Sol 6.1

  1. To you, O Fuad, belongs the allegiance of every heart;

    It ransoms you for the Valley, while you are the redeemer.

  2. Recalling your birth, the homeland reminded its defenders

    Of hope's brightest crowns and the first signs of happiness.

  3. You cherish, seated upon the noblest throne,

    The memory of the noblest first steps and cradle.

  4. A festival whose like hopes demand of you

    In generations and long ages yet to come.

  5. Time holds with you what you hold with it:

    A bond of honor, care, and affection.

  6. It befriended you and sought your care, though it is the least

    Of the arenas and armies that are yours.

  7. And you were seen as auspicious in accession, favored with success,

    By a people who saw your birth as blessed.

  8. They find a happy life beneath your protection,

    Joined to the happiness of endless ages.

  9. Today is tomorrow's peer, while you reconcile

    For good the demands of these peers.

  10. So when you celebrate, it is a festival of noble bearing,

    Of fine character, virtues, and benefactions.

  11. And most deserving of relief is a heart filled

    With concern for the futures of sons and grandchildren.

  12. The whirlwinds of war engrossed kingdoms,

    While you engrossed Egypt in the joy of festivals.

  13. She sought refuge in your safety from suffering descending

    Upon those who praise, those at peace, and adversaries.

  14. O ninth among her proud and noble rulers,

    And her glorious protectors and guardians,

  15. You matched them in the deeds they left behind,

    And remain in greatness ever growing and enduring.

  16. And you linked your new eminence to a rightful claim

    Yours through a great forebear's newly won and inherited honors.

  17. The army is mustered to repel calamity,

    To people desolate places and loosen bonds.

  18. And the palace is expansive in splendor, as though it were

    Al-Rashid's magnificent palace in Baghdad.

  19. And the Nile overflows with pure, palatable water,

    And the earth brings forth delectable provisions.

  20. And your fluttering banner is unfurled over

    The radiant lands, both towns and open country.

  21. You were spared the onslaught of four years,

    Black with sins and harsh upon the peoples.

  22. They roar as Hell roars, in tempests

    That sweep away precious wealth and children.

  23. There, suffering is cruel; while in

    Egypt, bearers of kindness go forth at evening and dawn.

  24. She heals wounds and honors captives with what

    You have supplied her from your customary goodness.

  25. Kingdoms complain to Him who is in heaven,

    While proceeding upon earth without right guidance.

  26. Their kings sought a greater share of existence

    By means of annihilation and depletion.

  27. Woe to her—humanity bowed beneath what

    She has borne of rancors and hatreds!

  28. She gathered, but gathered nothing save this marvel:

    The hardness of hearts and the delicacy of bodies.

  29. Better than delicate hands, when they don

    Pieces of iron, are the claws of lions.

  30. And kinder than knowledge that spreads snares

    For the unsuspecting is the blindness of sleep.

  31. And more sheltering than cities watered by tears

    And hot blood are barren plains and hollows.

  32. Have the rivers ebbed in terror? Then from

    This spilled blood comes the thirsty one's drink.

  33. Or were the mountains crushed in terror? Then from

    The corpses of humankind rise towering mountains.

  34. The lives of all the world grew cheap, while dear grew

    Everything around them, liquid and solid alike.

  35. Fire devours, and iron stands behind it,

    At the ready, endlessly resupplied.

  36. Then thunderbolts revolving on springs,

    And earthquakes roaming at a trigger's touch,

  37. And one blood-drenched in a perilous strait, and one set ablaze

    In a trench, and one fully armed for combat,

  38. And one brought forward, with no rest from the deep,

    Before he was tossed upon a horse's back.

  39. Each makes his country indebted through a sacrifice

    Too great for acknowledgment and attestation.

  40. And before her citadels and fortresses he erects

    A fortress of eyes and livers.

  41. Is this human youth, or flourishing vegetation,

    And an implement of war, or an implement of harvest?

  42. Is it the crown's, the people's, or both—

    The raider's guilt and the aggressor's misdeeds?

  43. Surely a free man, if he attacks deliberately,

    Is more deserving of fetters and shackles.

  44. And the hunter's snares, if he takes no care

    In laying them, bring destruction upon the hunter.

  45. Wretched is a life whose water and springtime

    Depend on water-seekers and scouts slaughtering one another.

  46. The earth has room for all creation while it is secure,

    Yet is too narrow for one selfish and obstinate.

  47. The nights of the prophets have passed; no longer is seen

    By the likes of 'Ad a warner like 'Ad's.

  48. Who will bring me a restraint or a comprehensive order

    That spares the multitudes the arbitrary rule of individuals,

  49. And guides every crowned ruler in his realm

    By the counsel of overseers and critics?

  50. How greatly the world, now sick, needs

    The physician's skill and the kindness of visitors to the sick!

  51. And how worthy it is of an arbiter whose character holds

    Defense of the weak and the self-restraint of ascetics,

  52. And who judges more deserving of his independence today

    One who yesterday was more deserving of enslavement.

  53. Who offers another's throne an admonisher's lesson,

    And your lofty throne a singer's joy?

  54. And I divided my heart between concern for

    Nations and devotion to this gathering.

  55. I saw your face radiant and beaming,

    And saw the good fortune of my kin and my country.

  56. What has a warner to do with Egypt, when you are among

    Her guardians, lying in wait for Time?

  57. Surely faithfulness, protection, and contentment

    Are more fitting for an obedient, compliant people.

  58. What does it desire, with you generous and just,

    But that you remain ruler in the Valley?

  59. And the finest reserve for the age of peace is what

    You have so well prepared in equipment and supplies.

  60. A compassionate man's whispered wishes; behind them

    Glad tidings from a herald devoted to peace.

  61. He united hopes and promises, and has proved

    True to his promise in what he wished.

  62. And he shall behold Egypt's abundance and gather

    Sweet fruits and the freshness of boughs.

Sol 6.1