في مثل عهدك يزهر الأمل

يا دولة شخصت لها الدول

In a reign like yours, hope blossoms.

O realm that draws the gaze of realms.

الآن ابدى الغيب أحسن ما

فيه وأنجز وعده الأزل

Now the unseen has revealed the best that

it holds, and eternity has fulfilled its promise.

قد عاد مصر زمان سؤددها

وتجددت أيامها الأول

The age of Egypt's glory has returned,

and her days of old are renewed.

راقت فسامع طيرها طرب

وصفت فوارد نيلها ثمل

She is lovely; whoever hears her birds is enraptured,

and she is serene; whoever comes to her Nile is intoxicated.

فلينشد الشعراء ما نظموا

أما أنا فاليوم أرتجل

So let the poets recite what they have composed;

as for me, today I improvise.

يا مصر جاد لك الزمان بما

قد صده عن بذله البخل

O Egypt, time has lavished on you what

miserliness had kept it from bestowing.

هذا الربيع وأنت روضته

فتآلفا فكلاكما خضل

This is spring, and you are its garden;

so be at one, for both of you are lush.

إن ينتقل عنك الهلال فلا

عجب فإن أخاه ينتقل

If the crescent departs from you, it is no

wonder, for its brother too moves on.

أو ترتضي من بعد بدلاً

فاليوم شمسك بعده بدل

Or should you accept a replacement afterward,

then today your sun takes its place.

أدنى العلاء إليك غايته

وتمهد منه لك السبل

Glory has brought its summit close to you,

and its paths are smoothed for you.

نهج كحد السيف مطرد

ومدى كعود الرمح معتدل

A path, unbroken as a sword's edge,

and a course, straight as a spear's shaft.

لو أن نسل الشمس قد بعثوا

ورأوا مكانك في العلى ذهلوا

If the sun's descendants were raised again,

and saw your station in the heights, they would be astounded.

هذا الذي راموا فما قدروا

وسعوا لغايته فما وصلوا

This is what they sought but could not attain,

and they strove for its goal, but never reached it.

ملك أقام على قواعده

كالدهر لا وهن ولا ميل

A kingdom standing firm upon its foundations,

like time itself, without weakness or wavering.

الشرق بعد بكاه مبتسم

قد ناب عن جزع به الجذل

The East is smiling after its weeping;

joy has replaced the anguish within it.

لما أماد الظلم دولته

وتبينت في جسمها العلل

When oppression shook its realm,

and ailments appeared within its body,

وتكاثرت فتن على فتن

وغدت بها كالنار تأتكل

and strife piled upon strife,

and began to blaze within it like fire,

وجفت من الأبناء من علموا

ورعت من الأبناء من جهلوا

and it shunned those of its sons who knew,

and fostered those of its sons who were ignorant,

وغدا بناء الملك منهدماً

وأقام عنه ذلك الطلل

and the edifice of rule collapsed,

and that ruined shell remained in its stead,

بعث الزمان لها حوادثه

فأصابهم وأصابها الأجل

time sent its calamities upon it,

and doom overtook both them and it.

ما كان خالقهم ليظلمهم

لو أنهم في حكمهم عدلوا

Their Creator would not have wronged them,

had they been just in their rule.

أزكى السلام على الحسين إذا

دعت البلاد ولبت الملل

The purest greetings to al-Husayn, when

the land calls and the faiths respond.

ملك جميل الرأي يصحبه

فكلاهما بأخيه متصل

A king accompanied by noble judgment,

for each is bound to the other as a brother.

الناس تحسب أنه ملك

والله يعلم أنه رجل

People think that he is an angel,

while God knows that he is a man.

تملي مدائه مناقبه

ما تصنع الألفاظ والجمل

His virtues dictate his praises;

what can words and sentences do?

تقع العيون على أنامله

فكأنها من أهلها قبل

Eyes fall upon his fingertips,

as though they were kisses from their owners.

مولاي مصرك روضة أنف

وقطوفها للمجتني ذلل

My lord, your Egypt is an untouched garden,

and its fruits are within the gatherer's reach.

فانهض بها بين الحوادث لا

وإن إذا جدت ولا وكل

So raise her up amid calamities, neither

weak when they grow grave nor helpless.

إن كنت كهل السن لا حرج

إن العزائم ليس تكتهل

If you are mature in years, there is no fault;

for resolve does not grow old.

والراي تنميه تجاربه

ويبين في رأي الفتى الخطل

And judgment is nurtured by its trials,

while folly shows in a young man's judgment.

أنت المملك حكمه حكم

فحكم فإن الدهر ممتثل

You are the enthroned ruler, whose rule is wisdom;

so command, for time is obedient.