كابروا في مداك أم أكبروه

وأبوا ما صنعت أم تبعوه

Did they stubbornly dispute your reach, or esteem it?

And did they reject what you did, or follow it?

والمراد الصحيح ما أعلنوه

بعد صمت أم الذي أضمروه

And is their true intent what they announced

after silence, or what they concealed?

وفرار من فرصة الدهر ما شا

ءوا من المطل أم دلالٌ وتيهُ

And is what they wished for a flight from time's opportunity,

through stalling—or coyness and conceit?

ما لهم أغفلوا كتابك ثم ار

تدَّ فيهم زعيمهم يتلوه

Why did they ignore your book, only for

their leader to turn back among them, reciting it?

أيدوه فأيدوك وهل غي

رُ الذي أنت طالب كلَّفوه

They supported him, thus supporting you; was it anything other

than what you seek that they tasked him with?

قدر سقته فآمن بالعق

بى وحسنِ المصير منتظروه

A fate you brought about: its outcome was trusted in,

and a happy end, by those awaiting it.

واتقاه الغضاب فاستمهلوه

واستعادوا الصواب فاستعجلوه

The angry feared it, so they sought to delay it;

then regained sound judgment and sought to hasten it.

وتلقوا دليلك الضخم منه

يستزيدون بعد ما انتقصوه

They received your weighty proof from him,

seeking more after having belittled it.

إنما العهد ما كسبت وإن سم

موه غير اسمه وإن أوَّلوه

The pact is what you won, even if they name

it something else, even if they reinterpret it.

ساوموا في الرضى به واستحلوا

ثمناً للرضى وقد قبضوه

They bargained over consenting to it and deemed lawful

a price for their consent—and they have collected it.

أخذوا الأجر قبل أن يستحقو

ه ومن يستحقه حرموه

They took the payment before they deserved

it, and deprived the one who deserved it.

كل ما أنفقوه للوطن الغا

لي فداء لو صح ما زعموه

All they spent for the precious homeland

was sacrifice, if their claims were true.

ولهم نفسي التي ليس لي اليو

م سواها لو جاز ما فرضوه

And they may have my life, for today I have

nothing else—if what they demanded were warranted.

آن ميعادهم أيصدق ما امتد

دت به ألسنٌ ودارت وجوه

Their appointed time has come: will those claims prove true

that stretched out tongues and set faces turning?

ودنت ساعة الرحيل فهم يغ

نيهمُ للرحيل ما مهدوه

The hour of departure draws near; they have enough

for the journey in what they have prepared.

وأتى البرق بالروايات ألوا

ناً فهل صدقوه أم كذبوه

The telegraph brought reports in many hues:

did they believe it, or declare it false?

وتمام الرضى بما رد من حق

قٍ مُضِيْعُوه لا بما أولوه

And complete satisfaction lies in the right restored

by those who squandered it, not in what they bestowed.

ليتهم يملكون ما استبقوا السُبْ

لَ إليه وما همُ مزمعوه

If only they could attain what they raced along the paths

to reach, and what they intend.

فإذا أفلحوا استرحت وإن هم

أخفقوا بعدُ فهو ما ألفوه

Then, if they succeed, you will rest; and if they

fail afterward, it is what they are used to.

كم تمنيت أن ترى لك في الخي

رِ شبيهاً فهل يجيء الشبيهُ

How often you wished to see, in doing good,

a counterpart to yourself—will that counterpart appear?

وحبيب إليك أن يقدروا ما

أنت آت به ويستكملوه

And it is dear to you that they appreciate what

you bring, and carry it through to completion.

أنت ذو الحق لا تبالي أحبو

ه على حالتيه أم كرهوه

You hold the rightful claim; you care not whether they love

it in either of its two states, or hate it.

سجلته لك البلاد فما في

عبث الحاسدين ما يمحوه

The country has recorded it to your credit; nothing in

the mischief of the envious can erase it.

وسعت نفسك المكاره منهم

والعتاب البريء لم يسعوه

Your soul had room for the hardships they caused;

they had none for innocent reproach.

ومضوا يمرحون في جدة الحا

ل ومما نسجت ما لبسوه

They went on reveling in their new condition,

and what they wore was of your weaving.

واستباحوا كرامة لك في الحك

مِ وأنت الشريف فيه النزيهُ

They violated your honor in governance,

though you were honorable and incorruptible there.

واستخفوا بكل عبء فلما

حملوا اليوم عبئك استثقلوه

They made light of every burden; but when

they bore your burden today, they found it heavy.

وابتغوا ثأرهم سؤالاً ولولا

أنه الفضل منك ما أدركوه

They sought their revenge by begging; had it not been

a favor from you, they would not have gained it.

واشتفوا منك في رجال أطاعو

ك وأرضوك بالذي أنفذوه

They took their revenge on you through men who obeyed

you, and pleased you with what they carried out.

خلة يستوي هنالك من ول

لَوه في شرها ومن عزلوه

A trait in whose evil, there, those they appointed

and those they dismissed stand equal.

والذي كان يشتكي حكمك العد

لَ طغى حكمه فهل تشكوه

And the man who used to complain of your just rule—

his own rule turned tyrannical: will you complain of him?

قد بلاك الزمان فيه فأبلي

تَ وهذا زمانه يبلوه

Time tested you in it, and you proved your worth;

now this is his time, testing him.

أيعيبون بعد عهدهمُ ما

لسواهم في عهدهم سنّوه

Will they find fault, after their tenure, with what

they prescribed for others during that tenure?

ليتهم في الحكومة اتخذوا إح

دى سجاياك في الذي اتخذوه

If only, in government, they had adopted one

of your virtues in the measures they adopted.

هين بغيهم عليك إذا لم

يؤذهم بغيهم وما اجترحوه

Their aggression against you is slight, so long as they are not

hurt by their aggression and what they have perpetrated.

في سبيل البلاد أم لهوى شي

طانهم ما لهجوك استأجروه

Was it for the country's sake, or for the whim of their

devil, that they paid to have you lampooned?

أنت أم ذلك المسيطر أولى

بالعداء الذي لك التزموه

Are you, or that overlord, more deserving

of the hostility they have pledged toward you?

قربتهم إليه فوضى المقادي

رُ فجاروا عليه واستعطفوه

The chaos of fate brought them close to him;

so they wronged him and sought his sympathy.

واستعانوا عليك بالود والزل

فى إليه كأنهم أمنوه

They sought help against you through affection and closeness

to him, as though they were safe from him.

أغضبوه تجارة ثم دارو

ه عسى يعرفون أن يرضوه

They made a trade of angering him, then humored

him, hoping to learn how to please him.

وإذا ألزموه عهدك لم تع

وزهمُ بعد قوة تجلوه

And if they bind him to your pact, they will not lack

the strength thereafter to drive him out.

قلق الهند عون مصر وأهلي

ها على ما لسلمها اشترطوه

India's unrest aids Egypt and her people

with the terms they have stipulated for her peace.

وكفى القوم أن مصر طريق ال

هند والحارس الذي ائتمنوه

And it is enough for them that Egypt is the road to

India, and the guardian they have trusted.

أيود العدو صلحاً ولا يص

طلح اليوم في الحمى أهلوه

Does the enemy desire peace, while no reconciliation

is reached today among the homeland's people?

إنما العابثون بالوطن الغا

لي بنوه إذا تجافى بنوه

Those who trifle with the precious homeland

are none but its sons, when its sons shun one another.

ولقد تذهب الضغينة لولا ال

كاتب الفظُّ والخطيب السفيهُ

Rancor would indeed depart, were it not for

the coarse writer and the foolish orator.

يتغنّى بخطبهم وهو يجري

في الدم الطاهر الذي بذلوه

He sings of their plight, even as he runs

through the pure blood they have shed.

أنا من طالب الغريم وقاضا

ه وعاداه قبل أن يعرفوه

I am the one who pressed the adversary and brought

him to judgment, and opposed him before they knew him.

جل فيهم وفيك شعري وليت ال

قوم يوم احترمته احترموه

My verse was lofty concerning them and you; if only

the people had honored it the day you honored it.

لم تنبههمُ عظاتيَ حتى

جاءهم من عواصفي التنبيهُ

My admonitions did not awaken them until

from my storms came their awakening.

لهم العذر في الذي هم مسيئو

هُ وشكر الذي همُ محسنوه

Theirs is pardon for what they do badly,

and thanks for what they do well.

ولك الصبر ما استطعت عليهم

علَّهم يبلغون ما ترجوه

And yours is patience with them, as far as you can;

perhaps they will attain what you hope for.

وعليك الضمان إن أبرموا العه

دَ وعادوا وإن همُ نقضوه

And you must stand surety, whether they seal the pact

and return, or whether they break it.