مُنذُ اِفتَرَقنا لَم أَذُق وَسَنا

لِلَّهِ ما صَنَعَ الفِراقُ بِنا

Since we parted, I have not tasted pleasure,

Since we parted, I have known no slumber,

Oh God, what separation has done to us!

God knows what separation has done to us.

قُل لِلخَلِيِّينَ الثَناءَ لَكُم

الحُبُّ قَد خَلَقَ العَذابَ لَنا

Tell those who blame that praise be to you,

Say to the carefree: Praise be yours,

Love has created torment for us.

For love has created torment for us.

لَم أَنسَ قَولَتَها الَّتي مَلَأَت

نَفسي أَسىً وَجَوانِحي شَجَنا

I cannot forget her words that filled

I have not forgotten her words that filled

My soul with sorrow and my being with melancholy.

My soul with sorrow and my heart with grief:

ماذا جَنَينا كَي تُفارِقَنا

أَملَلتَنا وَسَإِمتَ صُحبَتَنا

What wrong did we commit that you left us?

"What crime have we committed that you should leave us?

Did we bore you and tire of our company?

Have you grown tired of us and weary of our company?"

فَأَجَبتُها بِلِسانِ مُعتَذِرٍ

لَم تَجني أَنتِ وَلا مَلَلتُ أَنا

I answered her with apologies:

So I answered her with an apologetic tongue:

You did no wrong, nor did I grow weary.

"You have committed no wrong, nor have I grown weary.

لَكِن رَأَيتُ الماءَ مُنطَلِقاً

رَياً فَإِن هُوَ لَم يَسِر أَجَنا

But I saw water flowing,

But I have observed that flowing water

Irrigating, though it did not flow gently.

Remains sweet, but if it ceases to move, it stagnates.

وَالسَيفُ إِن طالَ الثَواءُ بِهِ

يَصدَء وَيُصبِحُ حَدُّهُ خَشِنا

A sword, if worn too long in its sheath

And the sword, if it lingers too long in its sheath,

Grows dull, and its edge becomes blunt.

Rusts, and its edge becomes dull and rough.

وَالسُحُبُ إِن وَقَفَت وَما هَطَلَت

لَم تَروِ أَودِيَةً وَلا قِنَنا

Clouds, if they linger without raining,

And the clouds, if they stand still and pour no rain,

Bring no valleys or gardens to life.

Will quench neither the valleys nor the mountain peaks.

إِنَّ الحَياةَ مَعَ الجُمودِ قَذىً

وَمَعَ الحِراكِ بَشاشَةً وَهَنا

Life with stillness is misery,

Truly, life in stagnation is a painful speck in the eye,

While life with motion is joy and ease.

While in movement, it brings cheer and delight.

لا تَعذِليني فَالقُرى أَرَبي

حَيثُ الحَياةُ رَغائِبٌ وَمُنى

Do not blame me, for villages are places

Do not blame me, for the villages are my desire,

Where life’s pleasures and desires abound,

Where life is full of longing and aspirations.

حَيثُ النُجومُ تَلوحُ سافِرَةً

لَم تَلتَحِف سِتراً وَلا كَفَنا

Where stars shine bright in the open,

Where the stars shimmer unveiled,

Uncovered by any veil or shroud.

Cloaked in neither curtain nor shroud.

وَالفَجرُ مِلءُ جُيوبِهِ أَرَجٌ

وَالطَيرُ يَملَءُ شَدوُها الوُكُنا

Dawn’s pockets are full of fragrances,

And the dawn, with its pockets full of fragrance,

Birds fill their songs in hidden nests.

While the song of birds fills the nests.

وَعَلى الرُبى الأَظلالُ راقِصَةٌ

وَيَدُ النَسيمِ تُداعِبُ الغُصُنا

Shadows dance over the hills,

Upon the hills, the shadows dance,

The hand of the breeze strokes the branches.

And the hand of the breeze caresses the boughs.

وَيحَ المَدائِنِ إِنَّ ساكِنَها

كَالمَيتِ لَم يُطمَر وَلا دُفِنا

But cities’ dwellers are like the dead,

Woe unto the cities! For he who dwells within them

Buried without a grave or funeral.

Is like a corpse neither hidden away nor buried.

كَم رُحتُ أَستَسقي سَحائِبَها

فَهَمَت وَلَكِن مِحنَةً وَضَنى

How often I asked its clouds for rain,

How often have I sought rain from their clouds,

Yet they wavered, granting only trials.

And they poured forth—but only hardship and sickness.

وَلَكَم سَهِرتُ فَلَم أَجِد قَمَراً

وَلَكَم شَدَوتُ فَلَم أَجِد أُذُنا

How often I stayed up but found no moon,

How often have I kept vigil but found no moon,

And how often I sang but found no ear.

And how often have I sung but found no listening ear.

لَو كانَ يَألَفُ بُلبُلٌ غَرِدٌ

قَفَصاً أَحَبَّ الشاعِرُ المُدُنا

Had a caged nightingale loved cages,

If a warbling nightingale could ever grow fond

The poet would have loved cities.

Of a cage, then might the poet love the cities.

كَرِهَ الوَرى طولَ المُقامِ بِها

فَاِستَنبَطوا العَجَلاتِ وَالسُفُنا

They disliked living there for so long

Mankind loathed their long sojourn there,

And invented carts and ships.

So they devised wheels and ships to escape.

وَلَقَد ظَفِرتُ بِمَركَبٍ لَجِبٍ

فَخَرَجتُ أَطوي السَهلَ وَالحُزُنا

I managed to obtain a sturdy vessel

And I have secured a clamorous vessel,

And sailed, traversing plains and sorrow.

Setting forth to traverse both plain and rugged terrain.

وَالشَوقُ يَدفَعُهُ وَيَدفَعُني

حَتّى بَلَغتُ المَنزِلَ الحَسَنا

Yearning drove me and I drove it

Driven by longing, which propels both it and me,

Until I reached a beautiful home.

Until I reached that beautiful abode.

قِف يا قِطارُ عَلى رُبوعِهِم

إِنَّ الأَحِبَّةَ يا قِطارُ هُنا

Stop, oh train, over their lands,

Halt, O train, at their dwellings!

For loved ones, oh train, are here.

For the beloved ones, O train, are here.

هَذي مَنازِلُهُم تَهَشُّ لَنا

أَخطَأتَ بَل هَذي مَنازِلُنا

These are their homes beckoning us!

These are their homes, smiling to welcome us—

No, these are our homes!

Nay, I was mistaken; these are *our* homes.

ما حَلَّ مِنهُم مَوضِعاً أَحَدٌ

إِلّا وَصارَ لِكُلِّنا وَطَنا

None of them occupied a place

For not one of them settles in a place

That did not become a homeland for us all.

Without it becoming a homeland for us all.

سورِيَّةٌ في كانتٍ نَغَمٌ

عَذبٌ وَلِبنانٌ شَذىً وَسَنا

Syria is a tender melody in an oud,

Syria is therein a sweet melody,

Lebanon is fragrant and delight.

And Lebanon is fragrance and radiance.

إِن تَنطَفِئ زُهُرُ النُجومِ فَفي

هَذي الوُجوهِ عَنِ النُجومِ غِنى

If the flowers of stars lose their light,

If the blossoming stars should lose their light,

In these faces the stars find their radiance.

In these faces is a brilliance that replaces the stars.

وَإِذا الحَياةُ طَوَت مَحاسِنَها

عَنّي وَصارَ نَعيمُها مِحَنا

And if life concealed its beauty from me

And if life should withdraw its beauties

And its bliss became torment,

From me, and its bliss turn to tribulation,

مَثَّلتُهُم في خاطِري فَإِذا

دُنيايَ فيها لِلسُرورِ دُنى

I imagined them in my mind, and found

I picture them in my mind, and behold:

My world filled again with joy.

My world contains worlds of joy within.

يا قَومُ هَذا اليَومُ يَومَكُمو

مَن يَنتَهِزهُ يَنَل رِضىً وَثَنا

O people, today is your day,

O people, this day is truly yours;

Seize it and you will gain satisfaction and praise.

He who seizes it shall win contentment and praise.

فَلتَنبَسِط أَيديكُمو كَرَماً

السُحبُ أَنفَعُها الَّذي هَتَنا

So extend your hands generously,

So let your hands be outstretched in generosity,

The clouds that are seized bring rainfall.

For the most useful clouds are those that pour rain.

أَنا لا أَرى مِثلَ البَخيلِ فَتىً

يَضوي وَيَهزُلُِ كُلَّما سَمُنا

I see no youth like the miser

I see no one like the miserly man,

Wasting away and withering whenever he grows fat.

Who wastes away and grows frail the fatter he gets.

مَن لا يُشيدُ بِمالِهِ أَثَراً

أَو يَستَفيدُ بِمالِهِ مِنَنا

One who does not build with his money

He who does not raise a monument with his wealth,

Or benefit us with his wealth,

Or use his fortune to earn gratitude,

وَيَعيشُ مِثلَ العَنكَبوتِ يَعِش

في الناسِ مَذموماً وَمُمتَهِنا

Who lives like a spider, despised and disgraced among men.

Living as the spider lives—

So build and construct, and you will be honored,

He remains among men, blamed and despised.

فَاِبنوا وَشيدوا تُكرَموا رَجُلاً

كَم قَد سَعى مِن أَجلِكُم وَبَنى

For one who strove for your sake and built.

So build and construct, to honor a man

A nation and people seeking refuge in you -

Who has long striven and built for your sake.

وَطَنٌ وَأَهلٌ لائِذونَ بِكُم

أَفَتَخذِلونَ الأَهلَ وَالوَطَنا

Will you abandon your people and nation?

A homeland and kin serve as your refuge;

Your children, O Cotton, have awakened today,

Will you then forsake your kin and your land?

قَطَنا بَنوكِ اليَومَ قَد نَهَضوا

فَتَجَمَّدي بِبَنيكِ يا قَطَنا

So stand tall and proud with your children, O Cotton.

O Qatana, your sons have risen today;

So stand tall and proud with your sons, O Qatana.