أنصار حافظ السلام عليكم — أحمد الكاشف

Supporters of Hafez, peace be upon you,

from a just man who weighs judgment and measures it.

If you have honored him, it is only because

outside Egypt, one like him is accorded reverence,

at a festival that won over your minds

and hearts, where poetry was the bride.

Have you made him forget nights that befell him

and his free companions, when those nights were calamitous?

Days when he smiled at a comrade to keep up a brave face,

while his heart, crowded with cares, wore a frown?

He lamented the struggle for high distinction and wealth,

both dear to him, both precious.

O Hafez, guardian of letters, to you have clung

souls whenever they yearned for lofty rank.

You pleased your people as a poet, and wish that

you might please their government while serving as its head;

it placed you in the position most rightfully yours—and proof

in your favor is that the envious call you “a prisoner.”

Who will give me the House of Books to dwell in, and let me have

there, as you do, an evening companion and intimate friend?

You secured an ample share of the reins of power and of

official ranks, while the others’ share is paltry.

You traversed the path before them, showing them

that fortune’s vicissitudes are experiences and lessons.

Once you were their nightingale; today, amid

the arenas of glory and its finery, you are a peacock.

The country has enough in their mettle and loyalty,

even should it lack arms and an army.

Had there been among the Russians a single man like them,

the Tsar would never have feared the Russians rising in revolt.

They went as the cherished Prince wished,

and became as the guarded realm desired.

Indeed, I long to see one vested with authority,

one of them administering a province and governing.

O sower of his favor among the loyal,

for the king that planting will bear fruit.

Today al-Rashid praised your beneficence toward them,

and Ramses esteemed your justice among them.