طالع القوم بالدعاء المجاب — أحمد الكاشف

طالعْ القوم بالدعاء المجابِ

واتل فيما تلوتَ فصلَ الخطابِ

Greet the people with an answered prayer.

And recite, among what you have recited, the decisive word.

وتداركْ طرائقاً لك سارت

منهمُ في مفارقٍ وشعاب

And set right the paths of yours that ran

among them through crossroads and ravines.

وتعهَّدْ مواثقاً من محبِّي

ن تلقيتها ومنْ أحباب

And tend the pledges from admirers

that you received, and from dear friends.

واحتملْ في البلاد أعباءها عن

زعماءِ البلادِ والأحزاب

And throughout the land bear its burdens for

the leaders of the land and the parties.

وارم دعوى الغريم بالحجة البي

ضاءِ تمضي كصارم أو شهاب

And strike the adversary's claim with an argument

bright and advancing like a keen sword or a meteor.

عدتَ بالصحة التي هي كنزٌ

زاد وامتد في علاج الصعاب

You returned with health, which is a treasure

that grew and endured in tackling hardships.

وتبينتَ كلَّ جارٍ وآتٍ

بعد تلك النوى وذاك الغياب

And you discerned all that is happening and to come

after that separation and that absence.

موسمٌ قام للقضية أم مؤ

تمرٌ للأعزة الأنجاب

Is this a gathering held for the cause, or a conference

for the honored and noble?

يتلاقون في الجزيرة أعوا

ناً على السبْل منك والأسبابِ

They meet in al-Jazira as helpers

along the paths and through the means you provide.

وسع الملكَ كلَّه قصرُها وهْ

و مكانُ العقولِ والألبابِ

Its palace embraced the entire realm, and it

is the abode of minds and understanding.

ساحة الحشد بشرت بثواب

مصر فيها وأُنذرت بعقاب

In the gathering's arena, glad tidings of reward

were given to Egypt there, and she was warned of punishment.

قمتَ فيها لمصرَ تجمع صَحْباً

لكَ بيضَ الوجوه خضرَ الثياب

You stood there for Egypt, gathering companions

of yours, with white faces and green robes.

أقبلوا في العتاد من حكمة الشي

ب كراماً وعنفوانِ الشبابِ

They came armed with the wisdom of gray

hair, noble men, and with the vigor of youth.

وهمُ القادةُ الذين مضوا بال

شعب سمح المدى مجيد الطلاب

And they are the leaders who led the

people, broad in horizon and glorious in striving.

وأبوا أن يقيمهم قاهرٌ من

ه مقام الترغيبِ والإرهاب

And they refused to let a tyrant subject them

to his inducements and intimidation.

صابَروه دهراً وهم من عناد ال

دهر أولى بثورةٍ واضطراب

They endured him for an age, though the stubbornness of

fate gave them greater cause for revolt and unrest.

وانتهى المستَقرُّ بين وعيد ال

متحدي وموعد الخلابِ

And matters settled between the threat of

the challenger and the beguiler's promise.

ومن الخير أن أرى من أباة ال

ضيم بعد الرضى مراس الغضابِ

And it is good that I see, in those who spurn

injustice, after acquiescence, the fighting spirit of angry men.

إنما الرأيُ للسراة جميعاً

لا لشتّى الأخلاط والأوشاب

The decision belongs to the noble leaders, all together,

not to disparate, mixed crowds and rabble.

والمولُّون عنك بين نذير

منك قاسٍ وطيِّبٍ من عتاب

And those who turn away from you stand between a warning

stern from you, and gentle reproach.

وعدوُّ البلادِ أهونُ ممن

يَصطفيه من أهلها ويحابي

And the country's enemy is less harmful than one

of its own people who befriends and favors him.

قسمةُ العبء بين اصحابه أع

دلُ من حمله على الأعقاب

Sharing the burden among those it concerns is more

just than laying it upon posterity.

لا يضيعُ الرجالُ حقاً كحق

وكلوه لآجِلِ الأحقاب

Men squander no right as they squander one

they have entrusted to ages yet to come.

أين حامي الدستور وهو طعينٌ

بين أيدي العدى وأيدي الصحاب

Where is the constitution's defender, while it lies stabbed

at the hands of foes and the hands of friends?

ومن المقتفي عقيدته قب

ل اختيار الشيوخِ والنوابِ

And who follows its principles before

the election of senators and deputies?

يكثرون الكلامَ فيه وهل يغ

ني كلامٌ عند القنا والحرابِ

They talk at length about it; but can

words avail in the face of spears and lances?

منحة الغاصبين كان فأمسى

وهو للغاصبين في الأسلابِ

It was a grant from the usurpers, then became

one of the usurpers' spoils.

من يردُّ المغيرَ عن دارِ قومٍ

تركوها مفتوحةَ الأبوابِ

Who will keep the raider from the home of a people

who left it with open doors?

أخذ المدْنَ والثغور وطالت

يدُه اليومَ لامتلاك الرقاب

He seized the cities and frontier posts, and extended

his hand today to take possession of necks.

كيف تُعطى البلادُ من لم يهبها

روحه من طعامها والشرابِ

How can the country be given to one who has not offered it

his soul, nourished by its food and drink?

والذي لا يفيده السلم لا ير

جو حياةً بغير ظفرٍ ونابِ

And he whom peace does not benefit does not hope

for life without claw and fang.

وقوى الجندِ في الممالك لن تغ

نيَ عن بعضها قوى الكتَّاب

And the armies' strength in kingdoms will not be replaced

even in part by the power of writers.

للشجاع احترامُهُ من عِداه

والهوانُ المذلُّ للهيَّاب

The brave man has the respect of his enemies;

degrading humiliation belongs to the timid.

أخذتْ مصرُ تدخل اليومَ حرباً

لاغتصاب مشبوبةً وانتهاب

Egypt has begun today to enter a war

kindled for seizure and plunder.

وهي أهْل لأن تباشرها أم

هِيَ أولى بحيدةٍ واجتناب

And is she fit to undertake it, or

is standing aside and avoidance more fitting for her?

ولغرمٍ تخوضها وخسارٍ

أم لغنمٍ تخوضها واكتساب

And does she plunge into it for expense and loss,

or plunge into it for profit and gain?

من عذيري ممن قضى وتولى

رغباتِ المسيطر الغلاب

Who will vindicate me against one who fulfilled and carried out

the wishes of the domineering conqueror?

شغلتنا فعالُهُ وهو ما زا

ل على صمته وراء الحجاب

His deeds have preoccupied us, while he still

keeps his silence behind the veil.

لا يبالي صوتَ النكير ولا يش

فق يوماً من شبهة المرتاب

He heeds not the voice of protest, nor does he

ever fear the doubter's suspicion.

وهو يرعى عذرَ المفرِّطِ والبا

غي وينسى عذرَ السليب المصاب

And he heeds the excuse of the negligent and the

aggressor, and forgets the excuse of the despoiled and stricken.

يكتم السرَ عن أخلائه وال

سرُّ ملءُ البطاح ملءُ الهضاب

He hides the secret from his close friends, while the

secret fills the plains and fills the plateaus.

يا زعيم الأحرار وهو اسمك الشا

ملُ غرَّ الأسماءِ والألقاب

O leader of the free—your name embraces

the illustrious names and titles.

شيعة المصلحين ترعى وحزبُ ال

يمن والأمن والهدى والصواب

You tend the reformers' followers and the party of

good fortune, security, guidance, and right.

أنت من مارس السياسةَ في عص

ف أعاصيرها وعُنفِ العُباب

You are the one who practiced politics amid the fury

of its hurricanes and the violence of the billows.

جَمْعُك الليلةَ القُوى لك فتحٌ

فوق مجد الأنساب والأحساب

Your uniting the forces tonight is a victory for you,

surpassing the glory of lineage and ancestral honors.

لا أطيلُ الكلامَ بعد الذي قل

تَ وقد جَلَّ ما بمصر وما بي

I will not prolong my speech after what you have

said; grave indeed is what afflicts Egypt and me.

ضقتُ بالحاضر الكريه ومن لي

بمريح في غيره من عذابي

I am stifled by the hateful present; who can offer me

relief from my torment in some other time?

وتحملتُ من زماني صروفاً

في حسابي كانت وغير حسابي

And I have borne the turns of fortune of my time,

some within my reckoning, and some outside it.

وأتى ما ظننتُ أمس وما زل

تُ أخافُ الخفيَّ خلفَ السَّحاب

And what I expected yesterday has come, and I still

fear the unseen behind the clouds.

أزمة اليوم شرُّ ما لقيتْهُ

دولةٌ من تحولٍ وانقلاب

Today's crisis is the worst ever faced

by a state amid change and upheaval.

مستقلون نحن أم تبع أم

أمةٌ في وصايةٍ وانتداب

Are we independent, or dependent, or

a nation under tutelage and mandate?

مصر في كل دولة مدد لل

حلفاء الكرام لا للذئاب

Egypt, under every government, is a support for

honorable allies, not for wolves.

يا رجالَ البلاد حسبكم اليو

مَ رجوعُ الوفاقِ بعد الذهاب

O men of the land, enough for you today

is the return of concord after its departure.

جاهدوا الدهر باليقين وبالآ

مالِ والعزمِ والقلوب الصلاب

Strive against fate with certainty and with

hopes, resolve, and steadfast hearts.

وتلقُّوا عَرْضَ القليل عليكم

منه بالصد عنه والإضراب

And meet the offer of little made to you

from fate by rejecting it and turning away.

عهد ندين ما تريدون لا عه

د اتصال العبيدِ بالأرباب

A pact between two equals is what you want, not a pact

joining slaves to masters.

إن في شملِكم ضمان المقادي

رِ لصدقِ العقبى وحسنِ المآبِ

Indeed, in your unity lies destiny's guarantee

of a sure outcome and a good return.