الآن صح العهد والميثاق — أحمد الكاشف

Now the covenant and compact are confirmed

for you; humankind and the Creator have approved of you.

The ambassador presented his document, and he was answered

by the resolve and compassion familiar to you.

You welcomed him with honor and cared for him,

out of generosity—you who inspire longing and long yourself.

The decisive word—indeed, it is the culmination of what

the shrewd and skillful have attained.

You ratified it on Egypt's behalf only with discernment;

in it, the power to bind and release is yours.

The fetter was upon her, then passed to her adversary

and her tyrannical foe—a fetter still.

And you gathered from the fruit and shade of peace

all that hopes and virtues desired.

You recorded your people's independence in it;

so fellowship grew strong, and concord grew great.

And you fulfilled their claim upon you; yet there is no end

to their demands and entitlements, even now.

And the East, blessed with success, grew hopeful and followed

your example; Iraq found reassurance in the Hijaz.

Your affairs went well in your deliberation, just as

they did when you were swift and in the lead.

And you surpassed the limits of expectation, so I was justified

in praising you extravagantly, and permitted to go to extremes.

Will humanity be safe from its rulers

after they led it yesterday and drove it on,

and shield its civilization from its own thunderbolts, so that

neither drowning nor burning ravages it?

And will all peoples outlaw war

if disagreement and discord arise among them?

And the safeguard for the holder of a sacred right among them

is the arbitrator's judgment, not blood poured out.

And humanity's laws, many as they are,

are what customs and tastes have established.

And rule is that whose clemency wins hearts,

not that whose force makes necks bow.

Who will grant me a day and a place in the heavens,

with earth a sanctuary and humankind companions,

and the fearsome army's camps restored

as green gardens and marketplaces

by the homeland's hero and guardian, after

thunder and lightning shook the homeland?

Time found peace in your approval, yet there has not ceased

the obstinate one's clamor against you—and it is hypocrisy.

And had a warner sufficed for the obstinate newspapers,

there would have been neither cancellation nor closure.

And it is necessary that a writer be made to bear

those bridle-bits and collars thereafter.

If you visit my province, there will be, in proportion to

the good you have done, kisses and embraces tomorrow.

You answered its invitation; the best of its hopes

and longings is your auspicious presence.

Its skies convey your fragrant greeting,

and the horizons echo the remembrance of you.

Can what you have bestowed on it be counted, when the least

you grant it is healing and sustenance?