Sol 5.6

  1. Egypt and her Sudan, the Wafd and the Nile—

    all would be offered for Saad, were resurrection assured.

  2. A ransom for him, the East’s own soul—were he redeemed

    with Egypt, only the part, not the whole, would be offered.

  3. Do not announce his death, O bearer of death-news, to any land:

    the East died when Zaghloul died.

  4. An Arab blade of Indian steel, possessed of noble worth;

    today the Arab East lies blunted.

  5. What sword like Saad will you ever find—

    as though he were drawn from among the swords of God?

  6. Egypt unsheathed him against the great ordeal and charged with him,

    in days when every drop of blood in the East lay unavenged;

  7. days when the West coveted her, and for that prize

    armies and fleets advanced against her.

  8. Yet no profaning invader attained any of her sanctities,

    nor did the Nile give drink to one thirsting to possess her.

Sol 5.6