أَعَلى عَيني مِنَ الدَمعِ غِشاء

أَم عَلى الشَمسِ حِجابٌ مِن غَمام

My eyes are veiled with tears’ film,

Is there a veil of tears upon my eyes?

Or is it a cloud's veil on the sun?

Or is the sun obscured by a screen of clouds?

غاضَ نورُ الطَرفِ أَم غارَت ذُكاء

لَستُ أَدري غَيرَ أَنّي في ظَلام

The light of my eyes faded, or my mind grew dim,

Has my vision faded, or has the sun itself withdrawn?

I know not, save I am in darkness.

I know nothing, save that I dwell in darkness.

ما لِنَفسي لا تُبالي الطَرَبا

أَينَ ذاكَ الزَهوُ أَينَ الكَلَفُ

How strange my soul is reckless of perturbation

What ails my soul, that it heedeth not delight?

Where is that pride? Where is that pomp?

Where is that former pride, where the fond passion?

عَجَباً ماذا دَهاها عَجَباً

فَهيَ لا تَشكو وَلا تَستَعطِفُ

It amazes me, what made it abject.

A wonder! What calamity has befallen it, a wonder!

It neither complains nor implores.

That it neither complains nor seeks compassion.

لَيتَها ما عَرَفَت ذاكَ النَبا

فَالسَعيدُ العَيشِ مَن لا يَعرِفُ

Would it had not known that beloved!

Would that it had never known those tidings;

Happy is he whose life is unaware.

For he who lives happily is he who does not know.

لا اِبتِسامُ الغيدِ لا رَقصُ الطِلاء

يَتَصَبّاها وَلا شَدوُ الحَمام

No smiles of girls, no rustle of gowns

Neither the smiles of maidens nor the dancing of wine,

Fascinate it, nor birds’ singing;

Can captivate it now, nor the cooing of doves.

بِالكَرى عَنّي وَبي عَنهُ جَفاء

أَنا وَحدي أَم كَذا كُلُّ الأَنام

There is coldness between it and me,

Slumber shuns me, and I am estranged from sleep;

Am I alone, or are all men thus?

Am I alone in this, or is all mankind thus afflicted?

لا أَرى لي مِن هُمومي مَهرَباً

فَهيَ في هَذا وَهَذا وَذَيّاكَ الطَريق

I see no escape from my sorrows,

I see no escape for myself from my sorrows;

They are here, there, and on that path.

They lie in this path, and that, and yonder way.

في الرُبى فَوقَ الرُبى تَحتَ الرُبى

في الفَضاءِ الرُحبِ في الرَوضِ الأَنيق

In the grove, above the grove, below the grove,

Upon the hills, above the hills, beneath the hills,

In the spacious, beautiful garden,

In the vast firmament, in the elegant garden,

في اِهتِزازِ الغُصنِ في نَفحِ الصَبا

في اِنسِجامِ الغَيثِ في لَمحِ البُروق

In the bough’s trembling, the zephyr’s breath,

In the trembling of the branch, in the breath of the zephyr,

In the rain’s harmony, the lightning’s gleam.

In the falling of the rain, in the flash of lightning.

كُلَّما أَومَضَ بَرقٌ أَو أَضاء

بِتُّ أَشكو في الدُجى وَقعَ السَهام

Whenever lightning flashed or shone,

Whenever lightning flickers or illuminates,

I complained of the dark's arrows in the night.

I spend the night in darkness, lamenting the strike of arrows.

في اِبتِسامِ الفَجرِ لِلمَرضى شِفاء

وَاِبتِسامُ الفَجرِ فيهِ سَقام

The smile of dawn gives healing to the sick,

In the smile of the dawn, there is healing for the sick,

Yet the dawn’s smile harbours sickness.

Yet for me, the smile of dawn holds only sickness.

تَعتَريني هَزَّةٌ كَالكَهرَبا

كُلَّما حَنَّ مَشوقٌ لِمَشوق

Whenever a longing stirs for the beloved

A shudder seizes me, like a shock of lightning,

I am seized by a quiver like electricity.

Whenever a yearning heart pines for its beloved.

عَلَّمَت عَيني السُهادَ الكَوكَبا

وَفُؤادي عَلَّمَ البَرقَ الخُفوق

My eyes taught the planets wakefulness

My eyes have taught sleeplessness to the stars,

And my heart taught the lightning passion.

And my heart has taught the lightning how to throb.

ما دَعَوتُ الدَمعَ إِلّا اِنسَكَبا

يا دُموعي أَنتِ لي أَوفى صَديق

I called not the tears save they poured,

No sooner do I summon my tears than they pour forth;

O my tears, you are my truest friend.

O my tears, you are my most faithful friend.

لَم أَرَ كَاليَأسِ يُغري بِالبُكاء

لا وَلا كَالدَمعِ يَشفي المُستَهام

Naught allures me to weep like despair,

I have seen nothing like despair to tempt one to weep,

Nor aught heals the stricken like tears.

Nor anything like tears to heal the tormented soul.

فَاِستَعينوا بِالبُكا يا تُعَساء

كُلَّما اِشتَدَّت بِكُم نارُ الهِيام

So weep, you hapless, whenever the flames of love

So seek solace in weeping, O you wretched ones,

Grow stronger, and words cannot avail.

Whenever the fire of anguish burns fiercely within you.

خِلتُ قَلبي بِالأَسى مُنفَرِدا

وَأَنا وَحدي صَريعُ المِحَن

My heart I left in sorrow alone,

I imagined my heart was solitary in its sorrow,

I and none other the stricken one;

And that I alone was struck down by tribulations.

وَتَوَهَمتُ الأَسى لَم يَجِدا

سَكَناً في غَيرِ قَلبي المُثخَنِ

And I fancied sorrow found no home,

I deluded myself that grief found no place

Save my riven heart and broken frame.

To dwell, save in my heavily wounded heart.

وَظَنَنتُ الدَهرَ مَهما حَقَدا

سَوفَ لا يُفجِعُني في وَطَني

I deemed however spiteful time became,

And I thought that Fate, however spiteful it might be,

It would not agonize me in my dear land.

Would never aggrieve me regarding my homeland.

فَإِذا تِلكَ المَغاني في شَقاء

وَإِذا كُلُّ فُؤادٍ في ضِرام

When hark! Those songs in misery!

But lo, those cherished dwellings lie in misery,

And lo! Each heart in fiery pain!

And lo, every heart is consumed by fire.

ذَهَبَت كُلُّ ظُنوني في الهَواء

وَتَوَلَّت مِثلِ أَضغاثِ المَنام

All my fancies vanished into air,

All my suppositions have vanished into the wind,

Like a dream's absurd imaginings.

And have fled like the confused visions of a dream.

لا تَلُمني إِن أَنا لِمتُ القَضا

وَلُمِ الدَهرَ الَّذي أَخنى عَلَي

Blame me not if I am tried by fate,

Blame me not if I reproach Destiny,

And blame time, who betrayed me.

And blame Time, which has dealt so cruelly with me.

لَم تَدَع فِيَّ اللَيالي غَرَضاً

وَالضَنى لَم يُبقِ مِنّي غَيرَ فَي

The nights left in me no delight,

The nights have left no target within me unscathed,

Grief left me nothing save my bones.

And wasting sickness has left of me nothing but a shadow.

لا تَسَلني أَيَّ خَطبٍ عَرَضا

في الحَشا وَجدٌ وَفي المِقوَلِ عِي

Ask me not what news has come,

Ask me not what calamity has befallen;

For in talk is fear, and words are spies.

In my vitals is anguish, and in my tongue, an inability to speak.

فَلَّ غَربي سالِبُ السَيفِ المَضاء

وَالشَذى الزَهرَةُ وَالعِقدِ النِظام

My west! The sword flashing bright!

My edge has been dulled by that which steals the sword's sharpness;

The flowers and jewels are laid waste.

That which strips the flower of its scent, and the necklace of its order.

وَإِذا ما غَلَبَ اليَأسُ الرَجاء

هانَتِ الشَكوى وَلَم يُجدِ الكَلام

When despair overcomes hope,

And when despair conquers hope,

Complaint is silenced, words do not avail.

Complaint becomes trivial, and speech is of no avail.

بَصَرتُ لَكِن مِثلَما شاءَ الكَمَد

شاعِراً مِن مُقلَتي أَرتَجِلُ

Yet I saw, as God ordained,

I looked out, but only as deep sorrow would have me see,

A poet in me spontaneously chanting,

Improvising verses from the tears of my eyes.

صَدَّ ما كانَ بِنَفسِيَ عَنهُ صَد

وَتَجافانِيَ الكَلامُ المُرسَلُ

My flowing verse blocked what it blocked from my soul

A barrier rose to block what lay within my soul,

While fluent speech forsook me.

And fluent speech forsook me completely.

عَقَدَ الحُزنُ لِسانِيَّ فَاِنَعَقَدَ

أَيُّ سَيفٍ ما اِعتَراهُ الفَلَلُ

Sorrow tied my tongue so it knotted,

Grief tied a knot in my tongue, and it remained bound;

What sword is not nicked by blows?

What sword is there that never suffers a notch?

بي هُمومٍ كُلَّما لاحَ الضِياء

ضَرَبَت فَوقَ عُيوني بِلِثام

With woes, whenever the light shone,

I hold sorrows that, whenever the light appears,

They struck over my eyes a veil.

Cast a heavy veil over my eyes.

وَشُجونٌ كُلَّما جَنَّ المَساء

قَطَعَت بَينَ جُفوني وَالمَنام

And griefs, whenever eve fell,

And anxieties that, whenever the evening darkens,

Cut off my lids from sleep.

Sever all connection between my eyelids and sleep.

لا أَرى غَيرَ خَيالاتٍ تَسير

مُهطِعاتٍ عَن يَسارِيَ وَاليَمين

I see only phantoms pacing

I see nothing but phantoms moving,

To and fro, right and left,

Rushing past me on the left and on the right.

فَوقَ أَرضٍ مِن دِماءٍ وَسَعير

في فَضاءٍ مِن هُمومٍ وَشُجون

Over a land of blood and flame,

Upon a land formed of blood and hellfire,

In a spacious world of cares and sorrows.

Within a void of worries and griefs.

عَجَباً أَينَ اِبتِساماتُ الثُغور

ما لِقَومي كُلُّهُم باكٍ حَزين

Where are the smiles of the trenches?

A wonder! Where are the smiles of the lips?

Why are all my people in tears, sad?

What ails my people, that they are all weeping and sad?

كُلُّ ما أَسمَعُ نَوحٌ وَبُكاء

كُلُّ ما أُبَصِّرُ صَرعى وَرِمام

All I hear is moaning and weeping,

All I hear is wailing and weeping;

All I see is the fallen and afflicted.

All I see are bodies slain and bones in decay.

زُلزِلَت زِلزالَها هَذي السَماء

أَم تَرى فُضَّت عَنِ المَوتى الرَجام

Was this sky shaken by an earthquake?

Has this sky been shaken by its final earthquake?

Or have the tombs disgorged their dead?

Or do you see the gravestones torn away from the dead?

وَقَعَ الأَمرُ الَّذي لا يُدفَعُ

وَجَنى الجاني عَلى تِلكَ الرُبوع

An event happened that cannot be repelled,

The inevitable decree has come to pass,

And the wrongdoer attacked those prairies,

And the oppressor has ravaged these abodes.

وَاِحتَواها نَهِمٌ لا يَشبَعُ

فَاِحتَوى سُكّانَها خَوفٌ وَجوع

A greed that cannot be sated engulfed them

An insatiable glutton has consumed them,

And their people sank in fear and hunger.

So that fear and starvation have consumed the inhabitants.

فَهيَ إِمّا دِمنَةٌ أَو بَلقَعُ

وَهُمُ إِمّا قَتيلٌ أَو صَريع

They are either a bloodstain or a corpse,

The land is now but ruins or barren waste,

Either slain or scattered dust.

And the people are either slain or struck down.

إِن شَكَت قالَت عَلى الدُنيا العَفاء

أَو شَكَوا قالوا عَلى الناسِ السَلام

If she complained, she blamed the times' injustice;

If the land could complain, it would say: "Oblivion upon the world!"

If they complained, they blamed people's spite.

Or if the people complained, they would say: "Farewell to humanity."

عَبِثَ الإِنسانُ فيها وَالقَضاء

آهِ مِن جَورِ اللَيالي وَالطَغام

Man toyed therein, and destiny wrought.

Man and Fate alike have played havoc there;

Alas for the tyranny of nights and oppressors!

Ah, the injustice of the nights and of the tyrants!

رُبَّ طِفلٍ طاهِرٍ ما أَثِما

ماتَ مَوتَ الآثِمِ المُجتَرِمِ

How many a guiltless infant

How many a pure child, who committed no sin,

Died a sinner's death!

Has died the death of a sinful criminal.

كانَ مِمَّن يُرتَجى لَو سَلِما

لِلعُلى لَكِنَّهُ لَم يَسلَمِ

One from whom great deeds were hoped,

He was one of whom great things were hoped, had he survived,

Had he lived unharmed;

For greatness—but he did not survive.

كَوكَبٌ ما كادَ يَبدو في السَما

طالِعاً حَتّى اِختَفى كَالحُلُمِ

A star that had just appeared in the sky,

A star that had scarce begun to rise in the sky,

Shining, when it vanished like a dream;

Ascending, before it vanished like a fleeting dream.

غاضَ مِثلَ الماءِ في الأَرضِ العَراء

ما عَهِدتُ البَدَر مَثواهُ الرُغام

It set like water on the desert earth -

He sank away like water in the barren earth;

I never knew the full moon's abode to be gravel!

I never knew the full moon’s resting place to be the dust.

هَكَذا أَودَت بِهِ ريحُ الشِتاء

زَهرَةٌ لَم تَنفَتِح عَنها الكَمام

Thus the wintry wind destroyed it -

Thus the winter wind has swept him away,

A flower whose buds did not open.

A flower whose bud had not yet opened.

رُبَّ شَيخٍ أَقعَدَتهُ الحادِثاتُ

وَمَشى الأَبيَضُ في لِمَّتِهِ

How many a sheikh did events make homeless!

How many an elder, crippled by calamities,

The old man walked in his rags.

With white hair spreading through his locks,

وَثَناهُ الضَعفُ عَن حَملِ القَناة

وَعَنِ السابِقِ في حَلبَتِهِ

Weakness kept him from carrying his staff

Bowed down by weakness, unable to bear a spear,

And competing as in his youth.

Or to race ahead in his arena.

كانَ مِن قَبلِ حُلولَ الكارِثات

آمِناً كَالنَسرِ في وُكنَتِهِ

He dwelt secure as an eagle in its eyrie,

Before these disasters struck, he was

Remembering the days of his youth,

Secure as an eagle in its nest,

لاهِياً يَذكُرُ أَيّامَ الصَباء

وَلَياليهِ وَفي الثَغرِ اِبتِسام

With a smile about his lips.

Happily recounting the days of his youth,

The tyrant doomed him to death,

And his nights, with a smile upon his lips.

حَكَمَ العاتي عَلَيهِ بِالفَناء

وَأَبى المَقدورُ إِلّا أَن يُضام

And inexorable fate allowed no pity.

But the tyrant decreed his annihilation,

A youth like a fresh, slender bough,

And Destiny refused but that he should be oppressed.

وَفَتىً كَالغُصنِ رَيّانٌ نَضير

تَحلَمُ الخودُ بِهِ إِذ تَحلَمُ

In whose cheek dimples smiled -

And a young man, like a lush and verdant branch,

You could see him amid the houses,

Of whom the maiden dreams when she slumbers,

وَتَراهُ لِلهَوى بَينَ البُدور

فَتراهُ فَوقَهُنَّ الأَنجُمُ

Above them, a star.

Seeing him, in her love, amidst the full moons,

Radiant in mind and heart,

While the stars behold him rising above them.

أَلمَعِيُّ الذِهنِ وَالقَلبِ الكَبير

مَلَكٌ في بُردَتَيهِ ضَيغَمُ

An angel in his cloak -

Brilliant of mind, and great of heart,

He lies unable to wear his cloak,

An angel, yet in his cloak, a lion.

باتَ لا يَقوى عَلى حَملِ الرِداء

مَنكَباهُ وَهوَ في العِشرينَ عام

Yet he is still in his twenties.

He has become too weak to bear the weight of his robe,

He is not ill or broken,

His shoulders failing him, though he is but twenty.

ما بِهِ عَجزٌ وَلا داءٌ عَياء

غَيرَ أَنَّ الجوعَ قَد هَدَّ العِظام

Only hunger has worn his bones.

He suffers no infirmity, nor incurable disease,

And little ones like fledgling birds,

Save that starvation has crumbled his very bones.

وَصِغارٍ مِثلِ أَفراخِ القَطا

يَتَضاغَونَ مِنَ الجوعِ الشَديد

Jostling from dire hunger,

And little ones, like the chicks of the sandgrouse,

Their nerves undermined when want became prolonged,

Wailing from the severity of their hunger.

وَهَنَت أَعصابُهُم لَمّا سَطا

وَالطَوى يوهِنُ عَزَماتِ الأُسود

Hunger enfeebles even lions' determination.

Their strength failed when the Hunger struck,

Have you not seen a necklace snapped?

For hunger saps the resolve of even lions.

أَرَأَيتَ العِقدَ إِمّ اِنفَرَطا

هَكَذا دَمعُهُمُ فَوقَ الخُدود

Thus their tears flow down their cheeks.

Have you seen a necklace when the string snaps?

Their souls were shed like water -

Just so do their tears scatter upon their cheeks.

زُهِقَت أَرواحُهُم في شَكلِ ماء

لِلأَسى لِلَّهِ ما أَقسى الحِمام

How harsh is anguish, O God!

Their souls have departed in the form of water;

God have mercy on the souls of the martyrs!

O sorrow! By God, how cruel is death!

يا رَعى اللَهُ نُفوسَ الشُهَداء

وَسَقى أَجداثُهُم صَوَبُ الغَمام

May He water their bones from the clouds!

May God watch over the souls of the martyrs,

You who stand aloof from that sanctuary,

And may the rain of the clouds water their graves.

أَيُّها الجالونَ عَن ذاكَ الحِمى

إِنَّ في ذاكَ الحِمى ما تَعلَمون

There is in that sanctuary what you know:

O you who have emigrated from that sanctuary,

One oppressed among its free,

Within that sanctuary is what you well know.

ضيمَ في أَحرارِهِ وَاِهتُضِما

وَوَقَفتُمُ مِن بَعيدٍ تَنظُرون

While you stand watching from afar.

Its free people have been oppressed and crushed,

No, nor do we wish to enjoy while others suffer.

While you stand watching from afar.

لا وَمَن شاءَ لَنا أَن نَنعَما

ما كَذا يَجزي الأَبَ البَرَّ البَنون

Not so does the father reward his goodly sons.

No, by Him who willed for us to prosper,

You are all, O people, equal in affliction.

This is not how sons should repay a righteous father.

كُلُّكُم يا قَومُ في البَلوى سَواء

لا أَرى في الرُزءِ لُبناناً وَشام

I see in calamity no Lebanon and Syria.

All of you, O my people, are equal in this calamity;

The nights pass over

In this tragedy, I see no division between Lebanon and Syria.

في رُبى لُبنانَ قَومي الأَصفِياء

وَبِأَرضِ الشامِ أَحبابي الكِرام

With their events, and you laugh.

In the hills of Lebanon are my chosen people,

You learn nothing from past years,

And in the land of Syria are my noble beloveds.

اللَيالي غادِياتٌ رائِحَه

بِالدَواهي وَأَراكُم تَضحَكون

Nor will you be warned tomorrow.

The nights come and go,

O how awful is the event! Yet you play!

Bringing disasters, yet I see you laughing.

ما اِتَّعَظتُم بِالسِنينَ البارِحَه

لا وَلا أَنتُم غَداً مُتَّعِظون

Bury your brawls, O leaders!

Have you not taken heed from the years gone by?

God will raise up concord from the grave.

No, nor will you take heed tomorrow.

يا لِهَولِ الخَطبِ يا لِلفادِحَه

أُمَّةٌ تَفنى وَأَنتُم تَلعَبون

The most hateful clouds to the rain-shower

Oh, the horror of the calamity! Oh, the tragedy!

Are you, rich men, to the destitute.

A nation perishes, while you are at play.

فَاِدفِنوا أَضغانَكُم يا زُعَماء

يَبعَثُ اللَهُ مِنَ القَبرِ الوِئام

A nation dies while you amuse yourselves!

So bury your grudges, O leaders,

Stretch out your hands, O wealthy:

That God may resurrect harmony from the grave.

وَاِبسُطوا أَيدِيَكُم يا أَغنِياء

أَبغَضُ السُحبِ إِلى الصادي الجَهام

The most hateful clouds to the rain-shower

And extend your hands in giving, O wealthy ones;

Are you, rich men, to the destitute.

For the most hateful cloud to the thirsty is the one that brings no rain.