Sol 6.1

  1. عادَني اليَوم مِن حَديثك يا مَصـ

    ـر رُؤى وَطوّفت بِي ذِكرى

    Today, from talk of you, O Egypt, I was visited by

    visions, and a memory wandered through me.

  2. وَهَفا باسمك الفُؤاد وَلَجت

    بَسَمات عَلى الخَواطر سَكرى

    My heart fluttered at your name; there entered

    smiles, drunken upon my thoughts.

  3. مَن أَتى صَخرة الوُجود فَفَرا

    ها وَأَجرى مِنها الَّذي كانَ أَجرى

    Who came to the rock of existence and cleft

    it, and made flow from it what he had made flow—

  4. سَلسَبيلاً عَذب المَشارع ثَرا

    راً رَوياً جَم الأَواذي غمر

    a Salsabil stream, sweet at its drinking places, copiously

    flowing, thirst-quenching, abundant in waves and deep?

  5. يَصنَع المَجد مِن عَمائم زهر

    كُلَّما رَدَها قَلانس حَمرا

    It makes glory from radiant white turbans,

    whenever it turns them into red caps.

  6. كُلَّما مَصر المسود مِنها

    زادَ في مَجدِهِ جَلالاً وَكِبرا

    Whenever it makes the dark one among them Egyptian,

    it gains grandeur and greatness in its glory.

  7. كُلَّما طَوق الكَنانَة عِلماً

    خَوَلَتنا مِنهُ رَوافد تَتَرى

    Whenever it wreathes Kinana in learning,

    she grants us tributaries of it, one after another.

  8. هُوَ مَن صاغَنا عَلى حَرم النَيـ

    ـل وَشُطآنه دُعاء وَشُكرا

    He is the one who fashioned us upon the Nile's sanctuary

    and its banks, as prayer and thanksgiving.

  9. فَجر النيل يَوم نَشر في الأَر

    ض ضُحاها وَصاغَ لِلناس فَجرا

    He released the Nile the day he spread over the earth

    its morning light, and fashioned a dawn for humankind.

  10. قالَ كُن فَاِستَجاشَ يَقذف دِفا

    عاً وَيَجري عَلى الشَواطئ خَمرا

    He said, 'Be!' and it surged, casting forth

    surges, and flowing along the shores as wine.

  11. ربذا يَدفق الحَياة عَلى الوا

    دي وَيَستَن في الكَنانَة مَجرى

    Swiftly pouring life over the valley,

    and running a course through Kinana.

  12. إِنما مَصر وَالشَقيق الأَخ السو

    دان كانا لخافق النيل صَدرا

    Indeed, Egypt and her own brother, Sudan,

    were a breast for the Nile's beating heart.

  13. حِفظاً مجدهُ القَديم وَشادا

    مِنهُ صيتاً وَرفعاً مِنهُ ذِكرا

    They preserved its ancient glory and built

    renown from it, and raised its name.

  14. فَسَلوا النيل عَن كَرائم أَوسعـ

    ـنا دَراريها اِحتِفاظاً وَقَدرا

    So ask the Nile about treasures: we lavished

    care and esteem upon their shining stars.

  15. ما رَغِبنا عَنها ولَكن دَهراً

    ناوأتنا صُروفه كانَ دَهرا

    We never turned away from them; but an age

    whose vicissitudes opposed us was an age indeed.

  16. وَاغشموا الفكر في كُهوف العوينات

    وَمَدوا في عَصرِنا مِنهُ عَصرا

    And thrust thought boldly into the caves of al-Uwaynat,

    and extend an age from it into our own.

  17. وَاِستَبيَنوا النُقوش وَاِستَوضَحوا

    الآثار وَاِستَفسَروا الحِجارة أَمرأ

    And discern the inscriptions, and elucidate

    the relics; question the stones about a matter.

  18. وَاِسأَلوها فَإِن فيها بَقايا

    خَبر يوسع العَلائق نَشرا

    And ask them, for in them are remnants

    of a tale that broadens ties as it spreads.

  19. نَثه الناقِشون مُعجزة الكَهـ

    ـف كَما نَثت اللطيمة عُطرا

    The engravers scattered it, the cave's marvel,

    as the perfume caravan scattered fragrance.

  20. أَفلَسنا أَلفي هَوى جَمَعتنا

    سرحة الفكر في أَواصر كُبرى

    Are we not two companions in love, whom

    thought's spreading tree has joined in mighty bonds?

  21. أَفكانَت إِلّا الأُصول اِستَقَرت

    حَيث كانَت لِنازح ما اِستَقرا

    Were they anything but roots that took hold

    where they were, for a wanderer who never settled?

  22. ثابِتات هُناكَ تُنسب أَشبا

    ها وَتَنمي مِن العَلائق كَثرا

    Firmly rooted there, they link kindred forms,

    and grow a wealth of ties.

  23. مَصر راشَت وَثَقفت وَأَعدَت

    مِنهُ شَمساً وَأَطلَعَت مِنهُ بَدرا

    Egypt feathered and straightened him, and fashioned

    a sun from him, and brought forth from him a full moon.

  24. هَيأت فكرَهُ فَأَزغَب فَاِستَشـ

    ـرى فَأَعبى رَكضاً وَأَعجَز طَفرا

    She readied his thought; it grew downy, then flourished;

    then overtaxed pursuit in running and outstripped it in leaping.

  25. فَفَرى الدَهر خابرا وَشَأي السَ

    هم مضياً وَزاحم الريح مَسرى

    It cleft time with insight and outstripped the arrow

    in speed, and rivalled the wind in its course.

  26. طَبع مَصر تَقصياً وَنَشاطاً

    لَو دَهى الصحر داهم مِنهُ أَورى

    Egypt's stamp of inquiry and vigor—

    if a surge of it struck the desert, it would kindle fire.

  27. كَيفَ يا قَومنا نُباعد مِن فكـ

    ـرين شَدا وَسانَدَ البَعض أَزرا

    How, our people, can we separate two minds

    that grew strong, each bolstering the other's strength?

  28. كَيفَ قُولوا بِجانب النيل شَطـ

    ـيه وَيَجري عَلى شواطئ أُخرى

    How—tell me—can the Nile lie beside its two banks

    and flow along other shores?

  29. كُلَّما أَنكَروا ثَقافة مَصر

    كُنت مِن صُنعِها يَراعا وَفِكرا

    Whenever they denied Egypt's culture,

    I was her handiwork, in pen and thought.

  30. جئت في حدها غِرار فَحيا اللَـ

    ـه مُستودع الثَقافة مَصرا

    I came as the cutting edge of her blade; may God bless

    Egypt, the repository of culture.

  31. نَضَر اللَهُ وَجهَها فَهِيَ ما تَز

    داد إِلّا بُعداً عَلي وَعُسرا

    May God brighten her face; she only grows

    more distant from me and harder to reach.

  32. أَمل مَيت عَلى النَفس أَلحَد

    ت لَهُ مِن كَلاءة اللَهِ قَبرا

    A dead hope: within my soul I dug

    a grave for it in God's keeping.

  33. زَهقت روحَهُ وَفاضَت شُعاعاً

    قَبلَما يَنفد الطُفولة عُمرا

    Its spirit departed and overflowed in rays

    before childhood's span had run out.

  34. كُنتُ أَحيا عَلى نَدى مِنهُ يُسا

    قط بَرداً عَلى يَدي وَعطرا

    I lived upon dew from it, falling

    as coolness and fragrance upon my hand.

  35. في ظِلال مَطلولة أَفرغ الشـ

    ـعر عَلَيها مِن الهَناءة فَجرا

    In dew-drenched shade, poetry poured

    upon it a dawn of happiness.

  36. ثُمَ أَودى يا وَيحَهُ ضاقَت الدُنيـ

    ـا بِهِ جُهدَها اِحتِمالاً وَصَبرا

    Then it perished—alas for it! The world grew too narrow

    to bear it, despite all its endurance and patience.

  37. بَعدَما نَضر الحَياة بَعَينـ

    ـي مضى جاهِداً وَأَعقَب أَسرا

    After it had made life radiant in my eyes,

    it departed in struggle and left captivity in its wake.

  38. إِن لَقينا مِنها عَلى البُعد رَيا

    ما لَقينا مِنها شواطئ خُضرا

    Though we have found her fragrance from afar,

    we have not found her green shores.

  39. يا بن مَصر وَعِندَنا لَكَ ما نَأ

    مل تَبلغيه مِن الخَير مَصرا

    O son of Egypt, we have for you what we hope

    you will convey to Egypt of goodwill.

  40. قُل لَها في صَراحة الحَق وَالحَـ

    ـق بِأَن يُؤثر الصَراحة أَحرى

    Tell her with truth's candor—and truth

    is all the more suited to favor candor:

  41. وَثِقي مِن عَلائق الأَدَب البا

    قي وَلا تَحفلي بِأَشياء أُخرى

    And trust in the bonds of enduring literature,

    and pay no heed to other things.

  42. وَقِفي بِالصَلات مِن حَيث لا تَعـ

    ـرف إِلّا مَسالك الفكر مَجرى

    And keep these ties where they know

    no course but the pathways of thought.

  43. كُلُ ما في الوَرى عَدا العلم

    لا يَكبر شَعباً وَلا يُمَجد قَطرا

    Everything in the world except knowledge

    neither makes a people great nor brings glory to a land.