آلَ زَغلولَ حَسبُكُم مِن عَزاءٍ

سُنَّةُ المَوتِ في النَبِيِّ وَآلِه

O Zaghlool, your loss is enough of a consolation

Death's law upon the Prophet and his family

في خِلالِ الخُطوبِ ما راعَ إِلّا

أَنَّها دونَ صَبرِكُم وَجَمالِه

Amidst calamities it cared for naught

Except that it fell short of your patience and beauty

حَمَلَ الرُزءَ عَنكُمُ في سَعيدٍ

بَلَدٌ شَيخُكُم أَبو أَحمالِه

It took the sadness from you in Sa'eed

A country whose elder is the bearer of its burdens

قَد دَهاهُ مِن فَقدِهِ ما دَهاكُم

وَبَكى ما بَكَيتُمُ مِن خِلالِه

It has stunned him by its loss as it stunned you

And he cried what you cried in his agony

فَكَما كانَ ذُخرُكُم وَمُناكُم

كانَ مِن ذُخرِهِ وَمِن آمالِه

Just as he was your treasure and refuge

He was among his treasure and hopes

لَيتَ مَن فَكَّ أَسرَكُم لَم يَكِلهُ

لِلمَنايا تَمُدُّهُ في اِعتِقالِه

If only he who freed you was not destined

To be handed to death during his detention

حَجَبَت مِن رَبيعِهِ ما رَجَوتُم

وَطَوَت رِحلَةَ العُلا مِن هِلالِه

It veiled the spring you hoped for

And folded the journey to glory from its crescent

آنَسَت صِحَّةً فَمَرَّت عَلَيها

وَتَخَطَّت شَبابَهُ لَم تُبالِه

It glimpsed health and passed it by

And skipped his youth not caring for it

إِنَّما مِن كِتابِهِ يُتَوَفّى ال

مَرءُ لا مِن شَبابِهِ وَاِكتِهالِه

Man only dies at his appointed time

Not in his prime or at his peak

لَستَ تَدري الحِمامُ بِالغابِ هَل حا

مَ عَلى اللَيثِ أَم عَلى أَشبالِه

You know not, o dove, whether the eagle carried off

The lion or its cubs

يا سَعيدُ اِتَّئِد وَرِفقاً بِشَيخٍ

والِهٍ مِن لَواعِجِ الثُكلِ والِه

O Sa'eed, console and be gentle with an

Elderly kinsman suffering the pangs of bereavement

ما كَفاهُ نَوائِبُ الحَقِّ حَتّى

زِدتَ في هَمِّهِ وَفي إِشغالِه

His share of the blows of fate did not suffice

Until you added to his worries and preoccupations

فَجَأَ الدَهرُ فَاِقتَضَبتُ القَوافي

مِن فُجاءاتِهِ وَخَطفِ اِرتِجالِه

So time was rough and I improvised these verses

From its calamities and sudden composition

قُم فَشاهِد لَوِ اِستَطَعتَ قِياماً

حَسرَةَ الشِعرِ وَاِلتِياعِ خَيالِه

Get up and witness, if you can stand,

The regret of poetry and the dissolution of its imagination

كانَ لي مِنكَ في المَجامِعِ راوٍ

عَجَزَ اِبنُ الحُسَينِ عَن أَمثالِه

You were for me in gatherings a reciter

Ibn Al-Hussein cannot match the likes of you

فَطِنٌ لِلصِحاحِ مِن لُؤلُؤِ القَو

لِ وَأَدرى بِهِنَّ مِن لَألائِه

Keen in authentic narration from the essence of eloquent speech

And more knowledgeable regarding its subtleties than its pearls

لَم يَكُن في غُلُوِّهِ ضَيّقُ الصَد

رِ وَلا كانَ عاجِزاً في اِعتِدالِه

There was no narrowness in his excessiveness

Nor was he incapable in his moderation

لا يُعادى وَيُتَّقى أَن يُعادى

وَيُخَلّي سَبيلَ مَن لَم يُوالِه

He would not transgress, fearing transgression

And would leave be who did not support him

فَاِمضِ في ذِمَّةِ الشَبابِ نَقِيّاً

طاهِراً ما ثَنَيتَ مِن أَذيالِه

Go in the custody of youth, pure

As long as you folded its train

إِنَّ لِلعَصرِ وَالحَياةِ لَلَوماً

لَستَ مِن أَهلِهِ وَلا مِن مَجالِه

Blame the times and life, for you are not

Of its people, nor of its sphere

صانَكَ اللَهُ مِن فَسادِ زَمانٍ

دَنَّسَ اللومُ مِن ثِيابِ رِجالِه

May God protect you from the corruption of a time

That has stained the garments of its men

سَيَقولونَ ما رَثاهُ عَلى الفَض

لِ وَلَكِن رَثاهُ زُلفى لِخالِه

They will say he did not eulogize him for merit

Rather, he eulogized him out of loyalty for his uncle

أَيُّهُم مَن أَتى بِرَأسِ كُلَيبٍ

أَو شَفى القُطرَ مِن عَياءِ اِحتِلالِه

Who was it that brought Kulayb's head

Or cured Egypt of the blindness of its occupation?

لَيسَ بَيني وَبَينَ خالِكَ إِلّا

أَنَّني ما حَييتُ في إِجلالِه

There is nothing between me and your uncle

Except that I lived in reverence of him

أَتَمَنّى لِمِصرَ أَن يَجري الخَي

رُ لَها مِن يَمينِهِ وَشِمالِه

I wish for Egypt that good flows

For it from his right and left

لَستُ أَرجوهُ كَالرِجالِ لِصَيدٍ

مِن حَرامِ اِنتِخابِهِم أَو حَلالِه

I do not wish it like the men for the sake of prey

From their unlawful or legitimate elections

كَيفَ أَرجو أَبا سَعيدٍ لِشَيءٍ

كانَ يُقضى بِكُفرِهِ وَضَلالِه

How can I wish for Abu Sa'eed anything

When disbelief and misguidance were decreed for him?

هُوَ أَهلٌ لِأَن يُرَدَّ لِقَومي

أَمرَهُم في حَقيقَةِ اِستِقلالِه

He is worthy to have my people's affairs returned to them

In the reality of their independence

وَأَنا المَرءُ لَم أَرَ الحَقَّ إِلّا

كُنتُ مِن حِزبِهِ وَمِن عُمّالِه

And I am the man who saw no truth but that

I was of his party and his worker

رُبَّ حُرٍّ صَنَعتُ فيهِ ثَناءً

عَجِزَ الناحِتونَ عَن تِمثالِه

Many a free man have I praised

The sculptors are incapable of matching his statue