يان له أوفى مدونة

في الثورة العربية الكبرى

Yan has the fullest chronicle

of the Great Arab Revolt.

أثبت في ذكرى وقائعها

ما تقتضيك أمانة الذكرى

He recorded, in recounting its events,

what faithful remembrance demands of you.

تبدي حقائقها فحيث جرى

منك المداد جلا لنا فجرا

It reveals its truths; wherever flowed

your ink, it unveiled a dawn for us,

وأنار كل خفية عشيت

عنها الظنون فلم يذر سرا

and lit every hidden thing unseen

by conjecture, leaving no secret.

تاريخ قوم جار دهرهم

فيما استباح فحاكموا الدهرا

The history of a people whose Time wronged them

in what it ravaged; so they put Time on trial.

وشروا لآجلها مواطنهم

بأعز أثمان بها تشرى

And they bought their homelands for their future

at the dearest prices for which they are bought.

فثأرت للقتلى بصونهم

من أن يضيع مجدهم هدرا

So you avenged the slain by protecting them

from having their glory wasted in vain.

وجولت في أبهى تألقها

أقمار ذاك العهد والزهرا

And you set coursing, in their brightest radiance,

the moons of that age and the shining stars.

سفر جليل من يطالعه

لا ينثني أو ينجز السفرا

A noble volume: whoever reads it

does not turn away until he finishes the volume.

تجري حوادثه بأعينه

ويرى الشخوص وإنما يقرا

Its events unfold before his eyes,

and he sees the figures, though he is only reading.

وتفيده آدابه أدبا

وتزيده أخباره خبرا

And its literary graces give him refinement,

and its accounts increase his knowledge.

يا محتفين بفاضل قمن

أن توسعوه لفضله شكرا

O you honoring a virtuous man, deserving

of your lavish thanks for his excellence.

إن تسألوا النخب الكرام به

عدوه بين أجلهم قدرا

If you ask the noble elite about him,

they count him among their greatest in standing.

علم وتحقيق يقل به

شرواه فيمن جد واستقرا

Learning and rigorous inquiry render rare

his equal among those who strive and investigate.

ويراعة تلقي مجاجتها

شهدا فيحدث في النهى سكرا

And a reed pen pours out its spittle

as honey, inducing intoxication in minds.

وخلائق غر تنافسها

في الحسن منه مناقب تترى

And radiant traits, rivaled

in beauty by his virtues, coming one after another.

إن تعن مصر بشأنه ولها

في السبق عادات وما أحرى

If Egypt takes an interest in his affairs—and she has

traditions of taking the lead, and how fitting!—

فجميع أمصار العروبة في

إكرامه قد شاركت مصرا

then all the cities of the Arab world, in

honoring him, have indeed joined Egypt.