1. أعيى عزائمَك القضاءُ الأغلبُ

    وطوى صحيفتك الزمان القلَّبُ

    All-conquering fate has thwarted your resolves,

    and fickle time has folded up your page.

  2. أرأيت كيف يفاجئُ السباق في

    غاياته ويقاطع المتوثِّبُ

    Have you seen how it surprises the frontrunner at

    his finish, and cuts the eager leaper short?

  3. أنسيت محنة مصر في سودانها

    أيام هام الجيش فيه يعذّبُ

    Have you forgotten Egypt's ordeal in her Sudan,

    when the army wandered there in torment?

  4. أهملته حتى إذا فتكوا به

    أمسى فؤادك جمرة تتلهب

    You neglected it until, when they slaughtered it,

    your heart became a blazing ember.

  5. ولبثت تذكر ثأر غردونٍ إلى

    أن حانت الدعوى وآن المطلب

    You kept recalling vengeance for Gordon, until

    the claim's hour came and the demand fell due.

  6. وسطوت سطوة قاهرٍ متعقِّبٍ

    يفضي إليه القاهر المتعقب

    You struck with the might of a pursuing conqueror,

    whom the conquering pursuer would in turn reach.

  7. وفتكت بالأقوام فتكة ناقمٍ

    لا يتقي لوماً ولا يتهيب

    You slaughtered the peoples with an avenger's fury,

    shunning no blame and knowing no fear.

  8. ما فكَّر المصريُّ في أسلابهم

    حتى غدا المصري فيما تسلب

    The Egyptian had not thought of their spoils

    before the Egyptian himself became part of your plunder.

  9. ولبثت تبدو في زخارف مخلص

    للقوم تخفي ما اعتزمت وتحجب

    You kept appearing in the trappings of one devoted

    to the people, concealing and veiling what you had resolved.

  10. غافلتهم حيناً فلم يتلفتوا

    إلا ونابك فيهم والمخلب

    You lulled them awhile; they did not turn

    until your fang and claw were in them.

  11. لولا خضوع وزارة هيابة

    لم يستقم لك في السياسة مضرب

    But for the submission of a timorous ministry,

    you would have gained no foothold in politics.

  12. هل أنت فينا فاتح أو وارث

    أو قَيِّمٌ أعلى وجار أقرب

    Are you among us a conqueror or an heir,

    or a supreme guardian and nearest neighbor?

  13. أو أنت فينا مصلح متطوِّع

    للخير أو مستأصل مستوعب

    Or are you among us a reformer volunteering

    for good, or an uprooter bent on taking all?

  14. أينوّلُ الدستورَ قيصرُ قومَه

    وتقوم فينا تستبد وترهب

    Does the Tsar grant his people a constitution,

    while you stand among us, tyrannizing and terrorizing?

  15. مصر الأحق برحمة أم موطن

    بدماء قومك مكتس مُتَخَضِّب

    Is Egypt more deserving of mercy, or a land

    clothed and dyed in your people's blood?

  16. ماذا أعد لأهل مصر من يرى

    أن الأحق بحكم مصر الأجنب

    What has one prepared for Egypt's people who believes

    that the foreigner has the greatest right to govern Egypt?

  17. أتطيل بينهم مقامك جاهداً

    وتقول لما يتعلموا ويهذبوا

    Do you strive to prolong your stay among them,

    saying they have not yet learned or been refined?

  18. إن أخصبت أو أيسرت فبأهلها

    وبنيلها تثري البلاد وتخصب

    If she grows fertile or prosperous, it is through her people;

    through her Nile the land grows rich and fertile.

  19. وهمُ بنو أبطالها وحماتها

    هل تنكرنَّ عليهمُ أن ينجبوا

    They are the sons of her heroes and defenders:

    will you deny them the right to excel?

  20. أم تُغلقنَّ قلوبَهم وعقولهم

    من بعدما حفظوا العظات وجربوا

    Or will you lock their hearts and minds,

    after they have learned the lessons and gained experience?

  21. أشركت في أوطانهم نزلاءهم

    ووهبتهم في مصر ما لا يوهب

    You gave their guests a share in their homelands,

    and granted them in Egypt what cannot be given away.

  22. وختمت عهدك بالذي اهتزت له

    أركان مكةَ واستعاذت يثرب

    You ended your tenure with a deed that shook

    Mecca's foundations and made Yathrib seek refuge.

  23. وتنفس الصعداء شعبٌ حاملٌ

    همّاً يضيق به الفضاء الأرحب

    And a people breathed a sigh of relief, bearing

    a sorrow that makes the broadest expanse too narrow.

  24. قلنا وقلت فأينا المتنكر ال

    متنمر المتجبر المتصعب

    We spoke, and you spoke: which of us is hostile,

    snarling, overbearing, intractable?

  25. ماذا كسبت وأنت عنا راحلٌ

    إلا الجفاء وبئس هذا المكسب

    What have you gained, now that you are leaving us,

    but estrangement? What a wretched gain!

  26. إن كان ذنباً بعدنا عن مظهر

    يوم الوداع فليس منا المذنب

    If our absence from the ceremony was a sin

    on farewell day, the sinner was not one of us.

  27. ماذا علينا لو أقمت مجاملاً

    حتى تفارقنا وأنت محبب

    What harm would it have done us had you remained courteous

    until you left us, still beloved?

  28. هل كنت تزعم أن أمرك خالد

    في أهل مصر خلود مصر وتحسب

    Did you claim that your rule would last forever

    among Egypt's people, as long as Egypt—was that your reckoning?

  29. وتهين دينهم وتنكر عرشهم

    ولواءهم وتريد أن لا يغضبوا

    You insult their faith and disown their throne

    and their banner, yet want them not to be angry!

  30. وتسبهم أيام لبثك فيهمُ

    وتود بعد العزل أن يتأدبوا

    You revile them throughout your stay among them,

    then wish them to be courteous after your dismissal.

  31. ما زال حزبك يكبرونك في الرضى

    والسخط حتى ألهوك فعوقبوا

    Your faction kept exalting you in contentment

    and anger, until they deified you—and were punished.

  32. أهلاً وسهلاً بالجديد وليتَنا

    كالناس نفرح بالجديد ونطرب

    Welcome to the newcomer! Would that we

    could, like others, rejoice in the new and be glad.

  33. عاشرتنا زمناً وديعاً طيِّباً

    فارجع كما أنت الوديع الطيب

    You lived among us awhile, gentle and kind;

    so return as you are, the gentle and kind one.

  34. لولا مخافة أن تقول شماتةً

    بالمستقيل سعى إليك الموكب

    But for fear that you would call it gloating

    over the man who resigned, a procession would have come to you.

  35. هل تقتفي أثر القديم تمادياً

    أم أنت مأمور بما تستوجب

    Will you persist in following your predecessor's path,

    or are you under orders to do what you deem necessary?

  36. ويزيد في رحماك منصبك الذي

    بُلِّغته أم يزدهيك المنصب

    And will your office increase your compassion,

    now you have been raised to it, or will office make you vain?

  37. ولكل يوم حالة ولكل أم

    ر جدة ولكل جيل مأرب

    Each day has its state, and every matter

    its novelty, and every generation its aim.

  38. واليوم مصرٌ غيرُها في أمسها

    هممٌ تجدُّ وراصدٌ يترقب

    Today Egypt is not what she was yesterday:

    resolves pressing onward, and a watcher keeping watch.

  39. لا تعترض تيارَها فلربما

    غمر البلاد وأنت واه متعب

    Do not obstruct her current, for it may well

    flood the land while you are weak and weary.

  40. وإذا عبستَ لها أبت ضيماً وإن

    حاسنت لان لك المراس الأصعب

    If you frown upon her, she refuses oppression; but if

    you treat her kindly, the hardest resistance softens for you.

  41. وأشد من سيف الكميِّ وناره

    قلم يجادل أو لسان يخطب

    More powerful than the armored warrior's sword and fire

    is a pen that argues or a tongue that orates.

  42. ولقد يُردُّ الجيشُ في عددٍ ولا

    ترتد عاطفةٌ لشاكٍ ينحب

    An army may indeed be repelled, for all its numbers, yet

    compassion for a sobbing sufferer cannot be repelled.

  43. والسر أيسر من تقيد خاطر

    ومردِّ ألسنة تبين وتعرب

    And secrecy is easier than fettering a thought

    and restraining tongues that make things clear and speak plainly.

  44. وطلابنا تحرير مصر طبيعة

    سيان فيها ساذجٌ ومدرَّب

    Our pursuit of Egypt's liberation is an instinct,

    shared equally by the untutored and the seasoned.

  45. كن بيننا كسواك ضيفاً راضياً

    تصفو لنا وله الحياة وتعذب

    Be among us, like any other, a contented guest;

    life will be serene and sweet for us and him.

  46. لا يخدعنك فاتن متملقٌ

    غصّان بالخبر الشنيع مذبذب

    Do not let a beguiling flatterer deceive you,

    choking on vile news, wavering.

  47. فالشرق مهما اشتد عزمك مشرق

    والغرب مهما امتد حزمك مغرب

    For East is East, however strong your resolve,

    and West is West, however far your firmness extends.