يا خَير صَدرٍ بِالعِباد رَحيمِ

أَنتَ المَلاذ لِراحلٍ وَمُقيمِ

O best of bosoms, merciful to Thy servants,

Thou art the refuge of travelers and settlers.

أَنتَ الَّذي وَرد الكِتاب مُبَشِراً

بِكَ بِالتَهاني

Thou art the one to whom the Book was revealed bearing glad tidings,

With greetings to thee.

وَالكل في صحف الأَوائل قَد تَلا

لَكَ ما تَحقق لِلوَرى بِرَقيم

And all, in the pages of old, have recited

What was fulfilled for people through thee as destiny.

وَلَأَنتَ أَولىبِمسند

أَبداً عَلى غَير الهمام جَسيم

And thou art most deserving of the position

Forever over others lofty and mighty.

هُوَ مسندٌ يَحتاج في تَأييده

لِعِناية مِن حازم وَفَهيم

It is a position requiring, for its support,

The care of one who is resolute and wise.

وَمحمد مَأمون مَصر هُوَ الَّذي

عَنها يصدّ الآن كُل غَريم

And Muhammad Tawfiq of Egypt is he

Who now defends it from every foe.

فَاِنهَض إِلى أَخذ الزِمام بِهمة

تُحيي بِها آثار كُل رَميم

So rise to take the reins with a resolve

That revives thereby all traces of the decayed.

وَبعدلك المَنشور صن وَجه المَلا

الجَناب

And by thy justice that is circulated, fortify the aspect of the kingdom,

For the nations have long awaited from thee

فَلَطالما الأَوطان مِنكَ ترقَّبت

إنقاذها مِن

Their deliverance from woes.

And they have implored God, Most High is His Majesty,

وَتضرّعت لِلّه جلّ جَلاله

بِبلوغك الآمال زَعيم

To grant that thou attain hopes as chief.

Until their prayer was answered and they were honored

حَتّى اِستَجيب دُعاؤُها وَتشرّفت

بِكَ في سَرير المُلك دُون قَسيم

By thee upon the throne of kingship without rival.

And time greeted their well-being through thy nearness

وَالدَهر سالمها بِقربك في الهَنا

مِنهُ بِقَلب في الوداد سَليم

With a heart sincere in affection.

And their days were characterized, in thy rule,

وَصفت بِها أَيامُها في دَولة

عَنها اِنجَلى بِضياكغَيم

By clouds dispersing to reveal joy.

And to thee from the caliph’s throne there flowed

وَإِلَيك مِن تَخت الخِلافة قَد سَرى

فَرمانُها سَريانَ طيبِ نَسيم

Its authority’s diffusion like the wafting of sweet breeze.

And there came giving glad tidings with certainty of that

وَأَتى يُبشر عَن يَقين بِالَّذي

لَكَ رامَهُ مِن قَبل كُلُّ خَديم

Which every servant did for thy sake before.

So judge as thou wouldst please among us and arbitrate

فَاحكُم بِما تَرضاه فينا وَاحتكم

في أَمر الجَناح

In the matter of pardon,

For it is he who prospered and grew wealthy,

فَهُوَ الَّذيأَثرى وَاِغتَنى

وَغَدابِمصر

Becoming in Egypt of great influence.

And if he meets privately, remembering the slanderers,

وَإِذا خَلا وَهُوَبِنَفسه

ذكر الطعان وَصاد كُل ظَليم

He foils every oppressor and stays each wrongdoer.

And he breaks the ropes of whoever betrayed treasonably,

وَاِنقُض حبالَ مَن اِرتَدى بِخيانة

تَقضي بِبعدِ مقرّبٍ وَنَديم

Seeking distance after intimacy and favor.

And hopes for justice instead of clemency

ورجا مِنعَدل وَلا

تَنظر إِلى مَن عَهد حميم

From one whose covenant was intimate.

And casts him into the pit of unemployment after

وَاطرحه في جب البَطالة بَعدَما

يَلقى مِن التَعذيب كُل أَليم

He suffers every excruciating torment.

And if one promoted comes forward, do not neglect

وَعَنوَلَو تقدّم لا تَسل

وَضَع الزَعامة في يَمين حَكيم

To place the leadership into the hands of one who is wise.

For leaving it in him is the squandering of what he owns

فَبقاؤُها فيهِ ضَياع ماله

مِن كاشف بَعد الخَفا لَرَديم

Of one who exposes the hidden after being secretive.

Alas! One cannot succeed whose leader

هَيهات يُفلح مَن يَكُون إِمامه

سوء تَزدَري بِفَخيم

Is evil he scorns with loathing.

They did not attain wealth

هم ما نمقوا

في كل رق لِلنُقود بسيم

Except by every improper means for money.

And if a complainant one day suffers injustice from them,

وَإِذا اِشتَكى يَوماً لَهُ متظلمٌ

مِنهُم رَمى مِن شرّهم بِأَجيم

He responds by shooting arrows of their evil at him.

And separate from every hypocrite

وَافصل عَن كُل مُنافقٍ

مُتملِّقٍ يصلى بِنار جَحيم

Flatterer who prays with hellfire.

And extract him from the desire

وَاِنزَعهُ مِنرَغبة

عَنهُ إِلى أَبناء رُكن حَطيم

To return him to the sons of the crumbled pillar.

For ancestry is a touchstone by the text of reports

فَالعرق دَساسٌ بِنَص رِوايةٍ

عَن كُل ثَبت بِالحَديث عَليم

From every scholar learned in hadith.

Evidence stands against equivalents whose number

قامَ الدَليل عَلى مَساوٍ حَصرُها

أَعيا لكثرتها لِسانَ كَليم

Perplexed the tongue of one most eloquent to count.

Why not when he who dissolved

لم لا وَهَذا حلل في

أَكل الحَرام وَما رَثى لِيَتيم

Into eating forbidden wealth and did not mourn the orphan?

And he ran with the current so his partner was

وَمَعجَرى فَكانَ شَريكه

في سَلب أَموال وَنَهب

In plundering money and pillage.

And wealth is that which leads him into Hellfire and

وَالمال مال بِهِ إِلى سقرٍ وَلَم

تَنفعه نسبة

Lineage does not benefit him.

And a group emulated him in bribery

وَبِهِ اِقتَدى في الارتشاء جَماعةٌ

عَلى نضار حزيم

At the blossoms of youth.

There the breasts are relieved and the banners of rebellion

فَهُناك تَنشرح الصُدور وَتَنطَوي

أَعلام بَغي في البِلاد وَخيم

In the land fold up and disappear.

And the luster that was theirs returns to the nations

وَيَعود لِلأَوطان رَونَقُها الَّذي

كانَت بِهِ في منعة وَنَعيم

When they were in security and bliss.

And your kingdom lasts, for you are its lord,

وَيَدوم ملك أَنتَ صاحبُه بِها

ما دامَ رَضوى في جِوار كَريم

As long as the All-Merciful is near, Generous.

O object of desire, that poem

يا بغية الطلاب تِلكَ عَزيزةٌ

مِن نَظم مقروح الفُؤاد كَليم

Is precious in the composition of my wounded heart.

It is the outpouring of my breast which poured it

هِيَ نَفثة المَصدور مِنهُ بَثَّها

كَعقود درّ في النَحور نَظيم

Like necklaces of pearls, well-arranged.

And I prepared it, after congratulations with wishes,

وَأَعدّها بَعد التَهاني بِالمُنى

لا يَرتجي في المَهر غَير قبولها

Not hoping for any reward for it but its acceptance,

That it might thereby accomplish the healing of one who is sick.

كَيما يَتمّ بِها شِفاء سَقيم

لا زلت في حلل العِناية رافِلاً

I have not ceased to be clothed in the garment of care,

However much praise was expressed in grand eulogy,

ما طابَ مَدح في ثَناء عَظيم

أَو قالَ مَجدي في السُرور مؤرخاً

Or one saying my glory recorded it, dating

The command of thy success purely.

فرمان تَوفيق صَفا بِقَويم