أَبصَرتُها وَالشَمسُ عِندَ شُروقِها

فَرَأَيتُها مَغمورَةً بِالنارِ

I saw her as the sun rose at dawn

I beheld her as the sun began its rise,

And I saw her immersed in fire

And saw her submerged in a flood of fire.

وَرَأَيتُها عِندَ الغُروبِ غَريقَةً

في لُجَّةٍ مِن سُندُس وَنُضّارِ

And I saw her at sunset drowning

I saw her at sunset, drowning deep,

In a sea of silk and blossoms

In a fathomless sea of green silk and gold.

وَرَأَيتُها تَحتَ الدُجى فَرَأَيتُها

في بُردَتَينِ سَكينَة وَوَقارِ

And I saw her under the darkness so I saw her

I saw her beneath the dark of night, and saw her then

In two robes, tranquility and dignity

Cloaked in two mantles: serenity and grace.

فَتَنَبَّهَت في النَفسِ أَحلامُ الصِبى

وَغَرِقتُ في بَحرٍ مِنَ التَذكارِ

So the dreams of the boy were awakened in myself

Then the dreams of youth awakened in my soul,

And I drowned in a sea of memories

And I sank into a sea of memories.

نَفسي لَها مِن جَنَّةٍ خَلّابَةٍ

نَسَجَت غَلائِلَها يَدُ الأَمطارِ

My soul has for her from an enchanting paradise

My soul yearns for such a captivating paradise,

Whose vines were woven by the hand of rain

Whose sheer veils were woven by the hands of rain.

أَنّى مَشَيتَ نَشَقتَ مِسكاً أَزفَراً

في أَرضِها وَسَمِعتَ صَوتَ هَزارِ

Wherever you walked, musk wafted

Wherever you walk, you inhale the sharp scent of musk,

In her land you heard the sound of chatter

In her lands, and hear the nightingale's song.

ذاتَ الجِبالِ الشامِخاتِ إِلى العُلا

يا لَيتَ في أَعلى جِبالِكِ داري

O mountain peaks reaching into the sky

She who possesses mountains towering toward the heights—

I wish my home was at your highest peak

Oh, how I wish my home were upon your highest peaks.

لِأَرى الغَزالَةَ قَبلَ سُكّانِ الحِمى

وَأُعانِقُ النَسَماتِ في الأَسحارِ

To see the gazelle before the guards of the sanctuary

To see the rising sun before the dwellers of the valley,

And embrace the breeze at dawn

And to embrace the breezes in the hours of dawn.

لِأَرى رُعاتَكِ في المُروج وَفي الرُبى

وَالشِتاءَ سارِحَةً مَعَ الأَبقارِ

To see your shepherds in the meadows and on the hills

To see your shepherds in the meadows and on the hills,

While winter wanders with the cows

And the flocks grazing alongside the herds.

لِأَرى الطُيورَ الواقِعاتِ عَلى الثَرى

وَالنَخلَ حائِمَةً عَلى الأَزهارِ

To see the birds fallen on the ground

To see the birds alighting upon the soil,

And the palms hovering over the flowers

And the bees hovering over the blooms.

لِأُساجِلَ الوَرقاءَ في تَغريدِها

وَتَهُزُّ روحي نَفحَةُ المِزمارِ

To compete with the swallows in their singing

To vie with the dove in her crooning melody,

And my soul stirs to the breath of the flute

While the breath of the flute stirs my very spirit.

لِأُسامِرَ الأَقمارَ في أَفلاكِها

تَحتَ الظَلامِ إِذا غَفا سُمّاري

To chat with the moons in their orbits

To converse with the moons in their orbits,

Under the darkness when my friend sleeps

Under the darkness, when my companions drift to sleep.

لِأُراقِبَ الدَلوارَ في جَرَيانِهِ

وَأَرى خَيالَ البَدرِ في الالدَلوارِ

To observe the water wheel in its flow

To watch the Delaware River in its flowing course,

And see the image of the moon in the water wheel

And see the phantom of the full moon in the Delaware.

بِئسَ المَدينَةُ إِنَّها سِجنُ النُهى

وَذَوي النُهى وَجَهَنَّمُ الأَحرارِ

How wretched is the city, it is truly prison of prohibitions

Wretched is the city! It is a prison for the mind,

And for those prohibited and hell for the free

And for men of intellect; it is a hell for the free.

لا يَملُكُ الإِنسانَ فيها نَفسَهُ

حَتّى يُرَوِّعُهُ ضَجيجُ قِطارِ

One cannot own himself in it

Man does not possess his own soul therein,

Until the screeching of trains terrifies him

Before the roar of a train terrifies him.

وَجَدَت بِها نَفسي المَفاسِد وَالأَذى

في كُلِّ زاوِيَة وَكُلِّ جِدارِ

My soul found in it corruption and harm

My soul found within it corruption and harm,

In every corner and every wall

In every corner and upon every wall.

لا يَخدَعَنَّ الناظِرينَ بِروجُها

تِلكَ البُروجُ مَخابِئٌ لِلعارِ

Its towers do not deceive the onlookers

Let not its towers deceive the beholders;

Those towers are hiding places for shame

Those towers are but hiding places for shame.

لَو أَنَّ حاسِدَ أَهلِها لاقى الَّذي

لاقَيتُ لَم يَحسُد سِوى بَشّارِ

If the envious of its people met those

If one envious of its people encountered what I have met,

I have met, he would envy only good news

He would envy no one but the blind poet Bashar.

غُفرانَكَ اللَهُمَّ ما أَنا كافِرٌ

فَلِمَ تُعَذِّبُ مُهجَتي بِالنارِ

Forgive me God, I am no unbeliever

Your forgiveness, O God, I am no unbeliever,

Why then do you torture my mind with fire?

So why do You torment my soul with this fire?

لِلَّهِ ما أَشهى القُرى وَأَحَبَّها

لِفَتىً بَعيدِ مَطارِحِ الأَفكارِ

By God, I do not desire cities or love them

By God, how delightful are the villages, and how dear,

For a young man far from thoughts

To a youth whose thoughts wander to distant realms.

إِن شِئتَ تَعرى مِن قُيودِكَ كُلَّها

فَاِنظُر إِلى صَدرِ السَماءِ العاري

If you want to strip away all your shackles

If you wish to be stripped of all your chains,

Then look to the bare chest of the sky

Then look to the bare chest of the sky.

وَاِمشِ عَلى ضَوءِ الصَباحِ فَإِن خَبا

فَاِمشِ عَلى ضَوءِ الهِلالِ الساري

And walk in the light of dawn, and if it wanes

Walk by the light of the morning, and if it fades,

Then walk in the light of the rising crescent

Then walk by the light of the traveling crescent moon.

عِش في الخَلاءِ تَعِش خَلِيّاً هانِئً

كَاطَيرِ حُرّاً كَالغَديرِ الجاري

Live in the wilderness and you will live happy

Live in the open void; you will live free and content,

Like a free bird, like a flowing stream

Like a free bird, like the flowing stream.

عِش في الخَلاءِ كَما تَعيشُ طُيورُهُ

الحُرُّ يَأبى العَيشَ تَحتَ سِتارِ

Live in the wilderness as its birds live

Live in the wild as its birds live;

The free soul refuses to live behind a veil

The free soul refuses to live beneath a veil.

شَلّالُ مِلفِرد لا يَقَرُّ قَرارَهُ

وَأَنا لِشَوقي لا يَقِرُّ قَراري

Like a waterfall whose sparkle is like

The Milford Waterfall finds no resting place,

The polished sword, and it has the clamor of racing rocks

And I, for my longing, find no rest.

فيهِ مِنَ السَيفِ الصَقيلِ بَريقُهُ

وَلَهُ ضَجيجُ صُخورَهُ الجَرّارِ

It eternally sprinkles its rocks with its tears

In it is the glitter of a polished sword,

As if to wash them of sins

And it possesses the roar of dragging boulders.

أَبَداً يَرُشُّ صُخورَهُ بِدُموعِهِ

أَتُراهُ يَغسِلُها مِنَ الأَوزارِ

So that when its groans scatter dispersed

Forever it sprinkles its rocks with its tears;

You see around the base something like dust

Do you suppose it is washing them of sins?

فَإِذا تَطايَرَ مَأوهُ مُتَناثِراً

أَبصَرتَ حَولَ السَفحِ شِبهَ غُبارِ

Like the sea with current, it pushes its foam

And when its water flies, scattering apart,

And rages like the roaring beast with claws

You see around the foothills something like dust.

كَالبَحرِ ذي التَيّارِ يَدفَعُ بَحضَهُ

وَيَصولُ كَالضِرغامِ ذي الأَظفارِ

From a peak like a bosom which youth has seen

Like a sea with a current driving itself,

A bosom overflowing with streaming brightness?

Attacking like a lion with bared claws.

مِن قِمَّةٍ كَالنَهدِ أَيُّ فَتىً رَأى

نَهداً يَفيضُ بِعارِضٍ مِدرارِ

It is as though it is a pulpit and he is

From a peak shaped like a breast—what youth has ever seen

A prayer niche between the ranks of revolutionaries

A breast overflowing with such torrential rain?

فَكَأَنَّما هِيَ مِنبَر وَكَأَنَّهُ

ميرابُ بَينَ عَصائِبِ الثُوّارِ

Whoever has not witnessed it in its moments of outburst

It is as if the peak is a pulpit, and the waterfall

Does not know how the arrogant rage

Is Mirabeau standing among bands of revolutionaries.

مَن لَم يُشاهِد ساعَة وَثَباتِهِ

لَم يَدرِ كَيفَ تَغَطرُسُ الجَبّارِ

I always assumed every silence wise

He who has not witnessed the hour of its leap

Until I saw that blabbermouth

Does not know how the mighty display their pride.

ما زِلتُ أَحسَبُ كُلَّ صَمتٍ حِكمَةً

حَتّى بَصُرتُ بِذَلِكَ الثَرثارِ

Before seeing him I prepared a fleeting stand

I used to deem every silence to be wisdom,

For an ignoramus, but it became a stand of insolence

Until I set eyes upon that chatterbox.

أَعدَدتُ قَبلَ أَراهُ وَقفَةَ عابِرٍ

لاهٍ فَكانَت وِقفَةَ اِستِعبارِ

O sister of the eternal abode, O mother of villages

I prepared, before seeing it, the stance of a passerby,

O goddess of forests and rivers

Careless, but it became a stance of weeping awe.

يا أُختَ دارِ الخُلدِ يا أُمَّ القُرى

يا رَبَّةَ الغابات وَالأَنهارِ

By God, I have spent a day in you

O sister of the Abode of Eternity, O mother of villages,

With the finest group of supporters

O mistress of the forests and the rivers.

لِلَّهِ يَومٌ فيكِ قَد قَضَّيتُهُ

مَعَ عُصبَةٍ مِن خيرَةِ الأَنصارِ

We walked on those plateaus while below us

By God, a day I spent within you,

Was a sea of trees and vegetation

With a band of the finest companions...

نَمشي عَلى تِلكَ الهِضاب وَدونَنا

بَحرٌ مِنَ الأَغراس وَالأَشجارِ

In it the eye flows between brooks

We walk upon those plateaus, while below us

And creeks, paths and houses

Lies a sea of saplings and trees.

تَنسابُ فيهِ العَينُ بَينَ جَداوِلٌ

وَخَمائِل وَمَسالِك وَدِيارِ

Now on an impregnable, firm mountain

The eye glides within it, between streams,

Now on a cliff slipping down

And thickets, and pathways, and dwellings.

آناً عَلى جَبَلٍ مَكينٍ راسِخٍ

راس وَآناً فَوقَ جُرفٍ هارِ

The rocks plummet beneath us by the Creator

At times upon a firm, rooted mountain,

And we almost plummet with the rocks

And at times above a crumbling cliff.

تَهوي الحِجارَةُ تَحتَنا مِن خالِقٍ

وَنَكادُ أَن نَهوي مَعَ الأَحجارِ

Had you seen us plunging from the heights

Stones fall beneath us from the precipice,

You would have laughed at us the laughter of ridicule

And we nearly fall along with the stones.

لَو كُنتَ شاهِدَنا نُهَروِلُ مِن عَلٍ

لَضَحَكتَ مِنّا ضِحكَةَ اِستِهتارِ

The wind still and we reckon we are

Had you seen us rushing down from on high,

Plunging ahead with the hurricane

You would have laughed at us with reckless mockery.

الريحُ ساكِنَة وَنَحنُ نَظُنُّنا

لِلخَوفِ مُندَفِعينَ مَع إِعصارِ

And the earth fixed and we imagine it

The wind is still, yet we imagine ourselves,

Shuddering with the blow of the passing breeze

Out of fear, being driven by a hurricane.

وَالأَرضُ ثابِتَة وَنَحنُ نَخالُها

تَهتَزُّ مَع دَفعِ النَسيمِ الساري

We continued to support each other as

The earth is fixed, yet we fancy it

Travelers cling together on journeys

Trembling with the push of the passing breeze.

ما زالَ يَسنُدُ بَعضُنا بَعضاً كَما

يَتَماسَكُ الرُوّادُ في الأَسفارِ

And this one braces another by his buttons

We continued to support one another, just as

So the other braces me by my buttons

Pioneers hold together in their travels.

وَيَشُدُّ هَذا ذاكَ مِن أَزرارِهِ

فَيَشُدُّني ذَيّاكَ مِن أَزراري

Until we returned safe and sound, had not

This one pulls that one by his buttons,

God extended our lifespans

And that one pulls me by mine.

حَتّى رَجَعنا سالِمين وَلَم نَعُد

لَو لَم يَمُدَّ اللَهُ في الأَعمارِ

And I have stood facing your river at dawn

Until we returned safe—and we would not have returned

While the birds were in nests and dens

Had God not extended our spans of life.

وَلَقَد وَقَفتُ حَيالَ نَهرِكِ بُكرَةً

وَالطَيرُ في الوَكَنات وَالأَوكارِ

Awed, as though I were in a temple

I stood before your river in the early morning,

And it was a scripture of scriptures

While the birds were still in their nests and dens.

مُتَهَيِّباً فَكَأَنَّني في هَيكَلٍ

وَكَأَنَّهُ سِفرٌ مِنَ الأَسفارِ

I was not one who loves silence, but

Filled with awe, as if I were in a temple,

My tongue was tied by awe of eras

And as if it were a scripture from the holy books.

ما كُنتُ مَن يَهوى السُكوت وَإِنَّما

عَقَلَت لِساني رَهبَةُ الأَدهارِ

The breeze passed by it, so my pen passed

I was never one to love silence, yet

Line after line on lines from it

The awe of the ages bound my tongue.

مَرَّ النَسيمُ بِهِ فَمَرَّت مُقلَتي

مِنهُ بِأَسطارٍ عَلى أَسطارِ

So the heart is busy with its memories

The breeze passed over it, and so my eye passed

And vision hurtling with the current

Over it, reading line after line.

فَالقَلبُ مُنشَغِلٌ بِتَذكاراتِهِ

وَالطَرفُ مُندَفِعٌ مَعَ التَيّارِ

Until above those hills rose

The heart is occupied with its memories,

The sun of dawn gleaming like a gold coin

And the gaze rushes forth with the current.

حَتّى تَجَلَّت فَوقَ هاتيكَ الرُبى

شَمسُ الصَباحِ تَلوحُ كَالدينارِ

On its banks is a purple cloak

Until there appeared above those hills

And on its vanishing point a cloak of springtime

The morning sun, looming like a gold dinar.

فَعَلى جَوانِبِهِ وِشاحُ زَبَرجَدٍ

وَعَلى غَوارِبِهِ وِشاحِ بَهارِ

Had your eyes seen in it their fantasy

Upon its banks lies a sash of emerald,

You would have seen a mirror without frame

And upon its crests, a sash of blossoms.

لَو أَبصَرَت عَيناكَ فيهِ خَيالَها

لَرَأَيتَ مِرآةً بِغَيرِ إِطارِ

I confided my secrets to it at dawn

If your eyes beheld its reflection therein,

And I retreated into its depths with my secrets

You would have seen a mirror without a frame.

يَمَّمتُهُ سَحرا وَأَسراري مَعي

وَرَجَعتُ في أَعماقِهِ أَسراري

I have envied the people of villages for villages

I sought it at dawn, my secrets with me,

And congratulated even the flute player

And I returned, leaving my secrets in its depths.

إِنّي حَسَدتُ عَلى القُرى أَهلَ القُرى

وَغَبَطتُ حَتّى نافِخَ المِزمارِ

A night and morning between brethren of purity

I envied the village folk for their villages,

Was not more beautiful than my night and day

And I envied even the blower of the flute.

لَيل وَصُبحٌ بَينَ إِخوانِ الصَفا

ما كانَ أَجمَلَ لَيلَتي وَنَهار

A night and a morning among the Brethren of Purity—

How beautiful were my night and my day!