيا تَوَلَّت

    وَلا يُرجى سِوى حُسنِ الخِتامِ

    At seventy, when the world has turned away,

    And only a good ending can be hoped for,

  39. تَكونُ وَأَنتَ رِياضُ مِصرٍ

    عُرابي اليَومَ في نَظَرِ الأَنامِ

    Will you, though you are Egypt's Riyad, become

    Today's Urabi in the eyes of mankind?