بعدت ديار واحتوتك ديار

هيهات للنجم الرفيع قرار

Lands grew distant, and other lands embraced you.

Far from finding rest is the lofty star.

ضجت عواد بالبَراح روائح

وشكا حديد سابح وبخار

Swift craft clamored as they made to depart.

And swimming iron and steam complained.

بالأمس تصدر عن فروقٍ صاديا

واليوم يوردك الشآم أوار

Yesterday you came away from Furuq thirsty.

And today burning thirst brings you to al-Sham.

زعموا المسافة ليلة ونهارها

ما الدهر إلا ليلة ونهار

They claimed the journey took a night and its day.

Time is nothing but a night and a day.

سِر وآسر في طول البلاد وعرضها

إن الأهلة دأبها الأسفار

Travel and captivate throughout the land's length and breadth.

For crescent moons are accustomed to journeys.

والأرض أوسع والعجائب جمة

والعمر أضيق والسنون قصار

And the earth is broader, and wonders are many.

And life is narrower, and the years are short.

يا راكب الداماء يزجى فلكه

رُحماك هل للفلك عندك ثار

O rider of the sea, whose ship is driven onward,

Have mercy! Have you a vendetta against the ship?

مأسورة ابدا تروح وتغتدى

وهلاكها في أن يفك إسار

Forever captive, she travels at dusk and dawn,

And her ruin lies in a bond being loosed.

حازت نفوس العالمين وحازها

ضمن الجواري صاحب غدار

She held the lives of humankind, and she was held

Among the sailing ships by a treacherous companion.

همت وجرأها على تياره

أن الأمور جميعها تيار

She resolved to sail; what emboldened her to brave his current

Was that all affairs are a current.

تجرى مُؤَمَّنَةَ السبيل زمامها

لطف الجليل وحصنها المقدار

She sails a safeguarded course; her reins are

The grace of the Majestic One, and her fortress is destiny.

في قُلَّبٍ ما للرفاق وسيلة

فيه ولا لهمو عليه خيار

On a fickle sea, the travelers have no recourse

Within it, nor any say over it.

بينا مودّته على أكبادهم

برد إذا هي في الجوانح نار

While its affection upon their livers

Is coolness, suddenly it is fire within their ribs.

مازلت أعرض في الضمير لآلئى

وأغِيره بنظيمها فيغار

I kept displaying my pearls within my mind,

And roused the sea's jealousy with their stringing, till it grew jealous.

والفلك يرقص والرياح عوازف

والليل ليل والعباب مثار

And the ship danced, and the winds were musicians,

And night was night, and the billows were stirred.

حتى نزلت بباكرين إلى القرى

متهللين كأنهم أقمار

Until I alighted among those hastening early to offer hospitality,

Beaming as though they were moons.

سبقت إلى السارى الصباحَ وجوههم

تندى ويحمد عندها الإسفار

Their faces reached the night traveler before dawn,

Glistening with dew; in their presence, daybreak is praised.

قوم هم العرب الكرام تمخضت

مضر بهم في شرخها ونزار

A people who are the noble Arabs, brought forth

By Mudar in her prime, and by Nizar.

نزلوا بلبنان الأشم ونقّلوا

فيه المكارم حيث سار الجار

They settled in lofty Lebanon and carried

Noble virtues through it wherever the neighbor went.

لبنان يا ملك الجبال تحية

رقت وأزلفها لك الإكبار

Lebanon, O king of mountains—a greeting

Grown tender, and brought near to you by reverence.

عاليه تحملها إليك وصوفر

ومناهل بالجنتين غزار

Aley and Sawfar carry it to you,

As do abundant springs in the two gardens.

من نازح الدار التقى بك داره

ساح الأكارم للكريم ديار

From one far from home, who found his home in you;

The courtyards of the generous are homes to the generous.

خلَّى الأحبة والمآرب خلفه

فإذا الأحبة فيك والأوطار

He left loved ones and aims behind him,

And behold, in you are loved ones and desires.

للواردين على رياضك أعين

من فضلة أهدابهن نضار

For those who come to your gardens to drink, there are springs,

From the surplus of whose lashes comes gold.

سال الفرات بها وقام كأنه

دمع السرور لو أنه مدرار

Fresh water flowed and pooled in them, as though it were

Tears of joy, if they poured in torrents.

ليت الزمان أجار من أحداثه

قطرين بينهما هوى وجوار

If only Time would shield from its calamities

Two lands bound by love and neighborliness.

أخذ المحبة من على وابنه

وعلى الهوى تتألف الأفكار

Their love was inherited from Ali and his son,

And through love, thoughts unite.