لا تنكِرُوا الأَنَّاتِ فِي أَوْتَارِي

لَمْ يَبْقَ لِي فِي العَيْشِ مِنْ أَوْطَارِ

Do not deny the melodies in my strings

I have no more notes left in life

ذهَبَ الأَحِبَّة بَعْضُهُمْ مُتعَقِّبٌ

بَعْضاً وَكَان السَّبقُ لِلأَخْيَارِ

Some of my loved ones passed away in pursuit

Of others, and the lead went to the best

أَرْزَاءُ دَهْرٍ شَفَّني تَكْرَارُهَا

أَفَمَا بِهَا سَأَمٌ مِنَ التَّكرَارِ

The changing times of fate wearied me with their repetition

Is there no boredom from this repetition?

أَنَا فِي الحَيَاة رَهِينَةٌ مَنْ يَفْتَدي

وَأَنا الأَسِيرُ فمَنْ يَفُكُّ إِسَارِي

I am a hostage in life, who will ransom me?

I am a captive, so who will unshackle me?

مَا طَالَ عُمْرِي فِي مَدَاهُ وَإِنَّني

لأَخَالُهُ يَعْدُو مَدى الأَعْمَارِ

My life is not long in its span, though I think it

Exceeds the span of lives

جِبْرِيلُ وَاوَلدَا مَضى قَبْلِي فَبِي

ثُكْلٌ وَلذْعُ الثُّكلِ لَذْعُ النَّارِ

Gabriel and his children passed away before me

So I have agony and the agony of loss is like fire

فِي دَارِ وَالدِهِ شَهِدْتُ نُمُوَّهُ

أَيَّامَ يَدْرُجُ نَاعِمَ الأَظْفَارِ

In his father’s house I saw his growth

In the days he toddled with soft fingers

وَشَهِدْتُ كَيْفَ تُعِدُّ أَمٌّ بَعْدَهُ

لِلمَجْدِ أَوْحَدَهَا وَلِلأَخْطارِ

And I saw how a mother after him

Prepared for glory her only one and for perils

لاَ بِدْعَ أَنْ يُلفَى صِغارٌ أُنْبِتُوا

لِلّه وَالأَوْطَانِ جِدَّ كِبَارِ

Of course little ones will be raised

For God and the homelands, leaders of elders

مَا أَنْسَ لا أَنْسَى المُهَذَّبةَ الَّتِي

صِينتْ مَحَاسِنُهَا بِتاجِ وَقَارِ

Unforgettable is the graceful mother

Whose beauty was crowned with a crown and dignity

أُمٌّ مِنَ الَّلائِي نَدَرْنَ وَكَانَ مِن

أَبْنائِهِنَّ نَوَادِرُ الأَدْهَارِ

A mother from those who are rare, and from

Her children were the rarities of times

نَشَّأنَهُمْ وَبِنُورِهِنَّ أَضَأْنَهُمْ

وَمِنَ الشمُوسِ أَشِعَّة الأَقْمَارِ

They raised them, and with their light they illuminated them

With rays from the suns and the moons

يَا ناعِياً جِبْرِيلَ إِن نَعِيَّهُ

لأَشَدُّ مَا خُطتْ يَدُ المِقْدارِ

Oh you who mourn Gabriel, mourning him

Is the most painful stroke dealt by fate

إِنِّي لَتُدْمَى بِالحُرُوفِ نَوَاظِرِي

مَا لِلحُرُوفِ يَثِبْنَ وَثبَ شرَارِ

My eyes are surely tearful from the letters

Why do letters leap and spark like embers?

فِي العَالَمِ العَرَبِيِّ أَيَّة هِزقٍ

لأُفُولِ ذَاك الكَوْكبِ المُتوَارِي

In the Arab world what a loss

From the setting of that hidden star

فدحَ المُصَابُ بِه فَمَا مِنْ مُقْلَةٍ

إِلاَّ بَكَتْهُ بِمَدْمَعٍ مِدْرَارِ

The calamity that befell spreads grief, and there is no eyelid

That did not weep for him with flowing tears

كَيْفَ الأَسَى فِي مِصْرَ لوْ يَجْزِى الأَسَى

بِالحَقِّ أَجْرَ مُجَاهِدٍ صَبَّارِ

How is the sorrow in Egypt as if sorrow

In justice pays the wage of a steadfast fighter

سَارَتْ تُشَيِّعهُ وَلَمْ ترَ أُمَّةٌ

فِي مِثلِ ذَاك المَشْهَدِ الجَرَّارِ

Millions bid him farewell, no nation has seen

The likes of that great procession

أَمُعِيدَ هَذا الشَّرْقِ بَعدَ سَحَابَةٍ

غشِيَتْهُ دهْراً مَصْدَرَ الأَنْوَارِ

Will he restore this East after clouds

Have shrouded it, the source of light, for ages?

لوْ أَنْصَفَتْكَ صِحَافةٌ بِك أَصْبَحَتْ

ذَاتَ الجَلالَةِ كَلَّلَتْك بِغَارِ

If the press were fair to you, it would have crowned you

“His Majesty” garlanded you with excellence

لأَبِيكَ كَانَ السَّبقُ فِي مِضْمَارِهَا

وَإِلَيْكَ آلَ السَّبقُ فِي المِضْمَارِ

Your father preceded in his field

And leadership in the field came to you

وَلَعَلَّ مَنْ أَعْقَبْتَ وَالآثَارُ قَدْ

وضَحَتْ لَهُ يَجْرِي عَلى الآثَارِ

Perhaps one who followed you, and the tracks

Became clear to him, proceeds upon the tracks

مَاذَا صَنَعْتَ وَقَدْ وَرِثْتَ صَحِيفَةً

تحيَا بِهَا فِي بَسْطَةٍ وَيَسَارِ

What did you do when you inherited a newspaper

That enabled you to live in ease and comfort?

لَمْ يُرْضِكَ اسْتِقْرَارُهَا ولَقَدْ تَرَى

أَنَّ الجُمُودَ حَلِيفُ الاِسْتِقْرَارِ

Stability did not please you, though you see

That stagnation is the ally of stability

فَمَضَيتَ فِي تَحْسِينِهَا قُدَماً وَلَمْ

تُحجِمْ عَلى العِلاَّتِ وَالأَخْطَارِ

So you went ahead improving it, not hesitating

From reforms and dangers

وَرفَعْتَها لِلعَالَمِينَ منَارَةً

تعْتَادُهُمْ بِشَعَاعِهَا السَّيارِ

And you raised it for the world as a beacon

That provides them with its travelling rays

دِيوانُهَا بِالأَمْسِ كانَ دُوَيْرَةً

وَاليَوْمَ أَضْحَى دَوْلَةً فِي دَارِ

Yesterday its constitution was a hut

And today it became a state in its abode

شَتَّانَ بَيْنَ صَحِيفةٍ بِمُتُونِهَا

وَشُرُوحِهَا فَيَّاضةِ الأَنْهَارِ

What a difference between a newspaper with its texts

And explanations, flowing rivers

وَصَحِيفَةٍ مِنْ كُلِّ مَطْلَعِ كَوْكَبٍ

يُزْجَى إِلَيْهَا أَطْرَفُ الأَخْبارِ

And a newspaper receiving from every rising star

The choicest news conveyed to it

هِيَ مَعْرِضٌ لِلحادِثَاتِ قَرِيبَةٌ

وَبَعِيدَةٌ فِي كُلِّ صُبْحٍ نَهَارِ

It is an exhibition of current events

Near and far, every morning and evening

هِيَ حلْبَةٌ فِيهَا مَدىً مُتَطَاوِلٌ

لِمُكاِفحِي رَأْيٍ وَلِلأَنْصَارِ

It is an arena wherein an ongoing conflict

Takes place between opposing opinions and their supporters

ضُمِنَتْ بِهَا لِحُمَاةِ كُلِّ حَقِيقَةٍ

حُرِّيَّة النزَعَاتِ وَالأَفْكَارِ

Freedom of dispositions and ideas is guaranteed in it

For protectors of every truth

أَيْن الصَّوَابُ هُوَ الطِّلابُ وَدُونَهُ

كَدُّ النُّهى وَتَنَافُحُ الأَحْرَارِ

Wherever right is found, it is sought, and below it

Is the force of prevention and conflict of the noble

أَظْهِرْ عَلى مَا فِي الضَّمَائِرِ كُلَّ ذِي

شَأْنٍ بِه فَالخَيْرُ فِي الإِظْهَارِ

Reveal everything in consciences, every person of stature

For good is in revelation

قَدْ تفْتِنُ الأَبْصَارَ بَهْرَجَةٌ وَقَدْ

تَغْشى البَصَائِرَ فِتْنَةُ الأَبْصَارِ

Eyes may be tempted by splendor, and sights

May be covered by the temptation of eyes

لكِنَّ حُكْمَ الحقِّ يَصْدُقُ آخِراً

فِيمَا يُقَوِّمُهُ مِنَ الأَقْدارِ

But the judgment of truth proves right in the end

In what it assesses of values

وَالشَّعبُ يَوْمَئِذٍ يُوَلِّي أَمْرَهُ

مَنْ يَصْطَفِيهِ عَنْ رِضىً وَخِيَارِ

And then the people will appoint

Whomever it chooses, out of consent and virtue

أَهْرَامُ مِصْرَ عَتِيدُهَا بَعْثٌ لَهَا

وَعَهِيدُهَا للفَخْرِ والتَّذكارِ

The pyramids of Egypt, its renaissance is imminent

And its appointment is for pride and commemoration

جِبْرِيلُ كالِئُهَا الدَّؤُوبُ وَشَخْصُهُ

فِي المَرْقَبِ العَالِي وَراءَ سِتارِ

Gabriel is its tireless architect, and his persona

Is in the high observatory behind the curtain

مِصْرُ الهَوَى يَحْيَا لَهَا وَرِضَاهُ مَا

ترْضاهُ فِي الإِعْلانِ وَالإِسْرَارِ

Egypt’s desire lives for it, and his approval is what

He approves in declaration and in secret

وَلِمِصْرَ مَا يَجْنِي وَمَا يَبْنِي وَمَا

يَصِلُ الأَصَائِلَ فِيه بِالأَسْحَارِ

And for Egypt whatever it reaps, builds, and connects

Lineages at dawn

لا شَيءَ فِي الأَقْوَامِ إِلاَّ قوْمُهُ

لا شَيءَ إِلاَّ مِصْرُ فِي الأَمْصَارِ

Nothing in nations but his people

Nothing but Egypt in cities

هَذا هُوَ الصَّحفِيُّ إِلاَّ أَنَّهُ

فِي صُورَةٍ أُخْرَى مِنَ التجَّارِ

This is the journalist, except

He is in another image of merchants

مِنْ جَالِبِي الإِيسَارِ حَيْثُ تَوَسَّطوا

فِي النَّاسِ لا مِنْ جَالِبِي الإِعْسَارِ

Of those bringing ease, wherever they interceded

Among people, not those bringing hardship

وَالنَّاصِحِينَ النَّافِعِينَ دِيَارَهُمْ

بِنَزَاهَةِ الإِيرَادِ وَالإِصْدَارِ

And the advisors benefiting their countries

With integrity of revenue and expenditure

جَادَتْ بِضَاعَتُهُ وَضُوعِفَ رِبْحُهُ

بِسَمَاحِ بَائِعِهَا وَشُكْرِ الشَّارِي

His merchandise was generous, and its profit was lessened

By the generosity of its seller and gratitude of the buyer

تَتعَددُ الصَّدَقَاتُ فِي نَفقَاتِهِ

حَتَّى لَيُخْطِئَها الحِسَابُ الجَارِي

Charities multiply in his expenditures

Until the ledger misses counting them

لاَ يَنْظُرَنَّ إِلى العَظِيمِ بِفِعْلهِ

قَوْمٌ بِأَعْيُنِ مَاهِنِينَ صِغَارِ

Let not people look to the great in his deeds

With the eyes of insignificant, mean ones

فَالمُتْلِفُ الجَبَّارُ فِيمَا قَدَّرُوا

مَا كانَ غَيْرَ المُخِلفِ الجَبَّارِ

So the generous giant compared to what they assessed

Was none other than the generous giant

إِنَّ الصِّحافَة حَوْمَةُ الأَقْلامِ لاَ

مَرْمَى القِدَاحِ وَمَلْعَبُ الأَيْسَارِ

Journalism is the preserve of pens, not

The target of defamation and playing field of the vile

يُرمَى بِهَا عَنْ كُلِّ قوْسٍ إِنَّما

لاَ قوْسَ إِلاَّ مَا بَرَاهُ البَارِي

It is shot from every bow, but only

A bow as righteous as the Creator approves

أَو مَا رَأَيْنَاهَا تَشِيدُ مَمَالِكاً

وَتُعِزُّ أَقْطاراً عَلى أَقْطَارِ

Or we have seen it build kingdoms

And strengthen lands over lands

أَمُؤَبِّني جِبْرِيلَ مِنْ أَقْرَانهِ

فَضْلاَ وَمِنْ إِخوَانِهِ الأَبْرَارِ

My fellow mourners of Gabriel, of his peers

You have done him justice with this commemoration, but not

أَنْصَفْتُمُوهُ بِهَذهِ الذِّكْرى وَمَا

أَحْرَاهُ بِالتخْلِيدِ وَالإِكْبارِ

What his striving for immortalization and greatness deserves

It is enough that the pyramids prepared for his country

حَسْبُ المُنَى مَا هَيَّأتْ أَهْرَامُهُ

لِبِلاده مِنْ عِزَّةٍ وَفخارِ

From power and pride what they prepared

And may his descendant after him

وَلْيُولِهِ بِسَلِيله مِنْ بَعْده

أَمناً عَلى الذِّكْرَى وَطِيبَ قرَارِ

Have safety upon remembrance and good settlement