طَلَعُوا جبابرةً عليكِ، وثاروا
وَوَقَفْتِ أنتِ، ورُوحُكِ الجبَّارُ
They came upon you as tyrants and rebelled,
Yet you stood, with your mighty spirit,
عصفوا ببابِكِ، فاسْتُبيحَ، فلم يكُنْ
إلَّا جَهَنَّمَ هَاجَها الإعصارُ
They stormed your door until it was breached,
Leaving nothing but a hell churned by the storm.
حَرْبٌ إذا ذُكِرَتْ وَقَائِعُ يومِها
شابَ الحديدُ، لِهَوْلِهَا، والنَّارُ
When the events of its day are recounted,
The iron grows hot from its horror and fire.
لو قِيلَ: أبطالُ العصورِ فمنْهُمو
لحَماتِكِ الإعظامُ والإكْبَارُ
If it were said: the heroes of eras - who are they?
Yours would be the glory and greatness.
أو عادَ «هُوميرٌ» وسِحْرُ غِنَائِهِ
ورأَى مَلَاحِمَهم وكيفَ تُثَارُ
If Homer returned with the magic of his singing,
And saw their epic battles and how they raged,
وهُمُو حُماةُ مدينةٍ مَحْصورَةٍ
دُكَّتْ على حُرَّاسِها الأسوارُ
They who defend a besieged city,
Whose guards the walls have buckled over,
نَسِيَ الذي غَنَّاهُ في «طُرْوَادةٍ»
وشَدَا بهم، وترنَّمَ القيثارُ
He would forget what he sang of Troy,
And be dazzled by them, strumming his lyre.
كم من «أَخيلٍ» فيهم لكنَّهُ
رُدَّ المُغيرُ به، وفُكَّ حِصارُ
No epic was composed to describe their struggle,
Yet their blood made rivers flow.
لم تَجْرِ مَلْحَمَةٌ بوَصْفِ كِفاحِهِ
لكنْ جَرَتْ بدمائِهِ الأنهارُ
A nation called to them from overseas -
He is their defender, keeping the floods at bay.
نادَتْهُ من خَلْفِ الشواطئِ أُمَّةٌ
هُو عن حِماها الذائدُ المِغْوارُ
If asked about him, he is a knight of the arena
Whose track knew no lack of his leaping.
إنْ يَسْأَلوا عنه، فَفَارسُ حَلْبَةٍ
لم يَخْلُ من وَثْبَاتِهِ مِضمارُ
Or if you read his history, it is a page
Signed by his towering pride.
أو يَقْرءُوا تاريخَهُ، فَصحيفَةٌ
إمضاؤُه فيها عُلًا وفَخَارُ
Or if you seek his grave, its place
Is where grass and flowers give shade,
أو يبحثوا عن قَبْرِهِ، فَمَكانُهُ
فيما يُظِلُّ العُشْبُ والأزهارُ
Where snow buries him beneath its heap,
Where wind and rain strip bare.
فيما يُغَطِّي الثَّلْجُ تحت رُكامِهِ
فيما تُعَرِّي الرِّيحُ والأَمْطَارُ
He is an intention fulfilled in the land of its purpose
So a plant may grow or fruit ripen.
هو مُهْجَةٌ فَنِيَتْ بأرضِ مَعَادِهَا
لِيَتمَّ غَرْسٌ أو يَطيبَ ثِمارُ
He is a wave melted into the sea of his being
That the tide may surge with his spirit.
هو مَوْجَةٌ ذابت بِبَحْرِ وُجُودِهَا
كَيْمَا يَثُورَ بِرُوحِهَا التَّيَّارُ
On the shore the enemy halted across from him
Seeking to cross, but spears held him back.
في شاطئِ وقف العَدُوُّ إزاءَهُ
يَبْغِي العُبُور ودُونَهُ أَشبَارُ
He kept pushing back each battalion
Until the mighty legions faded away,
ما زالَ يَدْفَعُ عنه كلَّ كَتِيبَةٍ
حتى تَلَاشَى الجَحْفَلُ الجَرَّارُ
And he fell with the smile of victor on his lips
Avenged, with his hands, the score settled.
وَهَوَى وفي شَفَتَيْهِ بَسْمَةُ ظافِرٍ
أَوْدَى، وَتَمَّ على يَدَيْهِ الثَّارُ
The iron and his might make sublime
A head crowned by the cave above.
يُزْهَى به تحت الحديد وبَأْسِهِ
رَأْسٌ يكلِّلُ مِفْرَقَيْهِ الغارُ
O patroness of heroes – the defense did not waver
You stood, along with your free people.
يا رَبَّةَ الأَبْطالِ، لا هَانَ الحِمَى
وسَلِمْتِ أنتِ، وَقَوُمُكِ الأَحْرَارُ
Shall I say: children of frenzy or jinn?
Shall I say: gods, or the fates?!
أأَقُولُ: أَبناءُ الوَغَى أَمْ جِنَّةٌ؟
وأَقولُ: آلِهَةٌ، أَمِ الأَقْدَارُ؟!
They save you from the talons of crushing tyranny,
Heaved and tossed by water and ravines.
يسْتَنْقِذُونَكِ من بَرَاثِنِ كاسِرٍ
ماجَتْ بهِ الآجامُ والأَغوارُ
Lurking for rapine, wolves take cover
And trees flee their pathways.
مُتَرَبِّصِ السَّطَواتِ تَخْتَبِئُ الرُّبَا
وتَفِرُّ من طُرُقَاتِهِ الأشجارُ
He defeated its summer and winter –
Until your fierce winter took him.
قَهَر الطبيعةَ صَيْفَهَا وشِتَاءَهَا
حتى أَتَاهُ شِتَاؤُكِ القَهَّارُ
Glory of cities and villages! Verily that
Which you perfected, minds are confounded by.
مَجْد المَدَائن والقُرى! إنَّ الذي
أبْدَعْتِهِ، فيه العُقُولُ تَحَارُ
A wonder - are you a magical city,
Or a world ringed by mysteries?!
عَجَبًا أَأَنْتِ مَدِينَةٌ مَسْحُورَةٌ
أمْ عَالَمٌ حاطَتْ به الأسرارُ؟!
Perplexing roads where the lost are guided
And have no place for stillness.
طُرُقٌ مُحَيِّرٌة يَضِلُّ ويَهْتَدِي
فيها الكُمَاةُ، وليس ثَمَّ قَرَارُ
Impassable to the enemy’s steps as though
Its stones were cast from mercury.
عَزَّتْ على قَدَمِ العدُوِّ كأَنَّمَا
من زِئْبَقٍ صِيغَتْ بها الأحْجَارُ
Homes built layer upon layer, as if
They were lairs for jinn in the blazing valley.
ومَنَازِلٌ مشْبُوبَةٌ، وكأَنَّهَا
لِلْجِنِّ في وادي اللَّظَى أوْكَارُ
And you see Hell’s hordes at its doors -
Rooms grew too tight and walls gave way.
وَتَرى زَبَانِيةَ الجحيم ببابِهَا
ضاقت بهم غُرَفٌ، وناءَ جِدَارُ
They battle with arms reddened to the elbows
As the ceiling crashes over their heads.
يتصارعون بأذْرُعٍ مَخْضُوبَةٍ
والسَّقْفُ فوق رءوسِهِم يَنْهَارُ
They vie over layers of rubble with their nails
Bloodied by its debris.
يتنازعون بها الطِّبَاقَ خَرائبًا
دَمِيَتْ على أنقاضِهَا الأظْفَارُ
You kept standing against them until
Minds grew lax and sights wandered.
مَا زِلْتِ صامِدَةً لهم حتَّى إذا
سَهَتِ العقولُ، وزاغتِ الأبصَارُ
The killers recoiled, the archers’ hands froze,
The chisels jammed and walls came crashing down.
وتَقَبَّضَ المُسْتَقْتِلُونَ، وعَرْبَدَتْ
أَيْدِي الرُّماةِ، وَعَرَّدَ البتَّارُ
And the mighty fortress was sapped until
It was just a wall containing ruin.
وتَقَوَّضَ الحِصْنُ المنيعُ، ولم يكن
إلَّا جِدارٌ يحتويهِ دَمارُ
The invaders pressed on and foretold:
That not a night or day would pass!
وقسَا عليكِ المُرْجِفون وحدَّثوا:
أنْ ليس تمْضي لَيْلَةٌ ونَهارُ
You swooped like a hovering eagle – they had
No escape from you or your talons.
أطْبَقْتِ كالنَّسْرِ المُحَلِّق، ما لهمْ
منه، ولا من مِخْلَبَيْهِ فِرارُ
Their hearts regarded you in fear and sighed
Frightened, while you are wine and the cupbearer!
وَتَفَرَّسَتْكِ قلوبهم فَتَرَنَّحُوا
رُعْبًا، وأنتِ الخمرُ والخمَّارُ
Their cannons failed, their iron melted,
Amazing snow and searing heat.
وَخَبَتْ مَدَافِعُهُمْ وذابَ حديدُهم
والثَّلْجُ يَعْجَبُ واللَّظَى الموَّارُ
O youths of Volgograd – the greetings of a poet
Whose limbs were enflamed by fervent verse.
يا فِتْيَةَ «الفُولْجَا» تحيَّةَ شاعرٍ
رَقَّتْ له في شَدْوِهِ الأَشْعَارُ
A Nile valley boatman, though enticed
By wandering lost at sea.
مَلَّاحُ وادي النِّيلِ إلَّا أنهُ
أغْرَتْهُ بالتِّيهِ السَّحِيقِ بحارُ
Forever roaming confused with his sail -
Horizon casting him off and homeland rejecting him.
أبدًا يُطَوِّفُ حائرًا بِشِرَاعِهِ
يَرْمِي به أُفْقٌ، وتَقْذِفُ دارُ
With you I elevated a splendid example
One day pointed to on high.
إني رَفَعْتُ بكم مثالًا رائعًا
يُومَا إليه في العُلا، ويُشارُ
For Egypt’s youth – the builders of its life
And defenders if fortunes change,
لشبابِ مِصْرَ وهم بُناةُ حَياتِهَا
وحُماتُها إنْ حاقَتِ الأَخْطَارُ
With the likes of what you offered and sacrificed
Ages gain glory and lifespans grow cheap.
وبِمْثِل ما قَدَّمْتُمُ وبَذَلْتُمُو
تَغْلُو الدِّيارُ وتَرْخُصُ الأَعْمَارُ
This is your city and that is its battle
A symbol for every heroism and every banner.
هذِي مَدينَتكم، وذاك صِراعُها
رَمْزٌ لكلِّ بُطُولةٍ وشعارُ
You brought each wondrous tale never celebrated
In its telling by any past age.
جِئْتُمْ بكلِّ عَجيبةٍ لم تَحْتَفِلْ
يومًا بمِثْلِ حَديثها الأمصارُ
The world speaks of it and your making -
And generations and eras will speak!
تَتَحَدَّثُ الدُّنْيَا بها وبصُنْعِكُمْ
وتُحدِّثُ الأجيالُ والأدهارُ
A reality in existence or mythology -
That eternal mighty struggle?!
أحقيقةٌ في الكَوْنِ أم أُسْطُورَةٌ
هذا الصِّراعُ الخالِدُ الجبَّارُ؟!
