Sol 6.1

  1. Time was ennobled by it, and the generation gained preeminence:

    the country's law and its hoped-for government.

  2. In radiant splendor it appeared, after

    storms and torrents had raged in its path.

  3. Its festival stirred the eastern lands, and adorned

    Baghdad; Kabul celebrated it.

  4. And in Ankara a people prayed for Egypt,

    proud, working and speaking freely.

  5. Though distance has stretched between Egypt and them,

    the bond of neighborliness remains unbroken.

  6. Is it for Egypt, or for both Easts together,

    this bright, burnished morning?

  7. Today flow the tears of joy by which

    time's sin will tomorrow be washed away.

  8. The right course became clear to every observer; there is

    no sophistry in it, nor reinterpretation.

  9. This is part of the reach attained by

    those sacrifices and that blood shed unavenged.

  10. O day that opens hope, yours is our contentment,

    and to your Lord belong glorification and declarations of His oneness.

  11. Have you come with consultation, joyous and distinguished,

    or has a messenger from heaven come within you?

  12. You are the valley's splendid, majestic day; none

    but the appointed day of evacuation is your equal.

  13. It brought contentment there, and left repose—

    this representation on its behalf and delegation of authority.

  14. From every gallant man: his clan never summoned him

    without his becoming a surety for those who summoned him.

  15. As though every couch were a prayer niche,

    and every speaker were Gabriel.

  16. In these chambers Egypt knows what

    its condition has become, and what it will become.

  17. And the hopes of the country and its people are charted

    there by thoughtful youth and mature men.

  18. Glory is what generous qualities have built,

    not what spearheads and sword-blades have built.

  19. And heroes' resolves are unsound

    unless souls and minds lead them.

  20. If a well-wisher celebrates the victorious,

    let a rescuer hasten to those who stumble.

  21. Whoever does not repent, or refuses kindness to

    one who has repented, forsakes and is forsaken.

  22. Life for every people is secured by their ranks,

    united, and by their unsheathed sword.

  23. The world was never mere argument, nor

    are interpretation and explanation the means to greatness.

  24. No man deserves his share of life

    who seeks his right while remaining abject.

  25. Egypt's people were no match for a state

    that overran them while they were bound and fettered.

  26. The captive broke the chain, though it was doubled,

    and the debtor paid the debt, though it was heavy.

  27. And indeed, he refused to bear humiliation and injury,

    that man who had lived with both and been molded to them.

  28. The vanquished rise only after

    the deceived and the tricked awaken.

  29. I have seen kingdoms upon whose

    ruins others arose, and they too shall pass away.

  30. Can the glutton be safe from his own entrails,

    filling his belly while he is sick?

  31. And often the fighter survived in battle,

    yet drink and food killed him.

  32. Can a contender stand firm when his kinsman

    is discontented, and his neighbor weary of him?

  33. And can he extend his dominion while from its parts

    a portion is severed every day?

  34. Where are those who ruled despotically, so that

    the earth's groves shrank through them into barren wastes?

  35. They never settled on their sumptuous couches

    without blood flowing beneath them.

  36. God replaced them with a group more merciful

    to workers—how excellent the change!

  37. And after misery in his own country, there returned

    the unknown worker, now a beacon over it.

  38. And he who once was harnessed to rank and power

    now weighs public benefits justly and measures them out.

  39. He imposes obligatory alms on wealth, decreeing

    that no financing be without them.

  40. He knows life's pains best who has endured

    life's misery, which torments and terrifies him.

  41. Most worthy of greatness's seat among his people

    is he who has lived supporting and maintaining them.

  42. Should one man live upon the shoulders of a thousand,

    harsh to that wretched thousand, and miserly?

  43. The country's dealings with its times have prospered,

    after stagnation had enveloped the land.

  44. As though Egypt were a trap for Egypt's people,

    and the master of the house a lodger within it.

  45. And free men bore, in their homelands,

    the burdens that exile and wandering had imposed on them.

  46. Their private converse was rejoined after

    seas and plains had come between them.

  47. To God, the sacred throne, and the homeland

    belong this salutation and that reverence.

  48. And among the firm covenants between them

    are this embrace and that kiss.

  49. O peerless man of the valley, everyone who follows

    you is your companion and colleague in greatness.

  50. You saved your people and the country, as was saved

    Israel long ago, in the time of Moses.

  51. And you came at the appointed time, fixed

    for them, with neither delay nor haste.

  52. Return and homecoming are to you; how fine

    this destiny, guaranteeing and guaranteed!

  53. The merit of restoring the fortress, when it was mere traces,

    is yours—and of restoring the army, when it was scattered remnants.

  54. You are favored by Egypt and its people,

    and Egypt enjoys that same preference with you.

  55. O you who confronted the enemies while their spears

    filled the air and the swords rang,

  56. address them, while their affairs are in the hands of one

    who is your good companion and close friend.

  57. In the principles of ministers drawn from their workers

    lies a great hope for Egypt and other lands.

  58. Your fortunate ministry met one like itself

    among them, and grace moved to meet grace.

  59. Thus both, in goodwill, have pledged themselves to what

    will dispel estrangement and coldness.

  60. Settlement is best for the debtor, once judgment is passed

    against him by an arbiter and upright witnesses.

  61. Your clear right lies with him, and gone are

    his tyranny, arrogance, and intimidation.

  62. You sued him; he acknowledged it, then fulfilled it

    for you, and his long-stalled creditor found relief.

  63. Honorable action is better for him, now that

    dark promises and deception have passed.

  64. And he may see from Egypt, as a treaty partner,

    what he cannot see from Egypt as an intruder:

  65. the affection of the unbowed, truly unsullied,

    and the favor of the angry, truly abundant.

  66. Do not trust one who lays down conditions

    unless your own condition is accepted before his.

  67. And it is extravagant to count you as receiving

    from him without giving as much as you receive.

  68. Benefits bind the scattered peoples of the world

    where kinship and ancestry have failed to bind them.

  69. Can a garrisoned man claim Egypt's independence,

    on both banks, and a mile short of Egypt?

  70. The Nile was created for its valley; it is

    neither departing from it nor being transferred.

  71. Egypt's Sudan is Egypt's brother, and never should

    a reproacher part the nearest kin.

  72. The valley's freedom and its life-giving water

    are your obligation; anything else is superfluous.

  73. Whoever is assured—welcome to his certainty!

    And whoever doubts has no case against you.

  74. He who has made Egypt's road secure does not

    care that Egypt's road is long.

  75. He who began the struggle for his people

    is bound to complete it to its end.

  76. And he who recovers his right from its plunderer

    remains, defending and shielding it.

  77. Does the valley's ministry fall to you, or is it

    a burden you bear for its people?

  78. You charged yourself with your people's cares after

    you became certain that you alone were responsible.

  79. And rule has settled with the one most worthy of it,

    in freedom, and the thicket has returned to the lions.

  80. Does his people's horseman leave the field

    before the finish, while the adversary roams within it?

  81. Nothing is impossible for the persistent; everything

    upon which resolve is firmly set is accomplished.

  82. Would he begrudge lawful wealth to the sons

    of his valley—he whose blood is offered freely for them?

  83. And would he want to be rewarded for what he does,

    a hero absorbed in them rather than himself?

  84. He outstripped conquerors toward great victories,

    through wise judgment, he who is descended from conquerors.

  85. O bearer of the Quran, you call to that

    to which the Torah and the Gospel call.

  86. Is the Allies' code better guided in its course

    than what you ordained and Ismail established?

  87. Egypt is God's! In its gardens raced

    your bounty throughout its reaches and the Nile.

  88. You have kept widening both its sides with cultivation

    until its width equaled its length.

  89. You greeted its morning with a ministry that renews

    its being and sets its times right.

  90. And in your time he walked upright who had spent

    two eras, stumbling now and swaying then.

  91. The people surround you, and the means are free;

    the age is peaceful, and the desired goal is attainable.

  92. In every kingdom there is an eminent ambassador;

    he is your proof and witness before it.

  93. Majestic, he represents his people and his country

    above other peoples—how fine this representation!

  94. It was a lover's solace, and you made it

    a visible reality, truthful and intelligible.

  95. If your people are not loyal to the crown,

    by what right can they find their way and wield power?

  96. Through justice and benevolence you reach a goal

    that neither army nor fleet can reach.

  97. O sovereign of the valley, you are its guarantee,

    and on your pleasure and judgment rests our reliance.

  98. I strove there, with a happy outcome, though I bear

    frailty and thinness from my striving.

  99. And I returned, singing of its independence,

    with its crown and wreath upon me.

Sol 6.1