Sol 6.1

  1. A king through your character and unceasing bounty,

    And through your father and your great, exalted grandfather—

  2. Pillars of a kingdom whose permanence you have assured

    Through justice, after growth and perfection.

  3. What you did not attain through conquests, you attained

    Through nobility of character and goodness of disposition.

  4. For every crowned ruler, time is fickle;

    But yours are allegiance and sincere reverence.

  5. The country celebrates the festival, and it is

    Indeed the forerunner of others like it.

  6. The anniversary of your accession, most deserving of display

    In both nations, with adornment and beauty.

  7. They circled your throne, proclaiming pledges

    To you through the ages and all generations.

  8. Their delegations bring you congratulations,

    And return from you with honor and largesse.

  9. Kingdoms stand empty of their kings' thrones,

    And you have filled the vacant place in the world.

  10. Every righteous soul would be a ransom for your life,

    And through you comes safety from foes and the trials of nights.

  11. Your victorious banner holds within its folds

    The history of Egypt and your heroic house.

  12. Each day they recite a verse from it,

    And through it renew their worn-out arms.

  13. Their beliefs followed your conviction; together came

    Their devotion and your approval around one aim.

  14. What you have prepared is indeed a herald

    Of a happy outcome for religion and the world.

  15. The most beneficent means you can choose for

    The valley's future is to put its affairs right.

  16. You have indeed managed its affairs with wisdom,

    Bringing even the overreacher's wish within reach.

  17. One whose means are honorable in pursuing

    His hopes is indeed most deserving of their fulfillment.

  18. Egypt has its council and its assembly, where

    Men found safety from the missteps of other men.

  19. It has paused, to return as the greatest power

    Within Egypt, its appointed hour the following morning.

  20. O you who bestowed care upon the Sacred House,

    Turning the lion's harshness into tenderness,

  21. You were the intercessor with him, through a gift

    Beyond the reach of paternal and maternal uncles.

  22. With kindness toward him and generosity, you erased

    The traces of your grandfather's spears and blades.

  23. In the Far Maghreb you are preparing peace,

    And for neighbors and kin beyond the frontiers.

  24. Alas for Egypt at the hands of its leaders,

    And their divergent desires and inclinations!

  25. They race toward their own ends over

    The slain one's torn remains and effaced ruins.

  26. In factions and parties; they have not been united by

    The trials of time and the severity of its terrors.

  27. There they call for struggle, though it is

    For prestige, titles, and wealth.

  28. They take turns in rule, without carrying it through,

    Because of so much change and replacement.

  29. Their offices find no stability in them, nor

    Does their policy follow a consistent course.

  30. If a brother accepts slander against a brother,

    He most deserves the reproachers' thrust.

  31. Can every man destroy another,

    And still seek his own escape from the earthquake?

  32. And repel an assault and fend off a raid,

    His equipment feeble, his limbs torn apart?

  33. Do they hope for freedom, or a return to

    The weight of fetters and the tightness of shackles?

  34. O master of the valley, uniter of its scattered people,

    And reconciler of opposites and counterparts,

  35. You have treated the ailments of the age and have not shrunk

    From treating an intractable disease within men's souls.

  36. You deemed better than the insight of one walking

    In evil deeds the blindness of the ignorant.

  37. The homeland and its sons have only what you discern

    Of resourcefulness, means, and scope.

  38. Carry out among them your will, which they obey,

    Pure in resolve, in strength, and in mind.

  39. Return to your grandfather's scales, giving full measure

    In ruling Egypt, and to that measure of his.

  40. He assumed government, independent and just,

    Upright of heart, his garments' hems unstained.

  41. His right hand raised the country to the stars,

    And fate held sway over allotted lifetimes.

  42. He who ordained a doubled reward

    Imposed punishment as a free man, undeterred.

  43. Without insight, no difficulty would yield, nor would

    Keen swords and tall spears conquer a stronghold.

  44. With judgment Egypt repels raging storms

    All around her and cleaves towering mountains.

  45. Retribution fell upon the offenders, thereby soothing

    The rancor of the arrogant, usurping adversary.

  46. Was he content with yesterday's blood, or did he contemplate

    Punishing the country on the charge against children?

  47. If he persists, it is aggression against her, and an outrage

    To revive the policy of humiliation.

  48. What does the newcomer arriving tomorrow want,

    After the arrogant man who vaunted his might?

  49. Today the country asks: does he seek

    A truce, or does he threaten war?

  50. I fear he may stay, even after he

    Agreed to withdrawal and intended to depart.

  51. Shall we hope for a Liberal ministry, after

    The Labour ministry refused agreement?

  52. God knows that your heart, for the homeland,

    Is full of sorrows and doubly burdened with cares.

  53. Without your prudent policy, there would not have vanished

    The adversary's claim and the schemer's chance.

  54. Men's favors to the country are many,

    And the greatest belong to the speaker who acts.

  55. I swore by the valley and the sweetness of its air,

    And by its surging, sweet-flowing Nile,

  56. That I am faithful to my pledge to Egypt; I am neither

    Forgetful of that pledge nor unmindful of it.

  57. And I congratulate the sacred homeland, now living in

    Freedom that pleases it and independence.

Sol 6.1