إِثنانِ أَعيا الدَهرُ أَن يَبليهِما

لُبنانُ وَالأَمَلُ الَّذي لِذَويهِ

Two time tried to destroy, but failed:

Two things have baffled Time's attempt to wear them down,

Lebanon, and the hope its people treasure,

Lebanon, and the hope harbored by its kin.

نَشتاقُهُ وَالصَيفِ فَوقَ هِضابِهِ

وَنُحِبُّهُ وَالثَلجُ في وادِهِ

We long for it in summer, on its peaks,

We long for it when Summer rests upon its hills,

And love it with snow in its valleys.

And we love it when snow lies deep within its valleys.

وَإِذا تَمُدُّ لَهُ ذُكاءَ حِبالَها

بِقَلائِدِ العِقيانِ تَستَغويهِ

When its cables reach out with necklaces

And when the sun extends its cords of light towards it,

Of ivory figs, it seduces me.

To seduce it with necklaces of pure gold,

وَإِذا تُنَقِّطُهُ السَماءُ عَشِيَّةً

بِالأَنجُمِ الزَهراءِ تَستَرضيهِ

When the sky sprinkles it with stars at dusk,

And when the evening sky adorns it,

With bright gems it captivates me.

Seeking to please it with radiant stars,

وَإِذا الصَبايا في الحُقولِ كَزَهرِها

يَضحَكن ضِحكاً لا تَكَلُّفَ فيهِ

When girls in the fields are like its flowers,

And when young maidens in the fields, akin to its blossoms,

Laughing with unaffected delight,

Laugh with a laughter free of all pretense,

هُنَّ اللَواتِ قَد خَلَقنَ لِيَ الهَوى

وَسَقَينَني السِحرَ الَّذي أَسقيهِ

They are indulgences created for my love,

They are the ones who birthed passion within me,

And give me the magic I dispense.

And poured for me the very magic that I now pour forth.

هَذا الَّذي صانَ الشَبابَ مِنَ البِلى

وَأَبى عَلى الأَيّامِأَن تَطويهِ

This is what kept youth safe from decay

It is this that has guarded youth against decay,

And refused to let time fold it away,

And refused to let the passing days extinguish it.

وَلَرُبَّما جَبَلٌ أُشَبِّهُهُ بِهِ

مُستَرسِلاً مَعَ رَوعَةِ التَشبيهِ

And sometimes I compare a mountain to it

And perhaps I liken a mountain unto him,

Extolling it with this fine simile,

Carried away by the splendor of the comparison,

فَأَقولُ يَحكيهِ وَأَعلَمُ أَنَّهُ

مَهما سَما هَيهاتِ أَن يَحكيهِ

And say it resembles him, but know

I claim it resembles him, though I know,

However high, it can never match him.

However high it soars, it can never truly mirror him.

يا لَذَّةً مَكذوبَةً يَلهو بِها

قَلبي وَيَعرِفُ أَنَّها تُؤذيهِ

A false pleasure my heart toys with

O false pleasure with which my heart toys,

Knowing it hurts him and harms me.

While knowing full well that it brings it pain.

إِنّي أُذَكِّرُهُ بِذَيّاكَ الحِمى

وَجَمالِهِ وَإِخالَني أُنسيهِ

I remind him of your fevered brow

I remind it of that cherished sanctuary,

And beauty, though it makes me lose him.

And of its beauty, while thinking I might help it forget.

وَإِذا الحَقائِقُ أَحرَجَت صَدرَ الفَتى

أَلقى مَقالِدَهُ إِلى التَمويهِ

And when facts put pressure on the heart of the young man,

And when harsh realities constrict a young man's breast,

He casts his worries to mislead.

He surrenders his reins to illusion's grasp.

وَطَني سَتَبقى الأَرضُ عِندي كُلَّها

حَتّى أَعودَ إِلَيهِ أَرضَ التيهِ

My country will remain all the land to me

My homeland, to me the entire earth shall remain

Until I return to the land I roam.

But a barren wilderness until I return to you.

سَأَلو الجَمالَ فَقالَ هَذا هَيكَلي

وَالشِعرَ قالَ بَنَيتُ عَرشي فيهِ

They asked Beauty, who said: “This is my temple.”

They asked Beauty, and it replied: "This is my temple,"

And Poetry said: “I built my throne in it.”

And Poetry said: "Here I have built my throne."

الأَرضُ تَستَجدي الخِضَمَّ مِياهَهُ

وَكُنوزَهُ وَالبَحرُ يَستَجديهِ

Earth implores its verdure, treasure and sea,

The land begs the vast ocean for its waters,

While the sea implores only him.

And its treasures, yet the sea itself begs from him.

يُمسي وَيُصبِحُ وَهوَ مُنطَرِحٌ عَلى

أَقدامِهِ طَمَعاً بِما يَحويهِ

It retires and wakes still sprawled

Evening and morning, it lies prostrate at his feet,

At its feet coveting what it hides.

Coveting the riches he holds within.

أَعطاهُ بَعضَ وَقارِهِ حَتّى إِذا

اِستَجداهُ ثانِيَةً سَخا بَبَنيهِ

He gave it some of his dignity until when

He lent the sea some of his majesty, until,

It begged again, he snubbed the supplicant.

When it begged again, he generously gave his sons.

لُبنانُ صُن كَنزَ العَزائِمِ وَاِقتَصِد

أَخشى مَعَ الإِسرافِ أَن تَفنيهِ

Lebanon, protect your treasure and be sparing,

Lebanon, guard your treasure of resolve and be sparing;

Lest excess destroy it.

I fear that through extravagance you will exhaust it.

غَيري يَراهُ سِياسَةً وَطَوائِفاً

وَيَظَلُّ يَزعُمُ أَنَّهُ رائيهِ

Others see it as politics and sects

Others see in it only politics and sects,

And insist it is their visionary.

And claim to be the ones who truly see it.

وَيَروحُ مِنإِشفاقِهِ يَبكي لَهُ

لُبنانُ أَنتَ أَحَقُّ أَن تَبكيهِ

Moved by their worry for it they cry,

They go about weeping for it out of pity—

Lebanon, you most deserve their tears.

Lebanon, it is you who are more entitled to weep for them.

لا يُسفِرُ الحُسنُ النَزيهُ لِناظِرٍ

ما دامَ مِنهُ الطَرفُ غَيرَ نَزيهِ

Unblemished beauty reveals nothing

Pure beauty does not unveil itself to a beholder

To a beholder whose glance is not unblemished.

So long as his gaze remains impure.

قُل لِلأُلى رَفَعوا التُخومَ لِأَرضِهِ

ضَيَّقتُمُ الدُنيا عَلى أَهليهِ

Tell the oppressors they raised borders on its land,

Tell those who erected borders around its land:

Cramping the world around its people.

"You have constricted the world for its people."

وَلِمَن يَقولونَ الفِرَنجَ حُماتُهُ

اللَهُ قَبلَ سُيوفِهِم حاميهِ

And those who call the Franks its in-laws,

And to those who say the foreigners are its protectors:

God was its defender before their swords.

"God was its protector long before their swords."

يا صاحِبي يَهنيكَ أَنَّكَ في غَدٍ

سَتُعانِقُ الأَحبابَ في ناديهِ

My friend, it gladdens me that tomorrow

My friend, rejoice, for tomorrow

You will embrace loved ones in its clubs,

You will embrace loved ones in its sanctuary,

وَتَلَذُّ بِالأَرواحِ تَعبَقُ بِالشَذى

وَتَهُزُّكَ الأَنغامُ مِن شاديهِ

Savor spirits redolent with fragrance,

And find delight in souls wafting with fragrance,

And music from its musicians move you.

And be stirred by the melodies of its singer.

إِن حَدَثوكَ عَنِ النَعيمِ فَأَطنَبوا

فَاِشتَقتُهُ لا تَنسَ أَنَّكَ فيهِ

If they speak to you of delights, elaborate,

If they speak to you of paradise and elaborate at length,

For I miss it. Do not forget you are in it.

And you yearn for it—do not forget that you are already within it.