يَومٌ بِحُلوَانَ نَقضِيهِ عَلى ظَمإٍ

يَا لَيتَ أيَّامنَا كُلا بِحُلوَانا

A day we spend quenching thirst,

Oh, if only all our days were so sweet!

فَارَقتُ أهلِي وأوطاني وَكُنتُ بهَا

فَلَم أُفارِق بِهَا أهلاً وَأوطَانا

I left my family and home, and there

I did not part from a family or homeland.

إن قال عَنهَا غَرِيبٌ إذ يَحُلُّ بهَا

لَيسَت بِمَوطِنِ مِصرُ فَقَد مانا

If a stranger says, as he comes to stay,

“Egypt is no true home,” he is wrong.

خُلقٌ كما هشَّ وجهُ الروضِ باكَرَهُ

صَوبَ الغمامِ وكان الروضُ ظمآنا

A nature soft as the cheek of the meadow in early dawn

Inclining to the clouds, while the meadow is thirsty.

ومِن رِجالِ بَيانٍ في الكَلامِ إذَا

تَكَلَّمُوا أبكَموا قُسًّا وسَحبانا

And of eloquent men in speech, when

They talked, they enchanted the stubborn and unyielding.

وَمِن شَمَائلَ رَقَّت كَالنَّسِيمِ وَقَد

هَبَّت قَرِيضاً مِنَ الصَّاوِيِّ شَعلانا

And of gentle traits that blew like the breeze and

Stirred branches from the barren valley.

شِعرٌ أتَاني فَاَنشَاني وأنعَشَنِي

أكانَ رَاحاً إذَن أَم كَانَ رَيحَانا

Poetry came to me, comforting me and enlivening me—

Was it a breeze, or was it sweet basil?

أسقَيتَنا مِن رَحيقِ القَولِ صَافِيةً

حَلالُهَا عَن حَرَامِ الرَّاحِ أغنَانا

You gave us to drink from the pure nectar of words—

Its lawfulness from the unlawful wind made us joyous.

بَل قَد شَدَوتَ به شُحرُورَ رَابِيَةٍ

كُنَّا لَدى شَدِوِهِ نَهتَزُّ أغصَانا

Nay! You sang it to the songbirds of the grove

Whose branches we swayed as we listened to your singing.

عندَ ابنِ عُثمَانَ ذي الخُلُقِ الكَرِيمِ نُهىً

ومِن قَدِيمٍ كِرَامٌ آلُ عُثمَانا

With Ibn Uthman, the noble virtue, we found salvation

And from old, the Uthman house was generous.