1. This tale bears no relation
To the stories of a toothless crone

2. It is but a speech my ears have heard
And an account my eyes have seen

3. So I truthfully recount it here
Since in my home it came to be

4. Now listen and grasp its essence
And take advice from what follows

5. I rose one bright dawn from my bed
While the muses rose with me

6. And I set out despondently
To seclude myself in my study

7. A cramped retreat it was, where
My melancholy tears resided

8. Each maiden on her lyre
Had fallen asleep mid-verse

9. I heard the birds in their nests
Singing to greet the new dawn

10. And saw the smitten dawn
Bringing lucidity but not existence

11. On Venus's lyre, the mistress
Of wisdom strummed a melody

12. For dawn has a pure passion
Known only to the nightingale

13. The morn rose gently as I
Poured verses from my flask

14. Releasing my chest's sigh
To kindle my spirit in my narghile

15. Its smoke billowed and faded
In the corners of my chamber

16. Each time I sighed into it
It whispered at dawn till it cleared

17. And then a tune, as if rising
From afar like the strings of melody

18. Collided with morning breezes
And reached me like whispers in the wind's ear

19. At this I glanced out my window
Leaving my poetry and pen

20. And there was a fortune-teller
Revealing fate in inspired verse

21. Without hesitation I called her
A smile upon my lips

22. She came, her tattoo flickering
Like miracles passing through her veil

23. I said, "O my seer, are you one
Who has read life's mysteries unseen?

24. Reveal my nation's fate to me
And what the future holds"

25. She answered after taking
Payment from my palm for her service

26. And cast her seashells down
From which came a strange tune

27. "Place your right hand on the shells and say
I believe in Allah, the Responder."

28. Then she told me words so wise—
Now listen, O people, to what she told me:

29. "Lebanon is feeble, distraught,
Beneath the darkness' heavy burdens

30. Its youth have played at discord
Seeking no craft but turmoil

31. Lulled by the dreams of youth
Do they know what the tomorrow hides?

32. A people whose dreams are many
Are a people lost in nations

33. The land of cedars has sons
Who now suffer in exile's corners

34. It has a heart that shakes like trees
When the homeland is recalled

35. Lebanon's pride is great indeed
But not in its sons does it grow

36. It has a tower, high and erect
From ancient days no hands can tear

37. When the night clouds turn to fever
To envision the nation's future

38. When the waters turn to wine
Cascading from the mountain's crest

39. When the diaspora stands empty
Of the men born in the valleys

40. Give Lebanon the good news
Of a time like the first

41. When hatred becomes a wound
From which love emerges and thrives

42. When spears become roads
And the sword's edge becomes a sickle

43. When the ruler in his glory
Aids the farmer in his toil

44. Give Lebanon the good news
Of might—for what is a nation without work?

45. I listened rapt, my heart aflutter
My eyes peering into the clouds

46. Looking into the past for
My people's faded glory like mist

47. For it is the youths' sighs of despair
That kindle the oil of glory

48. It is bonding and strength that spark it
Is there brotherhood in these mountains?

49. At this my seer rose
Having gathered up her seashells

50. And hurried off, the magic
Already fading from her eyes

51. She left my home reciting
Verses for her lovers

52. The fortune-teller called out
Revealing fate in inspired verse