مَرحَباً بِالرَبيعِ في رَيعانِهِ
وَبِأَنوارِهِ وَطيبِ زَمانِه
Welcome O spring in its prime
With its lights and fine times
رَفَّتِ الأَرضُ في مَواكِبِ آذا
رَ وَشَبَّ الزَمانُ في مِهرَجانِه
The land has fluttered in processions of blossoms
And time has sprouted in its festivals
نَزَلَ السَهلَ ضاحِكَ البِشرِ يَمشي
فيهِ مَشيَ الأَميرِ في بُستانِه
The plain came down laughing at the glad tidings
Walking like a prince in his garden
عادَ حَلياً بِراحَتَيهِ وَوَشياً
طولُ أَنهارِهِ وَعَرضُ جِنانِه
It came adorned with its meadows and streams
The length of its rivers and the breadth of its heavens
لُفَّ في طَيلَسانِهِ طُرَرَ الأَر
ضِ فَطابَ الأَديمُ مِن طَيلَسانِه
It wrapped the lands in its gowns
So the surface was fragrant with its robes
ساحِرٌ فِتنَةَ العُيونِ مُبينٌ
فَصَّلَ الماءَ في الرُبا بِجُمانِه
A sorcerer charming the eyes manifest
Who threaded water through the hillside with its fountains
عَبقَرِيُّ الخَيالِ زادَ عَلى الطَي
فِ وَأَربى عَلَيهِ في أَلوانِه
The genius of imagination outdid the peacock
And surpassed it in its colors
صِبغَةُ اللَهِ أَينَ مِنها رَفائي
لُ وَمِنقاشُهُ وَسِحرُ بَنانِه
Where are its ornaments and brocades
And the magic of its structure from God’s dye?
رَنَّمَ الرَوضُ جَدوَلاً وَنَسيماً
وَتَلا طَيرَ أَيكِهِ غُصنُ بانِه
The garden murmured a rivulet and breeze
And the bird on its branch sang poems
وَشَدَت في الرُبا الرَياحينُ هَمساً
كَتَغَنّي الطَروبِ في وُجدانِه
The winds tied whispers in the meadows
Like the cooing of the turtledove in its affection
كُلُّ رَوحانَةٍ بِلَحنٍ كَعُرسٍ
أُلِّفَت لِلغِناءِ شَتّى قِيانِه
Every aromatic with a tune like a wedding
Its instruments variously tuned for singing
نَغَمٌ في السَماءِ وَالأَرضِ شَتّى
مِن مَعاني الرَبيعِ أَو أَلحانِهِ
Melodies in the sky and earth manifold
From the meanings of spring or its melodies
أَينَ نورُ الرَبيعِ مِن زَهرِ الشِع
رِ إِذا ما اِستَوى عَلى أَفنانِه
Where is the light of spring from the blossoms of poetry
When it stands over its minarets?
سَرمَدُ الحُسنِ وَالبَشاشَةِ مَهما
تَلتَمِسهُ تَجِدهُ في إِبّانِه
Eternal beauty and felicity wherever
You seek it you find it in its season
حَسَنٌ في أَوانِهِ كُلِّ شَيءٍ
وَجَمالُ القَريضِ بَعدَ أَوانِه
Everything is beautiful in its time
And rhyme’s beauty after its moment
مَلَكٌ ظِلُّهُ عَلى رَبوَةِ الخُل
دِ وَكُرسِيُّهُ عَلى خُلجانِه
An angel whose shade is upon the hill’s slope
And whose throne is upon its ridges
أَمَرَ اللَهُ بِالحَقيقَةِ وَالحِك
مَةِ فَاِلتَفَّتا عَلى صَولَجانِه
God commanded with truth and wisdom
So they both turned upon their axes
لَم تَثُر أُمَّةٌ إِلى الحَقِّ إِلا
بُهُدى الشِعرِ أَو خُطا شَيطانِه
No nation rose to truth but by
The guidance of poetry or the mistakes of devils
لَيسَ عَزفُ النُحاسِ أَوقَعَ مِنهُ
في شُجاعِ الفُؤادِ أَو في جَبانِه
No brass playing falls more weightily
Upon boldness of heart or cowardice
ظَلَّلَتني عِنايَةٌ مِن فُؤادٍ
ظَلَّلَ اللَهُ عَرشَهُ بِأَمانِه
I was shaded by a care from a heart
That God shaded His Throne with His security
وَرَعاني رَعى الإِلَهُ لَهُ الفارو
قَ طِفلاً وَيَومَ مَرجُوِّ شانِه
And I was tended by a Shepherd, to Him belong the heights
A child and the day I exalted His name
مَلِكُ النيلِ مِن مَصَبَّيهِ بِالشَط
طِ إِلى مَنبَعَيهِ مِن سودانِه
The Nile’s King from its two mouths in Lower Egypt
To its source in the Sudan
هُوَ في المُلكِ بَدرُهُ المُتَجَلّي
حُفَّ بِالهالَتَينِ مِن بَرلُمانِه
He in the kingdom, his full moon manifest
Girded with the two halos of his parliament
زادَهُ اللَهُ بِالنِيابَةِ عِزّاً
فَوقَ عِزِّ الجَلالِ مِن سُلطانِه
God augmented him with the viceroyalty, a glory
Above the glory of majesty from His sultanate
مِنبَرُ الحَقِّ في أَمانَةِ سَعدٍ
وَقِوامُ الأُمورِ في ميزانِه
The pulpit of truth in the custodianship of Saad
And the order of affairs in its scales
لَم يَرَ الشَرقُ داعِياً مِثلَ سَعدٍ
رَجَّهُ مِن بِطاحِهِ وَرِعانِه
The East has not seen a missionary like Saad
He guided it from its wastes and its sheepfolds
ذَكَّرَتهُ عَقيدَةُ الناسِ فيهِ
كَيفَ كانَ الدُخولُ في أَديانِه
The people's belief in him reminded him
How he had entered into their faiths
نَهضَةٌ مِن فَتى الشُيوخِ وَروحٌ
سَرَيا كَالشَبابِ في عُنفُوانِه
A renaissance from the Sheikh of men and a spirit
Vigorous like youth in its prime
حَرَّكا الشَرقَ مِن سُكونٍ إِلى القَي
دِ وَثارا بِهِ عَلى أَرسانِه
They stirred the East from stillness to enterprise
And with it they rose against its bedouins
وَإِذ النَفسُ أُنهِضَت مِن مَريضٍ
دَرَجَ البُرءُ في قُوى جُثمانِه
And when the soul was roused from one sick
Health progressed in the powers of its body
يا عُكاظاً تَأَلَّفَ الشَرقُ فيهِ
مِن فِلسطينِهِ إِلى بَغدانِه
O Ukaz, the East was united in it
From its Palestine to its Baghdad
اِفتَقَدنا الحِجازَ فيهِ فَلَم نَع
ثُر عَلى قُسِّهِ وَلا سَحبانِه
We sought the Hejaz in it but did not find
Any of its measure or its clouds
حَمَلَت مِصرُ دونَهُ هَيكَلَ الدي
نِ وَروحَ البَيانِ مِن فُرقانِه
Egypt shouldered its religious structure
And the spirit of eloquence from its Discriminator
وُطِّدَت فيكَ مِن دَعائِمِها الفُص
حى وَشُدَّ البَيانُ مِن أَركانِه
Its central tenets were consolidated in you
And eloquence took strength from its pillars
إِنَّما أَنتَ حَلبَةٌ لَم يُسَخَّر
مِثلُها لِلكَلامِ يَومَ رِهانِه
You are an arena the like of which
Was not tasked for speech on its race day
تَتَبارى أَصائِلُ الشامِ فيها
وَالمَذاكِيِ العِتاقُ مِن لُبنانِه
The lineages of Syria compete in it
And its purebred orators from its Lebanon
قَلَّدَتني المُلوكُ مِن لُؤلُؤِ البَح
رَينِ آلاءَها وَمِن مَرجانِه
The kings adorned me with necklaces
From its pearls and coral
نَخلَةٌ لا تَزالُ في الشَرقِ مَعنىً
مِن بَداواتِهِ وَمِن عُمرانِه
A palm tree that remains in the East a meaning
From its nomads and its settled areas
حَنَّ لِلشامِ حِقبَةً وَإِلَيها
فاتِحُ الغَربِ مِن بَني مَروانِه
It inclined to Syria for some time
And to it the opener of the West from its Marwans
وَحَبَتني بُمبايُ فيها يَراعاً
أُفرِغَ الودُّ فيهِ مِن عِقيانِه
Bombay loved me in it as a companion
Affection poured out from its springs
لَيسَ تَلقى يَراعَها الهِندُ إِلّا
في ذَرا الخُلقِ أَو وَراءَ ضَمانِه
India receives no companion but
Among the elite of people or behind its guarantee
أَنتَضيهِ اِنتِضاءَ موسى عَصاهُ
يَفرَقُ المُستَبِدُّ مِن ثُعبانِه
It straightens like Moses straightening his staff
Splitting the tyrant from his snakes
يَلتَقي الوَحيَ مِن عَقيدَةِ حُرٍّ
كَالحَوارِيِّ في مَدى إيمانِه
Revelation meets with the creed of a freeman
Like the disciples in the extent of their faith
غَيرَ باغٍ إِذا تَطَلَّبَ حَقّاً
أَو لَئيمِ اللَجاجِ في عُدوانِه
Changing without bounds when seeking a right
Or base obstinacy in its aggression
موكِبُ الشِعرِ حَرَّكَ المُتَنَبّي
في ثَراهُ وَهَزَّ مِن حَسّانِه
Poetry’s procession stirred Al-Mutanabbi
In its earth and shook from its peg
شَرُفَت مِصرُ بِالشُموسِ مِنَ الشَر
قِ نُجومِ البَيانِ مِن أَعيانِه
Egypt was ennobled with the East’s suns
The stars of eloquence from its elite
قَد عَرَفنا بِنَجمِهِ كُلَّ أُفقٍ
وَاِستَبَنّا الكِتابَ مِن عُنوانِه
We recognized every horizon by its star
And discerned the book by its title
لَستُ أَنسى يَداً لِإِخوانِ صِدقٍ
مَنَحوني جَزاءَ مالَم أُعانِه
I will not forget a hand of true brothers
Who granted me reward for what I did not assist
رُبَّ سامي البَيانِ نَبَّهَ شَأني
أَنا أَسمو إِلى نَباهَةِ شانِه
Many a sublime rhetor alerted my distinction
I aspire to the prominence of his distinction
كانَ بِالسَبقِ وَالمَيادينِ أَولى
لَو جَرى الحَظُّ في سَواءِ عَنانِه
He was more worthy in precedence and fields
Had fortune flowed evenly in its pace
إِنَّما أَظهَروا يَدَ اللَهِ عِندي
وَأَذاعوا الجَميلَ مِن إِحسانِه
But they showed God’s hand with me
And broadcast good from His benefaction
ما الرَحيقُ الَّذي يَذوقونَ مِن كَر
مي وَإِن عِشتُ طائِفاً بِدِنانِه
What is the nectar they taste of my generosity
Though I live for a time among its clusters?
وَهَبوني الحَمامَ لَذَّةَ سَجعٍ
أَينَ فَضلُ الحَمامِ في تَحنانِه
They granted me the dove’s pleasure of rhyme
Where is the dove’s superiority in its affection?
وَتَرٌ في اللَهاةِ ما لِلمُغَنّي
مِن يَدٍ في صَفائِهِ وَلِيانِه
A lute in inspiring with no hand for the singer
In its clarity or modulation
رُبَّ جارٍ تَلَفَّتَت مِصرُ تولي
هِ سُؤالَ الكَريمِ عَن جيرانِه
Many a neighbor whose welfare Egypt attends
Asking the generous about his neighbor
بَعَثتَني مُعَزِّياً بِمآقي
وَطَني أَو مُهَنِّئاً بِلِسانِه
You sent me consoling the disasters of my nation
Or congratulating in its tongue
كانَ شِعري الغِناءَ في فَرَحِ الشَر
قِ وَكانَ العَزاءُ في أَحزانِه
My poetry was singing in the East’s joy
And was consolation in its sorrows
قَد قَضى اللَهُ أَن يُؤَلِّفَنا الجُر
حُ وَأَن نَلتَقي عَلى أَشجانِه
God ordained that wounds unite us
And we meet over its burning sorrows
كُلَما أَنَّ بِالعِراقِ جَريحٌ
لَمَسَ الشَرقُ جَنبَهُ في عُمانِه
Whenever Iraq was wounded
The East touched its side in its shelter
وَعَلَينا كَما عَلَيكُم حَديدٌ
تَتَنَزّى اللُيوثُ في قُضبانِه
To us as to you are fetters
The lions disdain in their shackles
نَحنُ في الفِقهِ بِالدِيارِ سَواءٌ
كُلُّنا مُشفِقُ عَلى أَوطانِه
We are equal in the land’s jurisprudence
All of us anxious for our homelands
