يوم الجزيرة أنت يوم الوادي — أحمد الكاشف

O Day of the Island, you are the Valley’s day

Time has completed its circuit, and you have returned—the best appointed day

Your counterparts are the homeland’s earth and sky

Amid taut tent ropes and towering pillars

Do you contain one mighty fair,

Or a whole constellation of festivals?

The banners of peace saluted you from on high,

And purity watered you with evening and morning rains

In you a nation’s proof appeared in plain sight,

Attested by its eminent men and by witnesses

Its dilatory debtor conceded everything

That manifest, forthright right demanded

After contention, the West saw that Egypt’s welfare lay

In the covenant of comrades and the duty of equals

She attained the full extent of independence after

Emerging from shackles and fetters

Through peace she seeks to attain heights

Beyond the power of armies to attain

Fate dealt gently, and what befell you was light: that blaze was nothing

But a beacon showing the way

The caravan passed along the road, and the calamity of fire struck

Nothing but the caravan-leader’s cloak

That destined event came from the fire of your light—not

From the malice of enviers or scheming foes

It turned to peace, and souls grew calm,

Stripped of lightning flashes and thunderous threats

If part of you went as ransom for all,

Time restored that redeemer to you

Though you remained distant for ten nights,

You brought thousands of far horizons near

A single mile contained what you entrusted to it, though all

It held would fill cities and open country

Had these treasures been truly valued, they would have left no

Generation constricted by crises and stagnation

Delegations circled around them as though

Gabriel were proclaiming immortality there

As though fruit of every kind hung low,

Enough to sate, though none was plucked from the boughs

As though every spectator, from all he saw,

Had achieved his wish and won his desire

As though Noah returned to you in his ark,

Vast at its moorings, its stakes made fast

How delightful the livestock’s frolicking as they enjoy

The ease of the tame and obedience to the hand that leads

Had this bliss not appeased their natures,

Their strength would have made them lions

And the birds amid the trees and their fruits are there

For song, adornment, and increase

In the rise of farmers and craftsmen lies

The guarantee of eminence for my nation and my land

Those who fashion radiant works, with

Enlightened minds and healthy bodies

More enduring and excellent than a warrior’s weapon

In every age is the implement of harvest

And making the plow is the best preparation

For making warships and airships

Dearer than thoroughbreds upon the racecourse is a stream

Flowing between uplands and hollows

Were these the builders’ hands that raised the awesome pyramids, or

The glorious hands that built the exhibition?

In every craft they brought it to perfection,

And thus should every endeavor end

They put every plant in the soil to use,

And enlisted every inanimate thing upon the earth

Of every created thing, a model bears witness

To the people’s readiness and preparation

O delight of the Valley and comfort of its people,

After an unbroken succession of disasters and assaults

Nothing in you is reserved for the foreigner beyond what is offered

To the Egyptian visitor and every seeker

You expounded the country’s history as something sacred,

Vast in narration and sound in transmission

And explained its arts to the noble people

Like a discerning examiner, calculating and critical

If you do not make an aggressor afraid,

You are the path to contentment and amity

Is this a cooperative society, or a kingdom risen high

Under the care of the gracious King Fuad?

Husayn arose there for Egypt, and it became

In Kamal al-Din’s hands, the finest equipment

No community can feel secure against time

Except through the virtue of its members’ cooperation

The people labor and the tracts are fertile,

And through them the Nile overflows without end

O Exhibition of the Valley, display of its pride

And of its continuous, far-reaching striving

You greeted Egypt there at the meeting of a congress,

Magnificent—and you stood at the forefront of support

It united the ranks for every undertaking after

Ending conflict and old rancor

Time became an intercessor after fierce events,

Violent and harsh against the secure land

It granted the people judgment for themselves,

With justice, after promises and threats

And from the new land came a benefaction

Whose noble deeds transcend all counting

The generous one’s gift to Egypt’s glory, old

And new—to what was newly won and long inherited

Through it he revived Egypt’s monuments, honoring

The ancestors’ merit and the descendants’ pride

It came while the Valley had countless cares,

As balm for hearts and solace for troubled breasts

It was spoken of; the envious man first interpreted and elaborated it,

But it put an end to his vexation and stubbornness

This wealth is for remembrance and history, not

For commerce, caprice, or depletion

A debt owed to Egypt, whose repayment is incumbent upon the nations—

Public works and benefactions have left those nations indebted

In generosity, he stipulated nothing but that it be accepted,

And win the goodwill of lands, their countryside, and their people

Of wealthy kings, the richest is the most even-handed

In giving among kindred and strangers

For him, the honored creed is magnanimity—not

The sect of zealots or the doctrine of mere worshipers

Egypt’s treasuries endure, and for her people they are

The marvel of existence and the wealth of ages

Knowledge is the arena of nations, and none

Hold the rank of leaders but those who benefit others

Oppression among peoples is no natural law,

If humankind possesses any sound judgment

Hearts cannot be possessed,

Even if fine steeds can be possessed

My sacred homeland is my precious honor, and there shall be

No sovereign over my honor, no enslavement

My freedom—even if behind it lurk

Humbled blades and clashing spears

O nation of the Valley, accept a sincere man’s greeting,

From one who lavishes his life for every sincere soul

Share your blessings with Damascus and her notables,

And your highest prayers with the sons of Baghdad

All affairs find their destiny in your sanctuary,

And I guarantee that the sincere promise will be fulfilled