تكشفت عن محيا مصر أستار

وخف عنها من الأثقال أوزار

Veils have lifted from Egypt's face,

And the heavy burdens weighing upon her have lightened.

واهتزت الأرض منها بهجة وربت

ولاح فيها إضاءة وأنوار

And her earth quivered with joy and swelled,

And radiance and lights shone within her.

كانت كصبح تعالت فوقه ظلم

شتى ففاجأها بالنور أسفار

She was like a dawn above which darknesses had risen,

Of many kinds; then daybreak surprised her with light.

وكانت الشمسُ تغاشاها الغمام ضحى

فمزقته من الرياح أعصار

And she was the sun, shrouded by clouds in the forenoon,

Then a whirlwind from among the winds tore it apart.

فاليوم أعطافها بالبشر مايسةٌ

وقدّها في حلى السعد خطّار

So today her sides sway with gladness,

And her figure sways proudly in good fortune's finery.

وكانت الطرق قد شابت مفارقها

والشيب إن شان ما في أخذه عار

And the roads had turned gray at their partings,

And though gray hair disfigures, there is no shame in removing it.

وأصبحت أوجه الأرضين مسفرة

وزال عنهن إقتار وأقذارُ

And the faces of the lands became radiant,

And privation and filth departed from them.

تتبه زهوا على الأمصار قاطبةً

وبازها بجناح النسر طيار

She proudly boasts over all the cities,

And her falcon soars on the eagle's wing.

ألا تراها اكتست حلى البياض ولو

لا ذاك ما اتضحت للناس أقطارُ

Do you not see her clad in white finery? Were

It not for that, no districts would have become clear to people.

كأنها روضة بالقطر قد غديت

وزانها من وجوه البيض أزهار

As though she were a garden nourished by rain,

And blossoms from fair faces adorned her.

فالبعض منها يهنى البعض منه على

كشف الغموم وللإعسار إيسار

So some of her parts congratulate others on

The lifting of sorrows, and prosperity in place of poverty.

فبعض أبوابها بالنصر مشتهر

وبعضها لفتوح الرزق مختار

So one of her gates is famed as Nasr—Victory,

And another is chosen for openings of livelihood—Futuh.

وللسعادة باب عنده فرج

كلاهما لأخيه في الهنا جار

And Happiness—Sa'ada—has a gate, with Relief—Faraj—beside it;

Each of the two is its brother's neighbor in joy.

وأما زديلة زالت عنه كربته

وللدخول به كم دق مسمار

And as for Zadila, its distress has departed,

And how many nails were hammered in for entry through it!

دقت مساميره طاراتها فرحا

ومنه للريح تشبيب ومزمار

Its nails beat their tambourines in joy,

And from it the wind draws a love song and a flute's music.

حيت شوارعه للناس فاتسعت

واستشرقت منه أسواق وأسوار

Its streets came alive for the people and grew wide,

And markets and walls shone forth from it.

كانت حوانيته تشكو الثيوبة من

وطىء الحوافر وهي اليوم أبكار

Its shops used to lament their loss of virginity through

The trampling of hooves; today they are virgins.

وخرق عادة باب الخرق يرفعه

من العناية بناء ونجار

And, breaking custom, Bab al-Kharq is raised

Through care, by a builder and a carpenter.

واليوم ساكنه في جنة وجرت

من تحتها لأولى الأبصار أنهار

And today its inhabitant is in a garden, and there flow

Rivers beneath it, for those with eyes to see.

والقوس من بابها جنت لجاذبها

طوعا وأصمت من الأعداء أوتار

And the bow from her gate reaped a harvest for its drawer

Willingly, and bowstrings struck some enemies dead.

وباب قنطرة والبحر في عجب

من باب شعرية لم تحو إيزار

And Bab Qantara and al-Bahr stand amazed

At Bab Sha'riyya, which has no waist-wrapper.

وأما الجوامع قد فكت جوامعها

عنها ففيها تسابيح وأذكار

And as for the mosques, their fetters have been loosed

From them; within them are praises and remembrances of God.

فجامع الصالح استوفى مصالحة

حتى كأن العشايا منه أبكار

Thus al-Salih's mosque achieved complete reconciliation,

Until its evenings seemed like mornings.

لما شكا الناس من مصر مضايقها

وحار فيها من الحكام أفكارُ

When the people complained of Egypt's narrow passages,

And the rulers' thoughts were confounded over them,

فما تلقى أجور القاطنين بها

إلا الأمير الذي بالعرف أمّارُ

So none received the rewards of those dwelling in her

Except the emir who ever commands what is right.

فهو الهمام النظام المرتقى درجا

ت الفضل يشبك مولانا الدوادر

For he is the valiant organizer, ascending the ranks

Of excellence—Yashbak, our lord, the Dawadar.

ذو الحزم والعزم من في الخافقين له

أمر ونهى وإيراد وإصدار

Endowed with firmness and resolve, to whom in east and west belong

Command and prohibition, bringing in and sending out.

فشد حبل قواه وهو منتهض

وسل سيف سطاه وهو بتار

So he tightened the rope of his strength as he rose to act,

And drew the sword of his might, keen-edged.

لولا عزائمه في مصر ما حسنت

والدوح ييبس ما لم تهم أمطار

Without his firm resolves in Egypt, she would not have grown fair;

And great trees wither unless rains pour down.

له على الحق إقبال يليق به

طبعا وعن زخرف الأموال إدبار

His inclination toward what is right befits him

By nature, and he turns away from the glitter of wealth.

مذ قام يحيى من الأرض التي اندرست

أمواتها ساعدت علياه أقدار

Since he arose to revive the ruined land's

Dead, the fates have aided his eminence.

وكيف لا وعزيز النصر جاء له

مهاجرا وله الأيام أنصار

And why not? Mighty Victory came to him

As an emigrant, and the days are his helpers.

فكم تجلت بوجه منه مظلمة

وكم تحلت بعين منه آثار

How many an injustice was dispelled by his countenance,

And how many monuments were adorned by his eye!

إن رمت حصرَ يسد من مناقبه

فدون ذلك أزمان وأعمارُ

If you seek a reckoning sufficient for his virtues,

Then ages and lifetimes stand between you and that.

ودت محاسن مصر أن يكون لها

إلى محاسنه سمع وإبصار

Egypt's beauties wished they might have

Hearing and sight directed toward his virtues.

هذا لعمري هو الندب الذي افتخرت

مصر به فهي حسنا نعمة الدار

This, by my life, is the gallant man in whom

Egypt takes pride; in beauty, what a blessed abode she is!

لا زال روض أمان للأنام به

ظل مدا الدهر ممدود وأثمار

May he ever remain a garden of safety for mankind, with

Shade stretched throughout time, and fruits,

ما ماست الدوح بالأكمام راقصةً

وما تغنت على العيدانِ أطيارُ

As long as the great trees dance, swaying with their buds,

And as long as birds sing upon the branches.