جَعَلتُ حُلاها وَتِمثالَها
عُيونَ القَوافي وَأَمثالَها
I made its necklaces and its statues
The eyes of rhymes and their examples
وَأَرسَلتُها في سَماءِ الخَيالِ
تَجُرُّ عَلى النَجمِ أَذيالَها
And I sent it into the sky of imagination
Dragging its train upon the stars
وَإِنّي لِغِرّيدُ هَذي البِطاحِ
تَغَذّى جَناها وَسَلسالَها
And I chirp this plain
Its branches grew and its chains jingled
تَرى مِصرَ كَعبَةَ أَشعارِهِ
وَكُلِّ مُعَلَّقَةٍ قالَها
You see Egypt like the Kaaba of poetry
And every suspended piece said it
وَتَلمَحُ بَينَ بُيوتِ القَصيد
حِجالَ العَروسِ وَأَحجالَها
And you glimpse between the houses of poetry
The ornaments of the bride and her anklets
أَدارَ النَسيبَ إِلى حُبِّها
وَوَلّى المَدائِحَ إِجلالَها
Al-Nasib turned to his love for her
And the eulogies turned to her majesty
أَرَنَّ بِغابِرِها العَبقَرِيُّ
وَغَنّى بِمِثلِ البُكا حالَها
Al-Abkariyy sang of her past glory
And sang the likes of crying her state
وَيَروي الوَقائِعَ في شِعرِهِ
يَروضُ عَلى البَأسِ أَطفالَها
And he recounts events in his poetry
Training cubs on valor its lads
وَما لَمَحوا بَعدُ ماءَ السُيوف
فَما ضَرَّ لَو لَمَحوا آلَها
And they have not yet seen the water of swords
So no harm if they saw its kin
وَيَومٍ ظَليلِ الضُحى مِن بَشنَسَ
أَفاءَ عَلى مِصرَ آمالَها
And a day with shaded forenoon from Bashenas
Brought over Egypt its hopes
رَوى ظُلُّهُ عَن شَبابِ الزَمانِ
رَفيفَ الحَواشي وَإِخضالَها
Its shade narrated of the youth of time
The rustling of margins and their bending
مَشَت مِصرُ فيهِ تُعيدُ العُصورَ
وَيَغمُرُ ذِكرُ الصِبا بالَها
Egypt walked in it, retracing eras
And the mention of youth overwhelms its mindlessness
وَتَعرِضُ في المِهرَجانِ العَظيمِ
ضُحاها الخَوالي وَآصالَها
And it displays in the grand festival
Its ornaments the diadems and its finery
وَأَقبَلَ رَمسيسُ جَمَّ الجَلالِ
سَنِيَّ المَواكِبِ مُختالَها
And Ramses of perfect majesty came
Ancient of processions pretentiously walking
وَما دانَ إِلّا بِشورى الأُمورِ
وَلا اِختالَ كِبراً وَلا اِستالَها
And he did not rule except by the council of affairs
Nor was arrogant nor haughtily ruled
فَحَيّا بِأَبلَجَ مِثلِ الصِباحِ
وُجوهَ البِلادِ وَأَرسالَها
So he greeted in most eloquent
The faces of the countries and their messengers
وَأَوما إِلى ظُلُماتِ القُرونِ
فَشَقَّ عَنِ الفَنِّ أَسدالَها
And he plunged into the darkness of centuries
Ripping for art its concealments
فَمَن يُبلِغُ الكَرنَكَ الأَقصُرِيَّ
وَيُنبِئُ طَيبَةَ أَطلالَها
So who can reach El Karnak the Luxorian
And inform Thebes its ruins
وَيُسمِعُ ثَمَّ بِوادي المُلوكِ
مُلوكَ الدِيارِ وَأَقيالَها
And make hear then in the Valley of the Kings
The kings of the abode and their pyramids
وَكُلَّ مُخَلَّدَةٍ في الدُمى
هُنالِكَ لَم نُحصِ أَحوالَها
And all immortalized in the mounds
There we did not enumerate their conditions
عَلَيها مِنَ الوَحيِ ديباجَةٌ
أَلَحَّ الزَمانُ فَما اِزدالَها
Upon them is a brocade of revelation
Time insisted but did not wear it away
تَكادُ وَإِن هِيَ لَم تَتَّصِل
بِروحٍ تُحَرِّكُ أَوصالَها
They almost, even if not attached
To a spirit that moves their joints
وَما الفَنُّ إِلّا الصَريحُ الجَميلُ
إِذا خالَطَ النَفسَ أَوحى لَها
Art is only the beautiful shrine
When it mingles with the soul it suggests to it
وَما هُوَ إِلّا جَمالُ العُقولِ
إِذا هِيَ أَولَتهُ إِجمالَها
It is only the beauty of minds
When they dedicate to it their totality
لَقَد بَعَثَ اللَهُ عَهدَ الفُنونِ
وَأَخرَجَتِ الأَرضُ مَثّالَها
God sent the age of arts
And the earth brought forth its examples
تَعالَوا نَرى كَيفَ سَوّى الصَفاةَ
فَتاةً تُلَملِمُ سِربالَها
Come let us see how he fashioned Al-Safa
A girl gathering up her garb
دَنَت مِن أَبي الهَولِ مَشيَ الرَؤومِ
إِلى مُقعَدٍ هاجَ بَلبالَها
She approached Abu Al-Haul walking the pace of the willowy
To a seat raging with her thrashing
وَقَد جابَ في سَكَراتِ الكَرى
عُروضَ اللَيالي وَأَطوالَها
And he had traversed in the intoxications of destinies
The meters of nights and their lengths
وَأَلقى عَلى الرَملِ أَرواقَهُ
وَأَرسى عَلى الأَرضِ أَثقالَها
And cast upon the sands his corridors
And anchored upon the ground their burdens
يُخالُ لِإِطراقِهِ في الرِملِ
سَطيحَ العُصورِ وَرَمّالَها
He imagines for his collapse in the sands
The downfall of eras and their sweepers
فَقالَت تَحَرَّك فَهمَ الجَماد
كَأَنَّ الجَمادَ وَعى قالَها
She said, move, so the inert understood
As if the inert comprehended her saying
فَهَل سَكَبَت في تَجاليدِهِ
شُعاعَ الحَياةِ وَسَيّالَها
Did she pour into his wrinkles
The rays of life and its runnels?
أَتَذكُرُ إِذ غَضِبَت كَاللُباةِ
وَلَمَّت مِنَ الغيلِ أَشبالَها
Do you remember when she raged like a lioness
And whipped from the darkness her cubs?
وَأَلقَت بِهِم في غِمارِ الخُطوبِ
فَخاضوا الخُطوبَ وَأَهوالَها
And she threw them into the thick of perils
And they waded through perils and terrors
وَثاروا فَجُنَّ جُنونُ الرِياحِ
وَزُلزِلَتِ الأَرضُ زِلزالَها
And they revolted so the madness of winds raged
And the earth quaked its quaking
وَباتَ تَلَمُّسُهُم شَيخَهُم
حَديثَ الشُعوبِ وَأَشغالَها
And their chief felt them in the dark
The discourse of nations and their preoccupations
وَمَن ذا رَأى غابَةً كافَحَت
فَرَدَّت مِن الأَسرِ رِئبالَها
And who has seen a jungle that struggled
And repelled from captivity its dens
وَأَهيَبُ ما كانَ يَأسُ الشُعوبِ
إِذا سَلَّحَ الحَقُّ أَعزالَها
And I fear what was the despair of nations
When right arms its vulnerable
فُوادُ اِرفَعِ السِترَ عَن نَهضَةٍ
تَقَدَّمَ جَدُّكَ أَبطالَها
My heart, lift the veil from a renaissance
Your ancestors led its heroes
وَرُبَّ اِمرِئٍ لَم تَلِدهُ البِلادُ
نَماها وَنَبَّهَ أَنسالَها
And the son of many a man the countries did not birth
He nurtured it and roused its progeny
وَلَيسَ اللَآلِئُ مِلكَ البُحورِ
وَلَكِنَّها مِلكُ مَن نالَها
And pearls are not owned by the seas
But owned by those who attained them
وَما كَعَلِيٍّ وَلا جيلِهِ
إِذا عَرَضَت مِصرُ أَجيالَها
Neither Ali nor his generation
If Egypt paraded its generations
بَنَوا دَولَةً مِن بَناتِ الأَسِنَّ
ةِ لَم يَشهَدِ النيلُ أَمثالَها
Built a state from the daughters of spears
The Nile never witnessed its like
لَئِن جَلَّلَ البَحرَ أُسطولُها
لَقَد لَبِسَ البَرُّ قِسطالَها
If its fleet adorned the sea
The land wore its coat of mail
فأَمّا أَبوكَ فَدُنيا الحَضا
رَةِ لَو سالَمَ الدَهرُ إِقبالَها
As for your father, the world of civilization, if fate were friendly to its prosperity
Africa chose its crown
تَخَيَّر إِفريقيا تاجَهُ
وَرَكَّبَ في التاجِ صومالَها
And embedded in the crown its Somalia
Your steeds, O son of al-Muizz, are succor
رِكابُكَ يا اِبنَ المُعِزِّ الغُيوثُ
وَيَفضُلنَ في الخَيرِ مِنوالَها
And excel in good their grants
If they walked the land they made it forget
إِذا سِرنَ في الأَرضِ نَسَّينَها
رِكابَ السَماءِ وَأَفضالَها
The steeds of the sky and their grants
So you did not leave the palace except having healed
فَلَم تَبرِحِ القَصرَ إِلّا شَفيتَ
جُدوبَ العُقولِ وَإِمحالَها
The wounds of minds and their impairments
God has surely placed in your arms
لَقَد رَكَّبَ اللهُ في ساعِدَيكَ
يَمينَ الجُدودِ وَشيمالَها
The right of ancestors and their left
You draft and build citadels of knowledge
تَخُطُّ وَتَبني صُروحَ العُلومِ
وَتَفتَحُ لِلشَرقِ أَقفالَها
And you open for the East its locks
