Sol 6.1

  1. By unity today, not by iron and fire,

    O young men of the homeland, you safeguarded the homeland's domain.

  2. And every brother grew strong, trusting in a brother,

    in every lookout and racecourse within it.

  3. And your adversary came auspiciously with peace,

    blessed, between one chosen man and another.

  4. Egypt made a pact with one she could not do without,

    and whose remnants and traces remain within her.

  5. And the nation that knew it best restored your right,

    after persisting in delay and denial.

  6. And his affection for you and your fondness for him took

    the place of unavenged blood and vengeance.

  7. He came with good in his right hand, congratulating you,

    after coming with a warning in his left hand.

  8. Fifty years he spent committing wrongs,

    at times openly, and at times behind veils.

  9. And those are another twenty years, whose events

    the traveler setting out and journeying by night cannot encompass.

  10. How often he tamed you with lavish promises of his,

    and frightened you with his overbearing threats.

  11. His might against you came from you, and he had

    among the beasts of prey a ravening lion's share.

  12. What you concluded with him is a pact of dignity,

    a freely made covenant between neighbor and neighbor.

  13. You protect him, and he protects you; your resolve

    and his are like destiny, inexorable and unfolding.

  14. The giver is no longer the taker, as in

    those bygone nights, nor the buyer the seller.

  15. He offered no condition without, before you,

    paving the way to his aims with excuses.

  16. Though you were far away, we were with you in his land,

    seeing you before tidings and reports.

  17. You entered his land as conquerors, though

    you were only lodgers and visitors there.

  18. Tomorrow, not he but you will have what he again seeks

    of equipment, fields, and ramparts.

  19. Your hands will restore what his hand squandered,

    when you were not free in your own homeland.

  20. And if he departs with a document from your register,

    it is a record of periods and phases.

  21. And if he stays, it is on land for a fixed term,

    not in hearts, ears, or eyes.

  22. And your covenants are nothing but your interests,

    not the documents and volumes you count.

  23. What does it matter to you, once your arms grow strong,

    whether he intends a faithful man's pact or a traitor's?

  24. This is what benefits you most and suits you best; so ask

    the Saar Valley about it, before the two straits.

  25. Revolutionaries may sometimes grow still among you,

    while men who were not revolutionaries rise up.

  26. Many a claim the strong man has settled in his own favor,

    without a document, witnesses, or those in attendance.

  27. Daylight ended all that there was of doubt,

    and of hidden things, riddles, and secrets.

  28. And those throngs of yours marched toward their goal,

    in safety, after earthquake and tempest.

  29. The one greeting with flowers and banners was matched

    by the one who had hurled thorns and stones.

  30. You were rewarded for the good you did for

    your country, and received every mark of esteem.

  31. Men's reward is measured by what they have done,

    share for share, and measure for measure.

  32. You make no distinction—the homeland is one—

    among its people, between one inhabitant and another.

  33. For the homeland and its sons, not for yourselves,

    you swell your ranks with followers and supporters.

  34. None but the one who sacrificed his lifeblood

    for the people is worthiest of a statue and memorial.

  35. And solace in deceptive hopes

    is only like a vanquished man's surrender to a conqueror.

  36. Every wise, seasoned man among you has had

    his path cleared by every man of retreat and of attack.

  37. A person's resolves cannot be sound

    unless his opinions and thoughts are sound.

  38. You gave every soul in sacrifice to the country,

    and today she asks you for every dinar.

  39. The fertility of your souls, not your land's fertility,

    is the guarantor of wealth and prosperity.

  40. And many a people has built a kingdom through the ages

    upon its virtues, though unarmed and naked.

  41. And I possess nothing but my soul, which I offer

    to draw near to you; this is part of my selflessness.

  42. Had I found a price for my verse among you,

    I would have built two fortresses for the valley with my poems.

  43. And brothers of yours were not satisfied by a term

    that satisfied you; they saw it as the host's leavings.

  44. They rage against time for the cause,

    hoping to turn back one current with another.

  45. Do some of you doubt after your unanimous accord,

    though they are not men of hesitation and retreat?

  46. And your ally's covenant with you has been received

    by all peoples with endorsement and approval.

  47. They were not ignorant of your merit, but turned

    toward greater blessings and abundance.

  48. They were dutiful to Egypt; I would not have you

    deem them anything but dutiful toward Egypt.

  49. O leaders of the people, I counsel you; among you are

    my kin, my friends, my neighbors, and my in-laws.

  50. You ratified with the ink of truth what

    your hands wrote in pure blood and light.

  51. Through it, you restored the sweetness of life to

    your pure slain, who fell in the cause of sovereignty.

  52. So interpret in your favor whatever it contains

    of twists, ambiguity, and concealed intent.

  53. Do not fear any constraint upon your authority,

    and among you are all who bring benefit and harm.

  54. Nor are you distracted from what is intended for you

    by the aspirations and aims you have attained.

  55. This is not the highest attainment in your struggle,

    nor the last of your roaming and journeying.

  56. Your caravan singer and your crier have discharged their trust,

    and the time has come for a diver and a pilot.

  57. That vanguard heralds a happy outcome

    for both sides, though limited in scale.

  58. And perhaps you will win in two hours what

    you had deferred for ages and lifetimes.

  59. The Nile is at your command in every region;

    from it you feed rivers with rivers.

  60. Heaven's bounty—and your hands direct

    what the flood of storms and rains has brought.

  61. So build a thousand of its barrages, as you built

    the Aswan reservoir or the Makwar reservoir.

  62. Pharaoh was not stronger than you in numbers,

    nor mightier with farmers and merchants.

  63. You are the highest example and the model for all

    the varied nations and lands upon the earth.

  64. I stand firm in my opinion and belief,

    and my insistence is on reform alone.

Sol 6.1