Sol 6.1

  1. Call the honored, and select the noble.

    And carefully choose the delegates and deputies.

  2. O people of the Valley, within its horizons

    Lie lessons, as when you turn the pages of a book.

  3. The struggle is but a single arena;

    You have multiplied the doors that lead into it.

  4. We would indeed approve that debate

    On politics, provided it is sound.

  5. And we wish that the various principles

    May become means toward your aims.

  6. And what intercedes for you in that clamour which

    Offended the ears is that it turn to remonstrance.

  7. Equals and peers are bound to

    Strive for the homeland as comrades and companions.

  8. Loyalty to Egypt has made their hearts equal,

    And the greatest among them in achievement is greatest in reward.

  9. The bane of conscience is not that you divide

    Into factions and compete as parties;

  10. Rather, it is rancour that stirs up harm,

    And the storms of chaos that provoke abuse.

  11. Is there, for a group among you that once erred,

    No intercessor when it desists and returns to the right path?

  12. So entrust its new affairs to its tomorrow,

    And draw a veil over the bygone past.

  13. And muster forces for the king and the Valley

    That turn back the raider and repel the intruder.

  14. This is the policy of one who wishes, for Egypt,

    To surmount a barrier or cleave the billows.

  15. So if you hold together before your adversary,

    You will free hands and necks from him.

  16. And if you fight one another over the spoils

    Before the battles, you yourselves will be the spoils.

  17. If nothing satisfies him but your humiliation,

    Then firmness means remaining angry with him.

  18. Human freedom is a universal right;

    So take it peaceably, or take it by force.

  19. Today your country places its hopes in you; how

    Fitting that hope should rest on calculation!

  20. More harmful than a people's enemies is a despairing man

    Who summons enemies as lords over his people.

  21. Better for this Nile, if they bargain

    With its sons over it, to become clouds again.

  22. They could not control its course for even a day,

    And it would visit only kin and loved ones.

  23. In what is possible and readily attainable lies your aid toward

    What lies a long journey away and is hard to attain.

  24. Some wishes beget madness; yet

    The best wishes are those that accord with reason.

  25. You hold for the East the trusts

    For which it made the ages its guarantor.

  26. None serves the homelands except one who sees

    True titles in relinquishing his titles.

  27. He reaps no fruit except what has been offered

    There by his hands, nor does he swallow a drink.

  28. He does not stand upon the pulpits as an orator

    Except as he would face the prayer niche.

  29. So whoever willingly redeems the sacred homeland

    Has indeed redeemed his own shelter and place of return.

  30. The tyrants of mankind have gone, save a remnant

    In every mountain pass, who remain wolves.

  31. Their bellies are full of blood, after

    They ate the earth's fruits and grasses.

  32. So fear their ideas before

    You fear their claws and fangs.

  33. Better for the flourishing kingdoms, if emptied

    Of feeling, to lie in ruins.

  34. O people of this quarter—the final outcome is yours—

    Gray-haired and young, I rouse you for it.

  35. I am remembered among you, and I am not one

    Who indulged a whim in falsehood or showed favoritism.

  36. Here is a brother of yours: you know his public speech,

    And his conscience, his merit, and his manners.

  37. And he has made ready for all that you approve

    Of noble struggle; whoever calls him, he answers.

  38. And he stands firm in his conviction, even if

    He meets sharp swords and spears in its defense.

  39. His past is his proof, and his tomorrow holds for you

    What merits praise and admiration.

  40. Under consultation's guardianship and beneath its shade

    Lie blessings that satisfy, delight, and please.

  41. After your hopes have risen in full morning light,

    Will you encounter anyone who doubts your hopes?

  42. Indeed, I see for you a glorious destiny,

    That pleases your forefathers and gladdens your descendants.

Sol 6.1