سَائلوا الأبطالَ هل مَلُّوا الكِفاحَا
يوم ألقوا في الميادين السّلاحا
Ask the heroes, did they ever weary of the struggle
When they cast their arms down on the battlefields?
أقبل القومُ يَجُرُّونَ الظُّبَى
ومَضَوْا فَوْضَى يَجرُّون الجِراحا
The people came dragging the slain,
Their reckless onslaught dragging wounds.
الدَّمُ المسفوحُ في آثارهم
يملأ الدُّنيا أنيناً ونُواحا
The blood they shed in their tracks
Fills the world with groaning and lament.
يا لواءً عصف اللهُ بهِ
واستباح الحقُّ منه ما استباحا
O banner that God made tremble
And truth seized from it what it seized!
كُنتَ بالأمسِ على هاماتهم
كجناحِ النّسرِ عِزّاً وَطِماحا
Yesterday you were on their shoulders
Like an eagle’s wings, glory and aspiration.
غَالَك النّسرُ الذي يطوِي القُوَى
في جَنَاحَيْهِ ويغتال الرّياحا
The eagle that folds strength in its wings
And ambushes the winds has outsoared you.
مَلكَ الجوَّ ببأسٍ لم يَدَعْ
فيه مَغْدىً لِسواهُ أو مَراحا
It ruled the air with might, leaving
No refuge in it or sanctuary for any but itself.
تزعم الطّيرُ وما من دافعٍ
إن قَضَى للطير أمراً أو تاحا
It claims birds though none can prevent
What it decrees for birds or objects to.
زاده اللهُ جلالاً إنّه
جَلَّلَ الآفاقَ يُمناً وفلاحا
God has increased its glory—truly
It has adorned the horizons with felicity and success.
طَرَدَ النَّحسَ وما يَمنعُه
أن يزيد النّحسَ طرداً وَاكْتِساحا
It drove out misfortune, and nothing prevents it
From driving misfortune away more and trampling it.
أنعمي يادولةَ السَّعدِ صَباحَا
وَاغْنَمِي ما شئتِ فوزاً ونجاحا
Rejoice, State of Good Fortune, one morning,
And seize whatever success and victory you desire!
قُمْتِ بالحُكمِ رشيداً صالحاً
فَاسْتَقرَّ الأمرُ والشّعبُ اسْتَرَاحا
You came to rule, righteous and beneficial,
And so the affair was settled and the people rested.
ما ابنُ محمود ولا أصحابُه
كالأُلى اجتاحوا قُوى الشَّعبِ اجْتياحا
Not Ibn Mahmud and his partisans
Who swept over the people’s strongholds like ruinous floods!
ظَلموهُ حَاربوهُ نقموا
أن يُريدَ الحقَّ أو يرضى الصّلاحا
They wronged the people, fought them, resented
That they sought truth or consented to propriety.
فتنةُ الدجَّالِ كم مِن جاهلٍ
رَاحَ يُلقِي نَفسَهُ فيها فطاحا
The delusion of the Antichrist—how many an ignoramus
Threw himself into it and fell prostrate!
للِكريمِ الحُرِّ من أخلاقهِ
معقلٌ لا يبتغي عنه بَراحا
For the noble free man his character
Is a stronghold he does not seek to abandon.
كلُّ شيءٍ باطلٌ في حُكمهِ
غير ما يُورِثهُ المجدَ الصُّرَاحا
Everything in their rule is invalid
Except what gives them clear glory.
أين كبشُ القوم ماذا نَابَهُ
أَعراهُ الضّعفُ أم عَافَ النِّطاحا
Where is the ram of the tribe? What became of him?
Did weakness denude him or did he stop butting?
طَعنَ الدُّستورَ في مَقتلهِ
فَلَوى قَرْنَيْهِ مَن يلوِي الرِّماحا
He stabbed the constitution in his death throes,
Twisting the horns of one who twists spears.
جُنَّ بالحكمِ وكانت حاجةٌ
لم يُجاوِزْها طِلاباً واقْتِراحا
He was demented with power though the need
Was for him not to exceed requesting and proposing.
قُلتُ لمّا نَالَها واعَجَبِي
هَرمَ الدّهرُ وما ملَّ المِزاحا
When he attained it I said—and wonder at me!—
“Age has declined, nor has play ever wearied.”
يَسْتُرُ العَيْبَ بِعَيْبٍ مِثلهِ
فهو يستشري ويزدادُ افْتِضاحا
He concealed a fault with its like,
So it spread and became more exposed.
سِيرَةٌ سَوْآى وحكمٌ فاجرٌ
ما رأينا مِثلَهُ حُكماً وَقاحا
An irregular conduct and unjust rule
The like of which we never saw, so insolent!
يا ابْنَ محمودٍ أَغِثْها أُمَّةً
زَادَها القومُ الْتِياعاً والْتِياحا
O Ibn Mahmud, relieve a nation
Whose chiefs have plunged it into dispersion and dispersion!
جَمَحَ الحُمرُ وجاءت بعدهم
دَولةُ الزُّرقِ فَفَاقتهم جِماحا
The red donkeys came, then after them
The blue state—they surpassed them in exorbitance.
خَفضوا الهامَ فلمَّا جِئتَها
رَفعتْ أعلامَها هاماً وراحا
They lowered the banners, but when you came to it
It raised its flags loftily and at ease.
عَلَّمُوها كيف تلْغِي دينَها
فهي لا تألوه نَبْذاً وَاطِّراحا
They taught it how to nullify its religion,
So it does not refrain from discarding and casting off.
اهدِها المُثلَى وعَوِّدْها التُّقَى
وأَعِدْ أخلاقَها المَرْضَى صِحاحا
Guide it to the ideal, accustom it to piety,
And restore its morals to health!
واتَّخِذْها يا ابنَ محمودٍ لها
سُنَناً بِيضاً وآداباً سِماحا
Take it, O Ibn Mahmud, and adopt for it
Pure exemplars and gentle manners.
ما عَلىَ المُصلحِ يَأْبَى ما أَبَى
قومُه إن لَجَّ مُوتورٌ وصاحا
No obstacle deters the reformer from what
His tribe resents if one corrupted clamors.
آلَ محمودٍ عَرفنا فَضْلَكُمْ
فَجَزيناكُمْ وَلاءً وامْتِدَاحا
We know, House of Mahmud, your nobility,
So we requite you with loyalty and praise.
ما مَنعتُمْ مِصرَ من أنفسكم
حَقَّها الأَوفى ولا كنتم شِحاحا
You did not deprive Egypt of yourselves—
Its truest right—nor were you stingy.
شيمةُ الشّيخ المُصَفَّى ولدت
شِيَماً غُرًّا وأحلاماً رِجاحا
The qualities of the immaculate Shaykh originated
Pure qualities and lofty, weighty aspirations.
سَيِّدٌ عالي الذُّرَى نعرفُه
أوسعُ السّاداتِ أكنافاً وساحا
A lord of high lineage whom we know,
The most magnanimous of lords, exalted and serene.
