President-elect Mohamed Morsi’s first speech

The following are translated excerpts from Morsi’s acceptance speech in Arabic on June 24, 2012:

In the name of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful. Thanks be to Allah, prayers and peace be upon the messenger of Allah…

Egyptian people, you who today are rejoicing and celebrating the feast of democracy in Egypt, you who are standing in squares, in the Tahrir Square and in all the squares of Egypt, my beloved ones, my family and people, my brethren and my sons, who are looking forward to the future, you who want good, rebirth, development, stability, safety and security for our country of Egypt. My beloved ones, I address you thanks to God Almighty. We all thank God for reaching this historic moment, this moment which represents a landmark that has been written with the hands and wills of the Egyptians, their blood, tears and sacrifices, this moment, which we are all shaping with these sacrifices.

I would not have talked to you today as the first president elected by the free will of Egyptians in the first presidential elections after the 25 January revolution, I would not have been here today with you now amid this sweeping joy, which is sweeping all corners of our beloved homeland, I would not have been here but for God's help and these sacrifices, the precious blood of our honorable martyrs and our great injured men… 

I promise them once again that this precious blood will not go in vain. Salute to the great Egyptian people, the best soldiers on earth, to the Armed Forces, to all its sons wherever they are, pure salutations from my heart to them and I bear them love that nobody knows except for God Almighty. I love them and appreciate their role and show keenness to strengthen them and keep them and this prestigious organization [the army] that we all love and appreciate.

And for the honourable policemen, the policemen who are my brothers and sons, some of whom mistakenly believe that I might feel less appreciation for them and that is wrong. Whoever commits a crime is punished according to the law. As for the honest policemen, who are the majority of my brothers and sons among policemen in Egypt, for those, I'm obliged to salute them because they have a big role to play in the future to maintain safety and security inside the homeland.

Due salutations, too, to all Egyptian judges, who supervised all the elections after the revolution and even to those who have not supervised the elections. All judges in Egypt should be appreciated, respected and loved, and they are the third authority that should always keep its head high, remain independent, possess its own will and work separately from the executive power, and my responsibility in the future is to make sure that judges truly and genuinely work separately from the executive and legislative powers…

Muslims and Christians alike, men and women, the old and the elderly and the young men, mothers and fathers, peasants and workers, public servants, teachers, university professors, businessmen, public servants, workers in the Public Enterprise sector and the government departments and the private sector, those who work in all state institutions, merchants, drivers, bus, trains, taxis, tok-tok cars, they are all my people, those who have professions, owners of small kiosks, owners of small shops, vendors selling goods on road pavements, the elderly, the students who go to public and private schools, those who have professions, everyone, I hope I don't ever forget anyone.

I address you all on this remarkable day in which I was chosen, thanks to Allah and your will, president for all Egyptians, and will stand at an equal distance from all Egyptians, everyone has his own value and standing, nobody is dealt with differently except on the basis of their giving to his country and the amount of respect they show for the constitution and law…

Egypt, which impressed the world with the queues of its voters, needs now to close ranks, unite the word, so that the patient, great Egyptian people can reap the fruit of their sacrifices in a better life, achieve social justice, freedom and human dignity, which are the basic slogans or the main goals that the throats of the revolutionaries kept repeating in all Egyptian squares on the 25th of January 2011, and which revolutionaries still repeat loudly in all the squares of the revolution, which is still continuing.

The revolution will continue until all its objectives are achieved. Together, we complete this march. The people have been patient, the Egyptian people have been patient and since then suffered disease, hunger, injustice, oppression, marginalization, the rigging of will and the rigging of elections. We used to look around in the world and say: when will Egypt, the Egyptian people, be the source of power? Today, you are the source of power as the world can see in this epic, in this great system through which we would take Egypt to a better future, god willing… 

Egypt is for all Egyptians, all of us are equals in terms of rights...We are all Egyptians no matter what our viewpoints, we are all nationalists no matter what our parties and trends. We are all faithful to the revolution and to the blood of martyrs. There is no place for the language of collusion and there is no place for accusing each other of treachery…I invite you to prepare for a comprehensive project of rebirth, for the Egyptian rebirth, with the hands of all Egyptians. We Egyptians, Muslims and Christians, we Egyptians, Muslims and Christians, are advocates of civilization and construction…

I am intent with your help to build a new Egypt, a national country, a constitutional, democratic, modern country, and all my time will be dedicated to this big project which is based on our identity and reference. I will work hard with all of you to maintain Egypt's national security, with all its dimensions, whether at Arab, African, regional or international levels. We will maintain international charters and conventions.

We came to the world with a message of peace. We will maintain international charters and conventions and the commitments and agreements Egypt has signed with the world. We will also work to make the Egyptian system of ethics, and its civilizational identity, in addition to human values particularly in freedoms, respect for human rights, maintaining rights of women and children and abrogating all sorts of discrimination. We will establish, God willing, balanced relations with all world powers, we will establish balanced relations between us and other world countries based on common interests and mutual respect and benefits to all sides.

We will not allow ourselves to interfere in the internal affairs of any country in the same way that we will not allow any interference in our affairs and hence maintain our national sovereignty and the borders of the Egyptian state. Let everybody knows that Egypt's decision is made inside it, by the will of its sons, let everybody know that Egypt by our call for peace with all the world is capable by its people, men, people, armed forces, great history, of defending itself and preventing any aggression or thoughts of aggression against it or against its sons in any part of this world…

While we all are celebrating and rejoicing with this great democracy, with these elections, with the victory of the nation's will in the way that you are celebrating now. I reiterate what I have said before that I will not betray Allah in you, would not betray Allah in you and would not disobey Him in my country.

I set before my eyes God's saying: And guard yourselves against a day in which ye will be brought back to Allah. Then every soul will be paid in full that which it hath earned, and they will not be wronged. Repeat with me my beloved ones, with our will, our unity, our love for each other, we can shape the decent future for all of us. Some might not see that from outside the homeland or feel it is difficult for us to achieve that out of sympathy for us or for other reasons, however, we, God willing, can go ahead along this path to achieve a better future.

Allah guideth us all to the best of ways. My beloved ones, some see this, but we see it together close, God willing. Tomorrow is very soon. And Allah was predominant in His career, but most of mankind know not (Quranic verse). Peace and God's blessings be upon you.