Hail to thee, O Nile!
Who manifests thyself over this land, and comes to give life to
Egypt!
Mysterious is thy issuing forth from the darkness, on this day whereon it is
celebrated!
Watering the orchards created by Re, to cause all the cattle to live, you give
the earth to drink, inexhaustible one!
Path that descends from the sky, loving the bread
of Seb and the first-fruits of Nepera,
You cause the workshops of Ptah to prosper!
Lord of the fish, during the inundation, no bird alights on the crops.
You create the
grain, you bring forth the barley, assuring perpetuity to the temples.
If you cease your
toil and your work, then all that exists is in anguish.
If the gods suffer in heaven, then
the faces of men waste away.
Then He torments the flocks of Egypt, and great and small are in agony.
But all is
changed for mankind when He comes;
He is endowed with the qualities of Nun.
If He shines,
the earth is joyous, every stomach is full of rejoicing,
every spine is happy, every
jaw-bone crushes (its food).
He brings the offerings, as chief of provisioning;
He is the creator of all good
things, as master of energy, full of sweetness in his choice.
If offerings are made it is
thanks to Him.
He brings forth the herbage for the flocks, and sees that each god receives
his sacrifices.
All that depends on Him is a precious incense.
He spreads himself over
Egypt, filling the granaries, renewing the marts, watching over the goods of the unhappy.
He is prosperous to the height of all desires, without fatiguing Himself therefor.
He
brings again his lordly bark;
He is not sculptured in stone, in the statutes crowned with
the uraeus serpent,
He cannot be contemplated.
No servitors has He, no bearers of
offerings!
He is not enticed by incantations!
None knows the place where He dwells, none
discovers his retreat by the power of a written spell.
No dwelling (is there) which may contain you!
None penetrates within your heart!
Your
young men, your children applaud you and render unto you royal homage.
Stable are your
decrees for Egypt before your servants of the North!
He stanches the water from all eyes
and watches over the increase of his good things.
Where misery existed, joy manifests itself; all beasts rejoice.
The children of Sobek,
the sons of Neith, the cycle of the gods which dwells in him, are prosperous.
No more
reservoirs for watering the fields!
He makes mankind valiant, enriching some, bestowing
his love on others.
None commands at the same time as himself.
He creates the offerings
without the aid of Neith, making mankind for himself with multiform care.
He shines when He issues forth from the darkness, to cause his flocks to prosper.
It is
his force that gives existence to all things; nothing remains hidden for him.
Let men
clothe themselves to fill his gardens.
He watches over his works, producing the inundation
during the night.
The associate of Ptah . . .
He causes all his servants to exist, all
writings and divine words, and that which He needs in the North.
It is with the words that He penetrates into his dwelling;
He issues forth at his
pleasure through the magic spells.
Your unkindness brings destruction to the fish; it is
then that prayer is made for the (annual) water of the season;
Southern Egypt is seen in
the same state as the North.
Each one is with his instruments of labor.
None remains
behind his companions.
None clothes himself with garments,
The children of the noble put
aside their ornaments.
He night remains silent, but al1 is changed by the inundation; it is a healing-balm for
all mankind.
Establisher of justice! Mankind desires you, supplicating you to answer their
prayers;
You answer them by the inundation!
Men offer the first-fruits of corn; all the
gods adore you!
The birds descend not on the soil. It is believed that with your hand of
gold you make bricks of silver!
But we are not nourished on lapis-lazuli; wheat alone
gives vigor.
A festal song is raised for you on the harp, with the accompaniment of the hand.
Your
young men and your children acclaim you and prepare their (long) exercises.
You are the
august ornament of the earth, letting your bark advance before men,
lifting up the heart
of women in labor, and loving the multitude of the flocks.
When you shine in the royal city, the rich man is sated with good things,
the poor man
even disdains the lotus;
all that is produced is of the choicest;
all the plants exist for
your children.
If you have refused (to grant) nourishment, the dwelling is silent, devoid
of all that is good, the country falls exhausted.
O inundation of the Nile, offerings are made unto you, men are immolated to you, great
festivals are instituted for you.
Birds are sacrificed to you, gazelles are taken for you
in the mountain, pure flames are prepared for you.
Sacrifice is metle to every god as it
is made to the Nile.
The Nile has made its retreats in Southern Egypt, its name is not
known beyond the Tuau.
The god manifests not his forms, He baffles all conception.
Men exalt him like the cycle of the gods,
they dread him who creates the heat,
even him
who has made his son the universal master in order to give prosperity to Egypt.
Come (and)
prosper!
Come (and) prosper!
O Nile, come (and) prosper!
O you who make men to live
through his flocks and his flocks through his orchards!
Come (and) prosper, come,
O Nile,
come (and) prosper!
