1. God grant respite in formidable times with a staunch companion,
With whom we gained the vast lands twofold and singly,

2. Pastures of peace to which we were led,
At a time when fate brought us no watering place,

3. We flirt with its does, each friendly one,
And gather from its branches each supple bough,

4. And lift to mouths a brimming cup,
And press to the cups a readied mouth.

5. The trysts of youth's prime are verdant
Swaying to the breezes of joy, bending.

6. Cares have neglected us in their night,
While we are used to the vicissitudes of fate advancing rudely.

7. O loved ones, has the meadow blossomed after we left?
And has the garden spread carpets for you to sit?

8. And has the yearning lover been reminded of you,
So that thoughts of the living are still echoing for me?

9. To congratulate you if fate has obeyed you after us,
For since we parted we have not trodden a resting place,

10. Nor has beautiful patience visited us. Would that
Before resolve you had shared endurance with us!

11. I obeyed the call to wander, going
With my soul, though the sedentary chided.

12. For I love grace and loyalty in you
And never loved bending branches or rosy cheeks.

13. I have neighbors with whom I have no passion,
Though I live enlivening the nights lighting lamps.

14. A quarter that is my world entire, and rarely
Do you see in your world gathered companionship

15. The bond of connection was severed between us and them
Except for the sadness of memory that stayed and settled.

16. One is not devoid of company on earth
But some company is nearer to friendship.

17. So numerous in every land are allies
And most abundant are those of false brotherhood,

18. And in love what was pioneered by desire
For love is only what comes to you unadorned.

19. Among people are those whose natures invite to passion
So that toward it comes every enslaved heart.

20. Blessed is He who sowed traits among people
And then distinguished them after their equality, singling out.

21. He endowed its fangs to the noble one, who has not ceased,
When people of merit are mentioned, to be peerless,

22. A generous one appeared from the generous of ranks—
For that he was named the noble one and did not transgress.

23. Fair of praise, his description occupies eulogy
As letters occupy all speech from start to end.

24. He took the inheritance of glory before suckling
And the companion of glory’s earth a child and a cub.

25. He exerted after those who went ahead
With the determination of the vanguards of the ages, hunting,

26. He trod the path of honored things paved
And climbed to the heights, climbing and descending,

27. So it is for one who desires the sublime—he
Cleaves to it through the thick of events an ascent.

28. Keenest of the men of the age in mind and insight
And truest of them in view and perspective

29. And farthest ranging of them to every goal
And longest handed of them in every honor,

30. It sufficed him against India’s swords in every skirmish—
His is a sword of views that fells the polished.

31. And the resolve of unwavering mettle—
Time has hardened its edge, and it left

32. The claws of catastrophes behind, fleeing.
Pure of honor’s garb, fair is his repute,

33. As his character was fair, and essence, and creed.
Firmness of temper like mountains is revered—

34. If it mixed with a sea, still it would not surge, roiling.
And the chastity of a soul—if it strengthened a lover’s heart

35. It would not spend the night laboring, sighing.
When the people of meaning gather, his station

36. Among all seated is the highest place.
So if he is graced with a bounty

37. It settles him among the ranked as lord.
Abdul Hamid gifted it to him gratuitously,

38. So it was like the meadows' early dew.
Modesty held him back from speaking of his status—

39. If he were one who chants praise, he would have chanted.
The like of Nusayb is the people of every advantage,

40. With which he takes more pride and from which he draws honor ever renewed.
He is the high banner in Lebanon, the one

41. Indicated by the name when his appearance is manifested,
Of the Jumblatts, a clan planted

42. The balconies of glory with might and dew,
Theirs is the lineage of old glory and above it

43. For them there is lineage every new day,
None but the darkest ash-colored of them

44. Came as heir from them but the darkest ash-colored,
Pillars of a house that honor built its edifice—

45. Its proofs humbled the claims of the worshipping.
Caravans of verses direct themselves to him,

46. Guiding gifts to his eulogist, though they rambled about.
And below them of the House of Issa a treasure

47. Vying in creativity with Ahmad's miracle.
I traveled and the night let fall its curtains,

48. So it showed nothing but the darkness to repose.
When it sets out, it does not settle after setting out

49. At a high wall or outstretched edges.
It suffices me, your affection excelling and pride