1. I say to one who's pained by fate and grief
Whose thoughts are muddled in confusion

2. If you cry out to days gone by, they ignore
With blinded eyes and deafened ears

3. Strive for the finest virtue, most devout
That rules with soft command and grace

4. The noble, generous Musa Abu Nadda
Prince of glory, bounty and army

5. He is the peak of the abode, preferred
Over haste’s excess by wise restraint

6. A lofty refuge, whose rule is viewed
With amazed eyes, startled and enthralled

7. He’s shown Baalbek’s lands like a meadow
Clothed in justice and fertile peace

8. Damascus and her sister Homs long for him
As a bird longs to spread its wings and fly

9. Happy are those who live as his neighbors
Blessed with fine clothes and beds adorned

10. Were his foe a mountain of passions
It would blow away like dust in the wind

11. Never ceasing for seekers of guidance
To prepare the sweetest life’s feast

12. Fate has never gently blown a breeze
Or rustled the garden’s blossoms so softly