سلام صاحب الوادي ومجد — أحمد الكاشف

سلام صاحب الوادي ومجدُ

لعيدك وهو ميثاق وعهدُ

Peace, lord of the Valley, and glory

To your festival, a covenant and a pledge;

وتكرمة ليوم آل فيه

إليك الحكم وهو هدى ورشد

And honor for the day on which it passed

To you—rule, a source of guidance and sound judgment;

وميعاد لأفضل ما تراه

من القدر البلاد وما تعد

And a promise of the best the land foresees

From destiny, and of what it reckons on;

وتذكار به في كل عام

يزيد لك الوداد ويستجد

And a remembrance by which, each year,

Affection for you increases and is renewed.

وما الزينات ملء الملك إلا

سرائر شعبك المسرور تبدو

The decorations filling the kingdom are nothing but

Your joyful people's innermost feelings made visible.

وما هذي المواكب فيه إلا

لما أحسنتَ إطراء وحمد

And these processions at the festival are nothing but

Praise and thanks for the good you have done.

تلقَّى الوافدين الثغرُ رحباً

وهم فيه كما في الحج حشد

The port welcomed the arrivals with open arms,

And they gathered there as pilgrims gather at the Hajj.

وشرف ركبُك الميدانَ فضلاً

وملء طريقه آس وورد

Your cavalcade graciously honored the square,

Its route filled with myrtle and roses.

وسرك من رجالك ما أقاموا

لهذا المهرجان وما أعدوا

And what your men staged pleased you,

For this festival, and what they prepared:

وفاء للأريكة وهي يمنٌ

وصوناً للكنانة وهي خلد

In loyalty to the throne, a blessing,

And to safeguard Egypt, the Quiver, everlasting;

وتنزيهاً لذاتك وهي قدسٌ

وإيثاراً لعصرك وهي رغد

And to hold your person above reproach, for it is sacred,

And in devotion to your age, an age of ease.

ملكت فكنت واقي مصر شراً

يهدُّ من الممالك ما يهد

You became king and shielded Egypt from a calamity

That lays waste to whatever kingdoms it lays waste to;

وغانم هدنة فيها حساب

من الحرب التي وقعت أشد

And won a truce bearing a reckoning

Harsher than the war that was fought.

وشاء من الحياة له نصيباً

بأمرك شعبك الحر المُجِدُّ

And it wished for itself a share in life—

Your free, industrious people, at your command.

ومهّد قبلُ بالبأس اضطراراً

لما هو نائلٌ بالسلم بعد

It had earlier paved the way by force, out of necessity,

For what it would later attain through peace;

وأدرك غاية بك لم يصلها

لغيرك قبلُ أُسطول وجند

And through you it reached a goal never reached

For anyone other than you before by a fleet or an army.

جمعت الشرق فيه فاطمأنت

إليك الهند واسترعتك نجد

You united the East therein, and so

India felt secure with you, and Najd sought your guardianship.

وعادت مصر وهي لكل علم

وكل حضارة في الأرض مهد

And Egypt became once more, for every science

And every civilization on earth, a cradle.

أتشكو مصر ضائقة وفيها

نوالك وهو للنيلين ند

Does Egypt complain of hardship, when within it

Is your bounty, a rival to the two Niles?

وهل تخشى الغريم وكل يوم

يجيئك منه تسليم وود

And does it fear its adversary, when each day

Greetings and goodwill come to you from him,

وميثاق تحمّله سفير

يروح بكل ما ترضى ويغدو

And a covenant borne by an envoy

Going evening and morning with all that pleases you?

تخيرت الذين همُ ضمانٌ

لقصدك وهو للأقدار قصد

You chose those who are a guarantee

For your aim, an aim directed toward destinies.

ووليت الوزارة كل موفٍ

بما يلقاه منك ويستمد

And entrusted the ministry to each man faithful

To what he receives and draws from you.

ولولا أنها حق عليهم

لكان لهم غنى عنها وزهد

Were it not a duty incumbent upon them,

They would be independent of it and indifferent to it.

وقد صحت بصحتك الليالي

وخف عن البلاد وعنك جهد

And the nights are healed through your good health,

And the strain on the land and on you has eased.

وقمت بنية صدقت وعزمٍ

تمكن ما بناه أب وجد

You rose with true intent and resolve,

Strengthening what a father and a grandfather built.

وتحمي حرمة الدستور ممن

يثور على كرامته ويعدو

And you protect the sanctity of the constitution from those

Who rebel against its dignity and transgress.

وما في الأرض إبرام ونقض

لمتَّهم ولا حل وعقد

And nowhere on earth do ratifying and revoking

Belong to a suspect, nor loosening and binding.

وما فيه يسيء الحكمَ جمعٌ

وما فيه يسيء الحكم فرد

And within it no group rules badly,

And within it no individual rules badly.

وقد يغني عن الشورى صواب

خلا منه المشير المستبد

Sound judgment may make consultation needless—

Something the autocratic counselor lacks.

فما للغاضبين وقد دعاهم

إليك المنذرون فلم يردوا

So what ails the angry ones, when they were summoned

To you by the warners, yet did not respond?

وخافوا أن تبدلهم أموراً

بأخرى وهو ما لا منه بد

And they feared you would replace some matters for them

With others, which is unavoidable.

وكم ملأوا الحمى برقاً ورعداً

فما أغناهمُ برق ورعد

How often they filled the protected domain with lightning and thunder,

Yet neither lightning nor thunder availed them.

ولم تثبت لهم في الغرب دعوى

ولم يصدق لهم في الشرق وعد

No claim of theirs held good in the West,

And no promise came true for them in the East.

ومالوا بالقضية فاستمالت

إلى سوق أطالوها ومدوا

They diverted the cause, so it turned

Toward a market they prolonged and extended.

تحملها رسولُهُمُ نفاقاً

وألقاها عليهم وهي حقد

Their envoy bore it in hypocrisy,

And cast it upon them as hatred.

وقربها فلم ينفعه قرب

وأبعدها فلم ينفعه بعد

He brought it near, but nearness did him no good;

And put it far away, but distance did him no good.

وكان لقاؤه منهم سلاماً

فأصبح وهو إعراض وصد

His reception by them had been a greeting of peace,

But it became avoidance and rebuff.

أللحرية المفتون يدعى

ويرجى وهو للشهوات عبد

Is the deluded man called to freedom

And relied upon, while he is a slave to passions?

فإن سكنوا حياء أو عياء

فإقرار بأن الأمر جد

So if they fall silent from shame or exhaustion,

That is acknowledgment that the matter is serious.

لعلهمُ لعفو العيد أهل

فيلتمسوا رضاك ويستردوا

Perhaps they are worthy of the festival's pardon;

So may they seek your favor and regain it.

وتغفر ما جنوا خطأ وعمداً

فلا يبقى لهم خطأ وعمد

And may you forgive what they committed in error and deliberately,

So no error or deliberate wrongdoing remains against them.