1. To whom do the palaces gleam like arched swords
On the slope of Tnay from Lebanon?

2. For whom is Al-Khournaq, Al-Sadeer, while you are not in
The meadows of Afyaa or the fever of Al-Numan?

3. I called: where are its kings? So it shone
With angels of mercy and tenderness.

4. I learned that I was with the purest company
And I knew I had come to Paradise.

5. In the shade of the nun of love where
The sick recover and the weary rest.

6. And whenever you stand in its shade, you will know
How the spiritual world casts its shadow.

7. The shadow of virtue working without
Despair or greed for fleeting glory.

8. The shadow of tenderness upon the kind, the destitute,
The orphan, the sick and the dying.

9. Look with your eyes how she redeems
The essence of man with the essence of man.

10. And look with your eyes that the strongest
Strength on earth is called the strength of faith.

11. This wasteland was tangled with wars
And the playground of foxes and snakes.

12. A nun brought it faith and made
The wasteland into gardens and melodies.

13. As if when I came under its domes
I had come to Al-Najran.

14. And as if when I came to its meadows
I had reached that people of Bowan.

15. Its branches shook off what had melted
From the juice of heaven upon its branches.

16. Scattering pearls on my cheek
And settling like tears in my eyes.

17. Gleaming on the leaves of oleander
Like the glinting of lances on the palms of lovely maidens.

18. And you see it on the needles of pine
Like treaties, arousing desire in the throats of the passionate.

19. And when it settles on fruits, you would think them
The breasts of a beloved adorned with earrings.

20. And when the meadows breathe it in, it melts
Like tears above the pillows of basil.

21. It is the tear of silvery Lebanon, and you see
No other tear settle in Lebanon.

22. If it flowed from theeyes of his people,
You would find it a hot, fervent tear.

23. Stand in the lands of misery and ask its people
If their sorrows equal my sorrows.

24. What they endure of galleys and shackles
Is what I endure, and my troubles.

25. Consumption is not to wear out chests with illness,
Consumption is to wear out the sublime with vileness.

26. Consumption is the man of knowledge worn out by a fool,
Consumption is the innocent worn out by a traitor.

27. Consumption is a robber shepherding the flock
And a coward posing as a hero.

28. And worse that you see of its horrors
Are the death of hopes and dreams.

29. I did not think I would see myself distraught,
Inhabiting sorrows and melancholies.

30. But when I saw its shades,
Meadows and lasting bliss,

31. And Lebanon's eyes raised to it
From the top of Sanin to Shouwan,

32. And its gentle breeze covering its vineyards,
Passing like whispers through the ears,

33. I loved not to turn away from its shelter,
And wished I were one of its inhabitants.

34. Sister of Love, if this is the abode of ascetics,
Then I shall not budge from my place.

35. Or if this is a home for the wretched,
Then I shall remain here, and that is enough for me.