1. أَقدِم فَلَيسَ عَلى الإِقدامِ مُمتَنِعُ

    وَاِصنَع بِهِ المَجدَ فَهوَ البارِعُ الصَنَعُ

    Be bold: nothing is beyond bold endeavor.

    And fashion glory through it, for it is the master craftsman.

  2. لِلناسِ في كُلِّ يَومٍ مِن عَجائِبِهِ

    ما لَم يَكُن لِاِمرِئٍ في خاطِرٍ يَقَعُ

    Each day, among its wonders, people find

    What had never crossed anyone's mind.

  3. هَل كانَ في الوَهمِ أَنَّ الطَيرَ يَخلُفُها

    عَلى السَماءِ لَطيفُ الصُنعِ مُختَرَعُ

    Was it ever imagined that birds would be supplanted

    In the sky by an invention of exquisite craftsmanship?

  4. وَأَنَّ أَدراجَها في الجَوِّ يَسلُكُها

    جِنٌّ جُنودُ سُلَيمانٍ لَها تَبَعُ

    And that their paths through the air would be traveled

    By jinn, with Solomon's armies following them?

  5. أَعيا العُقابَ مَداهُم في السَماءِ وَما

    راموا مِنَ القُبَّةِ الكُبرى وَما فَرَعوا

    Their reach in the sky baffled the eagle, as did what

    They sought of the great vault and the heights they scaled.

  6. قُل لِلشَبابِ بِمِصرَ عَصرُكُم بَطَلٌ

    بِكُلِّ غايَةِ إِقدامٍ لَهُ وَلَعُ

    Tell Egypt's youth: your age is a hero,

    With a passion for every height of daring.

  7. أُسُّ المَمالِكِ فيهِ هِمَّةٌ وَحِجىً

    لا التُرَّهاتُ لَها أُسٌّ وَلا الخِدَعُ

    In it, kingdoms are founded on resolve and reason;

    Neither nonsense nor deception gives them a foundation.

  8. يُعطي الشُعوبَ عَلى مِقدارِ ما نَبَغوا

    وَلَيسَ يَبخَسُهُم شَيئاً إِذا بَرَعوا

    It rewards peoples in proportion to their brilliance,

    And does not shortchange them at all when they excel.

  9. ماذا تُعِدّونَ بَعدَ البَرلَمانِ لَهُ

    إِذا خِيارُكُمُ بِالدَولَةِ اِضطَلَعوا

    What are you preparing for it after parliament,

    Once your finest have taken charge of the state?

  10. البَرُّ لَيسَ لَكُم في طولِهِ لُجُمٌ

    وَالبَحرُ لَيسَ لَكُم في عَرضِهِ شُرُعُ

    Along the land's length you have no bridles,

    And across the sea's breadth you have no sails.

  11. هَل تَنهَضونَ عَساكُمُ تَلحَقونَ بِهِ

    فَلَيسَ يَلحَقُ أَهلَ السَيرِ مُضطَجِعُ

    Will you rise, perhaps to catch up with it?

    For no one lying down catches those on the march.

  12. لا يُعجَبَنَّكُمُ ساعٍ بِتَفرِقَةٍ

    إِنَّ المِقَصَّ خَفيفٌ حينَ يَقتَطِعُ

    Let no one striving for division impress you;

    Indeed, scissors are nimble when they cut things apart.

  13. قَد أَشهَدوكُم مِنَ الماضي وَما نَبَشَت

    مِنهُ الضَغائِنُ ما لَم تَشهَدِ الضَبُعُ

    They have shown you, from the past and what was dug up

    From it by grudges, things no hyena ever saw.

  14. ما لِلشَبابِ وَلِلماضي تَمُرُّ بِهِم

    فيهِ عَلى الجِيَفِ الأَحزابُ وَالشِيَعُ

    What have the young to do with the past, being led

    Through it, past carcasses, by parties and factions?

  15. إِنَّ الشَبابَ غَدٌ فَليَهدِهِم لِغَدٍ

    وَلِلمَسالِكِ فيهِ الناصِحُ الوَرِعُ

    The young are tomorrow; let them be guided toward tomorrow

    And its paths by the sincere, pious counselor.

  16. لا يَمنَعَنَّكُمُ بِرُّ الأُبُوَّةِ أَن

    يَكونَ صُنعُكُمُ غَيرَ الَّذي صَنَعوا

    Let filial devotion never prevent you

    From making your work different from what they did.

  17. لا يُعجِبَنَّكُمُ الجاهُ الَّذي بَلَغوا

    مِنَ الوِلايَةِ وَالمالُ الَّذي جَمَعوا

    Do not be dazzled by the prestige they attained

    Through office, or by the wealth they amassed.

  18. ما الجاهُ وَالمالُ في الدُنيا وَإِن حَسُنا

    إِلّا عَوارِيُّ حَظٍّ ثُمَّ تُرتَجَعُ

    Prestige and wealth in this world, however fine,

    Are only fortune's loans, then reclaimed.

  19. عَلَيكُمُ بِخَيالِ المَجدِ فَأتَلِفوا

    حِيالَهُ وَعَلى تِمثالِهِ اِجتَمَعوا

    Hold fast to the vision of glory, and unite

    Before it, and gather around its statue.

  20. وَأَجمِلوا الصَبرَ في جِدٍّ وَفي عَمَلٍ

    فَالصَبرُ يَنفَعُ ما لا يَنفَعُ الجَزَعُ

    And show noble patience in earnest effort and work;

    For patience helps where impatience does not.

  21. وَإِن نَبَغتُم فَفي عِلمٍ وَفي أَدَبٍ

    وَفي صِناعاتِ عَصرٍ ناسُهُ صُنُعُ

    And if you excel, let it be in science and literature,

    And in the industries of an age whose people are skilled craftsmen.

  22. وَكُلُّ بُنيانِ قَومٍ لا يَقومُ عَلى

    دَعائِمَ العَصرِ مِن رُكنَيهِ مُنصَدِعُ

    And every nation's edifice that does not stand upon

    The pillars of the age is cracked at both its corners.

  23. شَريفُ مَكَّةَ حُرٌّ في مَمالِكِهِ

    فَهَل تُرى القَومُ بِالحُرِيَّةِ اِنتَفَعوا

    The Sharif of Mecca is free in his realms;

    So have the people, do you think, benefited from freedom?

  24. كَم في الحَياةِ مِنَ الصَحراءِ مِن شَبَهٍ

    كِلتاهُما في مُفاجاةِ الفَنى شَرَعُ

    How much resemblance to the desert there is in life!

    Both are alike in the sudden arrival of death.

  25. وَراءَ كُلِّ سَبيلٍ فيهِما قَدَرٌ

    لا تَعلَمُ النَفسُ ما يَأتي وَما يَدَعُ

    Behind every path in both lies fate;

    The soul knows neither what it brings nor what it leaves.

  26. فَلَستَ تَدري وَإِن كُنتَ الحَريصَ مَتى

    تَهُبُّ ريحاهُما أَو يَطلُعُ السَبَعُ

    For you do not know, however watchful you are, when

    Their winds will blow, or the beast of prey will appear.

  27. وَلَستَ تَأمَنُ عِندَ الصَحوِ فاجِئَةً

    مِنَ العَواصِفِ فيها الخَوفُ وَالهَلَعُ

    Nor, in clear weather, are you safe from a sudden

    Storm filled with fear and panic.

  28. وَلَستَ تَدري وَإِن قَدَّرتَ مُجتَهِداً

    مَتى تَحُطُّ رِحالاً أَو مَتى تَضَعُ

    And you do not know, however carefully you reckon,

    When you will set down your baggage, or when you will hasten on.

  29. وَلَستَ تَملُكُ مِن أَمرِ الدَليلِ سِوى

    أَنَّ الدَليلَ وَإِن أَرداكَ مُتَّبَعُ

    And as for the guide, you have no choice but

    To follow him, even if he leads you to death.

  30. وَما الحَياةُ إِذا أَظمَت وَإِن خَدَعَت

    إِلّا سَرابٌ عَلى صَحراءَ يَلتَمِعُ

    And life, when it leaves you thirsty, however beguiling,

    Is nothing but a mirage glimmering over a desert.

  31. أَكبَرتُ مِن حَسَنَينٍ هِمَّةً طَمَحَت

    تَروُم ما لا يَرومُ الفِتيَةُ القُنُعُ

    I greatly admired Hassanein's soaring ambition,

    Seeking what contented young men do not seek.

  32. وَما البُطولَةُ إِلّا النَفسُ تَدفَعُها

    فيما يُبَلِغُها حَمداً فَتَندَفِعُ

    And heroism is but the soul: you urge it

    Toward what wins it renown, and it surges forward.

  33. وَلا يُبالي لَها أَهلٌ إِذا وَصَلوا

    طاحوا عَلى جَنَباتِ الحَمدِ أَم رَجَعوا

    And those who embody it, once they arrive, do not care

    Whether they fall at the edges of renown or return.

  34. رَحّالَةَ الشَرقِ إِنَّ البيدَ قَد عَلِمَت

    بِأَنَّكَ اللَيثُ لَم يُخلَق لَهُ الفَزَعُ

    O traveler of the East, the deserts have learned

    That you are the lion for whom fear was never created.

  35. ماذا لَقيتَ مِنَ الدَوِّ السَحيقِ وَمِن

    قَفرٍ يَضيقُ عَلى الساري وَيَتَّسِعُ

    What did you encounter in the distant desert, and in

    A wasteland that narrows around the night traveler and spreads wide?

  36. وَهَل مَرَرتَ بِأَقوامٍ كَفِطرَتِهِم

    مِن عَهدِ آدَمَ لا خُبثٌ وَلا طَبَعُ

    And did you pass among peoples, their nature unchanged

    Since Adam's time, with neither malice nor taint?

  37. وَمِن عَجيبٍ لِغَيرِ اللَهِ ما سَجَدوا

    عَلى الفَلا وَلِغَيرِ اللَهِ ما رَكَعوا

    And, wondrously, they have prostrated themselves to none but God

    In the wilderness, and bowed to none but God.

  38. كَيفَ اِهتَدى لَهُمُ الإِسلامُ وَاِنتَقَلَت

    إِلَيهُمُ الصَلَواتُ الخَمسُ وَالجُمَعُ

    How did Islam find its way to them, and how did

    The five prayers and the Friday prayers reach them?

  39. جَزَتكَ مِصرُ ثَناءً أَنتَ مَوضِعُهُ

    فَلا تَذُب مِن حَياءٍ حينَ تَستَمِعُ

    Egypt has rewarded you with praise you deserve;

    So do not melt with modesty when you listen.

  40. وَلَو جَزَتكَ الصَحارى جِئتَنا مَلِكاً

    مِنَ المُلوكِ عَلَيكَ الريشُ وَالوَدَعُ

    And had the deserts rewarded you, you would have come to us a king

    Among kings, with feathers and cowrie shells upon you.