1. عام عَلى مصر السَعيد جَديدُ

    بِاليسر جاء وإنه لسعيدُ

    A new year dawns upon Saʿid's Egypt.

    It has come with ease, and is indeed auspicious.

  2. وَالنيل فاض وَعَن قَريب يَرتَوي

    مِنهُ بِحيرةُ قطرها وَصَعيد

    The Nile has overflowed; soon they will drink their fill—

    Beheira and Upper Egypt in her realm—from its waters.

  3. وَالأَرض بَعد الرَي تَلبس حلةً

    خَضراء وَالغُصن الرَطيب يَميد

    And after irrigation the earth dons a robe

    Of green, while the tender branch sways.

  4. وَبيمن هَذا الداوريّ وَعَدله

    مصرٌ إِلى عَهد الشَباب تَعود

    And through this sovereign's blessings and justice,

    Egypt returns to the days of youth.

  5. أَوَ لَيسَ أَن اللَه أَيَّدَها بِهِ

    في عَصرِنا فَأَعَزَّها التَأييد

    Has not God strengthened her through him

    In our age, so that His support has exalted her?

  6. يا أَيُّها النيل المُبارك أَنتَ في

    زَمَن الوَفاء لَدى الأَنام حَميد

    O blessed Nile, you are, in

    The season of full flood, praised among mankind.

  7. لَكن أَبو العليا سَعيد دائِماً

    لِلبَذل بَحر وافر وَمَديد

    But Saʿid, father of lofty honors, is always

    A sea of giving, abundant and vast.

  8. شتان بَينك يا عَزيز وَبَينه

    في نَفعنا وَلَوَ اَنَّهُ مَحمود

    How great the difference between you, O mighty one, and him,

    In benefiting us, though he too is praiseworthy!

  9. هُوَ لَم يَزُر في العام إِلّا مرّةً

    بِتكدّرٍ مِنهُ الصَفاء يَزيد

    He visits only once a year,

    With turbidity from which clarity grows.

  10. وَمياه برّك كُل يَوم بيننا

    بَيضاء صافية لَها تَجديد

    And the waters of your kindness are among us every day,

    White and clear, continually renewed.

  11. وَنَداك يا صَدر المَكارم لَم يَزَل

    يَحيا بِهِ متقرّب وَبَعيد

    And your bounty, O foremost in noble deeds, has never ceased

    To sustain those close to you and those far away.

  12. لا زلت في تَخت الصَدارة قائِماً

    تَنهى وَتأمر وَالعدوّ طَريد

    May you ever preside upon the throne of leadership,

    Forbidding and commanding, with the enemy driven out,

  13. وَتصدّ عَنا بِالعَساكر طامِعاً

    يَسعى وَباب رَجائه مَسدود

    And repel from us, with your armies, a covetous man

    Who strives while the door to his hopes is barred,

  14. وَتَمد مَصراً بِالخُصوبة وَالغِنى

    في خَير عَصر أَنتَ فيهِ فَريد

    And furnish Egypt with fertility and wealth

    In the finest age, in which you are peerless,

  15. وَتَعيش فيها لِلتَمدن ناشِراً

    أَعلامه يُثني عَليك مُجيد

    And live there, unfurling civilization's

    Banners, while a skilled poet praises you.

  16. يُثني عَليك ثَناء عَبد شاكر

    بِفَرائدٍ هِيَ للجمان عُقود

    He praises you with the praise of a grateful servant,

    With rare gems that form necklaces of pearls,

  17. بِفَرائد مِن بَحر مَجدك أُخرجت

    وَبِها تَحلَّى لِلدفاتر جيد

    With rare gems drawn from the sea of your glory,

    And with them the neck of the volumes is adorned.

  18. ما سرت في وَسط المَواكب راكِباً

    مَتنَ السُعود كَما تَشا وَتُريد

    When you rode amid the processions,

    On the back of good fortune, as you wished and willed,

  19. وَنَثَرتَ مَيمنةً وَمَيسرةً بِها

    ذَهَباً كَثيراً ما لَهُ تَحديد

    And scattered to right and left among them

    Gold in abundance, beyond all measure,

  20. وَقَد اِغتَنى يَومَ الهَنا بِنثاره

    مِن آل مَصرك سادةٌ وَعَبيد

    Indeed, on the day of joy, its scattering enriched

    Masters and slaves among the people of your Egypt.

  21. وَجبرت كَسر العالمين بَرأفةٍ

    مِنها تَعجَّب أَشيب وَوَليد

    And you mended mankind's brokenness with a compassion

    That amazed both graybeard and newborn.

  22. وَعَفوت عَن جانٍ أَتى متضرعاً

    لِلدَمع مِنهُ بخده أُخدود

    And pardoned an offender who came imploring,

    His tears leaving a furrow on his cheek.

  23. وَنصرت دين الحَق بِالجُند الَّذي

    يَخشاه عِندَ هُجومه عِربيد

    And upheld the true faith with an army that

    A drunken ruffian fears when it attacks.

  24. أَو ما بذكرِك مَع أَبيك تَرنموا

    فَيُقال أَحسن طارف وَتَليد

    Have they not sung your name along with your father's,

    So it is said: 'The finest newly won and inherited glory!'

  25. أَو ما سَما طوسن الوَزير كَأَصله

    بِالفَضل وَالفرعُ الذَكيُّ يَسود

    Has not Minister Tusun risen high, like his root,

    Through excellence? The gifted branch holds sway.

  26. أَو ما جَلست عَلى الخَليج بقبةٍ

    فيها الوَقار حَليفُه التَمجيد

    Did you not sit by the canal beneath a dome,

    Where dignity has glorification for its companion,

  27. وَأَمرت بِالإِفراج عَن ماء لَنا

    أَعياه حَبسٌ بِالجُسور شَديد

    And order the release of water for us,

    Wearied by severe confinement behind embankments?

  28. فَانساب ما بَين الرُبوع بسرعة

    في زينة وَالحاضرون شُهود

    Then it flowed swiftly between the dwellings,

    In festive adornment, with those present as witnesses.

  29. وَبِيَوم مَوسمه وَلَيلة جَبره

    بِالنار أُحرَق ماردٌ وَمَريد

    And on its festival day and the night of its filling,

    A rebellious demon and a defiant one were burned with fire.

  30. وَمِن المدافع بِالأَوامر زَمجرت

    في الجَوّ بَين الشاطئين رُعود

    And from the cannons, by command, there roared

    Thunder in the air between the two banks.

  31. وَإِلَيهِ قَد صعدت صَواريخٌ لَها

    ضوء بَديع اللَون وَهوَ جَديد

    And into it rockets rose, bearing

    Light of wondrous color—something new.

  32. وَتَعددت فيهِ البُدور وَبدرُه

    مِن قبل هَذا مُفرد وَوَحيد

    And full moons multiplied in it, though its own full moon

    Had before this been single and alone.

  33. وَجرت عَلى سَطح المِياه زَوارق

    فيها المغنِّي لِلغناء يُجيد

    And boats glided upon the surface of the waters,

    Aboard them, the singer excelled in song.

  34. وَالناي يأَلفها الكمنجُ وَرقها

    يَحلو بِه قانونها وَالعُود

    And flute and violin accompany them, and their tambourine

    Makes their qanun and oud sound sweet.

  35. وَالناس يَنتجعون ساحتك الَّتي

    ظِلُّ السَخاء بِرَوضها مَمدود

    And people seek pasture in your courtyard, where

    The shade of generosity stretches across its garden.

  36. وَسُرورهم بِالمَهرجان يَزيدهم

    شُكراً لملكٍ أَنتَ فيهِ عَميد

    And their joy at the festival increases their

    Gratitude for a realm in which you are the leader.

  37. وَجَميعهم يمسي وَيُصبح راتعاً

    في رَوضة مِقياسها مَشهود

    And all of them pass evening and morning grazing freely

    In a garden whose Nile gauge is well known.

  38. وَيود أَن تَبقى لمصر تسوسها

    طُول الزَمان وَحَبَّذا التَخليد

    And they wish you to remain for Egypt, governing her

    For all time—how welcome is immortality!

  39. وَتَدوم فيها راضياً عَن أُمّة

    أُخِذت عَلَيها مِن علاك عُهود

    And remain there, pleased with a nation

    Bound by pledges exacted by your highness.

  40. وَتَظل تَسمَع في التَهاني مدحة

    مِن خادم لَك صدقُه مَعهود

    And continue to hear, amid congratulations, a panegyric

    From a servant of yours whose sincerity is well known,

  41. مِن خادم في الجَبر قال مؤرخاً

    جَبَرَ الخَليج الداوريُّ سَعيد

    From a servant who, at the filling, spoke this chronogram:

    'Sovereign Saʿid filled the canal.'