مشى مع الدهرِ وأجيالِهِ

يكلأُهُ اللهُ ويرعاهُ

He walked with time and its generations

May God protect and care for him

وتقرأ الدنيا أساطيرها

مدوّناتٍ في حَناياه

And the world reads its legends about him

In scripts written in its folds

مسلسلاتٍ قصّةً قصةً

كأنّما الأوراقُ أفواهُ

Like sequels, story by story

As if the pages were mouths

فَيَّأْ فخرَ الدين يَومَ انتهى

منه إليه العزُّ والجاهُ

So Fakhr al-Din one day when he was done

Glory and grandeur came to him

أعظِمْ بفخرِ الدينِ من سيّدٍ

صاحَبَهُ المجدُ وآخاهُ

Greater than Fakhr al-Din was any prince

Glory embraced him and was his brother

أوحى إليه النَّصرُ أياتِهِ

فصدّقَ الوَحيَ فأملاهُ

Victory revealed to him its verses

He believed the revelation and dictated it

أملاه بالسيفِ على جُنده

فكانت الرسْلَ سَراياهُ

Dictated it with the sword to his troops

His messengers were his elite guard

ننافِس الشرقَِ بتأريخه

ونَجْبَهُ الغربَ بذكراهُ

We compete with the East for its history

And match it in the West with his remembrance

حلَفتُ بالأرز وتأريخه

أقصاهُ في المجد لأقصاهُ

I swear by the cedars and their history

I will recount fully his glory

وبالجبالِ الشُّمّ من حولِهِ

تُلامِسُ النجمَ بعَلياهُ

And by the Mount Lebanon mountains around him

That touch the stars on their peaks

وبالدمِ المسفوك من أجلِهِ

أطيَبِه أصلاً وأزكاهُ

And by the blood shed for his sake

The finest and purest blood

ما دوّنَ المجدُ لأبنائِه

أكْرمَ مما دَوّنَ ابناه

What glory recorded for his sons

Is nobler than what his own son recorded

قيلَ فِدى لبنانَ قالا أجلْ

بالأنْفَسِ الأغلى فديناهُ

It is said he ransomed Lebanon, they said yes

With the most precious souls we ransomed it

ماتا كما شاءَ الوفا مِنهُما

والخالدانِ المجدُ واللهُ

They died as loyalty required of them

The immortal are glory and God

وقفتُ بالأرزِ وكم موقفٍ

برّح بالقلبِ وأشجاهُ

I stood by the cedars, how many times

It stirred the heart and saddened it

أقول للأرز وفي ظلّهِ

قبرٌ بأيدينا حفرناهُ

I say to the cedar in its shade

A grave our hands dug

يا أرزُ فَيّئْ مجدَنا في الثرى

أَلاَ ترى أنَّا دَفَنّاهُ

O cedar shadow our glory in the earth

Do you not see we buried it?

يا أيُّها القَبرُ الذي آنَسَا

في وحشةِ الظلماءِ مثواهُ

O grave where we found comfort

In the gloom of darkness was its dwelling

ضمَ الشبابَ الغضَّ في جوفِهِ

فحدَّثتْ بالطيب أرجاهُ

It held the tender youth in its midst

So its scent was perfume

لبنانُ فدّاك بنو خازنٍ

وما لمن فدّاك أشباهُ

Lebanon, the Khazens ransomed you

And who can match those who ransomed you?

لمّا سألنا المجدَ عن مجدِهِمْ

حدَّثَنَا الأرزُ وريَّاهُ

When we asked glory about their glory

The cedar told us and quenched our thirst