أكرمت ظني واحترمت رجائي

وتعجلتْ يدك العسيرَ النائي

You honored my expectation and respected my hope,

and your hand swiftly achieved the difficult and distant.

وأنلت بالسلمِ البلادَ وأهلها

ما لم ينله سواك بالهيجاء

And through peace you granted the land and its people

what no one else attained through battle.

وحملت وحدك مطمئناً آمناً

أعباء شعب ناء بالأعباء

And you bore alone, assured and secure,

the burdens of a people weighed down by burdens.

وإذا تفرد بالأمور مجربٌ

أغنته عن شورى وعن إفتاء

And when a seasoned man takes sole charge of affairs,

he is spared the need for consultation and advisory rulings.

الشرق يرقب ما تعد لأمة

ساءته في الضراء والسراء

The East watches what you prepare for a nation

that has distressed it in adversity and prosperity.

شغل الزمان شعوبه وأراحها

طيب الرسائل عنك والأنباء

Time preoccupied its peoples, but they were relieved

by the welcome messages and news of you.

ماذا تقول لك الوفود وإنَّ ما

لهمُ صنعت لأبلغ الخطباء

What can the delegations say to you, when what

you have done for them is the most eloquent of orators?

يا مدرك المرضى بما تبغيه من

دور العلاج ومغنيَ الفقراء

O you who aid the sick through what you seek of

houses of healing, and who enrich the poor,

ومقوِّم الأخلاق في الوادي بما

دبَّرته من صحة وثراء

and set morals right in the valley through what

you have arranged of health and prosperity,

وموَفَّيَ الأجراء عند ممول

ومملك ما حق للأجراء

and secure the laborers’ full due from a financier,

and grant ownership of what belongs by right to the laborers.

للعاملين اليوم لاستقلالهم

ما للضحايا أمس والشهداء

Those working today for their independence have

the same claim as yesterday’s victims and martyrs.

والحق للعقبى فمن بلغ المدى

فهو الأحق بواجب الإطراء

Credit rests with the outcome; whoever reaches the goal

is most entitled to the praise that is due.

ليس الخلود بناء تمثال على

قلق ولا ذكرى على ضوضاء

Immortality is not erecting a statue amid

unrest, nor a commemoration amid clamor.

تبقى حياة السالفين بقاء ما

لهمُ على الآثار من خلفاء

The lives of those gone before endure as long as

they have successors following in their footsteps.

وأبر من سعة القلوب لميت

سعة الديار لسائر الأحياء

And kinder than room in hearts for the dead

is room in homes for all the living.

والنيل تقسمه سخيّاً عادلاً

في كل معمور وكل خلاء

And you apportion the Nile, generous and just,

in every inhabited place and every empty tract.

إن سال في الملح الأجاج زلاله

فقفارهم أولى بهذا الماء

If its pure water flows into bitter brine,

their barren lands have a better claim to this water.

وإذا ارتوت صحراؤهم واستُعمِرَتْ

فالحزم هجرتهم إلى الصحراء

And when their desert is watered and developed,

prudence lies in their migration to the desert.

أهلاً بميثاق السلام مقدماً

لك من رسول الرحمة الفيحاء

Welcome to the covenant of peace, presented

to you by the messenger of boundless mercy.

في الأمس جاء الأرض مطفئُ نارها

واليوم جاء محرِّمُ الشحناء

Yesterday one who quenched its fire came to earth;

and today came one who forbids animosity.

هل ترتضي في عهده لك موضعاً

حتى تكون له من النظراء

Will you accept a place for yourself in his covenant,

so that you may be one of his peers?

لا يضمن الإنسان حسن مصيره

حتى يكون الحكم للحكماء

A person cannot guarantee a good fate

until governance belongs to the wise.

ما عذر من يعصي الوزارة بعد ما

عزت عليه رياسة الوزراء

What excuse has one who disobeys the ministry after

the premiership became unattainable to him?

إن الذين أبوا عليك قيادهم

خسروا لديك مكانة الشركاء

Those who refused to let you lead them

lost their standing with you as partners.

أشفقت من حرمانهم ورضيت أن

يقفوا أمامك موقف الرقباء

You were concerned at their exclusion, and agreed that

they should stand before you as overseers.

يبكون بعد العزل عهدَ الحكم أم

يبكون عهد التيه والخيلاء

Do they weep after dismissal for their days of rule, or

do they weep for their days of arrogance and vainglory?

إن أغضبوك فلست منهم غاضباً

إلا لشمل ذاهب ووفاء

If they angered you, you are not angry with them

except over lost unity and loyalty.

ولئن تعاتبهم لما عاتبتهم

إلا بأمر واقع وقضاء

And should you reproach them, you would do so

only with an accomplished fact and a decree.

ولئن تؤاخذهم لما آخذتهم

إلا بما حملوا من الأسواء

And should you hold them to account, you would do so

only for the wrongs they have taken upon themselves.

لولاك والحزب الشديد على العدى

لقضوا على الأحزاب والزعماء

Were it not for you and the party steadfast against its foes,

they would have destroyed the parties and their leaders.

لو أنهم حرصوا على ميثاقهم

ما أرجفوا بسرائر الأمناء

Had they safeguarded their covenant,

they would not have spread alarming rumors about trusted men’s secrets.

حتم تحديك المُصِرَّ على الأذى

من بعد عفوك عنه والإغضاء

You must challenge the one who persists in harm

after your pardon of him and your forbearance.

ما قيد الأقلام إلا خوف ما

تجني على الضعفاء والبرآء

Nothing restrained the pens but fear of what

they might inflict on the weak and the innocent,

ووقاية الأعراض مما أسرفت

صحف الخوارج فيه والسفهاء

and safeguarding reputations against the excesses

of the newspapers of rebels and fools.

لم يفزع الدستور من أبنائه

إلا إلى آبائه الرحماء

The constitution sought refuge from its sons

only with its merciful fathers.

يبلوهمُ بفراقه حتى إذا

جزعوا عليه أراحهم بلقاء

It tests them by its departure, until, when

they grieve for it, it soothes them with reunion.

عود النيابة والوكالة في غد

بتخيُّر النواب والوكلاء

The return tomorrow of representation and delegated authority

comes through the careful choice of deputies and delegates.

لا تدفع الأعداء مصر بقوة

من قبل دفعك حجة الأعداء

Egypt cannot repel her enemies by force

before you refute the enemies’ argument.

وإذا اتخذت إلى الجلاء وسيلة

فسياسة التجديد والانشاء

And if you choose a means toward withdrawal,

let it be a policy of renewal and construction.

وإذا ظفرت بألفة الأهواء في

أمرٍ ظفرت بألفة الآراء

And if you achieve harmony of inclinations in

a matter, you achieve harmony of opinions.

قالوا صديق للعدو وما لهم

بك عنده عادوا إلى الأعداء

They said, ‘A friend of the enemy!’ Yet what standing did they have

with him through you? They returned to the enemies.

أيهون يومئذ عليهم أن يروا

أعداءهم لهمُ من الشفعاء

Could it then be easy for them to see

their enemies acting as intercessors for them?

رجعوا إلى نعماك ينتحلونها

بعد الجحود بهذه النعماء

They returned to your bounty, laying claim to it,

after denying this bounty.

لم تسترح حتى اكتسبت سوادهم

بعد اكتسابك شيعة العقلاء

You did not rest until you had won over their masses,

after winning a following among the wise.

فضل الصبور على ائتلاف رفاقه

فضل الصبور على أذىً وبلاء

The merit of one patient in uniting his companions

is that of one patient under harm and affliction.

ولو استقاموا أسلموا لك بعدما

عرَّفتَهم منهم مكانَ الداء

Had they acted uprightly, they would have yielded to you after

you showed them where the malady lay within them.

الصلح بينهمُ وبينك هيّنٌ

لو يسمعون نصحيتي وندائي

Reconciliation between them and you is easy,

if they would heed my advice and my call.

ومن الأحب إليك مرجعهم كما

كانوا من القرناء والأكفاء

And their return is among the things dearest to you, as

the comrades and equals they once were,

لترى جميع الجند تحت لواءِ

وترى كتابك كاملَ الأجزاء

so that you may see all the troops beneath one banner,

and see your book complete in every part.

سيان طالب حقه بأناته

وطلوب هذا الحق بالغلواء

Alike are the seeker of his right with deliberation

and the eager seeker of this right with impetuous zeal.

ما زلت في قومي الغريب وليس لي

في القوم ما ألفوه للغرباء

I remain a stranger among my people, yet I have none

of what they are accustomed to offer strangers among them.

لو أنهم كانوا الغزاة حسبت في

غزواتهم نفسي من الأسراء

Had they been raiders, I would have reckoned, in

their raids, myself among the captives.

ولقد بلوت الحادثات فلم يسؤ

إلا جفاء من استغل ولائي

I have indeed experienced vicissitudes, yet nothing grieved me

except the coldness of those who exploited my loyalty.

ولو استطعتُ تركتُ فيهم مهجتي

وخرجت من أرضٍ لهم وسماء

Had I been able, I would have left my soul among them

and departed from their earth and sky.

ولو افتدت وطني دمائي من يد

عسراء حينئذ بذلت دمائي

And if my blood could ransom my homeland from a

harsh hand, then I would offer my blood.

إن كنت من شعراء مصر فإنني

أوفى الدعاةِ لمصرَ والسفراء

If I am among Egypt’s poets, then I am

the most loyal of Egypt’s advocates and ambassadors.