1. Two time tried to destroy, but failed:
Lebanon, and the hope its people treasure,

2. We long for it in summer, on its peaks,
And love it with snow in its valleys.

3. When its cables reach out with necklaces
Of ivory figs, it seduces me.

4. When the sky sprinkles it with stars at dusk,
With bright gems it captivates me.

5. When girls in the fields are like its flowers,
Laughing with unaffected delight,

6. They are indulgences created for my love,
And give me the magic I dispense.

7. This is what kept youth safe from decay
And refused to let time fold it away,

8. And sometimes I compare a mountain to it
Extolling it with this fine simile,

9. And say it resembles him, but know
However high, it can never match him.

10. A false pleasure my heart toys with
Knowing it hurts him and harms me.

11. I remind him of your fevered brow
And beauty, though it makes me lose him.

12. And when facts put pressure on the heart of the young man,
He casts his worries to mislead.

13. My country will remain all the land to me
Until I return to the land I roam.

14. They asked Beauty, who said: “This is my temple.”
And Poetry said: “I built my throne in it.”

15. Earth implores its verdure, treasure and sea,
While the sea implores only him.

16. It retires and wakes still sprawled
At its feet coveting what it hides.

17. He gave it some of his dignity until when
It begged again, he snubbed the supplicant.

18. Lebanon, protect your treasure and be sparing,
Lest excess destroy it.

19. Others see it as politics and sects
And insist it is their visionary.

20. Moved by their worry for it they cry,
Lebanon, you most deserve their tears.

21. Unblemished beauty reveals nothing
To a beholder whose glance is not unblemished.

22. Tell the oppressors they raised borders on its land,
Cramping the world around its people.

23. And those who call the Franks its in-laws,
God was its defender before their swords.

24. My friend, it gladdens me that tomorrow
You will embrace loved ones in its clubs,

25. Savor spirits redolent with fragrance,
And music from its musicians move you.

26. If they speak to you of delights, elaborate,
For I miss it. Do not forget you are in it.