1. ما بالرُّعاةِ! أثارهم فترنَّموا؟

    هلْ طافَ بالصَّحَرَاءِ منهم مُلهَمُ؟

    What has stirred the shepherds, that they burst into song?

    Has an inspired one among them wandered through the desert?

  2. أم ضوَّأَتْ سيناءُ في غَسقِ الدُّجَى

    وجَلَا النبوءة بَرْقُها المتكلِّمُ؟

    Or did Sinai shine in the deepening darkness of night,

    and its speaking lightning reveal prophecy?

  3. نظروا خِلالَ سمائِهَا وتأمَّلُوا

    وتقابلتْ أنظارُهم فتبسَّموا

    They gazed through its sky and pondered,

    and their glances met, so they smiled.

  4. إيهٍ فلاسفةَ الزمانِ فأنتُمُ

    ببشائرِ الغيبِ المحجَّبِ أعلَمُ

    Speak on, philosophers of time, for you

    know best the glad tidings of the veiled unseen.

  5. هذا النشيدُ الأسيويُّ مَعَادُهُ

    نبأٌ تَقَرُّ به الشعوبُ وتنعَمُ

    The return of this Asian hymn is

    news in which peoples find contentment and bliss.

  6. وطريقُكُمْ مصرٌ، وإنَّ طريقَها

    أَثَرٌ من الوحيِ القديمِ ومعلَمُ

    Your path is Egypt, and indeed its path

    is a trace of ancient revelation and a landmark.

  7. ألَّا يكونَ الفجرُ هديَ خُطاكم

    فدليلُكم قَبَسُ الخلود المُضْرَمُ

    Should dawn not be the guide of your steps,

    your guide is immortality's kindled torch.

  8. هو سحرُ مصرَ، وعرشُها، ولواؤُهَا

    والصَّولجانُ، وتاجُها المتَوَسَّمُ

    It is Egypt's enchantment, its throne and its banner,

    its scepter and its distinctive crown,

  9. وجبينُ صاحبِها العزيزِ وإنَّهُ

    نورٌ على إصباحِهَا مُتَقَدِّمُ

    and the brow of its exalted lord; it is

    a light preceding its dawn.

  10. أَوفَى على الوادي بضاحكِ ثغرِهِ

    وجهٌ تباركهُ السماءُ وترأمُ

    Over the valley appeared, with smiling lips,

    a face that heaven blesses and cherishes.

  11. مُسترسِلُ النظرِ البعيدِ كأنَّهُ

    مَلَكٌ يُفَكِّرُ أو نبيٌّ يُلْهَمُ

    His gaze wanders far, as though he were

    an angel thinking, or a prophet receiving inspiration.

  12. وكأنما الآمالُ عَبْرَ طريقِهِ

    أنفاسُ رَوْضٍ بالعشيَّةِ ينسِمُ

    And hopes along his way seem

    the breaths of a garden wafting in the evening.

  13. يَتنظَّرُ الحقلُ المنوَّرُ خطوَهُ

    والنهرُ، والجبلُ العريضُ الأيْهَمُ

    The flower-bright field awaits his step,

    and the river, and the broad, trackless mountain.

  14. فكأنَّ روحًا عائدًا من «طيبةٍ»

    فيه شبابُ ملوكِهَا يتبسَّمُ

    As though a spirit were returning from Thebes,

    with the youth of its kings smiling within it.

  15. هتفَ البشيرُ به فماجتْ أعصرٌ

    وتلفَّتتْ أممٌ ودارتْ أنجُمُ

    The herald hailed him, and ages surged,

    nations turned to look, and stars revolved.

  16. هذا هو المَلِكُ الذي سَعِدَتْ بِهِ

    مِصْرٌ، وهذا حُبُّهَا المتجسِّمُ

    This is the king in whom

    Egypt found happiness; this is its love embodied.

  17. لِمَنِ البنودُ على العُبابِ خوافِقًا

    لِمَنِ النسُور على السَّحابِ تُحوِّمُ

    For whom do banners flutter over the surging waters?

    For whom do eagles circle above the clouds?

  18. لِمَنِ المواكبُ مائجاتٍ مثْلما

    أومتْ عصا موسى فَشُقَّ العَيْلَمُ

    For whom do processions surge, as when

    Moses' staff gestured and the deep sea was cleft?

  19. ولِمَ الصباحُ كأنَّمَا أنداؤُهُ

    كأسٌ تُصَفَّقُ أو رحيقٌ يُسجَمُ

    And why is morning as though its dews were

    a cup of decanted wine, or nectar poured forth?

  20. ولِمَ اختلاجُ النيلِ فيه كأنَّه

    شيخٌ يُذَكَّرُ بالشبابِ ويحلُمُ

    And why does the Nile quiver in it, as though it were

    an old man reminded of youth, dreaming?

  21. ولمن هتافٌ بالضِّفاف مُرَدَّدٌ

    أشْجَى من الوتَرِ الحنونِ وأرخَمُ

    And for whom are cheers echoed along the banks,

    more poignant than the tender string, and mellower?

  22. ولمن عواصِمُ مصرَ حاليةَ الذُّرا

    تغزو بوارِقُهَا النجومَ وتزحُمُ

    And for whom are Egypt's capitals adorned at their heights,

    their flashes assailing the stars and crowding them?

  23. ولِمَ احتشادُ سرائري وخواطري

    ولِمَنْ شفاهٌ بالدعاءِ تُتَمْتِمُ

    And why do my innermost feelings and thoughts throng,

    and for whom do lips murmur prayers?

  24. إسكندريةُ، قد شهدتِ فحدِّثي

    فاليومَ قد وضَحَ الحنينُ المبْهَمُ

    Alexandria, you have witnessed it; tell us,

    for today the obscure longing has become clear.

  25. هاتي املئي كأسي وغنِّي واعصرِي

    خمرًا أعلُّ بها ولا أتأثَّمُ

    Bring it, fill my cup, sing, and press

    wine that I drink again and again without incurring sin.

  26. إنْ كنتِ أفقَ الملهَمينَ وأيكَهم

    إنِّي إذن غريدُكِ المترنِّمُ

    If you are the horizon of the inspired and their grove,

    then I am your singing songbird.

  27. يا دُرَّةَ البحرِ التي لم يتَّسِمْ

    جِيدُ البحار بمثلِهَا والمعصمُ

    O pearl of the sea, whose like has never adorned

    the seas' neck or wrist.

  28. جَدَّدْتِ أعراسَ الزمانِ وزانَها

    رَكْبٌ لفاروق العظيمِ ومَقدِمُ

    You renewed time's wedding feasts, and they were adorned

    by great Farouk's cavalcade and arrival.

  29. ما عَادَ جبَّارُ الشعوبِ وإنَّما

    قد عادَ قيصرُكِ الرشيدُ المُسْلِمُ

    No tyrant of peoples has returned; rather,

    your wise Muslim Caesar has returned.

  30. في مهرجانٍ لم يُحِطْ بجلالِهِ

    وصفٌ ولم يبلغْ مداهُ تَوَهُّمُ

    Amid a festival whose grandeur was beyond

    description, whose extent imagination could not reach.

  31. يومُ الشباب ولا مِراءَ وإنَّهُ

    للشرقِ عيدٌ والكنانَةِ مَوسِمُ

    A day of youth, beyond dispute; it is

    a feast for the East, a festive season for Egypt, the Quiver.

  32. قد فَتَّحَ التاريخُ فيه كتابَهُ

    يُصغِي إليهِ ويشرئِبُّ المِرْقَمُ

    History has opened its book on this day,

    listening to him, while the pen cranes upward.

  33. مولايَ، أَمْلِ عليه أوَّلَ آيةٍ

    لشبابِ شعبٍ خالدٍ لا يهرَمُ

    My lord, dictate into it the first verse

    for the youth of an immortal people that never ages.

  34. هو من شبابكَ يستمدُّ رجاءَهُ

    ويَسود باسمكَ في الحياةِ ويحكمُ

    It draws its hope from your youth,

    and reigns in your name in life, and rules.

  35. فابعثْهُ جيلًا واثبًا متقحِّمًا

    إنَّ الشبابَ تَوثُّبٌ وتَقَحُّمُ

    Rouse it into a generation that leaps forward and plunges boldly;

    youth is leaping forward and plunging boldly.

  36. هزَّ الفتى الأمويَّ تحت إهابِه

    منه مَضاءٌ كالحسامِ مُصمِّمُ

    Beneath his skin, the Umayyad youth was stirred

    by a resolve within him, piercing as a sword.

  37. فمشى يطوِّحُ بالعروش كأنَّهُ

    «شمشونُ» في حِلَقِ الحديدِ يحطِّمُ

    He strode forth, flinging down thrones, as though he were

    Samson, shattering rings of iron.

  38. دونَ الثلاثينَ استُثيرَ فأجفلتْ

    أممٌ وراءَ تخومِهِ تتأجَّمُ

    Roused before thirty, he sent fleeing

    nations beyond his frontiers, seething in anger.

  39. والمجد موهبةُ الملوك وإنما

    تبني المواهبُ، والخلائقُ تَدْعَمُ

    Glory is the endowment of kings; indeed,

    talents alone build, and virtues lend support.

  40. ويضيقُ بالشعبِ الطَّموحِ يقينُه

    ويُثيرُ مِرَّتَهُ الخيالُ فَيَعْرُمُ

    An ambitious people finds its certainty too confining,

    and imagination rouses its vigor, making it surge fiercely.

  41. قوتُ الشعوبِ ورِيُّهَا أحلامُها

    إنَّ الخيالَ إلى الحقيقةِ سُلَّمُ

    Peoples' dreams are their sustenance and their slaking drink;

    imagination is a ladder to reality.

  42. يا عاقدَ التاجِ الوضيءِ بمفرَقٍ

    كالحقِّ مَعْقِدُهُ هُدًى وتَبَسُّمُ

    O you who bind the radiant crown upon a head,

    its resting-place, like truth, is guidance and a smile.

  43. أعظِمْ بتاجِكَ جوهرًا لم يحوِهِ

    كَنْزٌ ولم يحرِزْ حُلاهُ مِنْجَمُ

    How magnificent your crown, a jewel never held

    by any treasure, whose ornaments no mine has yielded!

  44. ميراثُ أولِ مالكينَ سما بهم

    عرشٌ أعزُّ من الجبالِ وأضخمُ

    An inheritance from the earliest kings, with whom rose

    a throne mightier and more massive than mountains.

  45. نُوَّابُ شعبِكَ حينما طالعتَهم

    طافَ الرحيقُ البابليُّ عليهمُ

    When you appeared before your people's deputies,

    Babylonian nectar passed among them.

  46. هتفوا بمجدِكَ واستخفَّ وقارَهمْ

    أملٌ يجِلُّ عن الهتافِ ويعظُمُ

    They acclaimed your glory; their dignity was swept away

    by a hope too great and lofty for acclaim.

  47. أقسمْتَ بالدستورِ والوطنِ الذي

    بكَ بعد ربِّكَ في العظائِمِ يُقْسِمُ

    You swore by the constitution and the homeland that

    swears by you, after your Lord, in momentous matters,

  48. برًّا بوالدِكَ العظيمِ وذِمَّةً

    لجدودِكَ الصيدِ الذين تقدَّمُوا

    in devotion to your great father, and fidelity

    to your noble ancestors who came before.

  49. وتطَلَّعَتْ عَبْرَ المدائنِ والقرى

    مُهَجٌ يكادُ خفوقُها يتكلَّمُ

    And across cities and villages, there looked eagerly forth

    hearts whose beating almost spoke,

  50. تُصغي لصوتِكَ في السحاب ورَجْعُهُ

    لَحْنٌ على أوتارِهِنَّ يُنَغَّمُ

    listening to your voice in the clouds, its echo

    a melody played upon their strings.

  51. خشعتْ له النَّسَمَاتُ وهي هوازِجٌ

    وتنصَّتَ العصفورُ وهو يُهَيْنِمُ

    The breezes bowed humbly to it, though singing,

    and the sparrow listened intently, though murmuring.

  52. وَصَغَتْ سَنَابِلُ مثلما أوحى لها

    تأويلُ «يوسفَ» فهي خُضْرٌ تَنْجُمُ

    And ears of grain listened, as though inspired by

    Joseph's interpretation: green, they sprout.

  53. يا صوتَ مصرَ، ويا صدَى أحلامِهَا

    زِدْ روعتي مما يهزُّ ويُفْعِمُ

    O voice of Egypt, O echo of its dreams,

    heighten my awe with what stirs and fills me.

  54. ألقى المقَادة في يديكَ وديعةً

    شعبٌ لغير خُطَاكَ لا يترسَّمُ

    The reins were placed in your hands as a trust

    by a people that follows no footsteps but yours.

  55. فَتَلَقَّ تاجَكَ من يديهِ فإنَّه

    في الدهرِ عُروَتِهِ التي لا تُفْصَمُ

    Receive your crown from its hands, for it is

    its bond through the ages, which cannot be broken.

  56. فليهنأ الملِكُ الهُمامُ بعيدِه

    وليعْرضِ الجيشَ الكميُّ المعلَمُ

    May the valiant king rejoice in his festival,

    and may the distinguished armored warrior review the army.

  57. مولايَ، جندك ماثلون فأولِهمْ

    سيفًا يُقَبَّلُ أو لواءً يُلْثَمُ

    My lord, your soldiers stand before you; grant them

    a sword to kiss, or a banner to press to their lips.

  58. لمَّا رأوْكَ على جوادِكَ قائمًا

    وضعوا السيوفَ على الصدورِ وأقسَمُوا

    When they saw you upright upon your steed,

    they laid their swords upon their breasts and swore.

  59. وكأنَّ «إبراهيمَ» طيفُكَ ماثلًا

    وكأنَّك الرَّوحُ الشقيقُ التوأمُ

    As though Ibrahim were your apparition, standing before us,

    and you were the kindred spirit, the twin.

  60. يا قائِدَ الجيشِ المظفَّرِ تِهْ بِهِ

    إنَّ الشعوبَ بمثلِ جيشِكَ تُكْرَمُ

    O commander of the victorious army, glory in it;

    peoples are honored by armies like yours.

  61. الأرضُ تعرفُهُ وتشهدُ أنَّه

    سيلٌ إذا لمعَ الحديدُ وقشعمُ

    The earth knows it and bears witness that it is

    a torrent when steel flashes, and a great eagle.

  62. طوروسُ أم عكَّاءُ عن أمجادِهِ

    تَروِي؟ أم البيتُ العتيقُ وزمزمُ؟

    Does Taurus or Acre tell of its glories,

    or the Ancient House and Zamzam?

  63. أم حومةُ السودانِ، وهي صحيفةٌ

    السيفُ خَطَّ سطورَها واللهذَمُ؟

    Or Sudan's battlefield, a page

    whose lines the sword and keen spear traced?

  64. أم «مورَةُ» الشماءُ يوم أباحَها

    والنارُ حولَ سفينِهِ تتهزَّمُ؟

    Or lofty Morea, on the day it sacked her,

    while fire crackled around its ships?

  65. لولا قراصنةٌ عليه تآمروا

    لم يَعْلُ «نافارينَ» هذا المِيسَمُ

    Had pirates not conspired against it,

    this brand would not have scarred Navarino.

  66. فاغفرْ لما صَنَع الزمانُ، فإنها

    بُؤْسَى تَمُرُّ على الشعوبِ وأنْعُمُ

    Forgive what time has done, for it is

    hardship passing over peoples, and blessings.

  67. وانفخْ به من بأسِ روحِكَ سَورةً

    يرمي سُطاها المستخفَّ فيُحْجِمُ

    And breathe into it a surge of your spirit's strength,

    whose onslaught strikes the scorner, who recoils.

  68. فالرفقُ من نُبْلِ النفوسِ ورُبَّمَا

    يُلْحَى النبيلُ بفعلِهِ ويُذَمَّمُ

    For gentleness springs from nobility of soul, yet sometimes

    a noble man is reproached for his deed and condemned.

  69. إنَّا لفي زمنٍ حديثُ دُعاتِهِ

    نُسْكٌ، ولكنَّ السياسَةَ تأثَمُ

    We are indeed in an age whose advocates' speech is

    piety, yet politics commits sin.

  70. ووراءَ كلِّ سحابةٍ في أفقِهِ

    جيشٌ من المتأهِّبِينَ عَرَمْرَمُ

    And behind every cloud upon its horizon

    stands a vast army of men at the ready.

  71. قالوا: فتًى عَشِقَ الطبيعةَ واغتَدَى

    بغرائِبِ الأشعارِ وهو متيَّمُ

    They said: 'A youth who fell in love with nature and fed himself

    on wondrous poems, utterly enamored,

  72. وطوى البحارَ على شراعِ خيالِهِ

    يرتادُ عاليَةَ الذُّرا ويُؤَمِّمُ

    and crossed the seas on the sail of his imagination,

    seeking the loftiest peaks and making for them.'

  73. أنا من زعمتمْ، غيرَ أنِّيَ شاعِرٌ

    أرضى البيانَ بما يصوغُ ويرسُمُ

    I am the man you claimed; yet I am a poet

    who has pleased eloquence with what he fashions and depicts.

  74. إنِّي بنيتُ على القديم جديدَهُ

    ورفعتُ من بنيانِهِ ما هدَّمُوا

    I have built its new form upon the old,

    and raised from its structure what they demolished.

  75. الشعرُ عندي نشوةٌ عُلويَّةٌ

    وشعاعُ كأسٍ لم يُقَبِّلْهَا فَمُ

    Poetry, to me, is a heavenly rapture,

    and the radiance of a cup no mouth has kissed,

  76. ولحونُ سِلْمٍ أو ملاحِمُ غارَةٍ

    غَنَّى الجبالَ بها السحابُ المرزِمُ

    and melodies of peace, or epics of battle,

    with which the thundering clouds sing to the mountains.

  77. أرسلتُه يومَ النداءِ فخلتُهُ

    نارًا وخلتُ الأرضَ خَضَّبَهَا الدمُ

    I sent it forth on the day of the call, and imagined it

    fire, and imagined the earth stained with blood.

  78. ودعاهُ عرشُكَ، فاستهلَّ خواطِرًا

    فأتيتُ عن خَطَراتِهِنَّ أترجِمُ

    Your throne summoned it, and it burst forth in thoughts;

    so I came to interpret their stirrings.

  79. ورفعتُ رأسي للسماءِ وخِلتُنِي

    أتناولُ النجمَ البعيدَ وأنظِمُ

    I raised my head to the sky and thought myself

    reaching for the distant star and stringing it into verse.

  80. فاقبلْ نشيديَ إنْ عطفْتَ فإنَّه

    صوتُ الشباب، وروحُهُ المتضرِّمُ

    Accept my song, then, if you are gracious, for it is

    the voice of youth, and its blazing spirit.

  81. وسَلِمْتَ يا مولايَ للوطَنِ الذي

    بكَ يستظِلُّ، ويستعِزُّ، ويسلَمُ!

    May you remain safe, my lord, for the homeland that

    finds shelter, strength, and safety in you!