Sol 6.1

  1. Speak, O fortunate hero,

    And explain fully what you intended and what you intend.

  2. And describe what you will attain, you in whom hopes are placed,

    And describe what you, the glorious one, will accomplish,

  3. And what the throngs, arriving in succession, conveyed

    To you, and what the delegations wished for.

  4. You opened the railway line that cuts through the deserts,

    So it makes them flourish, and what is distant draws near.

  5. Prosperity followed you along a road

    Where fire and iron travel.

  6. And the people stood on both its sides,

    As troops gathered for their commander.

  7. And you stood before them as an orator in Menouf,

    So the countryside surged and Upper Egypt shook.

  8. And the air resounded with news of every kind;

    How could the telegraph and post compare with it?

  9. You made those far away hear what made them see themselves

    As though they were your audience and witnesses.

  10. You filled the land with thriving settlements and fertility,

    And tomorrow your course through the sky will stretch far.

  11. There will fly, bearing your hoped-for peace,

    Your faithful mighty eagles and the lions.

  12. And Egypt is the passage for every traveler

    You see, and the nations' ever-ready meeting place.

  13. So what of her did that guest miss,

    When he had greeted her shores as he traveled?

  14. You returned his greeting with one more gracious than his,

    And sound judgment justified your deed.

  15. And he found his place in every soul,

    Even if the wary, envious man kept him away.

  16. And what use are the realm's borders, unless

    Those borders spring from awe of the king?

  17. O minister of the people and the cherished crown,

    Meeting you is a festival, and your favor a feast day.

  18. You received their innermost thoughts, pure and clear,

    And the world upheld your just rule.

  19. Would a band rise against you from your own domain,

    When the Indians have trusted your government?

  20. Is it your fault that there stand as guardians

    Over the Nile the barrages and dams,

  21. So that no flood overwhelms the inhabited land,

    Nor do deserts complain to you of burning thirst?

  22. And that order avoids chaos,

    And that the scattered people are reunited,

  23. And that the mighty one labors for you willingly—

    And how much you endured from him that weighed you down!

  24. And that they find his mistreatment of them

    Defiance, while he is your affectionate friend?

  25. And they did not repel his forces while standing,

    Nor control his will while seated.

  26. You bore their calamities on earth for them,

    And it nearly reeled beneath what you bore.

  27. Most unjust among those who spurn you and attack

    Their own valley is he who destroys what you build.

  28. No slander has harmed your dignity,

    Though ingratitude has hurt your nobility.

  29. Are they champions of the highest freedom,

    While they are slaves to their worldly lives?

  30. Had they shown sense, they would have spared themselves the struggle

    For power that will not return to them.

  31. Your address went beyond them, and they treated it with scorn,

    So they deserved severe reproach.

  32. And whoever intercedes before you for a suspect

    Does not intercede for one who plots.

  33. Even if they are angry with you, you are content

    With your work, seeking to complete it and to do more.

  34. Nor do you inflict humiliation upon them,

    Even if your conditions and restraints weigh heavily.

  35. You did not abandon care for them, but

    The stubborn one persisted in his hostility.

  36. Nor were you ignorant of a remedy for their aggression,

    But a threat can sometimes be useful.

  37. They looked for a fault in me;

    It baffled them, so they said, "A beneficiary!"

  38. And who, bound by covenant to you, has not been granted

    Lifelong wealth by covenants and pledges?

  39. Is it forbidden for one whom you choose

    For this nation, to lead a life of ease?

  40. And in your golden age, would he suffer—

    The free, discerning man—as they wished for me?

  41. They rejected my old title and denied it,

    Until my new title came to them.

  42. Poems—if you wish, they are songs

    That delight; and if you wish, they are thunderclaps.

  43. Even if I have become blameworthy in their eyes,

    Yet in your eyes I am upright and praiseworthy.

  44. Nor have you charged me with war against them;

    So my coldness and avoidance are enough for them.

  45. And I am your worthy, most faithful helper;

    Yours is private counsel, and poetry's is immortality.

Sol 6.1