أَيُّ نَجْمٍ من أَيِّ شَمْسٍ وبَدْرِ
أُلْبِسَ الليلُ منه حُلَّةَ فَجْرِ
What star from what sun and full moon
Has the night been clothed with the garb of dawn?
وحسامٍ قد جَرَّدَتْهُ المعالي
لِتُوَقِّي به صُروفَ الدهرِ
And a sword that glories have bared
To kindle with it the turns of fate?
وأَنيقٍ من المحامِدِ نَمَّتْ
بأَحاديثِهِ رِياحُ الشُّكرِ
And a graceful one where praises grew
With his words the winds of gratitude.
علمنا أَنَّ اللَّيالِيَ بَحْرٌ
حينَ أَبْدَتْ لنا لآَلِئَ دُرِّ
He taught us that the nights are a sea
When he showed us for us the pearls of gold.
وعهدنا الزَّمَان يَرْقُدُ طِرْفاً
أَدْهَماً فاكْتَسَى شِيَاتِ أَغَرِّ
And we knew time slumbers with one eyelid
Having donned the attributes of the brilliant agate.
وعجيبٌ لشهرِ شعبانَ إِذ جا
ءَ لميلادِهِ بلَيْلَةِ قَدْرِ
And wondrous is the month of Sha’ban when
It came for his birth on the Night of Valor.
ليلَةٌ أَشرقَتْ بغُرَّة نورِ الدِّ
ينِ حَقًا أَجَلُّ من أَلْفِ شَهْرِ
A night shone with the prime light of religion
Indeed more glorious than a thousand months.
لاح نَصْرٌ فيها فَلاحَ بنصرٍ
ثابتٍ عِزُّه على آلِ نَصْرِ
In it appeared a victory so it thrived
With a lasting glory on the House of Victory.
حَوَّمَتْ طَيْرُها السّعاداتِ مِنْهُ
فَوْقَ بُدْنٍ نَحُورِها كالوَكْر
Its birds hovered happinesses from it
Above breasts their pits like dens.
وكَأَنِّي بِأَنْجُمِ الفَضْلِ تَبْدُو
منه أَضْواؤها بأَفلاكِ صَدْرِ
As though before me the stars of virtue appear
Their lights from it in the spheres of my chest.
وكَأَنِّي بالطِّرْسِ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ
يَجْمَعُ الدُّرَّ بين نَظْمٍ ونَثْرِ
As though before it the peacock gathers
Pearls between prose and verse.
وكَأَنِّي براحَتَيْهِ تسيحا
نِ على كلِّ أَهلِ قُطْرٍ بقَطْرِ
As though his two hands bestow greetings
Upon every fellow of country and region.
وكَأَنِّي بالخَيْلِ بينَ يَدَيْهِ
مُجْنَبَاتٍ في حَلْي زَهْوٍ وكِبْرِ
As though before it the steeds
Caparisoned in the adornment of glory and pride.
وكَأَنِّي بالبيض والسُّمْرِ تهفو
بهواهُ عن كُلِّ بِيض وسُمْرِ
As though the whites and browns swoon
For his love over every white and brown.
إِنَّما الأَرْوَعُ الأَجَلُّ جمالُ الدِّ
ينِ بحرٌ طَمَا فَفَاضَ بِنَهْرِ
But the most wondrous and glorious is the beauty of religion
A sea whose abundance overflowed with a river.
أَثمَرَتْ من علاه دَوْحَةُ مجدٍ
صَدَحَتْ بينها حمائِمُ شِعْرِي
From its heights sprouted a palm tree of glory
Among which the doves of my poetry cooed.
حَكَمَ اللُّه أَنه ذو افتخارٍ
لا يُوازَى به أَحادِيثُ فَخْرِ
God has decreed that he has a pride
That cannot be matched by pretensions of pride.
عارِضٌ يَسْتَهِلُّ في الجَدْبِ والخَطْ
بِ بماءٍ من النَّدَى وبِجَمْرِ
A competitor who begins in dearth and address
With water from dew and embers.
فيهِ ما شِئْتَ من أَيادِيَ بيضٍ
هُنَّ ما شئتَ من عوادِيَ حُمْرِ
In it is whatever you wish of white hands
They are whatever you wish of ruddy trysts.
قد عَلِمْنَا من بأْسِهِ كيفَ يُذْكِي
وعلمنا من جُودِه كَيْفَ يَمْري
We have known from his might how he kindles
And we’ve known from his munificence how he flows.
فسقانَا من فضلِهِ كُلَّ حُلْو
وكفانَا من صَوْلِهِ كُلِّ مُرِّ
He has sated us from his excellence every sweet
And sufficed us from his dashing every bitter.
يا بَنِي ناصرِ الرّئاسةِ والدي
نِ أَبي الفتحِ فاتِحِ الخير نَصْرِ
O House of Nasser, leadership and religion,
My master, Opener of Goodness, Victory!
أَنا عبدٌ لَكُمْ وإِنْ كنتُ حُراًّ
فالأَيادِي تَملَّكَتْ كُلَّ حُرِّ
I am a slave to you though I was free
For the hands have taken possession of every freeman.
لستُ أَرْضَى من الأَنامِ سِواكُمْ
لعوانٍ من الثَّناءِ وبِكْر
I am not pleased with people but you
As supporters with praise and virginity.
لا أَحبُّ السَّبْعَ البحارَ وعندِي
من أَيادِيكُمُ موارِدُ عَشْرِ
I do not love the seven seas while I have
From your hands the resources of ten.
كُلَّ يَوْمٍ لَكُمْ غمامُ سَمَاحٍ
تَعْتَلِي بَيْنَهُ بوارِقُ بِشْر
Every day for you a forgiving cloud
Between it lightning of good tidings flashes.
من يُجارِيكُمُ وقد جَعَلَ اللّ
هُ بأَيديكُمُ المقاديرَ تَجْري
Who can rival you when God has placed
In your hands the reins to dispose?
سَهَّلَ الجَدُّ سُبْلَ مجدٍ عليكُمْ
أَتلَفَتْ غيرَكُمْ بمَسْلَكِ وَعْرِ
Ease has paved the roads of glory for you
While without you they wind in difficulty.
ولكُمْ بَيْتُ مَفْخَرٍ قد غَنِيتُمْ
بمغانِيهِ عن قصائِدِ شِعْرِي
And you have a proud house you have enriched
With its treasures over the poems of my poetry.
حَصَرِي عن صفاتِكُمْ مُسْتَفَادٌ
من أَيادٍ لكم أَبَتْ كُلَّ حَصْرِ
I fall short of describing your attributes
Derived from hands that refuse every fall short.
ذاكَ عُذْري وليتَ شعريَ هَلْ في
وُسْعِ أَفضالِكُمْ تَقَبُّلُ عُذرِي
That is my excuse—and I wonder, is there Scope
In your exceeding merits to accept my excuse?
غرّدَتْ فيكُمُ طيورُ القوافِي
بينَ ضالٍ من الثَّناءِ وسِدْرِ
The birds of rhymed prose have twittered for you
Between a straying of praise and lotuses.
