Sol 6.1

  1. Hearts yearn for the absent august personage,

    And their hopes gather around the returning retinue.

  2. The ship has dropped her anchors, and now ends

    The roaming through kingdoms, with the traveler content.

  3. And Egypt has welcomed him who oversees her affairs,

    Her very being, and her glory handed down.

  4. If she greets, it is the merciful one for whom lives are offered;

    If she brings offerings, it is to the generous giver.

  5. O you who fill the world with bounty and generosity,

    Your hands transcend any reckoner's counting.

  6. Come to the people whom you have prepared

    For glory, as one prepares the noble and eager.

  7. Towering, traveling palaces have spared you

    The heights of a horse's back or a camel's withers.

  8. The share you give cities and gardens does not

    Make you forget the share of wildernesses and barren plains.

  9. Wherever you go, chivalry is yours; enough is what

    Makes praise endure—a gain for the one who gains.

  10. In every kingdom, you receive the affection

    Of a king, for your eminence and virtues.

  11. Most fitting for one saluted by their lofty fortresses

    Are the finery and banquets they have offered.

  12. Your retinue never alights in east or west

    Except to benefit eastern and western lands.

  13. The dearest of your messengers, asking after the homeland

    And its sons, is the sweetness of your character and disposition.

  14. The proud have returned to you, seeking your favor,

    And your age has come with a penitent's humility.

  15. The parties have gathered around you and met

    At your watering-place, which barred all others.

  16. They completed that discourse; indeed, it is

    Certainty for the doubter and rest for the weary.

  17. Most fitting for one around whom the angels hasten

    Is the people's hastening to him amid processions.

  18. O follower of the sultan, you go behind him

    And come among lions and stars.

  19. They praised your stay among them, and you praised it,

    And you worked to secure them resources and experience.

  20. You brought close to them all who stood aloof, just as

    You paid in full, on their behalf, the reward of all who drew near.

  21. Until you secured for them the best means

    In every kingdom, and the strongest support.

  22. And you aided them with counsel, as did your forefather, the

    Most exalted, with artillery and keen swords.

  23. You invoke before them the trusts that

    You fulfilled, and your discharge of a binding duty.

  24. You supported their new rule, bringing together

    In God, non-Arabs and Arabs.

  25. And you witnessed how the imam cleared their sky

    After a succession of clouds and deep darkness.

  26. I fear for the enemies of its clear weather,

    Lest it overwhelm them with a day of pelting stones.

  27. No one mistrusting daylight fled into darkness

    Except to be pelted by the piercing meteor.

  28. He has guaranteed safety from rebels' disloyalty—

    This most dutiful one—and from foreigners' rancor.

  29. O you whose promise is true, gone is what

    Shook the land with false threats.

  30. In the loyalty of the devoted you have strongholds,

    And battalions following battalions without pause.

  31. Egypt's zealots rush toward the matter that

    Has enthralled them; yours is the tireless worker's deliberation.

  32. Indeed, what they seek is destined

    For them; it is no passing fancy.

  33. You cautiously bring it near its hopeful seeker; who

    But the voyager knows the sea's rigors?

  34. It is unthinkable that the devoted should be afraid

    After your smile at the scowling, angry one.

  35. If the stay of Egypt's guests is long, her patience

    Is stronger and better than the stumble of one who leaps.

  36. There must be pure friendship toward them,

    So long as you find no usurper's harshness in them.

  37. How far apart are the invading aggressor's powers

    And the supplication of one who thirsts and hungers for them.

  38. The resolve of one who humors the powerful, taming them,

    Is fitter and more useful than a reproacher's argument.

  39. And when you feel safe from them, you command their departure,

    And Egypt has a companion's claim upon them.

  40. And how many predators you have preyed upon,

    With nothing but their own fangs and claws.

  41. Though every peaceable person desires your bounty,

    Every combatant has indeed tested your aim.

  42. And if you repel, none repels more strongly;

    And if you draw others in, none draws more ably.

  43. The right of the unbowed, when he prolongs his forbearance,

    Outweighs the oppression of the mighty conqueror.

  44. The voracious eater's share of hearts, when they harden,

    Is the voracious drinker's share of molten iron.

  45. Egypt is not too cramped for anyone who seeks her

    On any day; nor does the blessed Nile run dry.

  46. Indeed, what you build for her and protect

    Endures through the vicissitudes of passing time.

  47. Ramadan, with her glad tidings, brings forward

    The guidance and bounties you are accustomed to in it.

  48. In it, with God—and He grants success—you have

    The hopeful one's wish and the God-fearing one's piety.

  49. My writing is for the throne; enough is what

    Pleases the princely office, as honor for the writer.

  50. I hold a devoted man's faith in its honor,

    Which frees it from needing the might of a striking sword.

  51. And when I filled my inmost thoughts with loyalty,

    You indeed filled my bags with bounty.

  52. Were it not for your noble testimony in my favor, which

    Raised my rhymes, I would have doubted my talents.

  53. Were it not for your satisfaction with the country and her people,

    I would have left her in anger, though she is all I love.

  54. I found my ties to you honorable,

    Until through them I attained my noble aims.

  55. So summon humankind to the heights, and answer them,

    O finest caller and responder among humankind.

Sol 6.1