1. أَيُّ صَوتٍ حَيَّتهُ بِالأَمسِ باري

    سُ مقرُّ العلومِ والعلماءِ

    What voice did Paris hail yesterday,

    the seat of the sciences and scholars?

  2. مَن تُرى ذلكَ الذي جمَّلَتهُ

    حِكمةُ الشَيبِ في رَبيع الفتاءِ

    Who, I wonder, is that man, adorned

    by the wisdom of gray hair in youth's spring?

  3. ذلك الأَسمرُ الذي بَهَرَ البي

    ضَ مُطِلّاً من مِنبَرِ الخُطَباءِ

    That brown-skinned man who dazzled the fair-skinned,

    appearing upon the orators' pulpit,

  4. وَأماطَ اللِثامَ عن أدبِ العُر

    بِ كرامِ الآباءِ وَالأَنباءِ

    and unveiled the literature of the Arabs,

    noble in ancestry and in the tales of their deeds,

  5. بِلِسانٍ ما اعتادَ من قبلُ أن يخ

    ضعَ إِلّا لِأَهلهِ من إباءِ

    in a tongue never before accustomed to bow

    to any but its own people, out of proud defiance.

  6. يا سجلَّ الخلود فَاِفسَح مجالاً

    لاسمهِ في صَحيفةِ الفُضلاءِ

    O register of immortality, make room

    for his name on the page of the distinguished.

  7. وَأرِ الأَعصُرَ الأَواتي أنَّ الذِ

    كرَ عُمرٌ محجَّلُ الآناءِ

    And show the coming ages that remembrance

    is a lifetime whose hours are blazoned white.

  8. ذاكَ صوتُ ابنِ بطرسٍ قَد عرفنا

    هُ بما هاجهُ من الأَصداءِ

    That is the voice of the son of Boutros; we have recognized

    it by the echoes it stirred.

  9. أَلق بالسَمعِ تَستَخِفَّك منه

    نَغمةٌ لم تكن لغيرِ الوَفاءِ

    Lend an ear: you will be swept away by its

    melody, devoted to loyalty alone.

  10. ذاك نجمٌ أطلَعتِه أَنتِ يا مِص

    رُ فَقرّي بِنجمكِ الوُضّاء

    That is a star you yourself made rise, O Egypt;

    so rejoice in your radiant star.

  11. وَأحِلّيهِ حيث تفتقِد البَد

    رَ عيونُ السُراةِ في الظُلماء

    And set it where the full moon is missed

    by the eyes of night travelers in the darkness.

  12. كم له دون بَيضةِ الشَرقِ من غَض

    بَةِ حُرٍّ وَكم له من بَلاءِ

    How often, defending the heart of the East, has he shown the wrath

    of a free man—and how much valiant service he has rendered!

  13. كم له من مواقِفٍ هزَّ عِطفَ ال

    حقِّ فيها بِالحُجَّةِ البَيضاءِ

    How many stands he has taken, swaying the flank of

    Truth there with a shining white argument!

  14. إيه يَاِبنَ الأَمجادِ قُمتَ بِأَعبا

    ءِ كبارٍ وَالمجدُ ذو أَعباء

    Go on, O son of glories! You have shouldered burdens

    great indeed—and glory has its burdens.

  15. وَأَرَيتَ الأَنامَ بِرَّ ذوى القُر

    بى وَرَأيَ الكَريمِ في الكُرَماءِ

    And you showed humankind devotion to close kin,

    and a noble man's regard for the noble.

  16. فَاِستَمِع ما يُقال حولكَ يا وا

    صِفُ ذا اليومَ من ضُروبِ الثَناء

    So listen to what is said around you, O Wasif,

    this day—praise in its many forms.

  17. إنَّ من طيِّب الثناءِ لزَهراً

    تَجتَنيه مَسامِعُ الأَكفاء

    Indeed, among sweet praise are blossoms

    that the ears of worthy peers pluck.