1. I search among lovers but find none
Who has a brother hostile towards me out of passion

2. And look for a heart as anxious as mine
And an eye like mine that disdains tears and wakefulness

3. And ask about a fate as unlucky as mine
Cursed by misfortune since the day I was created

4. And I recite poetry freely in Lebanon, but wherever
I turn my gaze in it, it makes me a slave

5. And seek poetry like mine, overpowering
When it conquers rhymes, it enslaves the lion

6. I search for one who is just like me in everything
A rival or a poet equal to me, but find none

7. I'm content with my glory in rhyming which is an asset
But my glory in love has never been glory

8. Oh, if only the Rose's Lord had not armed it with thorns
Or else, if only God had not created the rose at all