تكلم أيها البطل السعيد — أحمد الكاشف

تكلم أيها البطل السعيدُ

وفصِّل ما أردت وما تريدُ

Speak, O fortunate hero,

And explain fully what you intended and what you intend.

وصف ما أنت بالغه المرجَّى

وصف ما أنت صانعه المجيد

And describe what you will attain, you in whom hopes are placed,

And describe what you, the glorious one, will accomplish,

وما أفضت به الأفواج تترى

إليك وما تمنته الوفود

And what the throngs, arriving in succession, conveyed

To you, and what the delegations wished for.

فتحت الخط يخترق الفيافي

فيعمرها ويقترب البعيد

You opened the railway line that cuts through the deserts,

So it makes them flourish, and what is distant draws near.

وسار الخير خلفك في طريق

تسير النار فيه والحديد

Prosperity followed you along a road

Where fire and iron travel.

وقد وقف العباد بجانبيه

كما احتشدت لقائدها الجنود

And the people stood on both its sides,

As troops gathered for their commander.

وقمت لهم خطيباً في منوف

فماج الريف واهتز الصعيد

And you stood before them as an orator in Menouf,

So the countryside surged and Upper Egypt shook.

وضج الجوُّ بالأنباء شتى

فأين البرق منه والبريد

And the air resounded with news of every kind;

How could the telegraph and post compare with it?

وأسمعت الأقاصي ما أراهم

كأنهمُ حضورك والشهود

You made those far away hear what made them see themselves

As though they were your audience and witnesses.

ملأت الأرض عمراناً وخصباً

وسيرك في السماء غداً مديد

You filled the land with thriving settlements and fertility,

And tomorrow your course through the sky will stretch far.

تطير بسلمك المأمول فيها

قشاعمك الأمينة والأسود

There will fly, bearing your hoped-for peace,

Your faithful mighty eagles and the lions.

ومصر هي المجاز لكل ماض

تراه وملتقى الأمم العتيد

And Egypt is the passage for every traveler

You see, and the nations' ever-ready meeting place.

فماذا فات ذاك الضيف منها

وقد حيَّى سواحلها يرود

So what of her did that guest miss,

When he had greeted her shores as he traveled?

رددت سلامه بأبر منه

وسوغ صنعك الرأي السديد

You returned his greeting with one more gracious than his,

And sound judgment justified your deed.

وحل مكانه من كل نفس

وإن أقصاه ذو الحذر الحسود

And he found his place in every soul,

Even if the wary, envious man kept him away.

وما تغني حدود الملك إن لم

تكن من هيبة الملك الحدود

And what use are the realm's borders, unless

Those borders spring from awe of the king?

وزير الشعب والتاج المفدى

لقاؤك موسم ورضاك عيد

O minister of the people and the cherished crown,

Meeting you is a festival, and your favor a feast day.

تناولت السرائر صافيات

وأيد حكمك العدل الوجود

You received their innermost thoughts, pure and clear,

And the world upheld your just rule.

أيخرج من حماك عليك رهط

وقد وثقت بدولتك الهنود

Would a band rise against you from your own domain,

When the Indians have trusted your government?

أعيبك أن تقوم مهيمنات

على النيل القناطر والسدود

Is it your fault that there stand as guardians

Over the Nile the barrages and dams,

فلا يطغى على المعمور فيض

ولا تشكو الغليل إليك بيد

So that no flood overwhelms the inhabited land,

Nor do deserts complain to you of burning thirst?

وأن يتجنب الفوضى نظام

وأن يتألف الشمل البديد

And that order avoids chaos,

And that the scattered people are reunited,

وأن يسعى لك الجبار طوعاً

وكم لاقيت منه ما يؤود

And that the mighty one labors for you willingly—

And how much you endured from him that weighed you down!

وأن يجدوا تجنِّيه عليهم

إباءً وهو صاحبك الودود

And that they find his mistreatment of them

Defiance, while he is your affectionate friend?

وما دفعوا قواه وهم قيام

ولا ملكوا هواه وهم قعود

And they did not repel his forces while standing,

Nor control his will while seated.

حملت خطوبهم في الأرض عنهم

وقد كادت بما حملت تميد

You bore their calamities on earth for them,

And it nearly reeled beneath what you bore.

وأظلم من جفاك ومن تعدّى

على واديه هادم ما تشيد

Most unjust among those who spurn you and attack

Their own valley is he who destroys what you build.

وما آذى كرامتك افتراءٌ

وإن آذى مروءتك الجحود

No slander has harmed your dignity,

Though ingratitude has hurt your nobility.

أللحرية العليا دعاة

همُ وهمُ لدنياهم عبيد

Are they champions of the highest freedom,

While they are slaves to their worldly lives?

ولو عقلوا استراحوا من عناء

بسلطان إليهم لا يعود

Had they shown sense, they would have spared themselves the struggle

For power that will not return to them.

تجاوزهم خطابك فاستهانوا

فحق عليهم اللوم الشديد

Your address went beyond them, and they treated it with scorn,

So they deserved severe reproach.

ومن يشفع أمامك في مريب

فليس بشافع فيمن يكيد

And whoever intercedes before you for a suspect

Does not intercede for one who plots.

لئن غضبوا عليك فأنت راض

بصنعك تستتم وتستزيد

Even if they are angry with you, you are content

With your work, seeking to complete it and to do more.

ولست بمنزل بهمُ هواناً

وإن ثقلت شروطك والقيود

Nor do you inflict humiliation upon them,

Even if your conditions and restraints weigh heavily.

ولم تترك رعايتهم ولكن

أصر على عداوته العنيد

You did not abandon care for them, but

The stubborn one persisted in his hostility.

ولم تجهل لبغيهمُ علاجاً

ولكن ربما نفع الوعيد

Nor were you ignorant of a remedy for their aggression,

But a threat can sometimes be useful.

همُ طلبوا مكان العيب مني

فأعياهم فقالوا مستفيد

They looked for a fault in me;

It baffled them, so they said, "A beneficiary!"

وأي معاهد لك لم تفده

غنى الدهرِ المواثق والعهود

And who, bound by covenant to you, has not been granted

Lifelong wealth by covenants and pledges?

أمحظور على من تصطفيه

لهذي الأمة العيش الرغيد

Is it forbidden for one whom you choose

For this nation, to lead a life of ease?

وهل في عهدك الذهبي يشقى

كما ودّوا ليَ الحرُّ الرشيد

And in your golden age, would he suffer—

The free, discerning man—as they wished for me?

أبوا لقبي القديم وأنكروه

إلى أن جاءهم لقبي الجديد

They rejected my old title and denied it,

Until my new title came to them.

قصائد إن تشأ فهي الأغاني

تسر وإن تشأ فهي الرعود

Poems—if you wish, they are songs

That delight; and if you wish, they are thunderclaps.

وإن أصبحت عندهم ذميماً

فإني عندك البر الحميد

Even if I have become blameworthy in their eyes,

Yet in your eyes I am upright and praiseworthy.

وما كلفتني حرباً عليهم

فحسبهمُ جفائي والصدود

Nor have you charged me with war against them;

So my coldness and avoidance are enough for them.

وإني عونك الأوفى قمين

لك النجوى وللشعر الخلود

And I am your worthy, most faithful helper;

Yours is private counsel, and poetry's is immortality.