1. دَيْنُ هَذَا الْجَمِيلِ كَيْفَ يؤَدّى

    هَلْ يَفِي مِن مُقصِّرٍ أَنْ يَوَدَّا

    How can the debt of this kindness be repaid?

    Can love from one who falls short suffice?

  2. يَا كِرَاماً أَدُّوْا حُقوقَ عُلاَهُمْ

    لاَ حقُوقِي حَمْداً لكُمْ ثمُ حَمْدَا

    O noble ones, who paid their own high worth its due,

    not my due—thanks to you, and thanks again.

  3. أَيُّ رِفْدٍ كَرِفْدِكُمْ مَا رَأَيْنَا

    قَبْلَهُ المَجْدَ وَهْوَ يُمْنَح رِفْدَا

    What gift compares with yours? We had never seen

    before it, glory itself bestowed as a gift.

  4. شَكَرَ الله لِلأُولَى خَاطَبُونِي

    مِدَحَاتٍ عَنْهَا أُقَصِّر رَدَّا

    May God reward those who addressed me

    with praises I cannot adequately answer,

  5. مِنْ نظِيمٍ وَمِنْ نَثِيرٍ أَرَانَا

    تَحْتَ أَزْهَى الْعَتِيقِ حُسْناً أَجَدَّا

    in verse and prose that showed us

    a newer beauty beneath the most splendid of the old.

  6. لَسْتُ أَدْرِي عَلاَمَ هُمْ جَعَلُونِي

    فِي مَحَلٍّ يَعْلُو مَحَلِّيَ جِدَّا

    I do not know why they have placed me

    in a station far above my own.

  7. أَنَا لاَ شَيْءَغَيْرَ أَنِّي بِقَوْمِي

    أَسْعَدُ الطَّالِبِينَ لِلْعَلْمِ جَدَّا

    I am nothing, save that, through my people,

    I am the luckiest of those who seek knowledge.

  8. صِرْتُ مَا شَاءَ فَضْلُ مَنْ شَاءَ مِنْهُمْ

    وَاللَّيَالِي مَا زِلْنَ نَحْساً وَسَعْدَا

    I became what the generosity of those among them who wished it decreed,

    while the nights still brought ill fortune and good.

  9. قَدْ تَوَالَتْ بِيَ الْحَفَاوَاتُ فِي كُ

    لِّ مَكَانٍ وَكُلِّ مَمْسىً وَمَغْدَى

    Warm welcomes have come to me in succession in every

    place, at every dusk and dawn.

  10. وَزَكَا البِرَ بي تِباعاً افَما أَكْبَ

    رْتُ قَبْلاٌ وَجَدْتُ ضِعْفَيْهِ بَعْدا

    And kindness toward me kept growing; whatever I admired

    before, I found twice as great afterward.

  11. فَلَوِ الْوَهْمُ نَالَ مِنِّي مَنَالاً

    خِلْت وِرْدِي مِنَ المَجَرَّةِ وِرْدَا

    And if fancy had gained any hold on me,

    I would have thought my drink a draught from the Milky Way.

  12. حَبَّذَا المَحْفِل الانِيسُ الَّذِي أَبْ

    دَى لَنَا مِنْ وِئَامِكُمْ مَا أَبْدَى

    How lovely this friendly gathering, which revealed

    to us so much of your harmony!

  13. فإِذَا أُلْفَةٌ تَقِر عُيوناً

    رَدَّهَا الخُلْفُ قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ رمْدَا

    And behold, fellowship soothes eyes

    that discord had previously left sore.

  14. قَدْ مَضَى عَهْدُ ذِلكَ الْخُلْفِ لاَ

    عَادَ وَلاَ ذِكْرُ مَا جَرَى فِيهِ عَهْدَا

    The age of that discord has passed; may it never

    return, nor ever the memory of what took place in it.

  15. يَا بِلاَدِي إِليْكِ يَهْفُو فُؤَادِي

    كَلَّ آنٍ شَوْقاً وَيَلْتَاعُ وَجْدَا

    O my homeland, my heart yearns toward you

    each moment with longing, and burns with ardent love.

  16. كُلَّمَا اشْتَدَّتِ الصُّروفُ بِاهْلِي

    كِ نَمَا ذَلِكَ الْهَوَى وَاشْتَدَّا

    Whenever adversity bears harder upon your people,

    that love grows and grows stronger.

  17. كَيْفَ لاَ تُوهَبُ الْحَيَاةُ فِدَى شَعْ

    بٍ كَهَذَا الشَّعبِ الْعَزِيزِ المفَدَّى

    How could life not be given in sacrifice for a people

    like this cherished people, worthy of sacrifice?

  18. وَطَني الباكي الحَزينَ الَّذ

    ي نَشْرَبُ فِيهِ أَسىً وَنَشْرُقُ سُهْدَا

    My weeping, sorrowful homeland, where

    we drink grief and choke on sleeplessness.

  19. إِنْ تُجَزَّأْ مِنْ وَحْدَةٍ لَمْ يَكُنْ حَ

    دُّكَ فِي الْقَلْبِ غَيْرَ مَا كَانَ حَدَّا

    Even if you are divided after unity, your boundary

    within the heart would remain what it was.

  20. كَيْفَ يَبْنِي ذَاكَ المفَرِّقُ حِسّاً

    فِي بَنِي الأُمِّ بَيْنَ روحَيْنِ سَدَّا

    How can that divider build a tangible

    wall between two souls among one mother's children?

  21. مِنْ ذُرَى كَرْمِلٍ إِلى حَلَبٍ أَلْفَيْ

    تُ قُرْباً مَا كَانَ يُحْسَبُ بُعْدَا

    From Carmel's heights to Aleppo, I found

    closeness where distance had been assumed.

  22. وَطَنِي لَوْ بِبُعْدِنَا عَنْكَ يَوْماً

    بِيعَ خُلْدُ النَّعيمِ لَمُ نَشْرِ خُلُدَا

    My homeland, if for one day's distance from you

    eternal bliss were sold, we would not buy eternity.

  23. إِنَّما البؤْسُ عَنْكَ أَقْصَى فَكُلٌّ

    آدَمٌ أَوْ أَبْكَى وَآلَمُ فَقْدَا

    Misery alone drove us away from you; each of us

    is Adam, or more tearful and more anguished by loss.

  24. كَانَ كُلٌّ فِي الدِّينِ يُوهِي أَخَاهُ

    فَوَهَى الشَّعبُ وَالعَدوُّ اسْتَبَدَّا

    Each used to weaken his brother over religion,

    so the people grew weak, and the enemy ruled despotically.

  25. مِنْكَ حَيفَا وَإنَّ حَيفَا لأغْلَى

    درَّةٍ فِي الثُّغورِ يُنَظمْنَ عِقْدَا

    Haifa is part of you, and Haifa is indeed the most precious

    pearl among the seaports strung into a necklace.

  26. وَبَنُوهَا وَجَدْتُ مِن كَرَمِ الأخلاَ

    قِ فِيهِمْ مَا لسْتُ أُحْصِيهِ عَدَّا

    And her sons—I found such nobility of character

    in them that I cannot reckon or count.

  27. فِيهِمُ اللطفُ بِالنَّزِيلِ وَفِيهِمْ

    أَدَبٌ يَسْتَهْوِيَ الْعَدوَّ الالَدَّا

    In them is kindness to the guest, and in them

    a courtesy that wins over the most implacable foe.

  28. شَيْخُهمْ فِيهِ حِكْمَةٌ تَحْتَ ضَوْءِ الشَيْ

    بِ تَزْهو فَتَرْجِعُ الْغَيَّ رشْدَا

    Their elder has wisdom that, beneath the light of gray hair,

    shines, turning error into right guidance.

  29. وَفَتَاهمْ فِي حَلْبَةِ الجِدِّ أَذْكَى النَّا

    سِ قَلْباً وَأَعْدَلُ النَّاسِ قَصْدَا

    And their young man, in the arena of earnest endeavor, is keenest among people

    in heart, and most just among people in purpose.

  30. وَمِنَ الطُّهرِ كُلُّ زَهْرَاءَ فِيهِمْ

    تُطْلِعُ الْعَقْلَ كَالصَّباحِ وَأَهْدَى

    And through purity, every radiant woman among them

    illumines the mind like morning, with still surer guidance.

  31. دَامَ إِقْبَالُكُمْ وَمَدَّ لِكُلٍّ

    مِنْكُم اللهٌ فِي السَّعادَةِ مَدَّا

    May your prosperity endure, and may God extend for each

    of you the span of happiness.