هَواكِ هَواكِ وَالدُنيا شُؤونُ
وَلِلصَبَواتِ آوِنَةً سُكونُ
Your love, your love, while the world has concerns,
And for young men, a time of tranquility.
تُقَلِّبُني الحَوادِثُ وَاللَيالي
وَحُبُّكِ عَن تَقَلُّبِها مَصونُ
Events and nights disturb me,
While your love is protected from their turmoil.
ظَنَنتِ سِواهُ أَن نَزَحَت دُموعي
وَأَن هَدَأَ التَشَوُّقُ وَالحَنينُ
You thought that my tears had flowed for another,
And that yearning and sorrow had calmed.
رُوَيدَكَ إِنَّ أَشقى الحُبِّ حُبٌّ
تَمَشَّت في جَوانِبِهِ الظُنونُ
Patience - the most wretched love is a love
That suspicion has crept into its sides.
وَقَبلي أَعيَتِ البُرحاءُ قَوماً
فَما وَفَتِ القُلوبُ وَلا العُيونُ
Before me, sleeplessness had wearied a people,
Yet neither hearts nor eyes grew tired.
وَإِنَّي لَو أُشاوِرُ فيكِ رَأيي
لَكَشَّفَ غَمرَتي عَقلٌ رَصينُ
If I consulted my mind about you,
A sensible intellect would unveil my confusion.
يَجُدُّ عَلائِقَ الأَهواءِ إِلّا
هَوىً يُبنى بِهِ الشَرَفُ المَكينُ
It finds nothing binding passions
Except a love on which sturdy honor is built.
وَيَمنَعُني الَّذي تَبغينَ نَفسٌ
تَهونُ الحادِثاتُ وَلا تَهونُ
And what prevents me is sought by a soul
That cares not if events do not care.
نَماها العِلمُ وَالحَسبُ المُصَفّى
وَأَخلاقٌ هِيَ الذُخرُ الثَمينُ
Knowledge and refined lineage raised it,
And morals that are precious wealth.
وَما لِلحُرِّ إِن عَددَتِ العَوادي
سِوى أَخلاقِهِ فيها مُعينُ
The free man has naught, if fates are counted,
Save his morals in them to aid him.
إِذا الأَخلاقُ لَم تَمنَع أَخاها
أَباحَتهُ المَعاقِلُ وَالحُصونُ
If morals do not prevent their folk
Fortresses and castles make him permitted.
عَزيزَ النيلِ أَنتَ لَهُ حَياةٌ
وَأَنتَ لِمُلكِهِ الرُكنُ الرَكينُ
You are his life, precious Nile,
And you are the pillar of his kingdom.
تَرُدُّ رَوائِعَ الحِدثانِ عَنهُ
مَهولاتٍ تَذِلُّ وَتَستَكينُ
You turn back the wonders of events from him,
Fears that are humbled and submit.
إِذا حادَت أَماني مِصرَ يَوماً
هَداها مِنكَ نورٌ مُستَبينُ
If Egypt’s wishes go astray one day,
A clear light from you guides them.
وَإِن رابَت مَواقِفَها اللَيالي
فَمِن تاجيكَ يَنبَلِجُ اليَقينُ
And if its positions waver in the nights,
Certainty ignites from your crown.
أَضِئ نَهجَ الحَياةِ لَنا فَإِنّا
أَضَلَّتنا الغَياهِبُ وَالدُجونُ
Light the path of life for us, for we
Were led astray by darkness and glooms.
وَوالِ مِنَ النَوابِغِ كُلَّ حُرٍّ
لَهُ في قَومِهِ حَسَبٌ وَدينُ
Counsel every free and noble mind
Who has lineage and faith among his people.
تُشاوِرُهُ فَما يَألوكَ نُصحاً
وَلا يَجني عَلَيكَ بِما يَخونُ
He consults you, never failing to advise,
Nor wronging you with what he betrays.
أَتَملِكُ دَوحَةُ المُلكِ اِرتِفاعاً
إِذا مالَت حِفافَيها الغُصونُ
Does the royal palace rise high
When its edges are inclined by branches?
سَلِ التاريخَ وَاِنظُر ما أَعَدَّت
لَكَ الأُمَمُ الخَوالي وَالقُرونُ
Ask history and see what it has prepared
For you, nations and centuries.
عِظاتُ الدَهرِ وَالأَجيالِ مِنها
بِبَغدادٍ وَأَندَلُسٍ فُنونُ
Lessons of fate and eras among them
Are in Baghdad and Andalusia's arts.
غَوى العُلَماءُ فَالأَخلاقُ فَوضى
جَوامِحُ ما تَريعُ وَما تَلينُ
The scholars went astray, so morals were chaos -
Savages that neither herded nor gentled.
نَسيرُ مِنَ العِمايَةِ في مَخوفٍ
تَرامى في جَوانِبِهِ المَنونُ
We walk in fearful blindness,
Death lurking in its sides.
رَأَيتُ الشَعبَ وَالأَمثالُ جَمٌّ
عَلى ما كانَ مالِكُهُ يَكونُ
I saw the people and proverbs gathered
On what was the state of its owner.
وَما تَبَقى المَمالِكُ لاهِياتٍ
تُصَرِّفُها الخَلاعَةُ وَالمُجونُ
Kingdoms are not kept for vanities
That are steered by depravity and immorality.
إِذا غَوَتِ الهُداةُ فَلا رَشيدٌ
وَإِن خانَ الرُعاةُ فَلا أَمينُ
When the righteous ones go astray, there is no guide,
And if the shepherds betray, there is no trustee.
وَأَعجَبُ ما أَرى شَعبٌ نَحيفٌ
يَسوسُ قَطيعَهُ راعٍ بَدينُ
Most wondrous is a starved people I see
Shepherded by a fat shepherd.
أَضاعَ الشَرقَ أَهلوهُ وَأَودى
بِهِ مِن جَهلِهِم داءٌ دَفينُ
Their ignorance lost the East,
And an endemic disease destroyed it.
أَذَلَّت طاعَةُ الأَهواءِ مِنهُم
نُفوساً بِالزَواجِرِ تَستَهينُ
Obeying desires made weak souls among them
That took prohibitions lightly.
وَكانوا كَالأُسودِ الغُلبِ عِزّاً
فَضاعَ العِزُّ وَاِستُلِبَ العَرينُ
They were as conquering lions in glory,
So glory was lost and the den was plundered.
إذا ما أُمَّةٌ غَلَبَت هَواها
فَإِنّي بِالحَياةِ لَها ضَمينُ
When a community's passion conquers it,
I guarantee it a destroyed life.
عَزيزَ النيلِ وَالآمالُ ظَمأى
تَلوبُ وَعِندَكَ الماءُ المَعينُ
Precious Nile, hopes are thirsty,
Twisting in yearning, and you are the plentiful water.
أَعَدَّ لَها المَشارِقُ صالِحاتٍ
يُجانِبُ صَفوَها كَدَرٌ وَطينُ
The horizons prepared wholesome things for it,
Free of turbidity and mire.
فَرِحَ الصِغارُ لِما رَأَو مِن مَنظَرٍ
حَمَلَ المَصائِبَ وَالخُطوبَ كِبارا
The young rejoiced at the spectacle they saw,
While the elders bore misfortunes and adversities.
وَأَرى كِبارَ الناسِ إِن جَهلوا الَّذي
تُطوى عَلَيهِ الحادِثاتُ صِغارا
I see the elders of the people, if ignorant of what
Events are folded over, as small.
إِن يَضحَكوا بَينَ المَواكِبِ مَرَّةً
فَلَقَد بَكَيتُ عَلى البِلادِ مِرارا
If they laugh amid processions sometimes,
I have wept over the countries again and again.
في كُلِّ يَومٍ يَخلِقونَ لِأَهلِها
مَلِكاً يُذِلُّ رِقابَهُم جَبّارا
Each day they appoint for its people
A king who humiliates their necks tyrannically.
سَخِرَ الوُلاةُ بِنا فَساروا سيرَةً
مَلَأَت لَنا خِزياً وَفاضَت عارا
The governors ridiculed us, so they went a way
That filled us with shame and spilled disgrace.
يا بَني النيلِ ما عَسى أَن تُريدوا
صَدَعَ الدَهرُ مُلكَكُم فَاِضمَحَلّا
O people of the Nile, what can you want
When fate cracked your kingdom, so it faded?
أَكثَرُ الناسِ بِالمَمالِكِ جَهلاً
مَن يَرى الجاهِلينَ لِلمُلكِ أَهلا
Most people are most ignorant
Of kingdoms - who sees the ignorant as worthy of rule?
وَأَحَقُّ الشعوبِ بِالمَجدِ شَعبٌ
عاشَ حُرّاً في أَرضِهِ مُستَقِلّا
The most deserving people of glory are a people
Who lived free in their land, independent.
املَأوا الأَرضَ يا بَني النيلِ سَعياً
وَاِغمُروا العالَمينَ عِلماً وَفَضلا
Fill the land with effort, O people of the Nile,
And immerse the two worlds in knowledge and merit.
تَجعَلونَ الهَوى المُضَلِّلَ ديناً
وَتَعُدّونَ باطِلَ الأَمرِ شُغلا
You take misleading desire as religion
And count the invalid as occupation.
أَحَسِبتُم حَربَ اللَيالي سَلاماً
وَظَنَنتُم ظُلمَ الحَوادِثِ عَدلا
Did you reckon war of nights as peace
And think oppression of events as justice?
اتبَعوا الجِدَّ وَاِعصِبوها بِرَأسي
حَسبُكُم ما مَضى مِنَ الدَهرِ هَزلا
Follow truth zealously and stubbornly with my head -
Sufficient for you is the jesting of past times.
إِنَّ بِالنيلِ غَمرَةً تَتَمادى
وَأَرى كُلَّ غَمرَةٍ تَتَجَلّى
With the Nile is a flood that goes on,
And I see each flood unfold.
