لَيْسَ أَمْرُ المُفَارِقِينَ كَأَمْرِي
أَنَا فِي وَحْشَةٍ بَقِيَّة عُمْرِي
The parting of friends is not like my plight,
I live in desolation for the rest of my life.
كانَ لِي رُفْقَةٌ هُمُ العَيْشُ أَوْ
أَطْيَبُ مَا فِيه مِنْ مَتَاعِ الفِكْرِ
I had companions, they were my life,
Or the most delicious thing in it to ponder.
صَفْوَةٌ مِنْ نَوَابغِ العِلمِ وَالآ
دَابِ عَزَّ اجْتِمَاعُهَا فِي قُطْرِ
An elite of the geniuses of knowledge and finesse,
It was rare for them to gather in one place.
نَزَحُوا وَالزَّمَانُ حِرْصاً عَلَيْهِمْ
عَالِقٌ بَعْدَ كُلِّ عَيْنٍ بِإِثْرِ
They went away while time insisted upon them,
Each eye clings to their traces afterwards.
كُلُّ يَوْمٍ نَشْرٌ لَهُمْ بَعْدَ طَيٍّ
كُلُّ يَوْمٍ طي لَهُمْ بَعْدَ نَشْرِ
Every day is a spreading out for them after folding,
Every day is a folding after spreading out.
وَتَمُرّ الأَيامُ بِي بَيْنَ تَجْديدِ
لِقَاءٍ وَبَيْنَ تَجْديد هَجْرِ
And days pass me by between renewing
An encounter and renewing estrangement.
مَا بَقائِي بَعْدَ الأَحِبَّاءِ إِلاَّ
كَمُقامِ الغَرِيبِ فِي دَارِ أَسْرِ
My remaining after loved ones is but
Like the stay of a stranger in the home of captivity.
إِنْ يَسُؤْنِي حِمَامُهُمْ فَعَزَائِي
أَنْ أَرَاهُم فِي النَّاسِ أَحْيَاءَ ذِكْرِ
If their pigeons sadden me my solace is
To see them alive in people's memories.
بَقِيَ الشِّعرُ حِقْبَةً تَحْتَ لَيْلٍ
أَعْقَبَتْهُ فِي مِصْرَ طَلْعَةُ فَجْرِ
Poetry remained for a period under the night
Which in Egypt the dawn of a new age followed.
جَاءَ سَامٍ فِيهَا طَلِيعَةَ خَيْرٍ
وَتَلاهُ الندَانِ شَوْقِي وَصَبْرِي
Sami came in it as the vanguard of good
Followed by Nadim and Shawqi and Sabri.
وأَتى حَافِظٌ فَكَان لِكُلٍّ
قِسْطَهُ فِي افْتِتِاحِ هَذَا العصرِ
And Hafez came so for each was
His share in inaugurating this era.
أَيُّها الأَوْفِياءُ مِمًّن أَجَابُوا
دَاعِيَ البِرِّ بِابْنِ مِصْرَ الأَبَرِّ
O you loyal ones who responded
To the summons of righteousness and the son of generous Egypt.
شَاعِرُ النِّيلِ شَاعِرُ الشَّرْقِ
وَالتَّخصيصُ بِالنِّيلِ شَامِلُ كُلَّ نَهْرِ
The poet of the Nile, poet of the East
And singling out the Nile includes every river.
إِنْ يُمَجِّدْهُ قَوْمُهُ فَلَهُمْ مَجْدٌ
بِه جَازَ كُلَّ بَحْرٍ وَبَرِّ
If his people glorify him, theirs is the glory
With which he traversed every sea and land.
بَارَكَ اللّهُ فِي مَسَاعِيكمُ الحُسْنَى
وَفِي ذلِكَ الشُّعورِ الطُّهرِ
May God bless your good endeavors
And that pure feeling.
لَيْسَ فِي أَجرِ مَا صنَعْتُمْ كَمَا تُو
لِيكُمُ النَّفسُ مِنْ كَرِيمِ الأَجْرِ
The reward for what you have done is not as
The self aspires to noble reward.
يَا وَزِيراً أَهْدَى إِلى الضَّاد مَا شَا
ءَ لَهَا البَعْثُ مِنْ مَآثِرَ غُرِّ
O vizier who guided the restoration of what it wished
For it achievements from glorious history.
كُلُّ أَمْرِ العِرْفَانِ مَا تَتَوَلَّى
وَعَلِيٌّ يُرْجَى لِكُلِّ الأَمْرِ
Everything you undertake in gratitude
And Ali is hoped for every matter.
إِنْ تَكُنْ نَاصِرَ القَديمِ فَما
كُنْتَ ضَنِيناً عَلى الحَديثِ بِنَصْرِ
If you support old ways you have not
Been stingy to the modern with support.
لَيْسَ شَأْنُ القَديمِ بِالنَّزْرِ فِي الفُصْحَى
وَشَأْنُ الحَديثِ لَيْسَ بِنَزْرِ
The status of old ways is not paltry in eloquence
And the status of the modern is not paltry.
بَيْنَ فَرْعٍ وَبَيْنَ أَصْلٍ زكِيٍ
هَلْ يَتِمُّ النَّماءُ مِنْ غَيْرِ إِصْرِ
Between branch and pure origin
Can growth be complete without tending?
أَنْتِ أَنْصَفْتَ حَافِظاً دُمْتَ مِنْ قَا
ضٍ نَزِيهٍ وَمِنْ وَزِيرٍ حُرِّ
You were fair to Hafez, remaining an impartial judge,
And a liberal minister.
جَمْعُ آثَارِه وَتَمْثِيلُهَا بِالطَّبعِ
فَضْلٌ يَبْقَى بَقَاءَ الدَّهْرِ
Collecting his works and copying them in print
Is a merit that remains forever.
إِنَّ دِيوَانَ حَافِظٍ لهْوَ تَارِيخُ
زَمَانٍ يَحْوِيه دِيوَانُ شِعْرِ
The Diwan of Hafez is truly the history
Of a time contained in a book of poetry.
عَرَبِيُّ الأُسْلُوبِ مُمْتَنِعٌ سَهْلٌ
لَهُ فِي النُّهى أَفَاعِيلُ سِحْرِ
Arabic in style, strong yet easy,
In rhetoric having snakes of sorcery.
مُسْتَعِيرٌ مِن الحِلى مَا أَعَارَ
اللَّهُ فَصْحَاهُ فِي حَكِيمِ الذِّكْرِ
Borrowing from fineries what God lent him eloquence
In the Wise Remembrance.
صَاغَتِ الفِطْنَةُ البَديعَةُ فِيه
أَنْفَسَ الدُّرِّ فِي قَلائِدِ تِبْرِ
Ingenuity fashioned in it the finest pearls
Into necklaces of matched gems.
حَيْثُ قَلَّبْتَ نَاظِرَِيْكَ تجَلَّتْ
لِلقَوَافِي فِيه مَطَالِعُ زَهْرِ
Wherever you turned your eyes springs of rhyme appeared,
Gardens of beauties adorned with blossoms.
وَرِيَاضٌ مِنَ المَحَاسِنِ زِينَتْ
بِالأَفَانِينِ مِنْ غِرَاسٍ وَزَهْرِ
In it is the secret of Egypt none can match
Explaining with the subtlety of that mystery.
فِيه مِنْ سِرِّ مِصْرَ مَا لا
يُجَارِيه بَيَانٌ بِلطْفِ ذَاكَ السِّرِّ
Its heart pulses with it, and the source of the Nile
From it overflows into every sea.
قلْبُهَا نَابِضٌ بِه وَمَعِينُ النَّيلِ
مِنْهُ يَفِيضُ فِي كلِّ بَحْرِ
Hafez gave poetry every commendation and purified it
With deliberation and patience.
جَوَّدَ الشِّعرَ حَافِظٌ كُلَّ تَجْوِ
يدٍ وَصَفَّاهُ فِي أَنَاةٍ وَصَبْرِ
He was not distracted by the lateness of the age
From the manner of a beloved in his time, al-Ma'arri.
لَمْ يَعقْهُ تَأَخُّرُ العَصْرِ عَنْ شَأْ
و حَبِيبٍ فِي عَصْرِه وَالمَعَرِّي
To that he was peerless but in the bedizening of prose
He was unique in the bedizening of verse.
وَإِلى ذَاكَ لَمْ يَكُنْ فِي بَديعِ
النَّظمِ إِلاَّهُ فِي بَديعِ النَّثرِ
He crafted what he crafted, selecting and excelling,
The practice of one who picks the unique pearl.
صَاغَ مَا صَاغَهُ مُقِلاًّ مُجِيداً
شَأْنُ مَنْ يَنْتَقِي فَرِيدَ الدُّرِّ
So when he intoned rhymes in
A gathering, his verse was “which pearl? which gem?”
فَإِذَا اسْتُنْشِدَ القَوَافِيَ فِي
حَفْلٍ للّه دَرُّهُ أَيُّ دَرِّ
The pulpit he mounted fluttered
Like hearts fluttering in every chest.
يَخْفُقُ المِنْبَرُ الَّذي يَعْتَلِيهِ
كَخُفُوقِ القُلُوبِ فِي كُلِّ صَدْرِ
He excelled in rhetoric, gesture and voice
Between soft and loud.
بَرَعَ البَارِعِينَ بِالنُّطقِ وَالإِيمَاءِ
وَالصَّوْتِ بَيْنَ خَفْضٍ وَجَهْرِ
Advancing and retreating, confronting and wheeling,
Loud, resounding utterance.
ذَاهِباً آيِباً يُوَاجِهُ أَوْ يَلوِي
فَصِيحَ الأَدَاءِ فَخْمَ النَّبرِ
Galloping in the arena, charging and wheeling,
Captivating minds amid charges and retreats.
صَائِلاً فِي المَجَالِ كَرّاً وَفَرّاً
يَأْسِرُ اللُّبَّ بَيْنَ كَرّ وَفرِّ
He tells tales, entertaining his friends
With delicious conversation without affectation.
وَلَقَدْ يَسْرُدُ الحَديثَ فَيُنْشِي
صَحْبَهُ بِالسَّلافِ مِنْ غَيْرِ وِزْرِ
Those addicted to wine among them prefer
What he served them to old vintages.
يُؤْثِرُ المُولَعُونَ بِالخَمْرِ مِنْهُمْ
مَا سَقَاهُمْ عَلى عَتِيقِ الخَمْرِ
Overlook that in his merits and say of
His generosity, loyalty, or righteousness,
عَدِّ عَنْ تِلْكَ فِي المَزَايَا وَقُلْ فِي
الجُود أَوْ فِي الوَفَاءِ أَوْ فِي البِرِّ
And his firmness, forbearance, and dignity in hardship
And munificence in ease.
وَاشْدُ بِالإِبَاءِ وَالحِلمِ وَالعِزَّ
ةِ فِي العُسْرِ والنَّدَى فِي اليُسْرِ
That dear departed was of the noblest character
And they are few.
كَانَ ذَاكَ الفَقِيدُ مِنْ أَكْرَمِ
الخَلقِ بِأَخْلاقِهِ وَلَيْسُوا بِكُثْرِ
A man abundant in manliness who
Heeds only praiseworthy traits abundantly.
رُجُلٌ وَافِرُ المُروءَة لا
يَعْتَدُّ إِلاَّ لِلمَحْمَدَاتِ بِوَفْرِ
And he loves life, fulfilled for ages,
All means of it incentive for pride.
وَيُحِبُّ الحَيَاةَ مَلأَى عُهوداً
كُلُّ أَسْبابِهَا بَوَاعِثُ فَخْرِ
O King, it was as if the tenderness of the world to him
Was Egypt's tenderness to him.
يَا مَلِيكاً كَأَنَّ مُهْجَةَ دُنْيَا
هُ حَنَاناً عَلَيْه مُهْجَةُ مِصْرِ
It revealed to him the secret of how it withered
And how his prime still thrived.
كَاشَفَتْهُ بِسِرِّ ما هَرِمَتْ فِيه
وَمَا زَالَ فِي صِبَاهُ النَّضرِ
Virtue untainted, character discreet,
Genius beaming from the face of a full moon.
خُلُقٌ طَاهِرٌ وَخلْقٌ سرِيٌّ
وَنُبُوغٌ يَهُلُّ مِنْ وَجْه بَدْرِ
Your lofty patronage ennobled Hafez
In it the memory has the finest treasure.
شَرَّفتْ حَافِظاً رِعَايَتُكَ العَليَا
وَفِيهَا لِلذكْرِ أَنْفَسُ ذُخْرِ
It is as if a drop of the dew of mercy
Revived his remains in the grave.
فكأنِّي بِقَطْرَةٍ مِنْ ندَى الرَّحْمَة
تحْيِي رَمِيمَهُ فِي القَبْرِ
And as if from beyond the unseen he dictated
While the echoes repeat verses of thanks.
وَكَأَنِّي بِه مِنَ الغَيْبِ يُمْلِي
فَتُعِيدُ الأصدَاءُ آيَاتِ شُكْرِ
May Farouk live sovereign and king
And mighty for Egypt the longest life.
عَاشَ فَارُوق سيِّداً وَمَلِيكاً
وَعَزِيزاً لِمِصْرَ أَطْوَلَ عُمْرِ
And may bountiful God protect him and support him
Whenever he seeks any victory.
وَرَعَاهُ اللّهُ الكَريمُ وَأَوْلا
هُ إِذَا مَا اسْتَعَانَهُ كُلَّ نَصْرِ
