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وشاقنا نثرك فاسترسل

O night, you created the most beautiful adornment

And we were captivated by your flowing prose

كم آيةٌ في نقطها ينجلي

نجمك والأحرف لا تنجلي

How many signs are illuminated in her dotting

Your star, though letters do not illuminate

لو أدرك المحبوب من نقطها

لم يختلف في المعجز المنزل

If the beloved realized from her dotting

The revealed miracle would not differ

لم يكفك اليوم الرواء الذي

يألفه في حسنك المجتلي

Your coolness today that it finds

In your beauty, was not enough for the admirer

فزدته ما شئت من زينةٍ

بمثلها الأعين لم تكحل

So you added whatever adornment you wished

That eyes have not lined with kohl like it

جودت ما جودت تنسيقها

على المثال الأبهج الأجمل

You have given, however much you have given, its arrangement

Upon the most splendid and beautiful example

على مثالٍ لا توافي به

إلا سعود الزمن المقبل

Upon an example that does not meet with it

Except the felicity of the coming time

يا بشر هذا المنزل المزدهي

بالشمس تلقى البدر في منزل

O people, this adorned dwelling

With the sun meets the moon in its dwelling

نبتٌ جلا فرع الندى والبهى

طاهرة الموضع والمحمل

A plant whose dew and splendor branch arose

Pure of place and carrier

سليلة المرء الكبير الحمى

كريمة العلامة الأفضل

Descendant of the great protector

Noble, of the most superior sign

الثاقب الرأي الذي نوره

فاز بفانوس على المشعل

The perceptive one whose light

Won with a lantern over the flame

المعتلي عن دهره قدره

وفكره عن قدره معتل

Transcending his time is his worth

And his thought beyond his worth transcends

زفت إلى فهمي ونعم الفتى

أن يعقد المر وأن يحلل

She came to my understanding and what a fine lad

To knot the affair and disentangle

ذاك الذي يرقى به عزمه

من معقلٍ عالٍ إلى معقل

He whom his determination raises

From a high fortress to a fortress

ذاك الذي يلبس آدابه

من الطراز المعلم الأول

He who wears his manners

Of excellent and skilled making

ذاك الذي تعذب أخلاقه

حتى لقد تغنى عن المنهل

He whose morals are refined

To the point that he had no need for a watering hole

من عمد البيت الرفيع الذي

يصاعد الشهب ولا يأتلي

From the pillar of the lofty house

That climbs upwards and does not decline

بيت كما شاء الهدى شاده

يأوي الندى منه إلى موئل

A house as guidance desired he built it

Where dew takes refuge in its harbor

يهنيك يا فهمي قران به

تقاطرت مصر إلى محفل

It congratulates you, my understanding, for pairing with it

Egypt spilled into its ceremony

بحريها خف لقبليها

وخف ماضيها لمستقبل

Its Nile humbled by its face

And its past humbled for its future

فرعون من تاريخه رامقٌ

آيات عصرٍ بعده مذهل

A Pharaoh from his history expires

Signs of an era after him amazing

من كل ما لم ير شبهاً له

في داره قدماً ولم يأمل

From all that he did not see the like of

In his land, neither ancient nor hoped for

فاليوم في بيتك مصر وما

مصر سوى العهدين أن تجمل

So today in your house is Egypt and what

Is Egypt but to adorn both eras?

وأنت بالحق جديرٌ بما

أدركته من جاهك الأكمل

And you rightfully deserve what

You attained of your most perfect glory

أنت جيردٌ بالذي نلته

من الهناء الأوفر الأجزل

You, Gerard, for what you obtained

Of abundant, copious prosperity