أَمَرْتَنِي وَبِهَذَا الأَمْرِ تُسْعِدُنِي

عِبْيءِ ثَقِيلٌ وَلَكِنْ لَيْسَ يُقْعِدُنِي

You have commanded me, and with this command, you bring me joy,

A heavy burden, but it does not make me sedentary,

الصَّوْتُ صَوْتُ الحِمَى يُوحِي إِرَادَتَهُ

إِنْ لَمْ يَجِبْهُ إِلَيْهَا شَاعِرٌ فَمَنِ

The voice is the voice of zeal, intimating its will,

If no poet answers its call, then who?

هَلْ شَاعِرُ القَوْمِ إِلاَّ صَادِحٌ غَرِدٌ

إِنْ شَاقَهُ فَنَنٌ غَنَّى عَلَى الفَنَنِ

Is not the tribe’s poet a chanter, a warbler?

If artifice opposes him, he sings of artifice,

تَشْدُو البَلابِلُ فِي شَجْراءِ نَاضِرَةٍ

وَلا بَلابِلَ فِي خَدَّاعَةِ الدِّمَنِ

The nightingales trill in verdant woods,

With no nightingales in the deceit of civilization,

جِئْنِي بِمَجْدٍ وَخُذْ مِنِّي تَحِيَّتَهُ

فِي كُلِّ آنٍ وَهْيَ وَلا وَهَنِ

Bring me glory and take from me its greeting,

At every moment, lively and no languor,

أُوْلى الفُتُوحِ بِإِجْلالٍ وَتَكْرٌمَةٍ

فَتْح المُكَافِحِ لِلآفَاتِ وَالمِحَنِ

The first conquests deserve veneration and honor,

The conquest of one who struggles against afflictions and trials,

وَهَلْ يُشْبِهُ نَصْرٌ فِي مَثَارِ وَغًى

بِالنَّصْرِ فِي حَلْبَةِ الآرَاءِ وَالفِطَنِ

Can a victory amid luxury and turmoil,

Match the victory in the arena of ideas and ingenuity?

جَنَّاتِ مِصْرَ سَقَاكَ النِّيْلُ حَيْثُ جَرَى

خَصْباً وَأَغْنَاكِ عَنْ هَتَّانَةِ المُزَنِ

The gardens of Egypt, the Nile has watered them as it flowed,

Fertile, enriching you, beyond the fertility of rain,

فِي مَغْرِسِ فَضْلِ العِلْمِ كَمْ غُصُ

نٍ أَنْبَتَهُ خَيْرَ إِنْبَاتٍ وَكَمْ غُصُنِ

In the orchard of knowledge’s virtue, how many a branch

Grew in the best growth and how many a branch,

يَسْتَنْشِدُ الطَّيْرُ أَلْحَاناً فَيُنْشِدُهُ

حَتَّى الحَمَامُ بِلا شَجْوٍ وَلا شَجَنِ

The birds seek out melodies and sing to him,

Even the doves without melancholy or yearning,

فِي مُهْجَتِي حُزْنٌ أَطْوِي صَحِيفَتَهُ

وَ الَيَوْمَ لِلصَّفْوِ لَيْسَ اليَوْمَ لِلْحُزْنِ

In my core is sorrow, I fold up its page,

And today is for joy, today is not for sorrow,

اليَوْمَ عِيدٌ تُحَيِّي فِيهِ نَابِغَةً

فِي الطُّبِّ ذَا شَرْعَةٍ طَابَتْ وَذَا سَنَنِ

Today is a feast in which you greet an eminent one,

In medicine, of good law and tradition,

مِنَ العَبَاقِرَةِ الغُرِّ الَّذِينَ غَدَوا

فِي الشَّرْقِ وَالغَرْبِ ملءَ العَيْنِ وَالأَذُنِ

Among the brilliant minds who in East and West

Fill the eye and ear,

أَكْرِمْ بع فِي رِفَاقٍ صَارُوا وَاسِطَةً

لِعَقْدِهِمْ رَفِيقٍ بِالعُلَى قَمِنِ

Honor one of a group who have become an intermediary,

For their bond with the sublime, protected,

مُمَكَّنٌ فِي أُصُولِ الفَنِّ مُبْتَكِرُ

مُعَالِجٌ لَبِقٌ مًسْتَنبِطٌ ذُهُنِ

Enabled in the principles of art, an innovator,

A skillful practitioner, an extractor of wisdom,

مُنَزَّهُ اللَّفْظِ وَالإِيمَانِ عَنْ رِيَبٍ

حُرُّ الضَّمِيرِ نَقِيُّ الطَّبْعِ منْ دَرَنِ

Of speech and faith far from doubt,

Free in conscience, pure in nature, from blemish,

تَبْدُو حِسَانُ الطَّوَايَا مِنْهُ فِي خُلُقٍ

عَلَى الإِسَاءةِ مِنْ أَيَّامِهِ حُسُنِ

The goodness of his intentions appears in a character,

That responds to harm from his days with kindness,

هَذَا إِلَى أَدَبٍ فِي المَعْنِيينَ إِلَى

بَدَاهَةٍ فِي إِدَاءٍ جِدًّ مُتَّزِنِ

This one has literary refinement, judiciousness in delivery,

Modesty, generosity in his craft,

إِلَى حَيَاءٍ إِلَى جُودٍ بِصَنْعَتِهِ

وَبِالمُبَرَّاتِ لا يَفْسِدْنَ بِالمَنَنِ

Not corrupting with favors,

By him and the company of his peers is honor,

بِهِ وَبِالرَّهْطِ مِنْ أَنْدَادِهِ شَرَفٌ

لِمِصْرَ تَزْهَى بِهِ فِي السِّرِّ وَالعَلَنِ

For Egypt, pridefully through him, in private and public,

Was not Egypt the cradle of medicine from early days,

أَلَمْ تَكُنْ مِصْرُ مَهْدَ الطُّبِّ مِنْ قِدَمٍ

إِذْ كُلُّ عِلَّةٍ حَانٍ عَلَى وَثَنِ

When every malady had its turn upon an idol?

So by what ingenuity created in them,

فَهُمْ بِمَا أَبْدَعَتْ فِيهِ قَرَائِحُهُمْ

رَدُّوهُ مِنْ بَعْدِ تَغْرِيبٍ إِلَى وَطَنِ

They returned it, after estrangement, to its homeland,

O unique one of time in treating women, and if

يَا أَوْحَدَ الدَّهْرِ فِي طُبِّ النِّسَاءِ وَإِنْ

نُفْرِدْهُ لَمْ يُنْتَقَضْ فَضْلٌ وَلَمْ يَهُنِ

We single him out, no merit diminished and none faded,

Yet you specialized in it for the delicate gender, no

أَمَّا اخْتَصَصْتَ بِهِ الجِنْسَ الرَّقِيقَ فَلا

بِدْعَ وَمَا أَنْتَ بِالجَافِي وَلا الخَشِنِ

Innovation, and you are neither brusque nor rough,

God knows how many orphans

اللهُ يَعْلَمُ كَمْ أَنْقَذْتَ مِنْ يَتَمٍ

عِيَالِ بَيْتٍ وكم مَزَّقْتَ مِنْ كَفَنِ

Of a home you saved, how many shrouds you tore,

And God knows how many a child you delivered,

وَاللهُ يَعْلَمُ كَمْ أَنْجَبْتَ مِنْ وَلَدٍ

قَدْ يَغْتَدِي غُرَّةً فِي جَبْهَةِ الزَّمنِ

Who may prosper as youth in the brow of time,

Knowledge you surmounted its steep paths,

عِلْمٌ طَلَعْتَ الثَّنَايَا مِنْ مَصَاعِبِهِ

حَتَّى بَلَغْتَ إِلَى العَلْيَا مِنَ القِنَنِ

Until you reached the summit of profession,

And it preoccupied you apart from its trade,

وَقَدْ أَهَمَّكَ مِنْهُ غَيْرُ مِهْنَتِهِ

وَإِنْ تَكُنْ دُونَ شَكِّ أَشْرَفَ المِهَنِ

Though it is doubtless the noblest of trades,

A secret you hastened your recovery through it,

سِرٌّ تَعَجَّلَ مَرْضَاكَ الشِّفَاءَ بِهِ

وَالبُرْءُ لِلْرُّوحِ قَبْلَ البُرْءِ لِلْبَدَنِ

And wellness of the soul before wellness of the body,

And your wounds they reckon from trust,

وَبَاتَ جَرْحَاكَ يَعْتَدُّونَ مِنَ ثِقَةٍ

مَوَاقِعَ النَّصْلِ فِيهِمْ أَسْمَحَ المِنَنِ

The places of the blade in them most forgiving of gifts,

So congratulations truly on what you gained in reward,

فَاهْنَأْ بِمَا نِلْتَ حَقّاً مِنْ مَكَافَأَةٍ

هَيْهَاتَ يَعْدِلُهَا غَالٍ مِنَ الثَّمَنِ

Alas, nothing equals it of treasures' price,