المجد مجدك طارفا وتليدا — أحمد الكاشف

المجد مجدك طارفاً وتليدا

والفضل فضلك دانياً وبعيدا

Glory is yours, newly won and inherited,

and excellence is yours, near and far.

ولك المديح الصدق أجلوه كما

قد كنت تجلو للحروب جنودا

And yours is truthful praise, which I set forth, as

you once arrayed troops for war.

وأسير باسمك أملأ الوادي كما

قد كنت تملؤه قنا وبنودا

And I go forth in your name, filling the valley, as

you once filled it with spears and banners.

وأشرد المغرور مقهوراً كما

شرَّدتَ عن مصر العدا تشريدا

And I drive the conceited man away, vanquished, as

you drove the enemies from Egypt into utter flight.

من فاته في شيبه وشبابه

ما نلت من رتب الفخار وليدا

One who missed, in his old age and youth,

the ranks of glory you attained as a child;

من نال دنياه شقياً باغياً

وجمعتها عف الضمير سعيدا

one who gained his worldly fortune wretched and unjust,

while you amassed it, pure of conscience and happy.

ملكته فهو برقِّها مستسلم

يأتي المعاصي عامداً مشهودا

It possessed him, and he surrendered to its bondage,

committing sins deliberately and in plain sight.

يزجى لقتل الأبرياء لصوصه

إذ كنت تفترس العصاة الصيدا

He dispatches his thieves to murder the innocent,

while you preyed upon the haughty rebels.

ويشيد للذكر القبيح العار إذ

شدت المآثر مبدئاً ومعيدا

He builds up disgrace to leave an ugly memory, while

you built up glorious deeds, time and again.

وتراه رعديداً إذاً سُئل الندى

وإذا استعين على الأذى صنديدا

And you see him a craven when asked for bounty,

but a champion when called upon to do harm.

وإذا رأى لقريبه أو جاره

حسباً غدا خصماً له وحسودا

And if he sees in a kinsman or a neighbor

noble standing, he becomes his enemy and envies him.

وإذا دعا فإلى الذنوب وإن سطا

فعلى الأرامل واليتيم مبيدا

And when he summons others, it is to sin; and if he strikes,

then it is widows and the orphan he destroys.

تأبى عليه سجية الغدار أن

يرعى لموليه الجميل عهودا

His treacherous nature will not let him

honor pledges to the one who bestowed kindness on him.

لا يعرف الشيطان إلا صدره

بيتاً له دون الهدى مسدودا

The devil knows only his breast

as his home, sealed against guidance.

ما زال يغويه ويقسو قلبه

حتى غدا حجراً أصم صلودا

He kept leading him astray, and his heart hardened,

until it became a deaf, unyielding stone.

وجفا فما نجى غناه معسراً

يشكو إليه ولا أغاث كميدا

He grew callous; his wealth rescued no needy man

who complained to him, nor did he aid a grief-stricken man.

يصغي إلى الواشين محتفلاً بما

نقلوا ويهوى الشاتم العربيدا

He listens to slanderers, making much of what

they report, and loves the abusive drunkard.

متباهياً بالإثم معترفاً به

يستعذب التأنيب والتفنيدا

Boasting of sin and acknowledging it,

he savors reproach and censure for folly.

ومن البلية أن أراه ساكناً

قصراً يضم جوارياً وعبيدا

And it is a calamity to see him dwelling

in a palace housing slave girls and male slaves.

أبعلمه أم فضله وجهاده

يمسي لذي الشرف الرفيع نديدا

Is it through his learning, or his merit and striving,

that he becomes the peer of one of lofty honor?

وهو المذمم مسلكاً ومساعياً

وهو المحقر نسبة وجدودا

Though he is condemned for his conduct and endeavors,

and despised for his lineage and forebears.

لا للعلى والدين والأوطان ما

أضحى يشيِّدُ بيننا تشييدا

Not for greatness, faith, or homelands is what

he has taken to building among us.

يمسي ويصبح لا يريد لنفسه

إلا من المال الحرام مزيدا

At evening and morning he desires for himself

only more unlawfully gained wealth.

لو كان فيه رحمة ما بات عن

إحسانه أغلى بنيه مذودا

Had he any mercy, he would not have left

the dearest of his sons shut out from his kindness.

حتَّامَ يأتي المخزيات مجاهراً

وإلامَ يلقى اللاعنين جليدا

How long will he openly commit disgraceful deeds,

and how long face those who curse him unflinching?

طابت له في السيئات حياته

أم ظن للطاغي الظلوم خلودا

Has his life amid wicked deeds grown sweet to him,

or has he imagined immortality for the unjust tyrant?

مات الطغاة دعاته وحماته

وأراه بعدهم استمر وحيدا

The tyrants, his advocates and protectors, have died,

yet I see him continuing alone after them.

يا ويله ما باله لا يتقي

بأس الإله ولا يخاف وعيدا

Woe to him! Why does he not guard against

God's might, or fear His warning?

فمتى تحل به العقوبة والردى

ويصيبه ما قد أصاب ثمودا

Then when will punishment and death descend upon him,

and what once struck Thamud strike him too?

لم يبغ عفو مليكه عما جنى

إلا ليدعوه الأنام عميدا

He sought his sovereign's pardon for his crimes

only so that people would call him a chief.

ماذا يفيد العفو عنه بعد ما

أفنى الحياة مضللاً مرِّيدا

What good is pardoning him, after he

has spent his life leading others astray, defiantly rebellious?

مهلاً فإني خائف أن يدعى

عرش البلاد وحكمها الممدودا

Wait! I fear he may lay claim to

the country's throne and its far-reaching rule.

لو كنت من أهل القضاء مُحَكَّماً

صيَّرتُه عن أرض مصر طريدا

Were I appointed an arbiter among the judges,

I would banish him from the land of Egypt,

وطرحته في السجن يبكي كابنِهِ

ويجر فيه سلاسلاً وقيودا

and throw him in prison to weep like his son,

dragging chains and shackles there.

وجعلت للسوط الأليم بكفِّه

وبرأسه وخدوده أخدودا

And I would have the painful lash leave on his palm,

and on his head and cheeks, a furrow.

وأخذت بالثأر الكبير لمعشر

وردوا بغلظته الحمام ورودا

And I would exact great vengeance for a people

who met death through his brutality.

وحرمته ما اغتاله حتى أرى

حق العباد إليهم مردودا

And I would strip him of what he stole, until I saw

the people's rightful due restored to them.

وشفيت غل الساخطين عليه بل

أطفأت من مهج الكرام وقودا

And I would heal the rancor of those angry with him—rather,

I would quench the fire in noble hearts.

وأشد ما أبدى شماتتهم به

غرض له أضحى به مجهودا

What most revealed their gloating over him

was a goal of his that left him worn out.

يبدي الولاء تصنعاً ليناله

فيرده ويصد عنه صدودا

He displays feigned loyalty to attain it,

but he is rebuffed and utterly shunned.

ويقلد الأمراء في آدابهم

فتسيء شدة جهله التقليدا

And he imitates the princes in their manners,

but his profound ignorance spoils the imitation.

لم ألق عمري مادحاً متملقاً

في مصر كرَّمه وكان رشيدا

Never in my life have I met a flattering panegyrist

in Egypt who honored him and was sound of judgment.

أوزير مصر لك التحية والرضى

ولك الثناء مردداً ترديدا

O Minister of Egypt, to you my greetings and approval,

and yours is praise, repeated again and again.

لو كان أرشده الإله إلى الذي

يرضى مليكك لاصطفاك ودودا

Had God guided him toward what

your sovereign approves, he would have chosen you as a loving friend.

لم ننس عهد وزارة قضيته

يقظاً تؤيد أمرها تأييدا

We have not forgotten the ministerial term you spent

vigilant, steadfastly supporting its affairs.

فظفرت من مولى البلاد بنعمة

ردت قديم الأجر فيك جديدا

Thus you won a favor from the lord of the land,

which made your former reward new again.

أولى بمثلك أن يقلد صدره

لو أنصفوه من النجوم عقودا

One like you best deserves to have his breast adorned,

if they did him justice, with necklaces of stars.

لا زلت تدعونا إلى النهج الذي

تبدي به إخلاصك المحمودا

May you ever call us to the path on which

you display your praiseworthy devotion.

وتقيم فينا للمُمَلَّكِ واجباً

قد كان قبلك بيننا مفقودا

And uphold among us a duty owed to the crowned ruler

that, before you, had been absent from our midst.

تحيي ليوم جلوسه التذكار مف

ترضاً له في كل آن عيدا

You revive the commemoration of his accession day,

prescribing a festival for him at every moment.

تقضي الليالي مقبلات بالمنى

بيضاً ويقضيها عدوك سودا

You spend nights that come bearing wishes,

white, while your enemy spends them black.

فاقبل مدائح شاعر بل طائر

أمسى بمدحك صادحاً غريدا

So accept the praises of a poet—rather, a bird

that now sings your praises, clear-voiced and melodious.