Sol 6.1

  1. وَطَنٌ يَرُفُّ هَوىً إِلى شُبّانِهِ

    كَالرَوضِ رِفَّتُهُ عَلى رَيحانِهِ

    A homeland flutters with love toward its young men,

    as a garden flutters over its basil.

  2. هُم نَظمُ حِليَتِهِ وَجَوهَرُ عِقدِهِ

    وَالعِقدُ قيمَتُهُ يَتيمُ جُمانِهِ

    They are its ornaments strung together, the jewel of its necklace,

    and the necklace's worth lies in its peerless pearl.

  3. يَرجو الرَبيعَ بِهِم وَيَأمَلُ دَولَةً

    مِن حُسنِهِ وَمِنِ اِعتِدالِ زَمانِهِ

    Through them it hopes for spring, and for prosperity

    from its beauty and the mildness of its season.

  4. مَن غابَ مِنهُم لَم يَغِب عَن سَمعِهِ

    وَضَميرِهِ وَفُؤادِهِ وَلِسانِهِ

    Whoever among them is absent is not absent from its hearing,

    its inmost thoughts, its heart, or its tongue.

  5. وَإِذا أَتاهُ مُبَشِّرٌ بِقُدومِهِم

    فَمِنَ القَميصِ وَمِن شَذى أَردانِهِ

    And when a herald brings it good news of their arrival,

    the tidings come from the shirt and the scent of its sleeves.

  6. وَلَقَد يَخُصُّ النافِعينَ بِعَطفِهِ

    كَالشَيخِ خَصَّ نَجيبَهُ بِحَنانِهِ

    Indeed, it favors those who serve it with its affection,

    as the old man favored his noble son with tenderness.

  7. هَيهاتَ يَنسى بَذلَهُم أَرواحَهُم

    في حِفظِ راحَتِهِ وَجَلبِ أَمانِهِ

    Far be it from it to forget their sacrifice of their lives

    to preserve its comfort and secure its safety.

  8. وَقَفوا لَهُ دونَ الزَمانِ وَرَيبِهِ

    وَمَشَت حَداثَتُهُم عَلى حَدَثانِهِ

    They stood for it against time and its calamities,

    and their youth trod its adversities underfoot.

  9. في شِدَّةٍ نُقِلَت أَناةُ كُهولِهِ

    فيها وَحِكمَتُهُم إِلى فِتيانِهِ

    In a crisis, its older men's forbearance was passed,

    along with their wisdom, to its young men.

  10. قُم يا خَطيبَ الجَمعِ هاتِ مِنَ الحَلي

    ما كُنتَ تَنثُرُهُ عَلى آذانِهِ

    Rise, orator of the gathering; bring some of the jewels

    you used to scatter upon its ears.

  11. فَلَطالَما أَبدى الحَنينَ لِقِسِّهِ

    وَاِهتَزَّ أَشواقاً إِلى سَحبانِهِ

    For it has so often shown longing for its Quss,

    and trembled with yearning for its Sahban.

  12. نادِ الشَبابَ فَلَم يَزَل لَكَ نادِياً

    وَالمَرءُ ذو أَثَرٍ عَلى أَخدانِهِ

    Call to the youth, who have always been your circle,

    and a man leaves his mark upon his companions.

  13. اُمدُد حُداءَكَ في النَجائِبِ تَنصَرِف

    يَهوى أَعِنَّتِها إِلى تَحنانِهِ

    Prolong your camel-song among the noble camels; they will turn,

    their reins inclining eagerly toward its plaintive call.

  14. أَلقَ النَصيحَةَ غَيرَ هائِبِ وَقعِها

    لَيسَ الشُجاعُ الرَأيِ مِثلَ جَبانِهِ

    Offer your counsel, unafraid of its impact;

    one bold in judgment is not like one timid in it.

  15. قُل لِلشَبابِ زَمانُكُم مُتَحَرِّكٌ

    هَل تَأخُذونَ القِسطَ مِن دَوَرانِهِ

    Tell the youth: your age is in motion;

    will you take your share of its turning?

  16. نِمتُم عَلى الأَحلامِ تَلتَزِمونَها

    كَالعالَمِ الخالي عَلى أَوثانِهِ

    You have slept upon dreams, clinging to them,

    like the world of old clinging to its idols.

  17. وَتُنازِعونَ الحَيَّ فَضلَ ثِيابِهِ

    وَالمَيتَ ما قَد رَثَّ مِن أَكفانِهِ

    And you contend with the living for their surplus clothes,

    and with the dead for what has frayed of their shrouds.

  18. وَلَقَد صَدَقتُم هَذِهِ الأَرضَ الهَوى

    وَالحُرُّ يَصدُقُ في هَوى أَوطانِهِ

    Yet you have loved this land sincerely,

    and the free man is sincere in loving his homelands.

  19. أَمَلٌ بَذَلتُم كُلَّ غالٍ دونَهُ

    وَفَقَدتُمُ ما عَزَّ في وُجدانِهِ

    A hope for whose sake you gave up all you held dear,

    and lost what was precious in seeking to attain it.

  20. اللَيثُ يَدفَعُكُم بِشِدَّةِ بَأسِهِ

    عَنهُ وَيُطعِمُكُم بِفَرطِ لِبانِهِ

    The lion drives you back with his fierce might,

    away from it, yet feeds you his abundant milk.

  21. وَيُريدُ هَذا الطَيرَ حُرّاً مُطلَقاً

    لَكِن بِأَعيُنِهِ وَفي بُستانِهِ

    He wants this bird to be free and unbound,

    but under his eyes and in his garden.

  22. أَوفَدتُمُ وَفداً وَأَوفَدَ رَبُّكُم

    مَعَهُ العِنايَةَ فَهيَ مِن أَعوانِهِ

    You sent a delegation, and your Lord sent

    Providence with it, to stand among its helpers.

  23. العَصرُ حُرٌّ وَالشُعوبُ طَليقَةً

    ما لَم يَحُزها الجَهلُ في أَرسانِهِ

    The age is free, and the peoples are unfettered,

    so long as ignorance does not confine them in its halters.

  24. فاضَ الزَمانُ مِنَ النُبوغِ فَهَل فَتى

    غَمَرَ الزَمانَ بِعِلمِهِ وَبَيانِهِ

    The age overflows with genius: is there a young man

    who has flooded the age with his learning and eloquence?

  25. أَينَ التِجارَةَ وَهيَ مِضمارُ الغِنى

    أَينَ الصِناعَةُ وَهيَ وَجهُ عَنانِهِ

    Where is trade, the racecourse of wealth?

    Where is industry, toward which wealth turns its reins?

  26. أَينَ الجَوادُ عَلى العُلومِ بِمالِهِ

    أَينَ المُشارِكُ مِصرَ في فِدانِهِ

    Where is the man generous to learning with his wealth?

    Where is he who shares his feddan with Egypt?

  27. أَينَ الزِراعَةُ في جِنانٍ تَحتَكُم

    كَخَمائِلِ الفِردَوسِ أَو كَجِنانِهِ

    Where is agriculture in the gardens beneath you,

    like Paradise's groves, or like its gardens?

  28. أَإِذا أَصابَ القُطنَ كاسِدُ سوقِهِ

    قُمنا عَلى ساقٍ إِلى أَثمانِهِ

    Is it when cotton suffers a slump in its market

    that we spring to our feet over its prices?

  29. يا مَن لِشَعبٍ رُزؤُهُ في مالِهِ

    أَنساهُ ذِكرَ مُصابِهِ بِكَيانِهِ

    Who will help a people whose loss of wealth

    has made them forget the blow to their very existence?

  30. المُلكُ كانَ وَلَم يَكُن قُطنٌ فَلَم

    يُغلَب أُبُوَّتُنا عَلى عُمرانِهِ

    Kingship existed when cotton did not, and

    our forefathers were not thwarted in building it up.

  31. الفاطِمِيَّةُ شُيِّدَت مِن عِزِّهِ

    وَبَنى بَنو أَيّوبَ مِن سُلطانِهِ

    The Fatimid realm was raised through its glory,

    and the sons of Ayyub built through its power.

  32. بِالقُطنِ لَم يَرفَع قَواعِدَ مُلكِهِ

    فِرعَونُ وَالهَرَمانُ مِن بُنيانِهِ

    Not with cotton did he raise his kingdom's foundations—

    Pharaoh, whose works include the two pyramids—

  33. لَكِن بِأَوَّلِ زارِعٍ نَقَضَ الثَرى

    بِذَكائِهِ وَأَثارِهِ بِبَنانِهِ

    but through the first farmer, who broke up the soil

    with his intelligence and stirred it with his fingertips;

  34. وَبِكُلِّ مُحسِنِ صَنعَةٍ في دَهرِهِ

    تَتَعَجَّبُ الأَجيالُ مِن إِتقانِهِ

    and through every skilled craftsman of his age,

    whose mastery makes generations marvel;

  35. وَبِهِمَّةٍ في كُلِّ نَفسٍ حَلَّقَت

    في الجَوِّ وَاِرتَفَعَت عَلى كَيوانِهِ

    and through resolve in every soul that soared

    into the sky and rose above its Saturn.

  36. مَلِكٌ مِنَ الأَخلاقِ كانَ بِناؤُهُ

    مِن نَحتِ أَوَّلِكُم وَمِن صَوّانِهِ

    A kingdom of virtues, whose structure was

    made from your forefather's carving and his flint.

  37. فَأتوا الهَياكِلَ إِن بَنَيتُم وَاِقبُسوا

    مِن عَرشِهِ فيها وَمِن تيجانِهِ

    So come to the temples, if you would build, and borrow light

    from its throne within them and from its crowns.