1. The price of glory and praise is dear
O clan of Zaghloul, have patience for nights

2. Three lights among you have fallen
Towers of grandeur have passed from them

3. Fathi died, and who can match his stature?
And the horizons of his roving thoughts

4. He was the marvel of the era in intelligence
And illumination in every complex matter

5. And Sa'id - he was a tender branch
In whom the flower of hopes blossomed

6. And Atef fulfilled his duty and was great
True of purpose, composed in discord

7. People jest and time refuses
Anything but serious, ceaseless striving

8. Wakeful of mind, dormant of rancor, aloof
From life's vain things, chaste of speech

9. He had polished the sword of his resolve to a sheen -
So it excelled over polished swords

10. And experience grew his wisdom until
It became sharper than piercing arrows

11. O martyr of reform, you left Egypt
As it was passing through a horrific transitional phase

12. Had you tarried, the Nile could have drawn upon you
During these successive tribulations

13. But destiny - though many people -
Is keen to reach the distant goals

14. Whenever a reformer rises, contingencies
Hasten him from his duties with death

15. The brilliant genius is snatched away
While the witless remains in bliss and repose

16. Can jackals live for generations in the forest
And ravens pass through generations?

17. You were bedridden while illness raged
My soul yearned for you though your body was weak

18. No disease that felled the lions of the wild
Could deter your rising to the burdens

19. Worries busied you, and illness walked in you
With the gait of a lurking assassin

20. It left you with no strength but your will
Which shone in a body made of mirage

21. Illness fell short of reaching its extent
So you went your way, heedless

22. You persisted in building the generation
Until death demolished the architect of men

23. People were amazed to see the crab of the sea
Creep into the peaks of mountains

24. Whoever saw Atef when he took up tasks
After rest through the tasks, thought

25. Or almost thought the first sleep
He slept was beneath those sands

26. Or saw the strength of will in him
While he was bedridden, emaciated

27. Thought the might of iron had left its abode
To settle the unease of discord

28. You discerned every meaning, so you denied
What the ancients thought impossible

29. You sought in months to set right
What the hands of years had spoiled

30. You sought to reform what Cromer had planted
In knowledge, over the long years

31. And I see that half a lifetime
Would be little for a successful reformer

32. Egypt was not barren, but its enemies
Had cast their tricks upon it

33. Make way in it for the thoroughbreds
For the thoroughbreds were harmed by narrowness

34. Shackled, they walked like ships
Crossing the course of the canal

35. So smash these shackles, and let them
Compete freely in the race of the north wind

36. The West knew how to exploit seriousness
And build with it every glory

37. And the East knew how to make light
Of God, so He abandoned it to misery

38. Leave jest in life and be serious
For in the name of the president there is good fortune

39. So emulate Atef's deeds and remember him
The verse of glory, memento of heroes

40. O lover of debate, sleep peacefully
For in death there is no recourse to debate -

41. Silent, silencing the articulate - so marvel
And slow, surpassing the steps of the hasty

42. All things but greeting are hoped for
For greeting is for God and the world for ruin

43. If others cry for him and women shed tears
On him like torrents

44. It is for reformers like you they cry
Then for great deeds they cry