وَقَفتُ ضُحىً في شاطِءِ النيلِ وَقفَةً
يَضُنُّ بِها إِلّا عَلى النيلِ شاعِرُه
I stood at mid-morning upon the banks of the Nile, a stance
That its poet would grant to none other than the river itself.
تَهَلَّلَ حَتّى كادَ يَبدو ضَميرُهُ
وَعَبَّسَ حَتّى كادَ يُشَكِّلُ ظاهِرُه
It beamed with joy until its very soul seemed revealed,
Then frowned until its surface ripples took stern shape.
فَثَمَّ جَلالٌ يَملَءُ النَفسَ هَيبَةً
وَثَمَّ جَلالٌ يَملَءُ العَينَ باهِرُه
There lies a majesty that fills the spirit with awe,
And a splendor whose brilliance overwhelms the eye.
فَطَوراً أُجيلُ الطَرفَ في صَفَحاتِهِ
وَطَوراً أُجيلُ الطَرفَ فيما يُجاوِرُه
At times I let my gaze wander across its expanse,
And at times I cast my eyes upon what lies beside it.
وَأَلحَظُ شَمسَ الأُفق وَهيَ مُطِلَّةٌ
تُسايِرُ فيها ظِلَّها إِذ تُسايِرُه
I watch the sun upon the horizon as it peers down,
Racing alongside its own reflection as the current flows.
فَأَحسَبُها فيهِ تُساهِمُني الهَوى
وَتَحسَبُني فيها الغَرامُ أُشاطِرُه
I imagine it shares in my deep affection there,
And it deems that I partake in its longing within the depths.
إِذا هِيَ أَلقَت في حَواشيهِ نورَها
رَأى التِبرَ يَجري في حَواشيهِ ناظِرُه
When it casts its light upon the river’s edges,
The beholder sees liquid gold running along its banks.
أَطالَت بِهِ التَحديق حَتّى كَأَنَّما
تُحاوِلُ مِنهُ أَن تَبينَ سَرائِرُه
It gazed long upon the water, as if trying
To discern the secrets hidden within its flow.
فَيا لَهُما إِلفَينِ باتا بِمَعزِلٍ
يُخامِرُها مِن حُبِّهِ ما يُخامِرُه
Oh, what a pair of lovers, remaining in seclusion,
Where she is possessed by his love just as he is by hers.
يَروحُ النَسيمُ الرَطبُ في جَنَباتِهِ
يُداعِبُهُ طَورا وَطَوراً يُحاوِرُه
The moist breeze wanders along its flanks,
At times caressing the water, and at times conversing with it.
وَتَقبُضُ مِن مَبسوطِهِ نَفَحاتُهُ
كَما قَبَضَ الثَوبَ المُطَرَّزَ ناشِرُه
Its gusts ripple and contract the outstretched surface,
Just as one unfolding an embroidered robe might gather it up.
فَيَصدُفُ عَنه وَهوَ داجٍ مُقَطَّبٌ
كَأَنَّ عَدُوّاً بِالنَسيمِ يُحاذِرُه
Then the river turns away, dark and furrowed,
As if wary of an enemy hidden within the breeze.
كَأَنّي بِهِ سِفرٌ تَدانَت سُطورُهُ
أَوائِلُهُ قَد شُكِّلَت وَأَواخِرُه
It seems to me a great tome with closely written lines,
Whose beginnings and endings have been meticulously inscribed.
إِذا ما جَلا لِلناظِرينَ رُموزَهُ
تَجَلّى لَهُم ماضي الزَمان وَحاضِرُه
When it reveals its symbols to those who gaze,
The past and the present manifest clearly before them.
أَيا نيلُ نَبِّئني أَحاديثَ مَن مَضَوا
لَعَلَّ شِفاءَ النَفسِ ما أَنتَ ذاكِرُه
O Nile, tell me the tales of those who have passed;
Perhaps in your recounting lies the healing of my soul.
حَيالَكَ صَبٌّ بِالخُطوبِ مُهَدَّدٌ
جَوانِحُهُ رَهنُ الهُموم وَخاطِرُه
Before you stands a yearning lover, threatened by calamities,
His heart held captive by sorrows, his mind burdened.
أَطاعَ شُجوناً لَو أَطاعَ فُؤادَهُ
عَلَيها لَفاضَت بِالنَجيعِ مَحاجِرُه
He yielded to griefs, yet had he followed his heart's command
Regarding them, his eyes would have wept tears of blood.
يَحُثُّ إِلَيَّ الدَهرُ كُلَّ رَزيأَةٍ
عَلى عَجَلٍ حَتّى كَأَنِّيَ واتِرُه
Fate drives every tragedy hurriedly towards me,
As though I had slain its kin and it seeks vendetta.
وَما أَنا بِالعَبدِ الَّذي يَرهَبُ العَصا
وَلَكِنَّني حُرٌّ تَروعُ بَوادِرُه
Yet I am no slave to cower before the rod,
But a free man whose sudden wrath strikes terror.
أَيا نيلُ فَاِمنَحني عَلى الحَقِّ قُوَّةً
فَما سَوَّدَ الضِرغامُ إِلّا أَظافِرُه
O Nile, grant me strength to stand for the Right;
For the lion is made master only by his claws.
وَهَبنِيَ بَأساً يَسكُنُ الدَهرُ عِندَهُ
فَقَد طالَما جاشَت عَلَيَّ مَناخِرُه
Grant me a might before which Fate falls silent,
For too long has it snorted its rage against me.
إِذا لَم تَكُن عَونَ الشَجِيِّ عَلى الأَسى
فَخاذِلُهُ فيهِ سَواء وَناصِرُه
If you are not aid to the aggrieved against his sorrow,
Then his betrayer and his savior are one and the same.
قِني البَأس وَاِمنَع شَعبَكَ الضَعفَ يَتَّقي
وَيُنصِفُهُ مِن حُسّادِهِ مَن يُناكِرُه
Guard me from despair, and forbid weakness in your people,
That they may fend off their enviers and silence their deniers.
هُوَ الدَهرُ مِن ضِدَّينِ ذَل وَعِزَّةً
فَمَن ذَلَّ شاكيه وَمَن عَزَّ شاكِرُه
The world consists of two opposites: humiliation and glory;
The humiliated complains of it, while the glorified gives thanks.
وَلِلقادِرِ الماضي العَزيمَةِ حُلوُهُ
وَلِلعاجِزِ الواهي الشَكيمَةِ حازِرُه
Its sweetness belongs to the capable, the resolute of will,
While its bitterness falls to the helpless and weak of spirit.
وَما الناسُ إِلّا القادِرونَ عَلى العُلى
وَلَيسَت صُنوفُ الطَيرِ إِلّا كَواسِرُه
True men are only those capable of reaching the heights;
Just as the only birds that matter are the birds of prey.
أَلَ تَرَ مُنذُ اِستُلينَت قَناتُهُ
تَمَشَّت إِلَيهِ الحادِثاتُ تُساوِرُه
Do you not see? Ever since his spear was softened,
Calamities have marched toward him to assault him.
فَأُرهِقَ حَتّى ما يَبينُ كَلامُهُ
وَقُيِّدَ حَتّى لَيسَ تَسري خَواطِرُه
He was oppressed until his speech became incoherent,
And shackled until his very thoughts could no longer roam.
وَلَو مَلَكوا الأَقدارَ اِستَغفَرَ الَّذي
لَهُ المُلكُ يُؤتيهِ الَّذي هُوَ آثِرُه
Had they mastered Fate, the One who holds the Kingdom
Would have sought forgiveness for granting it to His chosen.
لَما تَرَكوا شَمسَ النَهارِ يَزورُهُ
سَناها وَلا زَهرُ النُجومِ تُسامِرُه
They would not have let the sun of day visit him,
Neither its radiance, nor the blossoming stars to keep him company.
يُريدونَ أَن يَبقى وَيَذهَبُ مَجدُهُ
وَكَيفَ بَقاءُ الشَعبِ بادَت مَآثِرُهُ
They wish for him to survive while his glory perishes;
But how can a people endure when their virtues are destroyed?
فَغورِسَت في مِصرَ يُسَدِّدُ سَهمَُ
إِلَيه وَقَنّاصُ الوُحوشِ يُضافِرُه
Disaster was planted in Egypt, aiming its arrow
At him, while the hunter of beasts aids the assault.
يَلِجّونَ في إِعناتِهِ فَإِذا شَكا
يَصيحونَ أَنَّ الشَعبَ قَد ثارَ ثائِرُه
They persist in his persecution, and if he cries out,
They shout that the people are rising in violent revolt.
لَقَد هَزَأوا لَمّا تَنَبَّهَ بَعضُهُ
فَلِم ذُعِروا لَمّا تَنَبَّهَ سائِرُه
They mocked when only a few of them awoke,
So why panic now that the rest have awakened?
يَقولونَ جانٍ لا يَحُلُّ فِكاكَهُ
وَلَو أَنصَفوهُ حَمَلَ الإِثمَ أَسرُه
They call him a criminal whose bonds must not be loosed,
Yet had they been just, it is his captivity that bears the sin.
عَجِبتُ لِقَومٍ يُنكِرونَ شُعورَهُ
وَهاتا مَجاليه وَتِلكَ مَظاهِرُه
I marvel at a people who deny his sentiment,
While here are the signs of it, and there its manifestations.
أَلَم يَكُ في يَومِ القَناةِ ثَباتُهُ
دَليلاً عَلى أَن لَيسَ توهى مَرائِرُه
Was not his steadfastness on the Day of the Canal
Proof enough that his resolve cannot be frayed?
يَعُزُّ عَلى المَصرِيِّ أَن يَحمِلَ الأَذى
وَحاضِرُهُ يَأبى الهَوان وَغابِرُه
It is unbearable for the Egyptian to suffer humiliation;
Both his present and his ancient past refuse such disgrace.
لَئِن تَكُ لِلتاريخ وَاللَهِ زينَةٌ
فَما زينَةُ التاريخِ إِلّا مَفاخِرُه
If History, by God, possesses any true ornament,
Then History's ornament is nothing but his glories.
رَعى اللَهُ مِن أَبنائِهِ مَن يَذودُ عَن
حِماه وَمِن أَضيافِهِ مَن يُظاهِرُه
May God protect those sons who defend
His sanctuary, and those guests who stand in support.
هُم بَعَثوا فِيَّ الحَياةَ جَديدَةً
فَشُدتُ أَواخيه وَعَزَّت أَواصِرُه
They have breathed new life into my spirit,
So I strengthened his bonds, and his ties grew mighty.
وَهُم أَسمَعوا الأَيّامَ صَوتاً كَأَنَّما
هُوَ الرَعدُ تَدوي في السَماءِ زَماجِرُه
They made the days listen to a voice that sounded
Like thunder, its roar resounding through the heavens.
وَهُم أَطلَقوا أَقلامَهُم حينَ أَصبَحَت
مُكَبَّلَةً أَقلامُه وَمَحابِرُه
They unleashed their pens at a time when
His own pens and inkwells lay in chains.
كَذَلِكَ إِن يَعدَم أَخو الظُلمِ ناصِراً
فَلَن يَعدُمَ المَظلومُ حُراً يُناصِرُه
Thus, though the tyrant may find no helper,
The oppressed shall never lack a free man to champion his cause.
