Sol 5.6

  1. God is greatest—this is honor’s utmost height.

    So reap your hopes, O hills of Lebanon, and gather them!

  2. Joy has swept among the living—so rejoice!

    And ease has overflowed through every quarter—so drink your fill!

  3. Our master, the Lord of creation, rewarded your sovereign

    with a precious gift—the greatest of gifts.

  4. Can you repay a kindness born of his compassion

    toward you, except with gratitude that never turns away?

  5. And you, O faithful people—indeed,

    Dawud revived you with happiness, so drink your fill.

  6. Your governor was loyal to you, striving diligently for reform;

    so be loyal to him, with still greater love and ardor.

  7. A glorious mushir, inclined toward beneficence,

    he strives to champion right, never turning aside.

  8. Words of forbearance from his mouth are sweet to us,

    like pearls emerging scattered from their shells.

  9. Peace has become a guest within his province,

    and security travels from end to end.

  10. Through his radiant wisdom he revived the land, just as

    through his justice he governed it, never tyrannically.

  11. Indeed, with the sword he cleft the aggressors’ backs, just as

    he arose, striking fear into an army of newspapers.

  12. Thus every insolent rebel repented, trembling,

    while every innocent person prospered, no longer afraid.

  13. O exalted lord, before whom there opened

    the heights of glory like a field—and who never halted;

  14. we see you as a sea of learning, casting forth pearls,

    and as a full moon of virtue, radiant and never eclipsed.

  15. You are the physician from the bounty of whose wisdom

    Lebanon has recovered, rescued from ruin.

  16. You have continued gently healing the malady, pressing onward,

    without agitation, thus reviving the wasting sufferer’s soul.

  17. But some men swiftly transgressed in injustice,

    and you were swifter than an arrow to its mark.

  18. You swiftly confronted them, the sword of right unsheathed;

    and your resolve against them proved the finest vindicator.

  19. All your radiant deeds have as their aim

    the slaking of thirst and the healing of tear-streaming eyes.

  20. You revived Lebanon after calamity; likewise,

    today you made it forget the age of oppression and injustice.

  21. So it exulted in glory, paying no heed to any predecessor;

    and through merit you succeeded so well that it needs no successors.

  22. Therefore glory’s medal came galloping to you,

    with further honors following behind it, rendering every rightful due.

  23. And when it shone radiantly, its chronogrammatist said:

    “The full moon has adorned glory’s star with honor.”

Sol 5.6