1. يعبر عَن إِخلاص بيض السَرائرِ

    بِأَفصَح إِعراب لِسانُ الضَمائرِ

    The sincerity of pure hearts is voiced

    most eloquently by the tongue of inward thoughts;

  2. وَينشر ما تطوى عَلَيهِ مِن الثَنا

    حَشاشة مَملوكٍ لِمَولاه شاكر

    and it unfolds the praise enfolded within

    the heart of a bondsman grateful to his master:

  3. حَشاشة مَشغوف بِمَدح مملَّك

    بِأَوطانه لِلملك وَالدين ناصر

    the heart of one enthralled by praising a crowned ruler,

    a champion of the realm and faith within his lands.

  4. أَما وَأَيادٍ ما لمعشار عشرها

    لَدى العدّ حصر في بطون الدَفاتر

    Indeed, by favors, not even a tenth of a tenth of which

    can be fully tallied in the pages of ledgers;

  5. وَحسنِ مَساعٍ عادَ مِنها مَنافعٌ

    عَلى مصر في عَصرٍ بَديع المَظاهر

    and by fine endeavors whose benefits have accrued

    to Egypt in an age of wondrous splendor;

  6. وَعدلٍ بِهِ للشاة في الأَمن مرتع

    بِلا خيفة مِن هَول جور الهَواصر

    and by justice, through which a sheep has pasture in safety,

    without fear of the terror of fierce lions' tyranny;

  7. وَعلمٍ بِهِ لَم يَبق للجهل صَولةٌ

    عَلى وافد مِن كُل باد وَحاضر

    and by learning, through which ignorance has no sway left

    over any newcomer, whether nomad or townsman;

  8. وَحَزمٍ بِهِ زادَت مَهابة دَولة

    سَمَت بِمَليكٍ ثاقب الفكر داوري

    and by prudent firmness that heightened the majesty of a state

    risen under a king of penetrating thought—my sovereign;

  9. وَعزمٍ لَهُ اِنقادَت نُفوسٌ أَبية

    وَذابَت صُخور جافيات المَكاسر

    and by resolve to which defiant souls submitted,

    and hard, rough-fractured rocks melted;

  10. وَرَأيٍ سَديد دُونهُ في مَضائه

    بِكُل ملمٍّ مرهفاتُ البَواتر

    and by sound judgment, whose keenness surpasses

    at every crisis the finely honed, cleaving swords;

  11. وَصيتٍ بِهِ الركبان في كُل فدفد

    تَسير كَما تَبغي عَلى كُل ضامر

    and by renown that riders bear across every desert plain,

    traveling as they wish on every lean mount;

  12. وَعَفوٍ عَن الجاني إِذا لَم يَكُن أَتى

    بِما يَقتَضي تَنفيذه بِالجَوابر

    and by pardon for the offender, if he has not committed

    what demands enforcement through corrective penalties;

  13. وَحلمٍ بِهِ سادَ الَّذين تَقدّموا

    وَقَد رضيت عَنهُم كِرام العَشائر

    and by forbearance through which he surpassed his predecessors,

    though the nobles of the clans had been pleased with them;

  14. وَبَذلٍ بِهِ رَكن المُروءة قَد سَما

    إِلى أَوج مَجدٍ ثابتِ الأَصل باهر

    and by generosity, through which the pillar of chivalry has risen

    to the summit of firmly rooted, dazzling glory;

  15. وَيُمنٍ بِهِ يَنساب في غَير وَقته

    مِن النيل ماءٌ كَاللجين لِناظر

    and by blessed fortune, through which, out of season, flows

    water from the Nile, like silver to the beholder;

  16. وَيجري دَواماً في خَليج مَدينة

    بِها تَختُ ملك بِالمعاند ظافر

    and flows continually in the canal of a city

    where stands the throne of a king victorious over his adversary;

  17. فَيُحيي نُفوس العالمين وَيَرتوي

    بِهِ كُلُّ واد ذي رِياض نَواضر

    thus it revives the souls of humankind, and quenches

    with its waters every valley with verdant gardens.

  18. لَئن سُرَّ في عام بِعيدينِ مسلمٌ

    سِوانا رَأى مَولاه بَينَ العَساكر

    If a Muslim is gladdened by two Eids in a year,

    one other than us, on seeing his lord among the troops,

  19. فَنَحنُ لَنا في كُل يَوم مَسرّة

    بِرُؤية إسماعيل جمّ المَآثر

    we, for our part, have joy every day

    in seeing Ismail, rich in noble deeds.

  20. هُوَ المَلك السامي بِكُل فَضيلة

    تَحمّل مِنها جيده بِالجَواهر

    He is the king exalted by every virtue,

    his neck laden with its jewels.

  21. هُوَ الغَيث وَاللَيث الَّذي في يَمينه

    يَسارٌ وَإِنذار لَغاد وَغادر

    He is the rain and the lion, in whose right hand

    are bounty for the morning visitor and warning for the traitor.

  22. هُوَ اِبن الَّذي قَد كانَ يَخشاه في الوَغى

    كَميٌّ عَلى الأَعدا سَريع البَوادر

    He is the son of one who was indeed feared in battle

    by an armored warrior swift to assail his foes.

  23. هُوَ البرّ ذُو القَلب الرَحيم بِأَمّة

    لَهُ قَد صفت مِنها جَميع الخَواطر

    He is the benevolent one, tenderhearted toward a people

    whose every thought has become sincere toward him.

  24. هُوَ الآمر الناهي بِلُطف وَرَأفة

    وَحُكم بِنَص الشَرع في الذكر صادر

    He commands and forbids with gentleness and compassion,

    and with judgment drawn from sacred law's text in the Quran.

  25. فَلا زالَ في الأَعياد طُول زَمانه

    بِلثم يَديه يَحتَظي كُل زائر

    So may it ever be, on feast days throughout his life,

    that every visitor is privileged to kiss his hands;

  26. وَيَمنح بِالتَشريف أَبناء ملة

    بمصر اِستَعارَت مِنهُ نُور البَصائر

    and may he bestow honor on the sons of a religious community

    in Egypt, a community that has borrowed from him the light of insight;

  27. وَفي كُل وَقت بِالبَشاشة وَالرضا

    يُقابل عِندَ العَرض مدحةَ شاعر

    and at all times, with cheerfulness and approval,

    may he welcome a poet's praise when it is presented.

  28. وَلا برح التَوفيق في كُل لَحظة

    لِدَولته في الملك خَيرَ مُسامر

    And may success never cease, at every moment,

    to be his state's best evening companion in sovereign rule;

  29. وَلا زالَ مَجدي في التَهاني مؤرّخاً

    تَجلَّى بِإِسماعيل عيد البَشائر

    and may Majdi ever mark the date in his congratulations:

    “Through Ismail the feast of glad tidings shone forth.”