مصر في موقف الدفاع المجيد

أين فيه مكان عبد الحميد

Egypt, in her glorious stand of defense—

Where in it is Abd al-Hamid's place?

أين ذاك الذي تطوع قدما

غير هيابة ولا رعديد

Where is he who volunteered long ago,

Neither timid nor a trembling coward?

فاصطلى الحرب والحمية تحدوه

وحق الإخاء في التوحيد

He braved war's fire, with zeal urging him on,

And the duty of brotherhood in faith in One God.

يمنح الجار فوق ما يتمنى

جاره المستضام من تأييد

Granting his neighbor more than he could hope for,

His oppressed neighbor, by way of support.

أقضى اليوم حتف أنف وأقصى

ما رجا أن يموت موت شهيد

Has he died a natural death today, when his highest

Hope was to die a martyr's death?

كان سيفا لقومه من سيوف

عرف القوم كرهها للغمود

He was a sword for his people, one of those swords

Whose hatred of scabbards his people knew.

فتردى في جفنه واغتماد السيف

إن طال فهو بالسيف مودي

Then he perished in his sheath; and a sword's sheathing,

If prolonged, brings the sword to ruin.

حكم ماء الفرند حكم سواه

كل ماء فساده في الركود

The blade's watery sheen shares the law of other water:

All water spoils through stagnation.

فلئن فاه الجهاد لقد هيأ

جيلا من الحماة الصيد

And if the struggle spoke, he had indeed prepared

A generation of noble defenders.

ولهذا عناية الله صانت

قلب ذاك المغامر الصنديد

And for this, God's care preserved

The heart of that dauntless adventurer.

هيأت من تخيرت ليولى

جيش سلم يغزو بغير الحديد

It readied the one it chose to command

An army of peace that conquers without iron.

فتية المسلمين بالعلم والتقوى

لخير الفتوح خير الجنود

Muslim youths, with knowledge and piety,

The finest troops for the finest conquests.

سلكوا كل مسلك حسن

في طاعة الله والتزام الحدود

They followed every good path

In obedience to God and observance of the prescribed limits.

فإذا استنفروا لدرء الأعادي

عن حماهم فما هم بقعود

If summoned to drive the enemies

From their homeland, they would not sit idle.

ليس بدعا أن يرخصوا غالي

الدمع على ذلك الزعيم الفقيد

No wonder they freely shed their precious

Tears for that departed leader.

أي صرح ممرد دكه ريب

المنايا وأي حصن وطيد

What a smooth-built palace was leveled by the vicissitudes

Of death—and what a sturdy fortress!

ردد الناس فيه بيتا قديما

عاد وهو الخليق بالترديد

People repeated an old verse about him;

It returned, worthy of being repeated:

إن عبد الحميد حين تولى

هد ركنا ما كان بالمهدود

Indeed, when Abd al-Hamid departed,

He felled a pillar that was not to be felled.

لم نخله ينقض إلا إذا انقض

شهاب أو قيل للأرض ميدي

We never thought it would collapse unless there fell

A meteor, or the earth was told, 'Sway!'

باذخ في الرجال يسمو فما

تخطيء عين مكانه في العديد

Towering among men, he rose so high that

No eye could miss his place amid the multitude.

وتجلى صباحة الوجه منه

في تقاسيم من غمائم سود

And the radiance of his face shone forth

In lineaments of black clouds.

والعصا في يمينه لا تضاهى

ملمسا ناعما وغلظة عود

And the staff in his right hand was unmatched

In softness of touch and thickness of wood.

قلم الشوك من جوانبها

وابتسمت في مواضع التجريد

He trimmed the thorns from its sides,

And it smiled where it had been stripped bare.

قلب الطرف في الذين تراهم

حوله لا تجد له من نديد

Turn your gaze among those you see

Around him; you will find no equal to him.

رجل لم يداج في أمر دنياه

ولا في صلاته والسجود

A man who never dissembled in his worldly affairs,

Nor in his prayer and prostration.

سيره سيره بغير التواء

وعن الحق ما له من محيد

His course was his course, without deviation,

And from the truth he never turned aside.

صادق والزمان غير ذميم

صدقه والزمان غير حميد

Truthful when the times were free from blame,

His truthfulness endured when the times deserved no praise.

وهو حيث الحفاظ في كل حال

لا بوعد يثنى ولا بوعيد

And where honor was at stake, in every circumstance,

He was swayed by neither promise nor threat.

حبه مصر قلبه وبه يحيا

لها والوفاء حبل الوريد

His love for Egypt is his heart, through which he lives

For her; and fidelity is his jugular vein.

إن دعا الخلف فهو غير قريب

أو دعا الإلف فهو غير بعيا

If discord called, he was nowhere near;

Or if friendship called, he was never far away.

واسع الجود لا يضن بمال

في سبيل الحمى ولا مجهود

Boundlessly generous, he spared no wealth

For his homeland's sake, nor any effort.

عجب فيه بأسه ونداه

والندى ليس من طبع الأسود

A marvel in him: his valor and his bounty—

For bounty is not in the nature of lions.

إن في مصر بعده شجنا

هيهات ينسى إلى زمان مديد

In Egypt, after him, there is indeed a grief

That will not be forgotten for a long time.

أيها الحافظون ذكراه ما

أجدر ذكرى الأبطال بالتخليد

O you who keep his memory, how

Worthy of immortality is the memory of heroes!

سكت النائب الجريء الجهير

الصوت في كل موقف مشهود

The bold deputy has fallen silent, whose ringing

Voice was heard at every public occasion.

واستقرت دار النيابة

من أسئلة هزها بها وردود

And the chamber of deputies grew still,

Free of the questions and replies with which he shook it.

وتلا سابقيه باق عزيز

من رفاق لمصطفى وفريد

And a cherished survivor followed his predecessors,

One of the companions of Mustafa and Farid.

وخلا منصب الرياسة

للشبان من خير قائد وعميد

And the office of president was left vacant,

For the young men, bereft of their finest leader and chief.

فليهبه الرحمن أوفى جزاء

وليثبه التاريخ بالتمجيد

May the All-Merciful grant him the fullest reward,

And may history reward him with glory.

وعزاء لمصر فالخطب في

الأمة جمعاء خطب آل سعيد

And condolences to Egypt, for the loss felt by

The entire nation is the loss of the Sa'id family.