Sol 6.1

  1. The country has had enough of prediction and conjecture.

    O people, where is your struggle for your hopes?

  2. The caliphate conference has nearly ended

    before deciding what is allotted to us.

  3. Why are the envoy's reports so few?

    Has he found the way he wishes, or turned back?

  4. The misgivings of those of you over there have hovered;

    and more harmful in outcome are the misgivings of those here.

  5. He has alarmed me, pessimistic and fearing ill omens—

    he who pleased me, optimistic and trusting in good omens.

  6. I have grieved for you, and strange it is

    that we should bear affliction yet not grieve.

  7. Alas for you—what an ordeal! Had it

    come from the oppressor, it would have been easier.

  8. Shall we raise the buried body from the earth

    and mark out a burial place for the mighty spirit?

  9. The living deserve bounty more than one long dead,

    decayed, though what he built surpassed the stars.

  10. In the unfolding present, Egypt has concerns

    that distract it from what Egypt's history contains and records.

  11. It seeks the hero who will save it, before

    it extols and supports the accomplished craftsman.

  12. Where is he who restores the building's splendor,

    after him who began the building and brought it into being?

  13. It is better for one who recalls the past, now far away,

    to prepare for what has arrived and what draws near.

  14. And worthier of remembrance are a nation's virtues,

    before you recall its origin and its stock.

  15. The struggler, choosing his destiny, is too noble

    to vaunt his past or be beguiled by it.

  16. I hold secrets I do not divulge, even though

    they are burning grief within me and a wasting sickness to me.

  17. Your Nile's fetters are a lighter punishment

    than for your free man to be exiled or imprisoned.

  18. And the valley's upheaval is a lesser calamity

    than for your banner to be humbled or slighted.

  19. Will you hold back while your adversary is ready,

    eager? Cowardice in men is baseness.

  20. You have emboldened him, so he has lorded it over you,

    acting like a tiger, and slipped among you, inflicting grievous wounds.

  21. For the bold man, sacrificing his life is as living it;

    and death, utter death, lies in his turning coward.

  22. I indeed fear that atmosphere which

    has dazzled the eyes with its shifts and changing colors.

  23. And I fear the vipers of its schemers may slither forth,

    after its storms have played havoc with us.

  24. Their promises dragged on until they became a habit

    of theirs; we tired of them, and they became a fixed routine.

  25. You tried the means, and they are many,

    so you chose the upright, forthright, gentle man.

  26. You saw the ready East keeping pace,

    and found the obstinate West secure.

  27. There is no peace after hostility unless

    one adversary trusts the other and feels certain.

  28. We are not the spoils of a stabbed, fallen man,

    at any time, nor are we possessions to be acquired.

  29. O king of the land, in you is its consolation amid

    what it has suffered from the wrongs of time.

  30. And fortifier of hopes—these are noble deeds

    of yours that have unleashed our pens and tongues.

  31. And herald of the homelands' independence,

    prepared with might and wealth within them.

  32. The loyal people have declared—and enough for them

    is their devotion to the crown in what they declared.

  33. They have honored your grandfather's merit, and they suffice

    as your champion and the upholder of Egypt's throne.

  34. There is nothing in our hearts but what pleases you;

    or have you not seen our faces and our eyes?

  35. You have honored the loyal people's struggle,

    and they have kept faith with the one who bestowed and did good.

  36. And they have prepared for radiant freedom what

    it hopes for, and perfected their strength, in command.

  37. And take the document, with every condition fair

    to both sides, pledging that you will guarantee it.

  38. The rule of mutual benefit is what you see; for others than us

    and others than them is the rule of keen swords and spears.

  39. What harm to them if they urged one another toward what

    Heaven decreed, so they may be at peace and we may too?

  40. Perhaps they will find a courteous man's goodwill,

    after encountering struggle that sapped their strength.

  41. Indeed, what time has permitted in part

    surely heralds the whole, should you give leave.

  42. The conquering warrior is no greater in glorious deeds

    than a sincere adviser who united hearts and fortified them.

  43. In your grandfather lies the great example, and a model

    for you in a father who built up and civilized the land.

  44. You have obedience and love from a nation

    you have freed from needing to submit to anyone else.

  45. We stand in need of a decisive pronouncement,

    now that guidance has become clear and manifest.

  46. In factions and parties we march, with nothing

    but the favor of the crown that brings us together.

  47. If the people regain their former unity,

    then they have regained their very being and their homeland.

  48. We shall come to enjoy, among the world's kingdoms,

    the same respect those kingdoms enjoy among us.

  49. Then the outcome will delight and satisfy us; how often

    has reward pleased—and how often gladdened—the believer!

Sol 6.1