Sol 6.1

  1. Yours is the greatest celebration in the land;

    Time dictates your chronicles and publishes them.

  2. Ismail's son revived the night of his remembrance;

    on that night, through you, he has the best of what you remember.

  3. He bestowed what his father had bestowed, blessed,

    and his most exalted, most renowned grandfather had granted him:

  4. Egypt's offering to you—and it is sacred—

    for which Egypt now receives reward and recompense.

  5. Go forth, honored, through ears and hearts,

    gracious, with green spring keeping pace with you.

  6. Today each person approaches the gateway to what

    heaven decrees and ordains for him.

  7. And for Egypt her road and passage lie open;

    there she chooses her destiny and decides.

  8. Most deserving of this supreme goal tomorrow

    is this unceasing, fruitful struggle.

  9. O giver of consultation, through its merit grows strong

    Egypt, whom you have freed and continue to free.

  10. You have made your people partners in managing their affairs;

    an overseer and one in command from among them please you.

  11. A burden shoulders have borne on their behalf;

    they have grown strong, and you are their most capable helper.

  12. A secret you guarded closely, then made public;

    thus the assured one keeps secrets and speaks openly.

  13. He who seeks counsel succeeds in every matter;

    and the autocrat stumbles, even when he is right.

  14. And the emblems of upheld kingship are its crown,

    its banner, its beacon, and the pulpit.

  15. And the pillars of every tribe's independence

    are its heritage, its virtues, and its ancestry.

  16. And the people's obedience is assured when

    the minister pleases the people and the one who appoints him.

  17. O master of the secure land—indeed, it

    is the most righteous and purest beneath heaven.

  18. The tyrants returned to it peacefully, after

    they had assailed it, spreading alarm and issuing threats.

  19. And their free men kept faith with it and rushed forward,

    seeking its approval, while it was free to choose.

  20. And the small yet splendid part of what they offered became

    the cause of the great and vast part of what they deferred.

  21. And when the two hosts are empty of whites and of

    blacks, the other stranger will make his way to you.

  22. Human freedom is a right shared by all;

    in it, desert-dweller and city-dweller stand equal.

  23. God placed His earth at His servants' disposal,

    and forbade them to oppress and enslave.

  24. Has a homeland ever been too narrow for its sons,

    that the colonizer should violate the refuge of one living in safety?

  25. O people of Egypt, your leaders have competed;

    so entrust affairs to them all, and watch.

  26. Inevitable fate will unite their ranks;

    and their distant one will return, and the murkiest will clear.

  27. How welcome the decisive word: it was enough for

    your doubter, and the omen-fearer grew hopeful.

  28. After this light in its signs, can

    an interpreter or commentator wander astray for you?

  29. They traversed the years as stages, until they reached

    it—these lines, as many in number as the years.

  30. And one group secluded itself with the document, writing it;

    and another came with the document, bearing good news.

  31. It occupied creative minds and souls for nights,

    during which the toil of battle was lighter and less.

  32. Indeed, those who endured their foes' oppression

    should all the more endure until the day of bounty.

  33. And when the destined appointed time comes, what

    you deem difficult is tamed and made easy.

  34. You have prized a brother's kindness, and we would shield you

    from failing to recognize a brother's kindness or denying it.

  35. Shall we regard the blind, deaf man's silence

    as a sin, while the hearing, seeing man makes excuses?

  36. This is your creed, and that your certainty;

    the world changes, but it does not.

  37. Through it you attained what no mighty eagle attained,

    swift of wing, nor did a lion attain it.

  38. And you have become the greatest example in the East

    for its peoples, inspiring them and guiding them onward.

  39. Go forward, wary of the world, even if

    the darkness shines and the tiger-like aggressor grows tame.

  40. And take this share, and strive

    for more; press onward and seek abundance.

  41. Sound judgment protects you before

    your fleet and army protect you.

Sol 6.1