Sol 6.1

  1. Greet the people with an answered prayer.

    And recite, among what you have recited, the decisive word.

  2. And set right the paths of yours that ran

    among them through crossroads and ravines.

  3. And tend the pledges from admirers

    that you received, and from dear friends.

  4. And throughout the land bear its burdens for

    the leaders of the land and the parties.

  5. And strike the adversary's claim with an argument

    bright and advancing like a keen sword or a meteor.

  6. You returned with health, which is a treasure

    that grew and endured in tackling hardships.

  7. And you discerned all that is happening and to come

    after that separation and that absence.

  8. Is this a gathering held for the cause, or a conference

    for the honored and noble?

  9. They meet in al-Jazira as helpers

    along the paths and through the means you provide.

  10. Its palace embraced the entire realm, and it

    is the abode of minds and understanding.

  11. In the gathering's arena, glad tidings of reward

    were given to Egypt there, and she was warned of punishment.

  12. You stood there for Egypt, gathering companions

    of yours, with white faces and green robes.

  13. They came armed with the wisdom of gray

    hair, noble men, and with the vigor of youth.

  14. And they are the leaders who led the

    people, broad in horizon and glorious in striving.

  15. And they refused to let a tyrant subject them

    to his inducements and intimidation.

  16. They endured him for an age, though the stubbornness of

    fate gave them greater cause for revolt and unrest.

  17. And matters settled between the threat of

    the challenger and the beguiler's promise.

  18. And it is good that I see, in those who spurn

    injustice, after acquiescence, the fighting spirit of angry men.

  19. The decision belongs to the noble leaders, all together,

    not to disparate, mixed crowds and rabble.

  20. And those who turn away from you stand between a warning

    stern from you, and gentle reproach.

  21. And the country's enemy is less harmful than one

    of its own people who befriends and favors him.

  22. Sharing the burden among those it concerns is more

    just than laying it upon posterity.

  23. Men squander no right as they squander one

    they have entrusted to ages yet to come.

  24. Where is the constitution's defender, while it lies stabbed

    at the hands of foes and the hands of friends?

  25. And who follows its principles before

    the election of senators and deputies?

  26. They talk at length about it; but can

    words avail in the face of spears and lances?

  27. It was a grant from the usurpers, then became

    one of the usurpers' spoils.

  28. Who will keep the raider from the home of a people

    who left it with open doors?

  29. He seized the cities and frontier posts, and extended

    his hand today to take possession of necks.

  30. How can the country be given to one who has not offered it

    his soul, nourished by its food and drink?

  31. And he whom peace does not benefit does not hope

    for life without claw and fang.

  32. And the armies' strength in kingdoms will not be replaced

    even in part by the power of writers.

  33. The brave man has the respect of his enemies;

    degrading humiliation belongs to the timid.

  34. Egypt has begun today to enter a war

    kindled for seizure and plunder.

  35. And is she fit to undertake it, or

    is standing aside and avoidance more fitting for her?

  36. And does she plunge into it for expense and loss,

    or plunge into it for profit and gain?

  37. Who will vindicate me against one who fulfilled and carried out

    the wishes of the domineering conqueror?

  38. His deeds have preoccupied us, while he still

    keeps his silence behind the veil.

  39. He heeds not the voice of protest, nor does he

    ever fear the doubter's suspicion.

  40. And he heeds the excuse of the negligent and the

    aggressor, and forgets the excuse of the despoiled and stricken.

  41. He hides the secret from his close friends, while the

    secret fills the plains and fills the plateaus.

  42. O leader of the free—your name embraces

    the illustrious names and titles.

  43. You tend the reformers' followers and the party of

    good fortune, security, guidance, and right.

  44. You are the one who practiced politics amid the fury

    of its hurricanes and the violence of the billows.

  45. Your uniting the forces tonight is a victory for you,

    surpassing the glory of lineage and ancestral honors.

  46. I will not prolong my speech after what you have

    said; grave indeed is what afflicts Egypt and me.

  47. I am stifled by the hateful present; who can offer me

    relief from my torment in some other time?

  48. And I have borne the turns of fortune of my time,

    some within my reckoning, and some outside it.

  49. And what I expected yesterday has come, and I still

    fear the unseen behind the clouds.

  50. Today's crisis is the worst ever faced

    by a state amid change and upheaval.

  51. Are we independent, or dependent, or

    a nation under tutelage and mandate?

  52. Egypt, under every government, is a support for

    honorable allies, not for wolves.

  53. O men of the land, enough for you today

    is the return of concord after its departure.

  54. Strive against fate with certainty and with

    hopes, resolve, and steadfast hearts.

  55. And meet the offer of little made to you

    from fate by rejecting it and turning away.

  56. A pact between two equals is what you want, not a pact

    joining slaves to masters.

  57. Indeed, in your unity lies destiny's guarantee

    of a sure outcome and a good return.

Sol 6.1