قومي أهاب من الحياة بشير — Ahmad Muharram

قَومِي أَهابَ مِنَ الحياةِ بَشيرُ

فَخُذوا سَبيلَ العامِلين وَسِيروا

My people, a herald from life has called;

so take the path of those who work, and march.

الأمرُ جَدَّ فما لنا من عاذرٍ

إن نَحنُ نِمْنا والشُّعوبُ تطيرُ

The matter has grown urgent; no one will excuse us

if we sleep while nations fly.

ذَهَب القَديمُ وجاء عصرٌ ماله

بين العُصورِ الذّاهباتِ نظيرُ

The old has passed, and an age has come that has

no equal among the ages gone before.

الجِنُّ مِلءُ الأرضِ زَالَ حِجَابُهم

فَلَهُمْ بها بَعدَ الخَفاءِ ظهورُ

Jinn fill the earth; their veil has fallen,

and there they appear after concealment.

هُمْ في العُبابِ أراقمٌ ما يَنْقَضِي

منها الدّبيبُ وفي السّحابِ نُسورُ

In the surging sea they are serpents; unceasing

is their creeping, and in the clouds they are eagles.

إيهٍ شُعوبَ الإنس إن لم تنهضوا

فالعيشُ جَهلٌ والحياةُ غُرورُ

Come, peoples of humankind! If you do not rise,

then living is ignorance, and life a delusion.

فيمَ السُّكونُ وكلَّ يومٍ مَارِدٌ

في الأرضِ من أُممِ الحياةِ يَثورُ

Why this stillness, when every day a giant

from life's nations rises upon the earth?

أَيظلُّ جَدُّ الغَربِ يَدأبُ صَاعِداً

والشّرقُ مَطويُّ الجَناحِ كَسيرُ

Will the West's diligence keep striving upward,

while the East, its wing folded, lies broken?

إنّا بَنوهُ فَلن يَرانا نَبْتَغِي

دِينَ الجُمودِ ولن نَراهُ يَبورُ

We are its sons; it shall never see us seeking

the creed of stagnation, nor shall we see it perish.

كَذَب المُضلَّلُ ما الحياةُ لِجَامدٍ

إنّ الحياةَ حَوادِثٌ وأُمورُ

The deluded one speaks falsely: life is not for the inert;

life is events and affairs.

ما حالُ مَنْ يُلقِي السّلاحَ مُجانِباً

والحربُ ثائرةُ العَجاجِ تَدورُ

What is the plight of one who casts aside his weapons, keeping aloof,

while war swirls, stirring clouds of dust?

إيهٍ بني مصرَ انْظُروا ما حولكم

وتأهَّبوا إنّ الخُطوبَ كثيرُ

Come, sons of Egypt, look at what surrounds you,

and make ready: calamities are many.

كلُّ الممالكِ إنْ تَأمّلَ ناظِرٌ

حَرْبٌ وكلُّ العالمينَ مُغيرُ

All kingdoms, if an observer looks closely,

are at war, and all the world's peoples are raiders.

في كلِّ يومٍ تَستطيرُ مصائبٌ

وتَموجُ في دُنيا الكِفاحِ شُرورُ

Each day calamities spread far and wide,

and evils surge in the world of struggle.

حقُّ البَقاءِ لِمَن يَصونُ ذِمارَهُ

والموتُ بالعانِي الذّليلِ جَديرُ

The right to survive belongs to whoever guards his honor and his own;

and death befits the abject captive.

لا تَبخلوا بِالمالِ فهوَ لِمجدِكم

عِند البِنايةِ حائطٌ أَو سورُ

Do not be stingy with wealth: for your glory it is,

during its construction, a wall or rampart.

حقُّ البلادِ دَعَتْ تُريد أداءَه

والمالُ في حقِّ البلادِ يَسيرُ

Your country's due—she has called, asking that it be paid;

and wealth is a small thing beside your country's due.

ما عُذْرُكم ألّا يَفيضَ عَطاؤُكم

والنّيلُ فيّاضُ العَطاءِ غزيرُ

What excuse have you for not letting your giving overflow,

when the Nile overflows with abundant bounty?

لا يَدَّعِي الإملاقَ والفَقرَ امْرُؤٌ

كَزُّ اليَدَيْنِ فما بِمصرَ فقيرُ

Let no man claim destitution and poverty

who is tightfisted: there is no pauper in Egypt.

القوتُ لو يُعطيه مَن يشكو الطَّوى

لَحَلفتُ جَهْدي إنّه لَقَتورُ

If one who complains of hunger were to give his sustenance,

I would swear with all my strength that he is miserly.

ما جَادَ بَاذِلُ نفسِه لِبلادِه

وإنِ احْتَفَى مُثْنٍ ولَجَّ شَكُورُ

He who gives his life for his country has shown no generosity,

even if a praiser honors him and a grateful man persists in thanks.

هو من مَواهِبها فإنْ يَبْخَلْ بما

وَهَبتْ عليها إنّه لَكَفُورُ

He is one of her gifts; if he withholds what

she gave, denying it to her, he is surely ungrateful.

بئس الفَتَى يقضِي الحُقوقَ رِفاقُه

في النّائباتِ وَمَالُه مَذحورُ

Wretched is the young man whose companions meet their obligations

in calamities, while his wealth is hoarded.

لا يُنكرنَّ المرءُ فضلَ بِلادِه

فضلُ البلادِ على الرجالِ كبيرُ

Let no man ever deny his country's bounty;

the country's bounty to men is great.

هُم للفِداءِ فَما لَهمْ مُتزحزَحٌ

إنْ صَحَّ وِجدانٌ وبَرَّ شُعورُ

They are for sacrifice; they have no room to retreat,

if conscience is sound and feeling sincere.

أوفى الرّجالِ على الحوادثِ مَن له

قَلبٌ بِحُبّ بِلادِه مَعْمورُ

The most faithful of men through calamities is one whose

heart is filled with love for his country.

إنّي بقومي إن تنكّرَ حَادِثٌ

أو جَلَّ أمرٌ جَامِعٌ لَفخورُ

I am proud of my people when calamity turns hostile,

or a grave matter concerns them all.

صَدعوا قُوى الحِدْثانِ بالبأسِ الذي

فَتَر الزّمانُ وما عَراهُ فُتورُ

They shattered calamity's forces with a valor that,

though time grew weary, was untouched by weariness.

وتَدَفَّقُوا يَتَسابَقونَ إلى مَدىً

بالسُّحب عنه وبالبِحارِ قُصورُ

And they poured forth, racing toward a reach

that clouds and seas alike fall short of.

شَكتِ الكِنانةُ ظِمْئَها واسْتَمطرتْ

فَهَمى أميرٌ واستهلّ أجيرُ

Egypt, the Quiver, complained of her thirst and called for rain;

so a prince poured like rain, and a hired laborer began to shower.

لِمَنِ الكنوزُ اسْتُودِعتْ أَسْرارَها

تَحتَ التُّرابِ جَنادِلٌ وَصُخورُ

Whose are the treasures whose secrets were entrusted

to boulders and rocks beneath the soil?

للجنِّ أو للعلمِ منذ تكدَّسَتْ

رَصَدٌ عليها قائمٌ وخفيرُ

For the jinn, or for science? Since they were heaped up,

a watch has stood over them, and a sentry.

لَبِثَتْ كَأوّلِ عَهدِها وتقادمتْ

أُممٌ مَشَتْ مِن فَوقِها وعُصورُ

They remained as they first were, while there grew old

nations that walked above them, and ages.

يا أرضُ لولا البِرُّ من آبائِنا

ما غَيّبَتْ تِلكَ الكنوزَ قُبورُ

O earth, but for our forefathers' benevolence,

graves would not have hidden those treasures.

هَلْ أُخِّرَتْ إلا لِيشهدَ بعثَها

يومٌ يَجيءُ به الزَّمانُ خَطيرُ

Were they delayed for anything but that their resurrection be witnessed

by a momentous day that time will bring?

أدِّى إلى مصرَ الأمانةَ إنّه

بَعثٌ لِمصرَ مُحبَّبٌ ونُشورُ

Deliver the trust to Egypt; it is

a welcome rebirth and resurrection for Egypt.

أنتِ الخِزانَةُ للزّمانِ وَرَيْبهِ

إن حَلَّ صعبٌ أو ألَمَّ عَسيرُ

You are the treasury for time and its vicissitudes,

if hardship descends or adversity befalls.

إنّي رأيتُ الأمرَ بعد مِطَالِه

بلغَ المصيرَ وللأُمورِ مَصيرُ

I have seen the matter, after its long delay,

reach its outcome; all matters have an outcome.

لو كان لِلأُمَمِ الخِيارُ لما اشْتَفَتْ

منّا بما دونَ السِّماكِ صُدورُ

Had nations their choice, no hearts would have found satisfaction

in anything from us below al-Simak.

ماذا احْتِيالُ النّاقِميِنَ وقد مَضَى

قَدَرٌ لِمصرَ وأَهلِها مَقدورُ

What can the resentful contrive, when there has come to pass

a fate decreed for Egypt and her people?

أَوَ ما كَفَى ما ذَاقَ مِن آلامِه

شَعبٌ على نُوَبِ الزّمانِ صَبورُ

And has not enough of its pain been tasted

by a people patient through time's calamities?

يا قومُ جِدُّوا في الحوادثِ واعْملوا

فالجِدُّ عَوْنٌ صادقٌ وظَهيرُ

O people, strive amid calamities, and work;

for diligence is a faithful aid and supporter.

حَفِظَ الإِلهُ بِلادَكم وأعزَّها

عَلَمٌ على أرجائها مَنشورُ

May God preserve your land; it has been ennobled

by a flag unfurled throughout its regions.

إن تذكروا اسْتقلالَ مِصرَ فإنَّه

رَمزٌ إلى اسْتِقلالِ مِصرَ يُشيرُ

If you recall Egypt's independence, the flag is

a symbol pointing to Egypt's independence.

لي مجدُه العالي وَطِيبُ ظِلالهِ

وله بياني الصَّادقُ المأثورُ

Mine are its lofty glory and the comfort of its shade;

and to it belong my truthful words, handed down.