1. تجلت لدينا في محاسنها مصرُ

    فراق لنا وجه المسرة والبشرُ

    Egypt revealed herself to us in her beauty.

    So the face of joy and gladness delighted us.

  2. ونمت أزاهير الرياض سحيرةً

    فأحيى فوادي من حدائقها نشر

    And the gardens' blossoms breathed fragrance before dawn,

    So a scent from her gardens revived my heart.

  3. تميل على الكثبان أفنان دوحها

    يرنحها من فرط نشأتها سكر

    The branches of her great trees sway over the dunes;

    Intoxication from their exuberant growth makes them reel.

  4. ومرجان ماء النيل يرفض جوهراً

    تحلت به أفيا زمردها الخضر

    And the coral of the Nile's water scatters into jewels,

    With which her emeralds' green shades are adorned.

  5. روضتها المقياس أصبح قائلاً

    عيون المها أين الرصافة والجسر

    In her garden, the Nilometer began to say:

    “Oryx-eyes, where are al-Rusafa and the bridge?”

  6. بها ما تمنته النفوس لأنها

    غدت جنةً يجري بها الكوثر الوفر

    Within her lies all that souls have wished for, since she

    Has become a paradise where abundant al-Kawthar flows.

  7. منازلها عزٌ وأمنٌ رحابها

    وأمواهها شهدٌ وساحاتها تبر

    Her dwellings are honor, her spacious courts security;

    And her waters are honey, her open spaces uncoined gold.

  8. حللت بها والدهر يرمي سهامه

    فكفت بكفيها الذي رشق الدهر

    I settled in her while Time was shooting its arrows,

    So with both her palms she warded off what Time had hurled.

  9. ومدت لنا بسط المسرات والصفا

    لويلاتها الغرا وأيامها الزهر

    And carpets of joy and serenity were spread for us

    By her radiant little nights and her shining days.

  10. وأملت علينا من محاسن أهلها

    صحائف لا زالت يطالعها الفكر

    And she dictated to us, from the virtues of her people,

    Pages the mind never ceases to read.

  11. فطابت أويقات السرور بظلها

    وساعات أفراحٍ لعمري هي العمر

    So the little moments of joy grew sweet in her shade,

    And hours of rejoicing—by my life!—are life itself.

  12. نداماي من لبنان دار أحبتي

    سقاه الحيا غيثاً وباكره القطر

    My boon companions are from Lebanon, home of my loved ones;

    May rain water it with showers, and rainfall greet it at dawn.

  13. ولا برحت تلك الظباءُ بروضه

    يكحل جفنيها من الحور السحر

    And may those gazelles remain forever in its garden,

    The magic of their dark-and-white eyes kohling their lids.

  14. وتهتز هاتيك القدود مقلةً

    بدور جمال بات يحسدها البدر

    And those graceful figures sway, bearing

    Full moons of beauty that the full moon has come to envy.

  15. ممنعة بين القواضب والقنا

    يضرم في أحشاءِ عاشقها الجمر

    She is well guarded amid sharp swords and spears;

    Embers blaze in her lover's depths.

  16. لا بلغا ذات الجمال بأنني

    أسير هواها لا يفارقني الأسر

    Nay, you two, tell the beautiful one that I am

    A captive of love for her; captivity never leaves me.

  17. ولي كبدٌ تصبو إليها وإن نأت

    ولم تأتلف صبراً وإن حمد الصبر

    And my liver longs for her, though she is far away,

    Nor has it grown accustomed to patience, though patience is praised.

  18. أبيت إذا جنَّ الظلام معللاً

    فؤادي بذكراها وهل ينفع الذكر

    When darkness falls, I pass the night consoling

    My heart with thoughts of her—and does remembrance help?

  19. سلا ظبية الوعسا التي فوق ثغرها

    خويلٌ له في قلب عاشقها ثغر

    You two, ask the gazelle of the soft sands, above whose lips

    Is a little mole with a breach in her lover's heart.

  20. ترى علمت ماذا لقيت من الهوى

    وهل عندها علمٌ بما فعل الهجر

    I wonder, does she know what I have suffered from love?

    And does she know what estrangement has done?

  21. دهاني النوى لكن حطمت يد النوى

    بقرب بجورٍ في أناملهم بحر

    Separation afflicted me, but I shattered separation's hand

    By drawing near to [seas], with a sea in their fingertips.

  22. بنو البحر إلّا أنهم درر العلى

    وأهل الوفا لكن دأبهم البر

    Sons of the sea—yet they are pearls of eminence;

    And people of fidelity, yet benevolence is their way.

  23. وما منهم إلا نبيهٌ مهذبٌ

    نراه بديوان اليراع هو الصدر

    And each of them is discerning and refined;

    We see him foremost in the assembly of the pen.

  24. بجرمانس ساد الحساب وأصبحت

    دفاتره الزهراءُ يعشقها الزهر

    Through Germanos, accounting gained eminence, and now

    His radiant ledgers are adored by the flowers.

  25. يريك إذا هزت يراعاً بنانه

    عقود جماناتٍ معادنها الحبر

    When his fingertips wield a reed pen, he shows you

    Necklaces of pearls whose mines are ink.

  26. وفاخر يوحنا بإنشائه الصبا

    فرقت لألفاظٍ بها انعقد الدر

    And Yuhanna vied with the east wind through his compositions,

    So it grew tender before words in which pearls were strung.

  27. تود ذؤابات الحسان إذا انتضى

    ليكتب سطراً انها ذلك السطر

    The beauties' tresses wish, when he unsheathes his pen

    To write a line, that they might be that line.

  28. هما فرقدا أوج اليراعة والنهى

    وأبناءُ بيتٍ مهده النظم والنثر

    They are the twin Farqad stars at the zenith of pen and intellect,

    And sons of a house whose cradle is verse and prose;

  29. وبدران ضاءا فطنةً وبلاغةً

    كما أشرقت حسناً صفاتهما الغر

    And two full moons shining with insight and eloquence,

    Just as their radiant qualities shone with beauty.

  30. فلا برحا ربي سعودٍ ولم يزل

    يصحح عن فضليهما الخبر الخبر

    So may they never leave the heights of good fortune; and still

    Experience confirms the report of their merits.

  31. فلولاهما ما راق انسي ولم تكن

    تجلت لدينا في محاسنها مصر

    For without them, my companionship would not have been sweet, nor would

    Egypt have revealed herself to us in her beauty.