1. Return to me what remnants of youth you can,
O plains clad in plateaus,

2. The sea has washed its shores and the dew’s aroma
Has sprinkled the brows of the hillsides.

3. And “Sinnin” has embraced them between its arms,
An old man with the spirit of youth,

4. “Snow” has crowned his head and trailed him
With the hem of clouds.

5. He has bent like a frame embracing a portrait,
Adorning a stream in a book.

6. Whenever distress of mist has overwhelmed him
A flare of meteors has relieved him,

7. And by his foothills humble homes
Have appeared like beads in a shrine’s nook,

8. And around it patterns of fine villas
Scattered, owned by an independent and submissive one.

9. And “villages” like brides unveil themselves
In diaphanous robes of cloud and sun,

10. Tempting charms between two colors
Of radiant and murky dimensions.

11. The scattered “dwellings” of the wedding
Are strewn without count,

12. You can see them nestled amongst the vines,
Like a citadel in a forest,

13. As coherent as poetry itself -
Gleaming yet not gaudy.

14. The red roof tiles glow as vibrantly
As the tiles of shrines,

15. The trellised “vineyards,” pregnant,
Suckling, noble grapes,

16. Attendants at the “presses” who beautify
The bunches - finery for every vat.

17. Heads raised in thanks, others bow to the
Threshold in prostration.

18. Extending through the fields like the soul to a body,
Spread in it like nerves,

19. Calling: where, where are the regrets?
Then winking at each other for the cups,

20. Flirting while the presses are painful sights,
Full of curses and wails.

21. Gazes that are eloquent speeches
And presses that understand the discourse,

22. The best of months is the heir of a month
That “September” has received from “August.”

23. How can the fields not dance in a land
Whose soil is drenched in wine?

24. The source of daylight has ebbed announcing the rising moon,
Its source overflowing with pouring.

25. And that shameless one has crept away all day
“Naked” behind the veil of dusk,

26. She’s come in the absence of the red twilight
To play whatever games she fancies!

27. What color has she draped on the ground that has adorned
Everything above it, what rouge!

28. The fields, the towns and forests have calmed,
Echoes and replies have faded.

29. Then the brigade of “fireflies” has blocked the paths
All day long with their glimmering toil.

30. Blessed are the visions of axes resting
In the farmers’ and woodcutters’ belts.

31. A shepherd - collector of spoils - has conquered the mountains
Crooning folk tunes and rhymes.

32. O fruits of dreams, O world of poetry
Flying, O heaven made of soil...

33. O imagination - if not for reality awakening us
We would doubt its affairs!

34. I'm satisfied with all that captivates the soul
With delusions of agonizing deception.

35. A nap in the shade of your “cedars” eliminates
My worries, loneliness and depression.

36. My friend is a beast, more loyal and true
Than an envious or pretentious friend.

37. I don’t say “the enemy” - are not my grudges
A clear lineage of legacies?!

38. Whenever contemplation exhausts me, the streams
Between the cliffs divert me.

39. Between rows of “pines” braided like hair
Over muddy ribs.

40. It’s God’s sign - this beauty in inhabited
And ruined Lebanon.

41. Many a valley plain the war has assaulted
And gashed with wounds like holes.

42. It had a witchery like the last embellishments
Of an outgoing stream and grass.

43. And dusty chasms that were more spectacular
Than arched and wide naves.

44. I said when I was confused: which land deserves
Merit over others - and my friends dissented!

45. Enter the garden of bliss and you will meet
A thousand heavens with a thousand doors open.

46. But I refused to accept in the Garden Of Eden
A “God” assigned to torture!

47. Oh Lebanon, and the discourse is painful longing -
Can rhetoric alleviate what I bear?

48. My question has perplexed the divine revelers:
I know best how to answer and respond!

49. What do you say of a “wretched” writer
A “rebel” who takes “refuge” in the Mandate?!

50. I thought I had escaped from the environment of Baghdad
And the tyranny of its blazing injustice,

51. Of aggression, abuse, and degradation
Viciously asserted upon necks,

52. Of the reptiles like worms
Groveling under the feet of an oppressive colonizer,

53. And the falsifying assailants of governance
Like branded horses of Bedouins.

54. I thought I was saved from this and the grip
Of a delinquent and treacherous tormentor,

55. Victorious, here I am in a condition
That shows me the gains of my escape!

56. Will the free among us and you remain
Between the foreigner’s whip and terrorism?!