لا مَرحَباً بِكَ أَيُّهَذا العامُ
لَم يُرعَ عِندَكَ لِلأُساةِ ذِمامُ
No welcome to you, O this year,
You have shown no mercy for the afflicted.
في مُستَهَلِّكَ رُعتَنا بِمَآتِمٍ
لِلنافِعينَ مِنَ الرِجالِ تُقامُ
Your onset brought us many sorrows,
For the beneficial men to establish.
عَلَمانِ مِن أَعلامِ مِصرَ طَواهُما
فيكَ الرَدى فَبَكَتهُما الأَهرامُ
Two signs from the signs of Egypt you buried,
So the pyramids wept for them in you.
غَيَّبتَ شُكري وَهوَ نابِهُ عَصرِهِ
وَأَصَبتَ إِبراهيمَ وَهوَ إِمامُ
You took Shukri while he was in his prime,
And you struck down Ibrahim while he was a leader.
خَدَما رُبوعَ النيلِ في عَهدَيهِما
وَالطِبُّ نَبتٌ لَم يَجُدهُ غَمامُ
They both served the Nile’s lands in their time,
And medicine is a plant untouched by clouds of sorrow.
وَالناسُ بِالغَربِيِّ في تَطبيبِهِ
وَلِعوا عَلى بُعدِ المَزارِ وَهاموا
People turned to the Westerner in treatment
And roamed afar from the tombs, bewildered,
حَتّى اِنبَرى شُكري فَأَثبَتَ سَبقُهُ
أَنَّ اِبنَ مِصرَ مُجَرِّبٌ مِقدامُ
Until Shukri came forth proving his precedence,
That the son of Egypt is a daring experimenter.
وَأَقامَ إِبراهيمُ أَبلَغَ حُجَّةٍ
أَنَّ العَرينَ يَحُلُّهُ ضِرغامُ
And Ibrahim established the most eloquent proof
That the lion’s den is entered by the courageous.
وَتَرَسَّمَ المُتَعَلِّمونَ خُطاهُما
فَاِنشَقَّ مِن عَلَمَيهِما أَعلامُ
The students walked in their footsteps,
So flags split from their knowledge.
قَد أَقسَموا لِلطِبِّ أَن يَسموا بِهِ
فَوقَ السِماكِ فَبَرَّتِ الأَقسامُ
They swore to medicine to elevate it
Above the stars, so the oaths were binding.
وَغَدَت رُبوعُ الطِبِّ تَحكي جَنَّةً
فيها لِبُقراطَ الحَكيمِ مَقامُ
The lands of medicine came to tell the story
Of a paradise wherein Buqrat the Wise has his station.
وَرَأى عَليلُ النيلِ أَنَّ أُساتَهُ
بَذّوا الأُساةَ فَلَم يَرُعهُ سَقامُ
The Nile's patients saw that their griefs
Cast off grief, so no more sickness plagued them.
يا مِصرُ حَسبُكِ ما بَلَغتِ مِنَ المُنى
صَدَقَ الرَجاءُ وَصَحَّتِ الأَحلامُ
O Egypt, it suffices what you have attained of wishes,
The hopes were true and the dreams correct.
وَمَشى بَنوكِ كَما اِشتَهَيتِ إِلى العُلا
وَعَلى الوَلاءِ كَما عَلِمتِ أَقاموا
Your children walked as you desired, to the heights,
And they remained loyal as you taught them.
وَمَدَدتِ صَوتَكِ بَعدَ طولِ خُفوتِهِ
فَدَعا بِعافِيَةٍ لَكِ الإِسلامُ
You extended your voice after its long hush,
So Islam called the good tidings to you.
وَرَفَعتِ رَأسَكِ عِندَ مُفتَخَرِ النُهى
بَينَ المَمالِكِ حَيثُ تُحنى الهامُ
You raised your head before the proud preventer of sins,
Among the kingdoms where ambitions bow.
كَم فيكِ جَرّاحٌ كَأَنَّ يَمينَهُ
عِندَ الجِراحَةِ بَلسَمٌ وَسَلامُ
How many are your surgeons whose right hand
Is like a healing balm at surgery?
قَد صيغَ مِبضَعُهُ وَإِن أَجرى دَماً
مِن رَحمَةٍ فَجَريحُهُ بَسّامُ
His incision knife was forged, and if it draws blood,
It is out of mercy, so the wounded smile.
وَمُوَفَّقٍ جَمِّ الصَوابِ إِذا اِلتَوى
داءُ العَليلِ وَحارَتِ الأَفهامُ
Successful all of whose opinions hit the mark,
When the patient’s illness twists and puzzles confound.
يُلقي بِسَمعٍ لا يَخونُ إِذا هَفَت
أُذُنٌ وَخانَ المِسمَعَينِ صِمامُ
He listens with an ear that does not fail when
Another ear buzzes and the hearing is blocked.
وَإِذا عُضالُ الداءِ أَبهَمَ أَمرُهُ
عَرَفَت خَفِيَّ دَبيبِهِ الإِبهامُ
And when the illness' complexities make its matter obscure,
The ambiguity comes to know its hidden creeping.
يَستَنطِقُ الآلامَ وَهيَ دَفينَةٌ
خَرساءُ حَتّى تَنطِقَ الآلامُ
It interrogates the pains though they are silent,
Until the pains themselves start to speak.
كَم سَلَّ مِن أَيدي المَنايا أَنفُساً
وَثَنى عِنانَ المَوتِ وَهوَ زُؤامُ
How many souls has it saved from the hands of death,
And restrained the rein of death when it was stubborn!
وَمُطَبِّبٍ لِلعَينِ يَحمِلُ ميلُهُ
نوراً إِذا غَشّى العُيونَ قَتامُ
And the eye doctor whose inclination carries
A light when blindness overwhelms the eyes.
وَكَأَنَّ إِثمِدَهُ ضِياءٌ ذَرَّهُ
عيسى بنُ مَريَمَ فَاِنجَلى الإِظلامُ
His lens is as if cast by Jesus son of Mary,
So the darkness dispersed and clarified.
وَمُطَبِّبٍ لِلطِفلِ لَم تَنبُت لَهُ
سِنٌّ وَلَم يَدرُج إِلَيهِ فِطامُ
And the pediatrician whose teeth still haven't come in
And who hasn't been weaned from the breast.
يَشكو السَقامَ بِناظِرَيهِ وَما لَهُ
غَيرُ التَفَزُّزِ وَالأَنينِ كَلامُ
The sickness complains to him with his eyes, though he has
No speech apart from twitches and moans.
فَكَمِ اِستَشَفَّ وَكَم أَصابَ كَأَنَّما
في نَظرَتَيهِ الوَحيُ وَالإِلهامُ
So how much has he diagnosed, and how often he hits the mark, as if
Revelation and inspiration are in his glance!
وَمُوَلِّدٍ عَرَفَ الأَجِنَّةُ فَضلَهُ
إِن أَعسَرَت بِوِلادِها الأَرحامُ
And the obstetrician whom the fetuses know his merit,
If the wombs have difficulty giving birth.
كَم قَد أَنارَ لَها بِحالِكَةِ الحَشا
سُبُلاً تَضِلُّ سُلوكَها الأَوهامُ
How much in their darkness has he illuminated for them
Ways that imaginations lose and wander!
لَولا يَداهُ سَطا عَلى أَبدانِها
كَربُ المَخاضِ وَشَفَّها الإيلامُ
Were it not for his hands passing over their bodies,
The pangs of labor would have overwhelmed them and agony afflicted them
فَبِهَؤُلاءِ الغُرِّ يا مِصرَ اِهنَئي
فَبِمِثلِهِم تَتَفاخَرُ الأَيّامُ
With these youths, O Egypt, congratulations!
For the likes of them the days take pride.
وَعَلى طَبيبَيكِ اللَذَينِ رَماهُما
رامي المَنونِ تَحِيَّةٌ وَسَلامُ
And greeting and peace to your two doctors
Whom the archer of death has stricken.
