سَيَّرتُ في فَجرِ الحَياةِ سَفينَتي

وَاِختَرتُ قَلبِيَ أَن يَكونَ إِمامي

I sailed my ship in the dawn of life

I launched my vessel at the dawn of life,

And chose my heart to be my guide

And chose my heart to be my guide;

فَجَرَت عَلى الأَمواجِ قَصراً مِن رُأى

مِلءَ الفَضا مِلءَ المَدى المُتَرامي

It sailed like a palace on the waves

It sailed upon the waves, a palace made of visions,

Filling space, filling the endless horizon

Filling the void, filling the sprawling expanse.

وَأَقَلَّ مِنها البَحرُ حينَ أَقَلَّها

دُنيا مِنَ الأَضواءِ وَالأَنغامِ

The sea bore it gently when it bore it

And the sea bore within it, as it bore the ship,

A world of lights and melodies

A world composed of lights and melodies.

وَمَشى الخَيالُ عَلى الحَياةِ بِسِحرِهِ

فَإِذا الهَوى في الماءِ وَالأَنسامِ

And imagination walked on life with its magic

Imagination walked upon life with its magic,

And there was passion in the water and breeze

Transforming love into water and gentle breezes.

وَإِذا الرِمالُ أَزاهِرٌ فَوّاحَةٌ

وَالشَطُّ هَيكَلُ شاعِرٍ رَسّامِ

And the sands were fragrant blossoms

Suddenly the sands became fragrant blossoms,

And the shore a painter's temple

And the shore, a temple for a painting poet.

وَإِذا العَبابُ مَلاعِبٌ وَمَراقِصٌ

وَإِذا أَنا مِن صَبوَةٍ لِغَرامِ

And the spindrift were games and dances

The surging waves became playgrounds and dance halls,

And I was drunk with desire

And I drifted from youthful fancy to deep infatuation.

أَتَلَقَّفُ اللَذاتِ غَيرَ مُحاذِرٍ

وَأَعُبُّ في الزَلّاتِ وَالآثامِ

I grasped pleasures heedlessly

Snatching up pleasures without caution,

And reveled in sins and misdeeds

And gulping down errors and sins.

لا أَكتَفي وَأَخافُ أَنّي أَكتَفي

فَكَأَنَّما في الاِكتِفاءِ حِمامي

Never content, fearing I'd be content

Never sated, yet fearing that I might be sated,

As though fulfillment would ruin me

As if in contentment lay my very death.

وَكَأَنَّ هُدبِيَ أَن تَطولَ ضَلالَتي

وَكَأَنَّ رَبّي أَن يَدومَ أُوامي

As though it was my fate for my misguidance to last

As though my aim was for my delusion to endure,

As though it was my Lord's will my blindness endure

And my prayer was that my thirst should last forever.

مَرَّت بِيَ الأَعوامُ تَتلو بَعضَها

وَأَنا كَأَنِّيَ لَستُ في الأَعوامِ

The years passed, following each other

The years passed me by, one trailing the other,

While I was as if not in the years

While I felt as though I existed outside of time.

كَالمَوجِ ضِحكي كَالضِياءِ تَرَنُّحي

كَالفَجرِ زَهوي كَالخِضَمِّ عُرامي

My laughter like a wave, my sigh like light

My laughter like the waves, my swaying like the light,

My bloom like dawn, my features rugged

My pride like the dawn, my ferocity like the ocean.

حَتّى إِذا هَتَفَ المَشيبُ بِلِمَّتي

وَدَنَت يَدُ الماحي إِلى أَحلامي

Until when old age called to me

Until, when gray hair cried out in my locks,

And the hand of erasure neared my dreams

And the hand of the Eraser drew near to my dreams,

صَرَخَ الحِجى بي ساخِطاً مُتهَكِماً

هَذا الغِنى شَرٌّ مِنَ الإِعدامِ

Reason shrieked at me, angry and mocking

Reason screamed at me, indignant and mocking:

“This richness was worse than nothingness”

"This wealth is worse than destitution!"

أَسلَمتَني لِلقَلبِ وَهوَ مُضَلَّلٌ

فَأَدرَّني وَأَضَرَّكَ اِستِسلامي

You surrendered me to a misguided heart

"You surrendered me to the Heart, a misguided guide,"

So it led me astray and your surrender ruined me

"So it harmed me, and my surrender harmed you."

يا صاحِبي أَطلِقني مِن سِجنِ الرُأى

أَنا تائِهٌ أَنا جائِعٌ أَنا ظامي

Oh my companion, free me from the prison of sight

"O my friend, release me from the prison of visions;"

I am lost, I am hungry, I am thirsty

"I am lost, I am hungry, I am parched."

وَأَرادَ عَقلي أَن يَقودَ سَفينَتي

لِلشَطِّ في بَحرِ الحَياةِ الطامي

And reason wanted to steer my ship

So my Reason sought to steer my ship

To the shore in the surging sea of life

Toward the shore in life's flooding sea.

فَطَوتِ أَعلامَ الهَوى وَهَجَرتُها

وَنَسَيتُ حَتّى أَنَّها أَعلامي

So I furled the flags of passion and left them

I furled the banners of passion and abandoned them,

Forgetting they were even my flags

Forgetting even that they were once my own.

وَحَسِبتُ آلمي اِنتَهَت لَمّا اِنتَهى

فَإِذا النِهايَةُ أَعظَمُ الآلامِ

And I thought my pain had ended when it ended

I thought my pains had ended when passion ceased,

But the ending was the greatest pain

But behold, the end was the greatest pain of all.

وَإِذا الطَريقُ مَخاوِفٌ وَوَساوِسٌ

وَإِذا أَنا مِن هَبوَةٍ لَقَتّامِ

And the road was fears and doubts

Suddenly the path became fears and dark whispers,

And I was in a flurry of darkness

And I moved from a haze into utter gloom.

أَبغي الثَراءَ وَلَم يَكُن مِن مَطلَبي

وَأَرى الجَمالَ بِناظِرٍ مُتَعامِ

I seek wealth though it was never my pursuit

I seek wealth, though it was never my desire,

And see beauty with a blind eye

And I look upon beauty with a blinded eye.

وَأُشيدُ مِثلَ الناسِ مَجداً زائِفاً

وَأَشُدُّ حَولَ الروحِ ثَوبَ رُغامِ

And build, like people, an edifice of false glory

I build, like others, a counterfeit glory,

And wrap tight the cloak of pretense around my soul

And wrap around my soul a shroud of dust.

فَإِذا أَنا وَالأَرضُ مِلكِيَ وَالسَما

قَد صِرتُ عَبدَ الناسِ عَبدَ حُطامي

So that I and the earth and sky

So even if the earth and sky were mine,

Became slaves of people, slaves of rubble

I have become a slave to people, a slave to my own wreckage.

فَتَضايَقَ القَلبُ السَجينُ وَقالَ لي

يا أَيُّها الجاني قَتَلتَ هَيامي

Then my imprisoned heart grew narrow and said to me

Then the imprisoned Heart grew weary and spoke to me:

“Oh you villain, you killed my vitality!”

"O perpetrator, you have murdered my passion."

القَفرُ بِالأَحلامِ رَوضٌ ضاحِكٌ

فَإِذا تَلاشَت فَالرِياضُ مُوامي

A dreamful wasteland is a laughing meadow

"With dreams, the wasteland is a laughing garden,"

When dreams fade, meadows are tombs

"But when they vanish, even gardens turn to deserts."

أَينَ العُيونُ تُذيبُني حَرَكاتُها

وَتَموتُ في سَكَناتِها آلامي

Where are the eyes that melted me with their motions

"Where are the eyes whose movements melt me,"

And in their stillness my pains died?

"And in whose stillness my sorrows die?"

وَأُطِلُّ مِن أَهدابِها السَكرى عَلى

ظِلٍّ وَأَنداءٍ وَزَهرٍ نامِ

I'd look from their sleepy lids at

"From whose drunken lashes I would look out upon"

Shade, echoes, and slumbering blossoms

"Shade, dew, and blossoming flowers."

لَمّا عَصاني أَن أُشِبَّ ضَرامَها

أَعيا عَلَيها أَن تَشِبَّ ضَرامي

When their branches refused to be lit by me

"When I could no longer kindle its fire,"

I was too weak to light their branches

"It became too weary to kindle mine."

الخَمرُ مِلءُ الجامِ لَكِن قَد مَضى

شَوقي إِلى الخَمرِ الَّتي في الجامِ

Wine fills the cup but my craving

"The cup is full of wine, yet gone is"

For the wine in the cup has passed

"My longing for the wine within the cup."

أَسلَمتَني لِلعَقلِ وَهوَ مُضَلَّلٌ

فَأَضَرَّني وَأَضَرَّكَ اِستِسلامي

You surrendered me to misguided reason

"You surrendered me to Reason, a misguided guide,"

So it ruined me and your surrender ruined me

"So it harmed me, and my surrender harmed you."

أُنظُر أَلَستَ تَراكَ في أَوهامِهِ

أَشقى وَأَتعَسَ مِنكَ في أَوهامي

Look, don't you see yourself in its delusions

"Look! Do you not see yourself, in its illusions,"

More miserable and wretched than me in my delusions?

"More wretched and miserable than you were in mine?"

المالُ مَن ذا يَشتَريهِ كُلَّهُ

مِنّي بِلَيلِ صَبابَةٍ وَغَرامِ

Who will buy from me, in a night of youth and passion

"Who would buy all this wealth,"

All of this money?

"From me, in exchange for one night of yearning and love?"

يا صاحِبي أَطلِقني مِن سِجنِ النُهى

أَنا تائِهٌ أَنا جائِعٌ أَنا ظامي

Oh my companion, free me from the prison of censure

"O my friend, release me from the prison of the intellect;"

I am lost, I am hungry, I am thirsty

"I am lost, I am hungry, I am parched."

لا تَسأَلوني اليَومَ عَن قيثارَتي

قيثارَتي خَشَبٌ بِلا أَنغامِ

Ask me not today about my lyre

Do not ask me today about my lyre;

My lyre is wood without melody

My lyre is but wood devoid of melody.

يا شاعِراً غَنّى فَرَدَّ لِيَ الصِبا

فَإِذا مَواكِبُهُ تَسيرُ أَمامي

Oh poet, sing and give me back my youth

O poet who sang and restored my youth,

With your processions marching ahead of me

So that I saw its processions marching before me,

إِنّا اِلتَقَينا في الشَبابِ وَفي الهَوى

في حَومَتَينِ الشِعرِ وَالإِلهامِ

We met in youth and in passion

We met in youth and in passion,

In the rapture of poetry and inspiration

In the arenas of poetry and inspiration.

وَسَنَلتَقي وَإِنِ اِفتَرَقنا في غَدٍ

في حُبِّ لُبنانٍ وَحُبِّ الشامِ

And we will meet, though we part tomorrow

And we shall meet, even if we part tomorrow,

In love of Lebanon and love of Syria

In the love of Lebanon and the love of Syria.

وَسَتَلتَقي روحي وَروحِكَ بَعدَما

تَفنى الهَياكِلُ في الإِلَهِ السامي

And after forms perish, my soul and your soul

And my soul and yours shall meet,

Will meet in the Sublime God

After bodies perish, in the Sublime God.

أَهلاً بِذي الأَدَبِ الصُراحِ المُصطَفى

بِالفاتِحِ الرَوحِيِّ بِالمِقدامِ

Greetings O gentleman of frankness, chosen one

Welcome to the master of pure, choice literature,

Spiritual conqueror, daring one

To the spiritual conqueror, the bold pioneer.

بِالشاعِرِ الغِرّيدِ في أَلحانِهِ

عَبَقُ الرَبيعِ وَنُضرَةُ الأَكمامِ

Poet who trills in his melodies

To the singing poet, in whose melodies lie

The fragrance of spring and greenness of meadows

The fragrance of spring and the bloom of buds.

هُوَ إِن ذَكَرتَ الشِعرَ مِن أُمَرائِهِ

وَإِذا ذَكَرتَ المَجدَ فَهوَ عِصامي

If you mention poetry, he is its prince

If you speak of poetry, he is among its princes,

And if you mention glory, he is its pillar

And if you speak of glory, he is self-made.