نَبَذَ الهَوى وَصَحا مِنَ الأَحلامِ
شَرقٌ تَنَبَّهَ بَعدَ طولِ مَنامِ
He cast passion aside and awoke from dreams—
an East awakened after a long sleep.
ثابَت سَلامَتُهُ وَأَقبَلَ صَحوُهُ
إِلا بَقايا فَترَةٍ وَسَقامِ
Its health returned, and wakefulness came upon it,
save for remnants of languor and sickness.
صاحَت بِهِ الآجامُ هُنتَ فَلَم يَنَم
أَعَلى الهَوانِ يُنامُ في الآجامِ
The thickets cried to it, “You have been brought low—do not sleep!”
Can one sleep under humiliation in the thickets?
أُمَمٌ وَراءَ الكَهفِ جُهدُ حَياتِهِم
حَرَكاتُ عَيشٍ في سُكونِ حِمامِ
Nations beyond the cave, whose utmost life consists of
the movement of the living amid the stillness of death,
نَفَضوا العُيونَ مِنَ الكَرى وَاِستَأنَفوا
سَفَرَ الحَياةِ وَرِحلَةَ الأَيّامِ
shook slumber from their eyes and resumed
the voyage of life and the journey of days.
مَن لَيسَ في رَكبِ الزَمانِ مُغَبِّراً
فَاِعدُدهُ بَينَ غَوابِرِ الأَقوامِ
Whoever raises no dust in the caravan of time—
count him among the peoples long gone.
في كُلِّ حاضِرَةٍ وَكُلِّ قَبيلَةٍ
هِمَمٌ ذَهَبنَ يَرُمنَ كُلَّ مَرامِ
In every city and every tribe,
bright aspirations have set forth, seeking every goal—
مِن كُلِّ مُمتَنِعٍ عَلى أَرسانِهِ
أَو جامِحٍ يَعدو بِنِصفِ لِجامِ
from every armored rider holding his reins,
or every headstrong steed racing with half a bridle.
يا مِصرُ أَنتِ كِنانَةُ اللَهِ الَّتي
لا تُستَباحُ وَلِلكِنانَةِ حامِ
O Egypt, you are God’s quiver, which
shall not be violated—for the quiver has a protector.
اِستَقبِلي الآمالَ في غاياتِها
وَتَأَمَّلي الدُنيا بِطَرفٍ سامِ
Welcome hopes at their furthest goals,
and contemplate the world with a lofty gaze.
وَخُذي طَريفَ المَجدِ بَعدَ تَليدِهِ
مِن راحَتَي مَلِكٍ أَغَرَّ هُمامِ
Take the newest glory after its ancient heritage
from the hands of a proud and valiant king,
يُعنى بِسُؤدُدِ قَومِهِ وَحُقوقِهِم
وَيَذودُ حياضَهُم وَيُحامي
who tends the sovereignty and rights of his people,
defends their watering places, and protects them.
ما تاجُكِ العالي وَلا نُوّابُهُ
بِالحانِثينَ إِلَيكِ في الإِقسامِ
Neither your exalted crown nor its deputies
will break the oaths they have sworn to you.
جَرَّبتِ نُعمى الحادِثاتِ وَبُؤسَها
أَعَلِمتِ حالاً آذَنَت بِدَوامِ
You have known events in prosperity and misery;
have you ever known a state that promised permanence?
عَبَسَت إِلَينا الحادِثاتُ وَطالَما
نَزَلَت فَلَم تُغلَب عَلى الأَحلامِ
Events scowled upon us, and how often
they descended—yet they never conquered our dreams.
وَثَبَت بِقَومٍ يَضمِدونَ جِراحَهُم
وَيُرَقِّدونَ نَوازِيَ الآلامِ
They sprang upon a people who bound their wounds
and lulled their surging pains to sleep.
الحَقُّ كُلُّ سِلاحِهِم وَكِفاحِهِم
وَالحَقُّ نِعمَ مُثَبِّتُ الأَقدامِ
Truth is their whole weapon and their struggle;
and truth—what an excellent steadier of feet!
يَبنونَ حائِطَ مُلكِهِم في هُدنَةٍ
وَعَلى عَواقِبِ شِحنَةٍ وَخِصامِ
They build the wall of their sovereignty in peace,
prepared for the consequences of rancor and conflict.
قُل لِلحَوادِثِ أَقدِمي أَو أَحجِمي
إِنّا بَنو الإِقدامِ وَالإِحجامِ
Say to events: advance or draw back—
we are the children of advance and restraint.
نَحنُ النِيامُ إِذا اللَيالي سالَمَت
فَإِذا وَثَبنَ فَنَحنُ غَيرُ نِيامِ
We sleep when the nights make peace;
but when they spring upon us, we are not asleep.
فينا مِنَ الصَبرِ الجَميلِ بَقِيَّةٌ
لِحَوادِثٍ خَلفَ العُيوبِ جِسامِ
Within us remains a store of noble patience
for grave events concealed beyond the unseen.
أَينَ الوُفودُ المُلتَقونَ عَلى القِرى
المُنزَلونَ مَنازِلَ الأَكرامِ
Where are the delegations assembled around hospitality,
lodged in dwellings of honor—
الوارِثونَ القُدسَ عَن أَحبارِهِ
وَالخالِفونَ أُمَيَّةً في الشامِ
the heirs of Jerusalem from its learned doctors,
and the successors of the Umayyads in Syria;
الحامِلو الفُصحى وَنورِ بَيانِها
يَبنونَ فيهِ حَضارَةَ الإِسلامِ
the bearers of classical Arabic and the light of its expression,
building within it the civilization of Islam;
وَيُؤَلِّفونَ الشَرقَ في بُرهانِها
لَمَّ الضِياءُ حَواشِيَ الإِظلامِ
uniting the East through the force of its proof,
as light gathers up the fringes of darkness?
تاقوا إِلى أَوطانِهِم فَتَحَمَّلوا
وَهَوى الدِيارِ وَراءَ كُلِّ غَرامِ
They yearned for their homelands, yet endured,
for love of home surpasses every passion.
ما ضَرَّ لَو حَبَسوا الرَكائِبَ ساعَةً
وَثَنوا إِلى الفُسطاطِ فَضلَ زِمامِ
What harm if they detained their mounts an hour
and turned the reins toward Fustat,
لِيُضيفَ شاهِدُهُم إِلى أَيّامِهِ
يَوماً أَغَرَّ مُلَمَّحَ الأَعلامِ
so that their witness might add to his days
a radiant day, distinguished by its banners;
وَيَرى وَيَسمَعُ كَيفَ عادَ حَقيقَةً
ما كانَ مُمتَنِعاً عَلى الأَوهامِ
and might see and hear how reality was made
of what imagination had deemed impossible—
مِن هِمَّةِ المَحكومِ وَهوَ مُكَبَّلٌ
بِالقَيدِ لا مِن هِمَّةِ الحُكّامِ
through the resolve of the governed man, shackled
in chains—not through the resolve of rulers.
مِصرُ اِلتَقَت في مِهرَجانِ مُحَمَّدٍ
وَتَجَمَّعَت لِتَحِيَّةٍ وَسَلامِ
Egypt assembled at Muhammad’s festival
and gathered in greeting and salutation.
هَزَّت مَناكِبَها لَهُ فَكَأَنَّهُ
عُرسُ البَيانِ وَمَوكِبُ الأَقلامِ
She shook her shoulders for him, as though it were
a wedding of eloquence and a procession of pens.
وَكَأَنَّهُ في الفَتحِ عَمّورِيَّةٌ
وَكَأَنَّني فيهِ أَبو تَمّامِ
In triumph, it was as though she were Amorium,
and as though I were Abu Tammam there.
أَسِمُ العُصورَ بِحُسنِهِ وأَنا الَّذي
يَروي فَيَنتَظِمُ العُصورَ كَلامي
I stamp the ages with its beauty—I, whose
words are recited, setting the ages into order.
شَرَفاً مُحَمَّدُ هَكَذا تُبنى العُلا
بِالصَبرِ آوِنَةً وَبِالإِقدامِ
Honor to you, Muhammad! Thus are heights built:
at times through patience, and at times through boldness.
هِمَمُ الرِجالِ إِذا مَضَتَ لَم يَثنِها
خِدَعُ الثَناءِ وَلا عَوادي الذامِ
When the resolves of men go forth, they are turned back neither by
the blandishments of praise nor the assaults of blame.
وَتَمامُ فَضلِكَ أَن يَعيبَكَ حُسَّدٌ
يَجِدونَ نَقصاً عِندَ كُلِّ تَمامِ
The perfection of your merit is that envious men fault you,
finding a defect wherever there is perfection.
المالُ في الدُنيا مَنازِلُ نُقلَةٍ
مِن أَينَ جِئتَ لَهُ بِدارِ مُقامِ
The wealth of this life has only waystations of passage;
how did you provide it with a lasting home?
فَرَفَعتَ إيواناً كَرُكنِ النَجمِ لَم
يُضرَب عَلى كِسرى وَلا بَهرامِ
You raised a palace like a pillar of the stars, such as
was never erected for Khosrow or Bahram.
صَيَّرتَ طينَتَهُ الخُلودَ وَجِئتَ مِن
وادي المُلوكِ بِجَندَلٍ وَرَغامِ
You made its clay immortal, and brought from
the Valley of the Kings its boulders and dust.
هَذا البِناءُ العَبقَرِيُّ أَتى بِهِ
بَيتٌ لَهُ فَضلٌ وَحَقُّ ذِمامِ
This inspired structure was brought forth by
a house possessing merit and an inviolable claim.
كانَت بِهِ الأَرقامُ تُدرَكُ حِسبَةً
وَاليَومَ جاوَزَ حِسبَةَ الأَرقامِ
Through it, numbers once could be grasped by reckoning;
today it has passed beyond the reckoning of numbers.
يا طالَما شَغَفَ الظُنونَ وَطالَما
كَثُرَ الرَجاءُ عَلَيهِ في الإِلمامِ
How often conjecture became enamored of it, and how often
hope and close attention multiplied around it.
ما زِلتَ أَنتَ وَصاحِباكَ بِرُكنِهِ
حَتّى اِستَقامَ عَلى أَعَزِّ دِعامِ
You and your two companions never left its pillar
until it stood upon the strongest support.
أَسَّستُمو بِالحاسِدينَ جِدارَهُ
وَبَنَيتُمو بِمَعاوِلِ الهَدّامِ
You founded its wall with the envious
and built it with the demolition-workers’ picks.
شَرِكاتُكَ الدُنيا العَريضَةُ لَم تُنَل
إِلّا بِطولِ رِعايَةٍ وَقِيامِ
Your vast, world-spanning enterprise was not attained
except through long care and constant labor.
اللَهُ سَخَّرَ لِلكِنانَةِ خازِناً
أَخَذَ الأَمانَ لَها مِنَ الأَعوامِ
God appointed for Egypt a treasurer
who secured her against the passing years.
وَكَأَنَّ عَهدَكَ عَهدَ يوسُفَ كُلُّهُ
ظِلٌّ وَسُنبُلَةٌ وَقَطرُ غَمامِ
Your era seems wholly like the era of Joseph:
shade, an ear of grain, and rain from a cloud.
وَكَأَنَّ مالَ المودِعينَ وَزَرعَهُم
في راحَتَيكَ وَدائِعُ الأَيتامِ
The depositors’ wealth and their harvests seem
in your hands like the entrusted property of orphans.
ما زِلتَ تَبني رُكنَ كُلِّ عَظيمَةٍ
حَتّى أَتَيتَ بِرابِعِ الأَهرامِ
You continued building the pillar of every great achievement
until you brought forth a fourth pyramid.
