ما لِقَلبِيَ يَلُجُّ مِنَ الخَفَقانِ

لا أَنا عاشِقٌ وَلا أَنا جانِ

What ails my heart that it persists in this wild beating?

For I am neither struck by love, nor have I committed a crime.

أَبتَغي أَن أَقوَلَ شَيئاً فَيَعصا

ني لِسانِيَ وَالسِحرُ تَحتَ لِساني

I seek to speak, but my tongue rebels against

Me, though magic lies hidden beneath it.

أَنا كَالطائِرِ الَّذي اِندَفَقَ السِح

رُ عَلَيهِ فَغَصَّ بِالأَلحانِ

I am like a bird upon whom enchantment poured

Down, until he choked on his own melodies.

أَو كَفُلكٍ في البَحرِ أَوفى عَلَيها

عارِضٌ بَعدَ عارِضٍ هَتّانِ

Or like a vessel at sea, overtaken by storm clouds,

One after another, pouring down rain.

غَلَبَتني عَواطِفُ الصَحبِ حَتّى

صُرتُ في حاجَةٍ إِلى تُرجُمانِ

The affection of my companions has overwhelmed me,

Until I find myself in need of an interpreter.

أَينَ في مَوكِبِ القَريضِ لِوائي

قَد طَواهُ بَيانُهُم وَطَواني

Where is my banner in this grand procession of poetry?

Their eloquence has eclipsed it, and eclipsed me as well.

أَيُّها المادِحونَ خَمري رُوَيداً

مِنكُمُ الخَمرَةُ الَّتي في دِناني

O you who praise my vintage, hold your horses gently,

For the wine within my jars flows originally from you.

مَن أَنا ما صَنَعتُ كَي تَعصُبوا بِالتا

جِ رَأسي وَأَيُّ شَأنٍ شاني

Who am I, and what have I wrought, that you should bind the crown

Upon my head? What rank do I truly hold?

لا اِفتِخارٌ لِنَحلَةٍ وَجَدَت حَق

لاً فَعادَت مِن زَهرِهِ بِالمَجاني

No glory belongs to the bee that found a blooming field,

And returned from its blossoms laden with free nectar.

أَنا مِن رَوضِكُم قَطَفتُ أَزاهي

ري وَمِن بَحرِكُم غَرَفتُ جُماني

It is from your gardens that I plucked my blossoms,

And from your seas that I scooped up my pearls.

إِن أَكُن فِرقَداً فَأَنتُم سَمائيو

أَو هَزاراً فَأَنتُمُ بُستاني

If I am a guiding star, then you are my sky, and

If I am a nightingale, then you are my orchard.

أَيُّ بِدَعٍ إِن أَخرَجَ الحَقلُ لِلنا

سِ صُنوفَ النَباتِ في نَيسانِ

What wonder is it if the field brings forth for the people

All manner of flora in the month of April?

لَيسَ لي مِن قَصائِدي غَيرَ أَو

زانٍ وَلَيسَت أَصيلَةً أَوزاني

I own nothing of my poems but their rhythms,

And even those rhythms are not of my own making.

أُصَدِّقُ الشِعرَ في الحَياةِ وَفيكُم

لَيسَ غَيرَ الأَظلالِ في ديواني

I believe that true poetry lies in life and in you;

There are but shadows within the pages of my book.

ما هُوَ الشِعرُ إِنَّني ما رَأَي

تُ اِثنَينِ إِلّا وَفيهِ يَختَصِمانِ

What is poetry? I have never witnessed

Two people who did not quarrel over its definition.

قالَ قَومٌ وَحيٌ يُنَزِّلُهُ اللَ

هُ وَقَومٌ نَفَثٌ مِنَ الشَيطانِ

Some claim it is a revelation sent down by God,

While others say it is but a whisper from the Devil.

ضَلَّ هَذا وَذا فَما حَفَزَ الإِن

سانَ شَيءٌ لِلشِعرِ كَالإِنسانِ

Both are mistaken; for nothing has stirred man

To poetry as much as humanity itself.

يَعشَقُ المَرءُ ذاتَهُ في سِواهُ

وَيُحِبُّ الإِنسانُ في الأَكوانِ

One loves his own essence reflected in others,

And loves the humanity found within the universe.

أَنا مِن أَجلِهِ بَنَيتُ قُصوري

وَفَرَشتُ الدُروبَ بِالرَيحانِ

It is for this sake that I built my palaces,

And paved the pathways with aromatic basil.

أَنا مِن أَجلِهِ سَكَبتُ خُموري

وَشَدَدتُ الأَوتارَ في عيداني

It is for this sake that I poured out my wines,

And tightened the strings upon my lutes.

أَنا مِن أَجلِهِ رَجِعتُ مِنَ ال

رَوضَةِ في راحَتَيَّ بِالأَلوانِ

It is for this sake that I returned from the

Garden, my palms stained with vibrant colors.

وَاِستَعَرتُ التَهليلَ مِن جَدوَلِ الوا

دي وَضَحِكَ الرُضى مِنَ الغُدرانِ

I borrowed the chanting from the stream of the

Valley, and the laughter of contentment from the pools.

وَمِنَ الشَمسِ في الأَصائِلِ وَالإِص

باحِ ذَوبَ اللُجَينِ وَالعِقيانِ

And from the sun, at twilight and at the break of

Dawn, the molten essence of silver and gold.

وَحَمَلتُ الجَلالَ مِن أَرضِ سورِي

يا إِلَيهِ وَالسِحرَ في لُبنانِ

I carried majesty from the land of Syria to him,

And the enchantment found in Lebanon.

نَحنُ أَهلُ الخَيالِ أَسعَدَ خَلقِ اللَ

هِ حَتّى في حالَةِ الحِرمانِ

We, the folk of imagination, are the happiest of God's creation,

Even when existing in a state of deprivation.

كَم زَهِدنا بِثَروَةٍ مِن نُضارٍ

وَقَنِعنا بِثَروَةٍ مِن أَماني

How often have we renounced a wealth of gold,

And contented ourselves with a wealth of dreams.

وَاِنطَوَينا في مَوكِبٍ مِن ضِياءٍ

وَسَطَعنا في غَمرَةٍ مِن دُخانِ

We wrapped ourselves in a procession of light,

And shone brightly amidst a deluge of smoke.

نَتَراءى عَلى الصَعيدِ صَعاليكَ

وَلَكِن أَرواحُنا في العَنانِ

Upon the earth we may appear as vagabonds,

Yet our souls reside in the highest clouds.

إِن ظَمِئنا وَعَزَّ أَن نَرِدَ الما

ءَ رَوانا تُصَوِّرُ الغُدرانِ

If we thirst and water is denied to us,

The mere vision of pools slakes our thirst.

وَإِذا غابَتِ النُجومُ اِهتَدَينا

بِالرُأى بِالرَجاءِ بِالإيمانِ

And if the stars vanish, we find our way

Through visions, through hope, and through faith.

لا يُعَدُّ الوَرى عَلَينا اللَيالي

نَحنُ قَومٌ نَعيشُ في الأَزمانِ

Let not the world count the passing nights against us;

We are a people who live across the ages.

رُدَّ عَنّي الكُؤوسَ يا أَيُّها ال

ساقي فَروحِيَ نَشوى بِخَمرِ المَعاني

Turn your cups away from me, O cup-

Bearer, for my soul is drunk on the wine of meaning.

بِالقَوافي جَداوِلاً مِن وَفاءِ

وَالأَغاني خَمائِلاً مِن حَنانِ

With rhymes flowing like streams of loyalty,

And songs blooming like groves of tenderness.

زَهَدَ الناسُ حينَ دارَت عَلَيهِم

بِالَّتي في كُؤوسِهِم وَالقَنانِ

The people abstained when you circulated among them

With the liquid contained in their cups and flasks.

أَيُّها اللَيلُ أَنتَ أَبهى مِنَ ال

فَجرِ وَإِن كُنتَ أَسوَدَ الطَيلَسانِ

O Night, you are more splendid than the

Dawn, even if your robe is of the darkest black.

بِالوُجوهِ الزَهراءِ بِالأَنفُ

سِ السَمحاءِ مِن يَعرُبٍ وَمِن غَسّانِ

Splendid with these radiant faces, with these souls

So generous, the kin of Ya'rub and Ghassan.

بِمُلوكِ البَيانِ بِالأَدَبِ ال

رائِعِ بِالمُنشِدينَ بِالأَلحانِ

With the kings of eloquence, with literature

So magnificent, with reciters and their melodies.

بِالغَواني فَدَيتَهُنَّ فَأَسمى ال

شِعرِ وَالفَنِّ في الحَياةِ الغَواني

With the beauties—I would give my life for them—for the highest

Poetry and art in life are found in the fair ones.

هَذِهِ الشَمسُ هَل رَأى الناسُ وَج

هاً مِثلَها في البَهاءِ وَاللَمَعانِ

This sun—have the people ever beheld a face

To match hers in splendor and in brilliance?

تَتَجَلّى لَنا عَلى اليُسرِ وَالعُس

رِ وَنَمشي في نورِها الفَتّانِ

She reveals herself to us in ease and in hard-

Ship, and we walk within her captivating light.

قَد نَسَينا شُعاعَها وَسَناها

عِندَما أَشرَقَت وُجوهُ الحِسانِ

Yet we forgot her rays and her brilliance

When the faces of the beauties shone forth.

قُسِّمَ الدَهرُ أَنتَ يا لَيلُ شَطرٌ

مِن حَياتي وَالعُسرُ شَطرٌ ثانِ

Time has been divided: you, O Night, are one half

Of my life, and hardship is the other half.

أَنتَ عَصرٌ مُستَجمِعٌ في سُوَيعا

تٍ وَدُنيا رَحيبَةٌ في مَكانِ

You are an entire era condensed into a few small

Hours, and a vast world contained within a single place.

قَد تَلاقَت فيكَ القُلوبُ عَل الحُب

بِ تَلاقِيَ الأَجفانِ بِالأَجفانِ

Within you, hearts have convened upon love,

As intimately as the meeting of eyelids in sleep.

لا تَقولوا دَقائِقٌ وَثَوانٍ

ذاهِباتٌ فَالعُمرُ هَذي الثَواني

Do not speak of fleeting minutes and seconds

Passing by; for life consists of these very seconds.

أَنا ما عُشتُ أَذكُرُ بِالشُك

رِ جَميلَ الرِفاقِ وَالأُخوانِ

As long as I live, I shall recall with thanks

The kindness of my companions and brothers.

وَإِذا مُتُّ في غَدٍ فَسَيَأتي

كُم ثَنائِيَ مِن ظُلمَةِ الأَكفانِ

And if I die tomorrow, then my praise will come to you,

Rising from the darkness of my shroud.