كيف يخفى عظم ما بي من ألم

والحشى باح بما فيه ألم

How could the enormity of the pain within me be hidden,

when my heart has revealed what has taken hold within it?

وغرامي كيف يُرجى كتمه

ومسيل الدمع بالإسرار نم

And my passion—how could one hope to conceal it,

when the flow of tears has betrayed what I keep secret?

وسلوي خانني والصبر مذ

شام هول الشوق ولى وانهزم

My solace has betrayed me; and patience, since

it saw the terror of longing, turned away and fled.

وغدا الحب لقلبي سالباً

والجوى تامٍ وطرفي لم ينم

Love has become a plunderer of my heart,

and heartache is complete, while my eye has not slept.

لم يعد لي في الهوى من جلدٍ

فيه اطفي نار وجدي والضرم

No endurance remains to me in love

with which to quench the fire of my yearning and its blaze.

ما احتيالي وهوى الأحباب لي

آسرٌ والقلب مني في هيم

What recourse have I? Love for my dear ones is my

captor, and my heart is lost in lovesick bewilderment.

جرد البين مواضي خطبه

وسطا جورّا علي وحكم

Separation unsheathed the keen blades of its calamity,

and unjustly assailed me and ruled over me.

وسقاني كاس بُعد قاتل

أورث الجسم نحوًلا وسقم

It made me drink a cup of deadly distance

that brought my body wasting and sickness.

بنت عن خير ربوع بات من

بعدها الجفن يسح الدمع دم

I parted from the finest abodes; ever since

leaving them, my eyelid has poured tears of blood.

لي بها قوم كرام فضلوا

في الورى من لاذ فيهم لم يضم

There I have noble people who excel

among humankind; whoever seeks refuge with them is not wronged.

آل ود وعهود ووفى

خير أرباب ذمام وشيم

A household of affection, covenants, and fidelity,

the finest keepers of pledged protection and noble character.

طالما اذكرني الدهر صفا

عصرهم في مصرهم اشكو الألم

How often Time has recalled to me the serenity

of their days in their city, as I lament my pain,

هاتفا من حر قلب حَسرٍ

حبذا مصر وذياك الملم

crying out from the heat of a grieving heart:

"How dear is Egypt, and that meeting-place!"

ويح قلبي كم رأت بل كابدت

من شقاءٍ وبلاءٍ قد أعم

Alas, my heart! How much she has seen—indeed, endured—

of misery and affliction that spread everywhere!

أقسم الدهر بأن يرشقها

حسداً منه بقسى من نقم

Time swore that it would shoot at her,

out of its envy, with bows of vengeance.

ليتها خابت وليت الدهر لو

كان أقوى حانثاً فيما قسم

Would that they had failed! Would that Time

had shown greater strength in breaking the oath it swore!

قهر القاهرة الدور الذي

همَّ بالضنك عليها واقتحم

Cairo was crushed by the age that

aimed hardship at her and stormed in.

ويك من دورٍ ظلوم جاير

ما تولى فيك إلا من ظلم

Woe to you, oppressive, unjust age!

None has ruled in you except one who wronged,

أو تعدى وتصدى للورى

فغدا يهجى ويلحى ويذم

or transgressed and set himself against humankind,

and thus was lampooned, reproached, and condemned.

عم أقطار الدنا خطب الكن

انة والأضرار بالأمصار أم

The world's regions were engulfed by the calamity of Kin-

-ana; harm descended upon the cities.

ليت لا غرّ بها منذ بدا

ذلك العام به الهول هجم

Would that none had been beguiled by her since the start of

that year in which terror struck!

ليت شعري أين ما انشاه سل

طانها العادل قدماً ونظم

Would that I knew: where is what was built by her sul-

-tan, the just, long ago, and set in order?

أين ترتيب ولاة سلفت

طيب الله ثراها ورحم

Where is the order of rulers gone before?

May God make their grave-earth fragrant and show them mercy.

أين أمجاد الورى آل الذرى

والارى والحزم فالكل عدم

Where are humanity's illustrious ones, people of the heights,

of counsel and resolve? All have vanished.

أين زاهي انس أيام الوفا

ولياله إذا ما النيل عم

Where is the radiant fellowship of the days of fidelity,

and its nights, when the Nile overflowed?

أين مغنى كل شادٍ مطرب

يسلب العقل بذياك النغم

Where is the haunt of every enchanting singer,

who steals the mind away with that melody?

أين أرباب خلاعات بها

قد يعيروا اللطف منها للنسم

Where are the masters of revelry within her,

who would lend her grace to the breezes?

أين أفراد زمان قد علا

قدر كل منهم ثم اعتظم

Where are the peerless men of an age, when high rose

the standing of each, and then grew greater?

أين أبطال الوغى والحرب من

كل ذي قلب حكى الصخر الأصم

Where are the heroes of battle and war, among

all those whose hearts resembled solid rock?

أين غزلان حسان أشرقتْ

كبدور وتباهت كالديم

Where are the fair gazelles who shone

like full moons, and flaunted their beauty like gentle rains?

ما لأبحار الصفا غاضت وما

لشموس الانس غشأها الظلم

Why have the seas of serenity ebbed, and why

has darkness veiled the suns of fellowship?

يا اخلاي انشدوا قاهرة

واندبوها بين عرب وعجم

O my dear friends, call out for Cairo,

and lament her among Arabs and non-Arabs.

فتتوا الأكباد تأويهاّ على

تحفة الأمصار ذياك العلم

Shatter your livers with anguished sighs for

the treasure of cities, that great landmark,

نقطة الحسن التي قد بهرت

فوق خد الكون تهواها الأمم

the beauty-spot that dazzled

on the universe's cheek, beloved by nations;

بحر خير زاخر مندفق

عمَّ وجه الأرض طرّا بالنعم

a sea of goodness, brimming and surging,

that covered the whole face of the earth with blessings;

دار آل الفضل والقوم الأولى

أتقنوا كل علوم وحكم

the home of people of excellence, and of those

who mastered every science and wisdom;

حرة الذيل التي قد سلمت

في البها والحسن من كل التهم

a lady of unsullied hem, who remained free,

in splendor and beauty, of every accusation.

كم مليك هم أن يخطبها

فابتلاه الله في قصر الهمم

How many a king intended to seek her hand,

only for God to afflict him with stunted ambitions!

إذ هي الغوث الذي لا غيره

قط يُرجى وسواها لا يأم

For she is the succor—no other

is ever hoped for, and nowhere else is sought.

حكم الله عليها بالشقا

بعد ذاك العز والمجد الاتم

God decreed misery upon her

after that glory and most perfect renown,

حتى لم يبق سوى من قد شكا

وبكا ثم على الخد لطم

until none remained but one who complained

and wept, then struck his cheek,

وذليل حاير منذهل

من خراب ومصاب قد دهم

and a humbled soul, bewildered and stunned

by ruin and disaster that had swept in;

و جزوع هالع مضطربٍ

حسم الخوف حشاه وقسم

and a fretful man, terrified and trembling,

whose entrails fear severed and split;

وبكاء ونواح دايم

وهياج وعجاج وغمم

and weeping and ceaseless lamentation,

and tumult and dust-clouds and sorrows.

لست تلقى غير مسلوب بها

ذي هموم يطلب الموت ولم

There you meet none but a dispossessed man,

burdened with cares, seeking death but not finding it;

و اخا ضنك وشاب شايب

وفتى شاخ وفاجاه الهرم

and one beset by hardship, and a youth gone gray,

and a young man grown old, surprised by decrepitude.

من يرى ذا الهول في مصر ولا

يذرف الدمع عليها كالديم

Who can see this terror in Egypt and not

shed tears over her like steady rains?

ما أصابتها سوى العين التي

قلعها قد كان أولى واهم

Nothing struck her but the evil eye, which

it would have been more fitting and important to pluck out.

يا هنا عيش بها قضيته

كم عراني بعده عظم الندم

Oh, the bliss of the life I spent within her!

How great the regret that has beset me since!

هل ترى من عودة للانس يا

مصر فيك وحظوظ تغتنم

Do you foresee a return of fellowship, O

Egypt, within you, and fortunes to be seized?

أو لذاك العدل عود يرتجى

وإلى الأمن رجوع كالقدم

Or is a return of that justice hoped for,

and security to come back as of old?

بدد اللهم عنها كربا

هد حصن العز منها وهدم

O God, disperse from her the distress

that toppled and demolished her fortress of glory.

و أدرك الخلق بلطف شاملٍ

منك يا رب العطايا والكرم

And succor Your creatures with all-embracing kindness

from You, O Lord of gifts and generosity.

إن عيني من جرى ما قد جرى

بالورى مدمعها يحكي الغيم

Indeed, my eye, because of what has happened

to humankind, sheds tears like clouds.

و على مصر العلى أم الملا

أرخوا ما بي سوى هم وغم

And for lofty Egypt, mother of humankind,

record the date: "I have nothing but worry and grief."