1. هَل كُنتَ بين الموتِ والميلادِ

    إلَّا حياةَ مآثرٍ وأيادِي؟

    Were you, between death and birth,

    anything but a life of noble deeds and benefactions?

  2. وهل استطبتَ على الرَّفَاهَةِ والصِّبا

    إلَّا نهارَ ضنًى، وليل سُهادِ؟

    And despite ease and youth, did you relish

    anything but a day of weariness and a sleepless night,

  3. وكفاح أيامٍ، وعَركَ شَدَائِدٍ،

    بجميل صبرٍ، أو طَويلِ جِهَادِ؟

    and days of struggle, and wrestling with hardships,

    with noble patience or long striving?

  4. مُتَواضعًا، مترفِّعًا، تَرقَى الذُّرَا

    في مِثلِ صَمْتِ الكَوْكَبِ الوَقَّادِ

    Humble yet high-minded, you ascend the heights

    in a silence like that of a blazing star.

  5. يُلقي أشِعَّتَهُ هُنَاكَ وهَا هُنَا

    ويُضيء في الأغوارِ والأنجادِ

    It casts its rays there and here

    and shines in the lowlands and the uplands.

  6. أهْرَامكَ المُثْلَى نتاجُ قَرَائِحٍ

    خَلَّاقةٍ مَوصُولةِ الإِمدادِ

    Your exemplary Al-Ahram is the fruit of minds

    creative, with an unbroken flow of inspiration:

  7. دُنْيَا من الفِكْرِ الطليقِ، وعالمٌ

    رَحْبُ الجَوَانِبِ، شاسعُ الآمادِ

    a world of unfettered thought, a realm

    wide on every side, vast in its reaches.

  8. تَهْدِي الحَيَارَى المُدلجينَ كأنَّها

    في شاطِئِ الوادِي مَنَارَةُ هَادِي

    It guides bewildered night-travelers, as though it were

    a guiding lighthouse on the Valley's bank.

  9. قُمْ، يا فتى الأهرامِ، وانظرْ رِفْقَةً

    يتنظَّرُونَ خُطاكَ في الميعادِ

    Rise, young man of Al-Ahram, and look at companions

    awaiting your footsteps at the appointed time.

  10. ويُسَائِلُونَ بِكَ العَشيَّ كَدَأْبِهِمْ

    هذا النَدِيُّ! فأينَ صَدْرُ النَّادِي؟

    And, as is their custom, they ask the evening about you:

    Here is the gathering! Where is the head of the assembly?

  11. يا لَهْفَ، ما عَلِمُوا بأنكَ مُزمِعٌ

    سَفَرَ الحياةِ ورحلَةَ الآبَادِ

    Alas, they did not know you were resolved

    on the voyage from life and the journey into eternity.

  12. يا لَهفَ، ما ظَفِرُوا كما عَوَّدتهم

    عِندَ الوَّدَاعِ بنظرَةٍ وتَنَادِي

    Alas, they did not receive, as you had accustomed them,

    at parting, a glance and an exchange of calls.

  13. دَخَلُوا عليكَ البيتَ جسمًا ضَارِعًا

    مُتَفَرِّدًا، والموتُ بالمرصَادِ

    They came to you in the house, your body frail,

    alone, with death lying in wait.

  14. والفكرُ صَحْوٌ والجبينُ شُعَاعَة

    ألَّاقَةٌ، والروحُ في إيقادِ

    Yet thought was lucid, and the brow a beam

    shining bright, and the spirit aflame.

  15. والشمسُ بين سَحَابَتَيْنِ تَدَجَّتَا

    رَمَقٌ يصارعُ حَينَهُ ويُرادِي

    And the sun, between two clouds grown dark,

    is a last flicker wrestling with its doom and resisting it,

  16. في شَاطِئِ قاني المياهِ كأنَّها

    مَصْبُوغَةٌ بِدَمِ النهارِ الفَادِي

    on a shore with crimson waters, as though they were

    dyed with the blood of the redeeming day.

  17. هيَ صورةٌ لَكَ، والمساءُ مقارب،

    والرُّوحُ رَكْبٌ، والمنيَّةُ حادِي

    It is your image, with evening drawing near,

    the soul a caravan, and death its camel-driver.

  18. والقلبُ في كفِّ القَضَاءِ فَرَاشَةٌ

    رفَّافةٌ، والعُمرُ وشْكَ نَفَادِ

    And the heart, in fate's palm, is a butterfly

    fluttering, while life is nearly spent.

  19. عجبًا أيشكو قَلبَهُ مَن قَلبُهُ

    كنزُ الرضَا، والخيرِ، والإِسعادِ!

    How strange! Does one complain of his heart when his heart

    is a treasure of contentment, goodness, and joy bestowed?

  20. وتخونُهُ الأنفاسُ وهوَ رَحابَةٌ

    كم نَفَّسَتْ عن أمَّةٍ وبلادِ؟

    And his breaths betray him, though his broad spirit

    has so often brought relief to a nation and a land!

  21. وإِذَا أتى الأجَلُ النفوسَ فلا تَسَلْ

    عَنْ صِحَّةِ الأروَاحِ والأجسادِ

    And when the appointed end comes to souls, do not ask

    about the health of spirits and bodies.

  22. أأبا بشارةَ لا يَرُعْكَ بعادُهُ

    مصرُ اجتَبَتْهُ فلا تَرُعْ ببعادِ

    O Abu Bishara, let his absence not dismay you;

    Egypt has chosen him, so do not fear separation.

  23. آثرتَهَا بهوَاكَ، يا لغرَامِهَا!

    هِيَ مِصْرُ مَهْدُ الموتِ والميلادِ

    You favored her with your love—what ardor for her!

    She is Egypt, the cradle of death and birth.

  24. حَفِظَتْ لِوَالِدِكَ الصَّنِيعَ المجتبى

    ورَعَتْ فتاهُ البرَّ في الأولادِ

    She preserved your father's cherished benefaction,

    and cared for his son, dutiful among the children.

  25. ورأت نجيبَكَ فاستفاضَ حنَانُها

    لِسَمِيِّهِ المرجوِّ في الأحفَادِ

    And she saw your noble son, and her tenderness overflowed

    for his namesake, the hoped-for one among the grandchildren.

  26. ذَكرت بِيُتمِكَ يُتْمَهُ فتفجَّرَتْ

    حُبًّا، وقَبَّلَتِ الرجاءَ البادي

    Through your orphanhood she recalled his, and burst forth

    in love, and kissed the emerging hope.

  27. لُبنانُ نازعها هواكَ وما أَرَى

    لبنانَ إلَّا من ضِفَافِ «الوادِي»

    Lebanon vied with her for your love, yet I see

    Lebanon only as one of the Valley's banks.

  28. الأرز فيهِ والنخيلُ كلاهُمَا

    أعشاشُ حُبٍّ أو خَمَائِلَ شادي

    Cedars there and palm trees, both alike,

    are nests of love or a singer's leafy groves.

  29. أرضُ العروبَةِ لا تُخومَ ولا صوًى

    ما مصرُ غير الشَّامِ أو بغدادِ

    The land of Arabhood has no frontiers, no boundary stones;

    Egypt is no different from the Levant or Baghdad,

  30. وَأخُوَّةٍ بالمَسجِدَيْنِ وجيرةٍ

    من آلِ «طارقَ» أو «بني عَبَّادِ»

    and brotherhood at the two mosques, and neighborliness

    among the house of Tariq or the sons of Abbad.

  31. قَسَمًا بأمساءِ النديِّ، ومجلسٍ

    متألِّقٍ بالرفقةِ الأمجادِ

    I swear by the gathering's evenings, and an assembly

    resplendent with illustrious companions,

  32. وجَمَالِ أسحَارٍ، وطيبِ أصائلٍ

    بالذِّكرَيَاتِ رَوَائِحٍ وَغَوَادِي

    and the beauty of predawn hours, and the sweetness of late afternoons,

    with memories visiting at evening and at dawn,

  33. ومحبَّةٍ للخيرِ صَفوُ مِزاجِهَا

    مرضاةُ نفس أو عَزاءُ فؤادِ

    and a love of goodness whose purest blend

    is a soul's contentment or a heart's consolation—

  34. ألَّا استمعتَ إلى رفاقكَ ليلةً

    والنارُ في مُهَجٍ وفي أكبادِ

    would you not listen to your companions one night,

    with fire in their lifeblood and in their livers!

  35. جَمَدَ المدادُ على شَبا أقلامهم

    فصريرها نَوحٌ ولحْنُ حدادِ

    The ink congealed on the tips of their pens,

    so their scratching is a lament and a melody of mourning.

  36. وا حسرتا! أيَّ الرثاءِ أصوغُهُ

    لوفاءِ حقِّ محبتي وودَادِي؟

    Oh, my sorrow! What elegy shall I fashion

    to do justice to my love and affection?

  37. أرثيكَ للأمَمِ التي شَاطَرتَهَا

    كُرَبَ الخطوبِ وَفَرْحَةَ الأعيادِ

    I mourn you for the nations with whom you shared

    the anguish of calamities and the joy of festivals,

  38. وأذعتَ دَعوتَهَا وجُزتَ بِصَوْتِهَا

    في المَغْرِبَيْنِ شَوامِخَ الأطوادِ

    and you broadcast their call, and with their voice crossed

    the towering mountain heights in the two Wests;

  39. وَوَصَلْتَ بينَ قَريبِهَا وبعيدِهَا

    رَحِمَ العروبَةِ أو عُهُودَ الضَّادِ

    and bound their near and far together

    through Arab kinship or the covenants of ḍād.

  40. قم حَدِّثِ القرَّاءَ عما شِعْتَهُ

    في العَالَمِ المُتَنَافِرِ المتَعَادِي

    Rise, tell the readers of what you followed

    in the discordant, hostile world,

  41. وصفِ الممالِكَ والشعوبَ كما تَرى

    بِبَرَاعَةِ الوَصَّافَةِ النَّقَّادِ

    and describe kingdoms and peoples as you see them,

    with a discerning master-describer's skill.

  42. تَطْوِي الغَمَائِمَ والخَضَارِمَ والثَّرَى

    وتَجُولُ بين حَوَاضِرٍ وبَوَادِي

    You traverse the clouds, the vast seas, and the earth,

    and roam among cities and deserts,

  43. بِفَطَانَةِ الصحفِيِّ وهي بَصيرَةٌ

    تَغْزُو وتفتَحُ مُغْلَقَ الأسدَادِ

    with a journalist's acumen, an insight

    that storms in and opens closed barriers.

  44. يا رُبَّمَا نَبَأٌ أثارَ بوقعِهِ

    ما لا تُثيرُ مَلَاحِمُ الأجنادِ

    Oh, how often a report, by its impact, has stirred

    what the battles of armies cannot stir,

  45. وهَدَى قبيلًا أو أضلَّ جماعةً

    لسبيلِ غِيٍّ أو سبيلِ رَشَادِ

    and guided a people or led a group astray,

    toward a path of error or a path of right guidance.

  46. وَا لَهْفَ نفسي كم تَمَنَّيْتَ المُنَى

    يومَ السيوفِ تَقَرُّ في الأغمادِ

    Oh, my soul's anguish! How often you cherished hopes

    of the day when swords would rest in their sheaths.

  47. هل كنتَ تُبصِرُ من حَضارَةِ عصرِهَا

    إِلَّا نَثِيرَ حِجَارَةٍ ورَمَادِ؟

    Did you see, in the civilization of its age,

    anything but a scattering of stones and ashes?

  48. إنَّ السَّلامَ الحقَّ ما آثرتَهُ

    والأرضُ غرقى في دَمٍ وسَوَادِ

    Indeed, true peace is what you chose,

    while the earth lies drowned in blood and blackness,

  49. والناسُ ما زالوا كما خَلَّفْتَهُم

    صَرْعَى الهوى وفرائِسَ الأحقَادِ

    and people remain as you left them:

    felled by passion and prey to hatreds.