غزالَ العمر في خلل الديار

فِداكَ مع اللحى شكلُ الجواري

O gazelle of a lifetime found amongst the dwellings,

May the beauty of maidens and the dignity of gray beards be your ransom,

وكلّ مزنّر الكشحين منه

سريع في الحشا مجرى السوار

And every one whose waist is girdled with the monk's sash,

Which moves through the heart as swiftly as a bracelet glides,

إذا ما راح من قلّايتيهِ

لهيكلهِ وآذنَ بابتكارِ

When he departs from his monastic cell,

Heading to his altar, signaling the early prayer,

فكبّرَ ثم قدّسَ ثم صلّى

مقادسةُ الأساقفةِ الكِبار

He magnifies God, then sanctifies, then prays,

With the consecration of the high bishops.

سمعتُ له بمن عندي حنيناً

حنينَ النبتِ بالبلدِ القفارِ

I heard within me a moaning for his sake,

Like the yearning of withered plants in a barren land.

يقلّدُ في ترائبهِ صليباً

ومستلب الذوائبِ بالشعار

He adorns his upper chest with a cross,

And his locks are shorn by the ritual rule.

أعارَ الدر ما انتظمت عليهِ

مضاحكهُ منافسة التجار

He lent to pearls the order they possess,

His smiling mouth provoking the merchants' envy.

فذاك وإن عصبتُ له برأسي

عصابةَ شهرةٍ من قول زار

He is the one—even if I bind upon my head for him

The headband of infamy due to a critic's words—

أحبُّ إليّ من نعتِ المطايا

إلى البيت المحرم ذي الستار

Who is dearer to me than urging riding-camels

Towards the Sacred House with its veiled drapes,

وطوفي بالصفاء ومروَتيه

ومسح الركن مع رمي الجمار

And dearer than my circling between al-Safa and its Marwa,

And touching the Holy Corner, and casting the pebbles.

سأجعل حجّتي ماسرجسايا

رضيتُ بذاك حجّي واعتماري

I shall make my pilgrimage to the church of Mar Sargis,

Content with that as my Hajj and my Umrah,

ودومةَ مشعري والديرَ رُكني

وأحلقُ لِمّتي بالنوبهارِ

Making Dumah my sacred rite, and the monastery my Holy Corner,

And I shall shave my locks at al-Nawbahar.