متى أنتَ يا وطني مُسعِدي

لقد أفلتَتْ همَّتي من يدي

When will you make me happy, my homeland?

My aspirations have slipped from my hands.

هَجرْتُكَ لا الشوقُ يِدني إليكَ

ولا الصبرُ إن أدْعُهُ يُنجِدِ

I left you, though yearning does not bring me close to you,

Nor does patience, if I call upon it, help me.

وحاربتُ فيك الليالِي ومَنْ

يجاهِدْ ليالِيَه يَجهَدِ

I battled the nights for your sake, and he who

Struggles against his nights is exhausted.

فأمّا الشبابُ فملَّ المنى

وأمَّا الزمانُ فلم يُسعدِ

As for youth, it wearied of wishes,

And as for time, it did not make me happy.

بلادُك فاحمِ حمى مجدِها

فإِن أَنتَ لم تَحمِ لم تُحمَدِ

Your lands, so protect their glorious realm,

For if you do not protect, you will not be praised.

ولا تستَبحْ عِرضَها فالوفاءُ

دَليلٌ على كَرَمِ المحتِدِ

Do not make light of its honour, for loyalty

Is a sign of the nobility of the devoted one.

عدمتُ المروءَة يومَ يُرادُ

فِدىً لبلادي ولا أفتدِي

I missed manliness on the day ransom was wanted

For my country, and I could not ransom myself.

إذا المرء مات فِدى موطنٍ

فقد ماتَ ميتة مُستَشْهَدِ

When a man dies ransoming his homeland,

He has died a martyr's death indeed.

وأجدبَ عالي الرُّبى مُقفِرٍ

كثير الفدافد والأنجُدِ

Lofty ruins, desolate and vacant,

With many crumbled pillars and columns.

إذا الطيرُ عاجت بهِ تستريحُ

ترامَتْ عَياءَ على الجَلمدَ

When birds took refuge there to rest,

Their warbling echoed over the barren hills.

عبوس المعالم لا ينجلي

بصبحٍ دُجى ليلِهِ الأسودِ

Gloomy landmarks with no cheerful dawn,

Darkness shrouds their nights in blackness.

خَلا من بَنِيه فليسَ بنوه

سوى رُحّلٍ أبداً شرّدِ

Empty of its inhabitants, it is no longer their home,

But a perpetual abode for nomads.

يجِدّ بنا البَينُ كرهاً على جِوارٍ

بذي لُجَجٍ مزبِدِ

Separation afflicts us though we are neighbours

To the loud-voiced whose outbursts foam.

جِوارٍ بها مثلُ ما في الضلوعِ

فلا بِدْعَ إن هي لم تبرُدِ

Neighbours whose company is like what is in the ribs—

There is no escape unless their heat cools down.

إذا شارفَتْ أرض لبنانَ هاجَت

بنا لوعَةُ الوالهِ المبعَدِ

When we approached the land of Lebanon,

Yearning for that distant loved one filled us.

وما راعنا البَيْنُ لَكِن بَكَينا

على جَبلٍ موحشٍ أجردِ

We did not pasture there, but we cried

Over a desolate, barren mountain.

لقد أخلقَ الدهر مِن جِدّتيه

فأمسى لثوب البِلَى يرتدي

Time has dressed in its hoary raiment

And donned the garb of decay.

أجِلْ نظرةً فيه تُبصْر سماءً

تُطلُّ على أربُعٍ همَّدِ

Cast a glance in which you can see a sky

Looking out over totally flattened plains.

منازل هاجَرَها أهلُها

إلى كل منتجعٍ أرغدِ

Homes deserted by their people

Who migrated to every plenteous refuge.

فليسَ سوى الطفلِ في مهده

وليس سوى العاجِزِ المُقعَدِ

Leaving only the child in his cradle

And the helpless old man sitting there.

مجالسُ للحكم ما أن تَضُمّ

سوى ذي مطامِعَ مسترفِدِ

Councils of governance, when gathered,

Include only those with greedy demands.

موارد تنصبّ هَدْراً فما

تبرَّد من غُله الورّدِ

Resources flow wastefully, so they are not

Cooled from their raging heat.

صوامع للدين مستوياتٌ

على قِمم للعُلى صعّدِ

Monasteries for religion are evened out

At the peaks of loftiness they climbed.

ينعَّم رهبنها بالثراء

ويحرَمُ كلُّ فتىً أصيدِ

Their monks enjoy wealth and deprive

Every zealous youth his livelihood.

بنا منك يا وطني ما بنا

لواعجُ في الصدر لم تخمَدِ

What we built, my homeland, the burning

Sorrows in our breasts have not died down.

شكوتَ النَّوى وشكونا الثَّواء

وَأيٌّ تَزِدْه أذىً يزدَدِ

The grapevines complained and we complained of desolation,

But which of them increases in pain?

أَقلّ رزايا بنيك مقامٌ

وصبرٌ على عيشك الأنكدِ

Lessen the misery of your people,

And be patient with their wretched life.

ورُبَّ فتىً عقَّه موطنٌ

فولّى إلى وطنٍ أبعدِ

How often a homeland has stifled one of sound reason

And he turned away to a more distant home!

ومن شاكه مضجعٌ لم ينم

ومن طلب الرزقَ لم يقعدِ

How many a youth has lost sleep

And many a seeker of livelihood has not rested!

سلوا وطني أيُّ فضلٍ له

عليَّ سوى أنه مَوْلِدي

Ask, my homeland, what favour you have done me

Other than being the place where I was born!

بلى كان كُفراً رحيليَ عنه

لَوِ اتَّهمتْ همتي مقصِدي

Yes, it would have been blasphemy had I left it,

If my intention had been suspect.

ولولا وفائي لأهلٍ كرامٍ

ولولا ثرى والدٍ أمجدِ

Were it not for my loyalty to honourable people

And the land where my glorious father lies,

لهاجرته غيرَ ذي أوبةِ

فما نتلاقى على موعِدِ

I would have abandoned it without turning back

So we would not have met again.

أُحب بلادي ولو لم أنلْ

سوى الضيمِ منها ولم أعهَدِ

I love my country even if I gained nothing

From it but injustice, to which I'm unaccustomed.

بلادُك كلُّ رجائِك فانهض

بها ما استطعتَ إلى السؤدُدِ

Your lands are all your hopes, so rise up

For them as much as you can, to defend them.

إذا قيل لبنان قل موطنُ

إلهي وصلّ له واسجُدِ

Whenever Lebanon is mentioned, say: my homeland,

My God, pray for it and bow down.