لكم الفوز بعد حزم البدارِ — أحمد الكاشف

Victory is yours, after firm resolve and prompt action;

so raise Egypt’s glory among all lands.

You shouldered her burdens and pressed onward,

holding her reins beyond the seas.

You broke that siege and set forth

toward new conquests after the blockade was broken.

The proofs of truth preceded you across the hori—

—zons, neither by ship nor train.

And auspiciously, in your procession, there followed tidings—

—of you, after the news so long awaited.

Time acknowledged itself more faithful to you than

letters exchanged among you or journeys made:

that freedom of the doves which you made possible

and which the ardor of free men guarded.

The privileges of every foreign realm in

Egypt are stronger than a vast, advancing host.

The invaders’ wars are great; greater still are

the incursions of manufacturers and merchants.

You recognized their remedy and forged

for yourselves, from among yourselves, a link to your supporters.

You secured the conduct of your own cause be—

—fore time and fate could guarantee it.

And you won from those angered at the age

their approval of you and their acknowledgment.

So collect an income tax from whatever

was devoted to exploitation and investment.

Justice requires that equality prevail in it

between the land’s foreign residents and its own people.

They ranged throughout the country, ever rising, until

they drove its very birds from their nests.

They enjoyed its abundance and gained still more

ease beneath its protection and safeguard.

Is the covenant of protection you preserved for them—or

is it a collar for you, a fetter of captivity?

So take whatever course you wish in disputing with them;

in every matter, the choice is wholly yours.

Fear none of their beasts, once you have made a cov—

—enant with the mighty, ever-ready, ravening lion.

Every opponent is easy to face, every adversary

slight after that mighty giant.

The foreigner has no excuse if he does not

give from the abundance of his land and property

a share of his wealth—what Egypt seeks;

for from Egypt comes all the wealth he has.

It is a light charge upon him, imposed by

past hospitality and protection:

payment for residence—not a benefactor’s gift,

nor is this the purchaser’s indulgence.

The man who pays the land tax abundantly

from his wealth is most entitled to greater abundance.

Your giving of lives for the realm is an inescapable duty

before the foreign resident gives his dinar.

The foreigner who keeps faith with the land’s cov—

—enant has the same rights as its righteous people.

A state of justice takes him under its care there,

and the judgment of honorable, pure men.

He finds security within its protection and finds

his glory beneath its banner and emblem.

What you have attained—great though it is—

is the foundation of the aims that remain.

Indeed, what is distant in the mat—

—ter may draw near and be accomplished in a night and a day.

Such resolve as yours is best

in the two straits, after Wadi al-Sār.

It is chaos, with adversaries all around you,

to seek aid from a companion in hiding!

It would be a grievous loss, as events follow one another,

for you to return to delay and waiting.

Do not say, “A matter is settled”; there is no stabi—

—lity on earth before fate’s onward-running decree.

Can the human being return to bone and flesh

after becoming iron and fire?

The earth grew too narrow for him, so he exchanged it for

the whale’s arena or the eagles’ field of flight.

The omen of ruin and war from him

has arisen on every side—so beware.

The winds have begun to send forth poisons—

marvels wrought by minds and thoughts.

The world’s darkness better befits the one who wrought—

—it when he seeks the aid of lights.

That is its current, and all humani—

—ty has been swept into that current.

But the strong and trustworthy, the reformer who is use—

—ful, best preserves its peace and prosperity.