1. مطرانُ ما حقّقتُ أمرَكْ

    شيءٌ أراهُ يزينُ صدرَكْ

    Mutran, I have not fathomed your affair:

    I see something adorning your breast,

  2. متوقدٌ كالنجمُ يُع

    شى الناظرين إذا تحركْ

    blazing like a star; it dazzles

    the onlookers whenever it moves.

  3. بُح باسمهِ وعليّ عه

    دٌ أنني سأصونُ سِرّكْ

    Reveal its name; I give you my word

    that I shall keep your secret.

  4. أنا مَن حمدتَ إخاءه

    كم سرّني ما كان سَرّكَ

    I am the one whose brotherly friendship you have praised;

    how often what pleased you has pleased me!

  5. أو فادْنُ مني خُطوةً

    فالشيءُ عند القرب يُدركْ

    Or come one step nearer to me,

    for a thing is perceived at close range.

  6. ها قد عرفتُ فهاتِ كفّ

    ك نصطفقْ لا تُخْفِ بشْركْ

    Ah, now I know! Give me your hand;

    let us clasp hands; do not hide your joy.

  7. القومَ قد عرفوا نُها

    كَ وأكبرَ العظماءِ فكركْ

    The people have recognized your intellect,

    and the great have esteemed your thought.

  8. صاغوا وسامك بعدَ أن

    قدَروكَ يا مطرانُ قَدركْ

    They fashioned your medal after

    they had valued you, O Mutran, at your true worth.

  9. عرفوا مكانك في القر

    يض وأحمدوا في النثرِ خُبركْ

    They recognized your standing in poetry,

    and praised your mastery of prose.

  10. وليّ الصدورُ وجوهَهم

    يا كعبةَ الأدباءِ شطركْ

    The leading men have turned their faces

    toward you, O Kaaba of writers.

  11. مطرانُ طلّقْ بعلبكَّ

    ومصرُ خذْها مستقرّكْ

    Mutran, divorce Baalbek,

    and take Egypt as your dwelling.

  12. وأحطط رحالك في رحا

    بِ ديارنا لتحُطّ إصركْ

    And set down your baggage in the broad spaces

    of our land, to lay down your burden.

  13. واستقبل الإسعاد وأع

    لم أن بَعد العسر يسْركْ

    And welcome happiness, and know

    that after hardship comes your ease.

  14. وارفق بنفسكَ يا خلي

    لُ أضعتَ في التحصيلِ عمركْ

    And be gentle with yourself, O Khalil;

    you have used up your life in study.

  15. اليوم تحمدُ غبِه

    وتنيلك الأيامُ أجركْ

    Today you praise its outcome,

    and the days grant you your reward.

  16. فاقضِ البقيةِ في النعي

    مِ وخذ من الأعداءِ حِذركْ

    So spend the remainder in bliss,

    and be on your guard against enemies.

  17. يا شعر مطرانٍ لعب

    تُ بلُبنا ونفثت سِحركْ

    O Mutran's poetry, you have toyed

    with our minds and breathed forth your magic.

  18. لله ما أحلاكَ يا

    سحر البيان وما أمرّكْ

    By God, how sweet you are, O

    magic of eloquence, and how bitter you are!

  19. إن جاش صدركَ بالثنا

    ء نثرتَ في الأسماعِ دُرّكْ

    If your breast surges with praise,

    you scatter your pearls into listeners' ears.

  20. وإذا استفزّك عابثٌ

    يوماً كفاناً اللهُ شرّكْ

    And if a mischief-maker provokes you

    one day, may God spare us your harm!

  21. وإذا هوِيت خلبتَ مَن

    تهواهُ واستنزلت بدركْ

    And when you love, you enchant the one

    you love, and draw down your full moon.

  22. لا يملك المعشوق صب

    راً عن حين ملكتَ صبركْ

    The beloved cannot muster patience

    in separation, when you have mastered your own.

  23. لو كنت ترفق بالنهى

    يا شِعَره ما كان ضرّكْ

    If you were gentle with reason,

    O his poetry, it would have done you no harm.

  24. ما أنت في الآدابِ مط

    راناً ولكن أنت بطركْ

    In letters you are no Mutran—no metropolitan bishop—

    but you are a patriarch.