لقد عزت منازلنا — Rifaa Al Tahtawi

لقد عزتْ منازُلنا

علينا من ينازلُنا

Indeed, our dwellings have grown mighty;

We have risen above whoever challenges us.

منارُ عزيزنا عال

له خضعتْ عواذلنا

Our sovereign's beacon stands high;

Before him our reproachers have bowed.

ألا ياع مصرُ قد وافَى

عزيزُك والهنا صافَى

Behold, O Egypt, there has arrived

Your sovereign—and he has befriended joy.

حبانا منه إنصافا

وعدلا من يعادلنا

He has bestowed his fairness upon us,

And justice—who can equal us?

ألا يا مصرُ فابتهجي

بحكم عزيزك البهجِ

Behold, O Egypt, rejoice

In your sovereign's joyful rule.

به تَرقَىْ ذُرَى الدرجِ

وبالحسنى يعاملنا

Through him you climb the highest steps,

And he treats us with kindness.

فهذا مثلُ والده

رشيدٌ في مقاصده

For this one is like his father,

Rightly guided in his aims.

بطارفِه وتالدِه

تعود لنا فضائلنا

Through his newly acquired and inherited wealth,

Our virtues return to us.

ممالك مصر معمورة

وبالخيرات مغمورة

Egypt's realms are flourishing,

And flooded with blessings.

ممالكُ مصرَ مشهوره

بها التاريخُ واصلنا

Egypt's realms are renowned;

Through them history has maintained its ties with us.

شدَتْ بعجائب الزمنِ

بدتْ بغرائب المدنِ

They have sung of the wonders of time,

They have appeared in the marvels of cities,

وَفتْ بمناقبِ الوطن

معالمنا تدوالنا

They have done justice to the homeland's merits;

Our landmarks pass down among us.

فمَن للمجد أن يشهدْ

نجازَ مقاصدٍ تُحمد

Who, then, will witness for glory

The fulfillment of praiseworthy aims,

بهمة نجله الأوحد

بها راقتْ مناهلنا

Through the zeal of his peerless son,

By which our watering places have grown fair?

فوادي النيل بالطبعِ

غدا متمكنَ الوضعِ

So the Nile Valley, by its nature,

Has become firmly established in its position,

وقطبُ دوائر النفعِ

ومركزها أساكلنا

And the pivot of the circles of benefit,

And our docks are their center.

ولما مستْ الحاجه

كسوْنا نيلها تاجه

And when need became pressing,

We clothed her Nile in its crown.

فهل صورٌ وقرطاجه

عن العليا تُسائلنا

Can Tyre and Carthage, then,

Question us about high distinction?

لفتح الترعةِ الكبرى

بغرب النيل في مصرا

With the opening of the great canal

West of the Nile in Egypt,

تجددُ للغنَى عصراً

به تسمو منازلنا

An age of prosperity is renewed,

Through which our dwellings rise.

غروسُ صعيدنا تسمو

صنوفُ نباته تنمو

The plantings of our Upper Egypt rise,

Its varieties of plants grow,

وحان لمجده يومُ

تمنّاه أوائِلُنا

And a day has come for its glory,

For which our forebears longed.

مدارسُ مصر قد عادتْ

وعدةُ أهلها ازدادتْ

Egypt's schools have indeed returned,

And the number of her people has increased,

وفي الآفاقِ قد سادتْ

بجدٍ من يهازلنا

And she has prevailed across the horizons;

In earnest—who would jest with us?

لنا في سابقٍ المجد

سباقٌ باءَ بالرشدِ

In former glory, ours was

A race that ended in right guidance.

وكم في حوزة الحدِّ

سعاداتٌ تُقابلنا

And how many, within the borders,

Are the blessings that meet us!

ننظمُ جندَنا نظما

عجيباً يُعجز الفهما

We marshal our troops in an order

So wondrous that it defies understanding,

بأسدٍ تُرعب الخِصْما

فمن يَقوى يناضلنا

With lions that terrify the foe;

Who, then, is strong enough to fight us?

رجالٌ ما لها عَددُ

كمالُ نظامها العُدَدُ

Men whose numbers cannot be counted,

Their order is perfected by their equipment;

حلاها الدرعُ والزردُ

سنانُ الرمح عَاملنا

Armor and mail are their adornments;

The spear's point is our agent.

وهل لخيولنا شبهُ

كرائمُ ما بها شُبَهُ

And do our horses have an equal?

Noble steeds, with no doubts about them;

إليها الكل منتبهُ

وهل تَخفى أصائِلنا

Everyone is attentive to them;

And can our thoroughbreds be hidden?

لنا في الجيش فرسانُ

لهم عند اللِّقا شانُ

We have horsemen in the army,

They have distinction when the clash comes,

وفي الهيجاءِ عنوانُ

تهيمُ به صَواهِلنا

And a hallmark in battle,

By which our neighing steeds are enthralled.

فها الميدانُ والشُّقرا

سقتْ أُذن العِدا وقْرا

Here are the field and the chestnut steeds;

They have poured deafness into the enemy's ear;

كأنا نرسلُ الصقرا

فمنْ يبغي يراسلنا

As though we were sending forth the falcon;

Whoever wishes may race against us.

مدافعُنا القضا فيها

وحكمُ الحتْف في فِيها

Our cannons hold doom within them,

And death's decree is in their mouths.

وأهونُها وجافيها

تجودُ به معاملنا

Their lightest and their bulkiest alike

Our workshops lavishly supply.

لنا الرؤساءُ أبطالُ

رجالٌ أينما جالوا

Our leaders are heroes,

Men who, wherever they ranged,

بصولة عيلمٍ صالوا

يفوقُ الحدَّ صائلنا

Charged with a mighty man's onslaught;

Our charging warrior exceeds all bounds.

لنا في المدنِ تحصينُ

وتنظيمٌ وتحسينُ

We have fortifications in the cities,

And organization and improvement,

وتأييدٌ وتمكينُ

منيعاتٌ معاقلنا

And reinforcement and consolidation;

Our strongholds are impregnable.

زمانٌ بالهنا أقبلْ

وماضي العزمِ مستقبلْ

An age has come bringing joy,

And a man of firm resolve is welcomed,

عزيزٌ نال ما أمّلْ

به نطقتْ دلائِلنا

A sovereign who attained what he hoped for;

Our signs have spoken of him.

ويرقى صَهوة المجدِ

ويصعد مدرجَ السعْد

And he mounts the saddle of glory,

And climbs the stairway of good fortune,

بإقبالٍ بلا حدِّ

به تشدو بلابلنا

With prosperity without limit;

Through him our nightingales sing.

يُداوي الحربَ بالسلم

ويُعطى الطبَّ للكلم

He remedies war with peace,

And gives medicine for wounds,

ويشفى الصدرَ بالحِلْمِ

بهذا عمَّ طائِلنا

And heals the breast through forbearance;

Thus our bounty has spread to all.