قدوم ولكن لا أقول سعيد — Al Manfaluti

قدومٌ ولكن لا أقولُ سعيدُ

على فاجرٍ هجوَ الملوكِ يُريدُ

An arrival—but I do not call it happy—

For a scoundrel who seeks to lampoon kings.

لأضرابه بيتٌ من اللؤمِ عامرٌ

ومُلكٌ وإن طالَ المدى سيبيدُ

His ilk have a flourishing house of baseness,

And a kingdom that, however long its span, will perish.

بعدتَ وثغر الناس بالبشرِ باسِمٌ

لما عَلِمت بالفخر أن سَتعودُ

You went far away, while the people's lips smiled with joy,

For I knew with pride that you would return.

تَناءَيتَ عن مصرٍ فسُرَّ عدوُّها

وعدتَ وحُزنٌ في الفُؤادِ شديدُ

You drew away from Egypt, and her enemy rejoiced;

And you returned, with intense sorrow in the heart.

تمر بنا لا طرفَ نحوكَ ناظرٌ

من الخَصمِ إلا واعتراهُ جُمُود

You pass among us; no eye gazes toward you

From a foe without coldness overtaking it.

أَعاديكَ لا تحنُو عليكَ لغيظِها

ولا قلبَ من تلك القلوبِ ودُودُ

Your enemies show you no tenderness, because of their rage,

And no heart among those hearts is loving.

علام التهاني هل هناك مآثِرٌ

نعم هي للعباس ليس تَبِيدُ

Why the congratulations? Are there glorious deeds here?

Yes: they are Abbas's, and they do not perish.

فيا وَغدُ قلي لي هل سُعودٌ بِغَيره

فنفرحَ أو سعىٌ لديكَ حميدُ

So, wretch, tell me: is there good fortune through anyone but him,

For us to rejoice—or any praiseworthy effort of yours?

إذا لم يكن امر ففيمَ مواكبٌ

على جمعنا تُبدى الهَنَا وتُعِيدُ

If there was no command, why the processions

Before our gathering, displaying joy again and again?

بِرَغمِكَ عن أمرِ الخديوي تجنَّدَت

وإن لم يَكن نَهىٌ فَفيمَ جنود

Against your will, they mustered at the Khedive's command;

And if there was no prohibition, why the troops?

تُذكِّرنا رُؤياك أيام أُنزِلَت

على آلِ مُوسى نعمةٌ وسُعُودُ

The sight of you recalls days when there descended

Upon the house of Musa a blessing and good fortune.

وقال الأعادي إذ رأَوكَ تَنَزَّلت

علينا خطوبٌ من جُدودِكَ سُودُ

And the enemies said, when they saw you: 'There have descended

Upon us dark calamities from your forefathers.'

رمتنا بكم مقدونيا فأصابنا

رخاءٌ عن الجدبِ المُبيدِ بعيدُ

Macedonia hurled you at us, and there befell us

Prosperity far removed from devastating drought.

وأَردى معادينا وقد رامَ ذُلَّنا

مُصوبُ سهمٍ بالبلاءِ سديدُ

And our enemy, who had sought our abasement, was laid low by

An unerring marksman with an arrow of affliction.

فلما توليتم طغيتم وهكذا

بحارُ الندى تطغى ونحنُ وُرُودُ

Then, when you took power, you grew tyrannical—and thus

The seas of bounty overflow, while we come to drink.

فَشيدتُمُ العدلَ القويمَ كذلكم

إذا أصبح التركي وهو عميدُ

So you established upright justice—so it is

When the Turk becomes the chief.

فكم سُفِكت منا دماءٌ بريئةٌ

من الحقِّ ليست للأمانِ تُريدُ

So how much blood of ours was shed, innocent

Of righteousness, not seeking safety.

طغَت وبسيفِ العدلِ سالَت دماؤُها

وكم ضُمِّنَت تلك الدماءَ لحودُ

It rebelled, and by the sword of justice its blood flowed;

And how many graves were made to hold that blood!

وكم ضَمَّ بطنُ البحرِ أشلاءَ جمَّةً

تروجُ بما فيه الخراب يزيدُ

And how often the belly of the sea embraced numerous limbs,

Moving about with what increases the ruin within it.

رَمَاها القضا في البحر عدلاً فأصبحت

تُمَزِّقُ أحشاءٌ لها وكُبُودُ

Fate justly cast them into the sea, and now

Their entrails and livers are torn apart.

وكم صارَ شملٌ للعبادِ مُشَتَّتا

فنظَّمهُ فخرُ الملوكِ سَعِيدُ

And how often the people's ranks were scattered,

Then Sa'id, the pride of kings, brought them together.

وكم شادَ اسماعيلُ في القُطرِ جامعاً

وخُرِّبَ قصرٌ في البلاد مشيدُ

And how many a mosque Isma'il built in the land,

And a lofty palace in the land was destroyed!

وسيقَ عظيمُ القومِ مِنَّا مكبلاً

صدقتَ وهذا القولُ منكَ سَديدُ

And a great man of our people was led away in shackles.

You spoke truly, and this statement of yours is sound.

عتا واعتدى فاغتاله العدلُ فانبرى

له تحتَ أثقالِ القُيودِ وئيدُ

He rebelled and transgressed; justice struck him down, and he stepped forward

To face it, slow beneath the weight of shackles.

فما قام منكم بالعدالةِ طارفٌ

كذبتَ وأيمُ الله أنتَ كنودُ

So no newcomer among you acted justly.

You lie! By God, you are ungrateful.

عدلنا بكم نسلاً فنسلاً لحلمنا

ولا سار منكم بالسدادِ تليدُ

We dealt justly with you, generation after generation, in our forbearance,

Nor did any elder among you walk in rectitude.

كأني بقصرِ الملكِ أصبحَ بائداً

توهمتَ معكوساً عليكَ يعودُ

It is as though I see the royal palace fallen to ruin.

You imagined it; reversed, it will recoil upon you.

فبيتُ الذي عادى الملوكَ مُدَمَّرٌ

من الظلمِ والظلمُ المبينُ مُبيدُ

So the house of him who opposed kings is destroyed

By oppression; manifest oppression brings destruction.

ويندُبُ في أطلاله البومُ ناعباً

ذويها وبالدمعِ الهَتونِ يجُودُ

And amid its ruins the owl laments, hooting

For their inhabitants, pouring out streaming tears.

يصيحُ فلا يلقى مجيباً سوى الصدى

له عندَ ترديدِ الرثاءِ نشيدُ

It cries, but finds none to answer except the echo,

Which has a chant whenever the lament is repeated.

أعباسُ ترجو أن تكون خليفةً

لتوفيقنا فاسلم ونحنُ عبيدُ

O Abbas, do you hope to be a successor

To our Tawfiq? Then live in safety; we are slaves.

سيمنحكَ السلطانُ أكبر منحةٍ

كما ودَّ آباءٌ ورامَ جُدودُ

The sultan will grant you the greatest gift,

As fathers wished and forefathers sought.

فيا ليتَ دنيانا تزولُ وليتنا

نموتُ إذا فينا سواكَ يَسود

Ah, would that our world might vanish, and would that we

Might die if anyone but you rules over us.

فدم ودعِ الاعدا يقولون ليتنا

نكون ببطنِ الأرض حين تسودُ

So endure, and let the foes say: 'Would that we

Were in the belly of the earth when you rule.'

أعباسُ لا تحزن على الملك إنه

كما رمته باقٍ وكيفَ تُريدُ

O Abbas, do not grieve over the kingdom, for it

Endures as you sought it, and as you desire.

وإن الذي عاداكَ لا شك عمرُهُ

تقضى فهذا الحزن ليس يفيدُ

And he who opposed you—his life, without doubt,

Has ended; this sorrow does no good.

أعباسُ صار الملكُ في يد عادلٍ

وإنك تبنى صرحهُ وتشيدُ

O Abbas, the kingdom has passed into a just man's hand,

And indeed you build and raise its edifice.

وإنَّ أميرَ المُؤمنينَ بسيفِه

يَذُبُّ الردى عن حوضِه ويَذُودُ

And indeed the Commander of the Faithful, with his sword,

Wards death off from his pool and drives it away.

وقد كان جفنُ الدهر وسنانَ هاجداً

على شَرِّ عادٍ هدمَ مِصرَ يُريدُ

Time's eyelid had been drowsy, asleep

Over the evil of an aggressor intent on destroying Egypt.

تيقظَ عباسُ الخديوي لقمعهِ

وها هو هب اليومَ منه هجود

Abbas the Khedive awoke to subdue him,

And behold, today he has awakened from that slumber.

بريطانيا لا زالَ أمركِ نافذاً

على خائنِ الأوطانِ فهوَ جَحُودُ

Britain, may your command ever remain effective

Against the traitor to homelands, for he is ungrateful.

ويا دولة العباس دمتِ عزيزةً

وظلكِ في أرجاءِ مصرَ مديدُ

And O state of Abbas, may you remain mighty,

And may your shade stretch far throughout Egypt.

ليصبح شملُ الأمرِ وهو منظمٌ

لسلطاننا المنصور وهو حميد

So that affairs may be brought into ordered unity

For our victorious sultan, who is praiseworthy,

ويعتزُّ بالعدل الخديوي قطرنا

ويصبحَ عنه الظلمُ وهو طريدُ

And our land gain honor through the just Khedive,

And oppression be driven from it as an outcast.

أيجرؤُ ذِئبٌ أن يدوس برجلِهِ

بلاداً بعباس الأمير تسودُ

Would a wolf dare tread with its foot

On a land that holds sway through Abbas the prince?

بهمته مصر العدالة أصبحت

عريناً وفي ذاكَ العرينِ أسودُ

Through his resolve, Egypt of justice has become

A lion's den, and in that den are lions.

فأنتِ احتللتِ القُطرَ والقُطرُ دارِسٌ

فوافاك جمعاً شيخه ووليدُ

For you occupied the land when the land lay in ruins,

So its elders and newborns came to meet you together.

أتاهُ خديوينا فشادَ صُروحه

فأضحى بفضلِ العدلِ وهوَ جديدُ

Our Khedive came to it and raised its edifices,

So, by the grace of justice, it became new.

متى ما أرى الأعلامَ يخفق ظلُّها

وتنشرُ للمولى الحميدِ بنُودُ

Whenever I see the flags, their shadow fluttering,

And banners unfurled for the praiseworthy lord,

وعسكرُهُ السامي وحكمُ أميرنا

على أرضِ مصرٍ إنني لسعيدُ

And his exalted army, and our prince's rule

Over the land of Egypt, I am truly happy.