جُعتُ وَالخُبزُ وَثيرٌ في وِطابي

وَالسَنا حَولي وَروحي في ضَبابِ

I gathered, and bread aplenty in my bag,

I went hungry though bread was plentiful in my store,

Yet weariness surrounds me, my soul lost in the fog.

And while light surrounded me, my soul remained in a fog.

وَشَرِبتُ الماءَ عَذباً سائِغاً

وَكَأَنّي لَم أَذُق غَيرَ سَرابِ

I drank sweet, delicious water,

I drank water that was fresh and sweet,

Yet feel as though I tasted only a mirage.

Yet it seemed as though I tasted nothing but a mirage.

مِحنَةٌ لَيسَ لَها مِثلٌ سِوى

مِحنَةِ الزَورَقِ في طاغي العُبابِ

A torment unlike any,

It is a tribulation unmatched save by

Save that of a boat in raging seas.

The plight of a boat amidst the tyrannical waves.

لَيسَ بي داءٌ وَلَكِنّي اِمرُؤٌ

لَستُ في أَرضي وَلا بَينَ صِحابي

I bear no illness, though I'm a man

I suffer no physical ailment, yet I am a man

Not in my land, nor amidst kith and kin.

Who is neither in his own land nor among his companions.

مَرَّتِ الأَعوامُ تَتلو بَعضَها

لِلوَرى ضِحكي وَلي وَحدي اِكتِئابي

Years passed, each replacing another,

Years have passed, following one after another;

My laughter for the world, my loneliness for me.

My laughter is for the world, but my sorrow is mine alone.

كُلَّما اِستَولَدَت نَفسي أَمَلاً

مَدَّتِ الدُنيا لَهُ كَفَّ اِغتِصابِ

Whenever my soul birthed some hope,

Every time my soul gave birth to a hope,

The world stretched out a usurping hand.

The world reached out a hand to ravage it.

أُفلِتَت مِنّي حَلاواتُ الرُؤى

عِندَما أُفلِتَ مِن كَفّي شَبابي

The sweetness of dreams escaped me

The sweetness of visions slipped away from me

When the vigor of youth slipped through my fingers.

At the moment my youth slipped from my grasp.

بِتُّ لا الإِلهامُ بابٌ مُشرَعٌ

لي وَلا الأَحلامُ تَمشي في رِكابي

Neither inspiration's door is open to me,

I have reached a state where inspiration is no open door,

Nor do dreams walk in my footsteps.

Nor do dreams march in my retinue.

أَشتَهي الخَمرَ وَكَأسي في يَدي

وَأُحِسُّ الروحَ تَعرى في ثِيابي

I crave wine, and my cup is in hand,

I crave wine though my cup is in my hand,

Yet I feel my soul laid bare beneath my robe.

And I feel my soul becoming naked within my clothes.

رَبِّ هَبني لِبِلادي عَودَةً

وَليَكُن لِلغَيرِ في الأُخرى ثَوابي

Lord, grant me return to my homeland,

Lord, grant me a return to my country,

And let my reward in the other be for others.

And let my reward in the hereafter belong to others.

أَيُّها الآتونَ مِن ذاكَ الحِمى

يا دُعاةَ الخَيرِ يا رَمزَ الشَبابِ

You who come from the hot clime,

O you who come from that sanctuary,

O harbingers of good, symbol of youth,

O advocates of good, O symbols of youth.

كَم هَشَشتُم وَهَشَشنا لِلمُنى

وَبَكَيتُم وَبَكَينا في مُصابِ

How we have been broken, and broken you,

How often you rejoiced, and we rejoiced, for our aspirations,

For the wish, weeping in tragedy you and us.

And you wept, and we wept, in times of calamity.

وَاِشتَرَكنا في جِهادٍ أَو عَذابِ

وَاِلتَقَينا في حَديثٍ أَو كِتابِ

And we shared in struggle or torture,

And we shared together in struggle or in torment,

And met in a talk or book.

And we met within a conversation or a book.

وَعَرَفتُم وَعَرَفنا مِثلَكُم

أَنَّما الحَقُّ لِذي ظُفرٍ وَنابِ

And you knew, and we knew like you,

You learned, and we learned just as you did,

That truth is only for the victor and sharp fang.

That rights belong only to those with fang and claw.

كُلُّ أَرضٍ نامَ عَنها أَهلُها

فَهيَ أَرضٌ لِاِغتِصابٍ وَاِنتِهابِ

Every land whose people neglected it,

Every land whose people slumber in neglect

Becomes a land for pillage and plunder.

Is a land destined for usurpation and plunder.

زَعَموا الإِنسانَ بِالعِلمِ اِرتَقى

وَأَراهُ لَم يَزَل إِنسانَ غابِ

They claimed that man ascended through knowledge,

They claimed that man has ascended through knowledge,

Yet I see he's still a beast of the jungle.

Yet I see him still as a man of the jungle.

إِنَّهُ الثَعلَبُ مَكراً وَهوَ كَالس

سَرَطانِ غَدراً وَحَكيمٌ كَالغُرابِ

He is cunning as a fox, a traitor like cancer,

He is a fox in cunning, and acts like the

And wise as a raven.

Crab in treachery, and is wise as the crow.

يا رِفاقي حَطِّموا أَقدَاحَكُم

لَيسَ في الدُنيا رَحيقٌ لِاِنسِكابِ

My friends, smash your cups,

O my comrades, smash your goblets;

There is no nectar left in the world to pour.

There is no nectar left in the world to pour.

جَفَّ ضَرعُ الشِعرِ عِندي وَاِنطَوى

وَلَكَم عاشَ لِمَرعى وَاِحتِلابِ

The udder of poetry has dried up in me,

The udder of poetry has dried up within me and withered,

After feeding for so long on pasture.

After having lived long for grazing and milking.

أَيُّها السائِلُ عَنّي مَن أَنا

أَنا كَالشَمسِ إِلى الشَرقِ اِنتِسابي

You who ask who I am,

O you who ask about me, who I am:

My lineage, like the sun's, is to the East.

I am like the sun; to the East belongs my lineage.

لُغَةُ الفولاذِ هاضَت لُغَتي

لا يَعيشُ الشَدوُ في بَحرِ اِصطِخابِ

The language of steel melted my tongue,

The language of steel has crushed my language;

Passion cannot thrive in tumultuous seas.

Song cannot survive in a sea of clamor.

لَستُ أَشكو إِن شَكا غَيري النَوى

غُربَةُ الأَجسامِ لَيسَت بِاِغتِرابِ

If others complain of estrangement,

I do not complain, though others complain of separation;

It's no estrangement of bodies I lament.

Physical distance is not true exile.

أَنا في نِيويوركَ بِالجِسمِ وَبِالر

روحِ في الشَرقِ عَلى تِلكَ الهِضابِ

My body's in New York, but my soul

I am in New York in body, while my spirit

In the East, upon those plateaus.

Resides in the East, upon those very hills.

في اِبتِسامِ الفَجرِ في صَمتِ الدُجى

في أَسى تِشرينَ في لَوعَةِ آبِ

In the dawn's smile, the dusk's silence,

In the smile of dawn, in the silence of the night,

In autumn's sorrow, and August's agony.

In the sorrow of October, in the burning yearning of August.

أَنا في الغوطَةِ زَهرٌ وَنَدى

أَنا في لُبنانَ نَجوى وَتَصابي

I'm in al-Ghouta, a flower and dew,

In the Ghouta, I am a flower and the dew;

I'm in Lebanon, whispers and braiding.

In Lebanon, I am a whisper and youthful passion.

إِنَّني أَلمَحُ في أَوجُهِكُم

دَفقَةَ النورِ عَلى تِلكَ الرَوابي

I glimpse in your faces

I can glimpse within your faces

A stream of light upon those hilltops.

The burst of light upon those highlands.

وَأَرى أَشباحَ أَيّامٍ مَضَت

في كِفاحٍ وَنِضالٍ وَوِثابِ

And I see the ghosts of bygone days,

And I see the ghosts of days gone by,

Of struggle, resistance, and resolve.

In struggle, in battle, and in uprising.

وَأَرى أَطيافَ عَصرٍ باهِرٍ

طالِعٍ كَالشَمسِ مِن خَلفِ الحِجابِ

And I see the specters of a brilliant era,

And I see the specters of a dazzling age,

Rising like the sun from behind the veil.

Rising like the sun from behind the veil.

لَيتَهُ يُسرِعُ كَي أُبصِرَهُ

قَبلَ أَن أَغدو تُراباً في تُرابِ

Would that it hasten, that I might glimpse it,

Would that it hasten, so that I might see it

Before I become dust among dust.

Before I become dust within dust.