قالَت لِجارَتِها يَوماً تُسائِلُها

عَنّي وَفي طَرفِها الوَسنانِ أَشجانُ

One day she spoke to her neighbor, asking about me,

While in her languid glance lay deep sorrows.

ما بالُ هَذا الفَتى في الدارِ مُعتَزِلاً

كَما تَوَحَّدَ نُسّاكٌ وَرُهبانُ

"What ails this young man, secluded in his home,

Solitary as ascetics and monks are known to be?

يَأتي المَساءُ عَلَيهِ وَهوَ مُكتَإِبٌ

وَيَرجِعُ اللَيلُ عَنهُ وَهوَ حَيرانُ

Evening descends upon him while he is despondent,

And the night departs leaving him in bewilderment.

يَمُرُّ بِالقُربِ مِنّا لا يُكَلِّمُنا

وَلِلحَديثِ مَجالٌ وَهوَ مِلسانُ

He passes near us yet offers no word,

Though there is room for talk, and he is eloquent.

وَإِن نُكَلِّمُهُ لا يَفقَه مَقالَتَنا

إِلّا كَما يَفقَهُ التَسبيحُ سَكرانُ

And if we speak to him, he comprehends not what we say,

Any more than a drunkard grasps a prayer.

إِذا تَبَسَّمَ لا تَبدو نَواجِذُهُ

وَإِن بَكى فَلَهُ نَزعٌ وَإِرنانُ

If he smiles, it is a faint expression devoid of mirth,

But if he weeps, it is with the agony of death and loud wailing.

كَأَنَّما نيطَتِ الدُنيا بِعاتِقِهِ

كَأَنَّما كُلُّ عُضوٍ فيهِ بُركانُ

As though the weight of the world were suspended from his shoulders,

As though every limb within him held a volcano.

فَلا اِبتِسامُ ذَواتِ الغَنَجِ يُطرِبُهُ

وَلا اِبنَةُ الحانِ تُصبيهِ وَلا الحانُ

Neither the smiles of coquettish maidens delight him,

Nor does the daughter of the vine allure him, nor melodies.

أَمالَهُ أَمَلٌ حُلوٌ يَلَذُّ بِهِ

كَما تَلَذُّ بِمَرَأى النورِ أَجفانُ

Does he possess no sweet hope in which to find pleasure,

Just as eyelids delight in the sight of light?

أَمالَهُ جيرَةٌ في الأَرضِ يَألَفُهُم

يا جارَتي كانَ لي أَهلٌ وَجيرانُ

Has he no neighbors on this earth to keep him company?"

I answered: "O neighbor, I once had family and neighbors,

فَبَتَّتِ الحَربُ ما بَيني وَبَينَهُمُ

كَما تُقَطِّعُ أَمراسٌ وَخيطانُ

But war has severed the bond between us,

Just as ropes and threads are torn asunder.

فَاليَومَ كُلُّ الَّذي في مُهجَتي أَلَمٌ

وَكُلُّ ما حَولَهُم بُؤسٌ وَأَحزانُ

So today, all that remains in my soul is pain,

And all that surrounds them is misery and sorrow.

وَكانَ لي أَمَلٌ إِذا كانَ لي وَطَنٌ

فيهِ لِنَفسي لُباناتٌ وَخِلّانُ

I once held hope when I possessed a homeland,

Wherein my soul found its desires and close friends.

فَجَرَّدَتهُ اللَيالي مِن مَحاسِنِهِ

كَما يُعَرّى مِنَ الأَشجارِ بُستانُ

But the cruel nights have stripped it of its beauties,

Just as an orchard is denuded of its trees.

فَلا المَغاني الَّتي أَشتاقُ رُؤيَتَها

تِلكَ المَغاني وَلا السُكّانَ سُكّانُ

Now the dwellings I yearn to see are no longer,

Those same dwellings, nor are the inhabitants the same inhabitants.

لَوِ المُروأَةُ تَدري فاجِعَةً

بِالشامِ ناحَ عَلَيها الإِنسُ وَالجانُ

If Chivalry could comprehend such a tragedy,

In the Levant, both mankind and Jinn would have wailed over it.

وَلَو يَبُثُّ بَنو لُبنانَ لَوعَتَهُم

لَاِهتَزَّتِ الأَرضُ لَمّا اِهتَزَّ لِبنانُ

And were the sons of Lebanon to pour out their anguish,

The very earth would have shaken as Lebanon has shaken."

قالَت شَكَوتَ الَّذي بِالخَلقِ كُلِّهِمِ

وَما كَذَبتُكِ إِنَّ الحَربَ طُفانُ

She said: "You complain of a plight shared by all people,

And I do not deny it, for war is indeed a sweeping flood.

تَساوَتِ الناسُ في البَلوى فَقُلتُ لَها

هَيهاتَ ما هانَ قَومٌ مِثلَما هانوا

People are equal in calamity," she argued, but I replied:

"Far from it! No people have been humiliated as they have been.

أَمَن يَموتُ وَلا سِترٌ يُظَلِّلُهُ

كَمَن عَلَيهِ أَكالِلٌ وَتيجانُ

Is he who dies with no roof to shelter him,

Like one adorned with wreaths and crowns?"

قالَت يا وَيحَ نَفسي مِن مَقالَتِها

كَفكِف دُموعَكَ بَعضُ الحُزنِ أَهوانُ

She cried out, "Woe is me for what I have said!

Dry your tears; surely some grief is lighter than this.

لَو كانَ قَومُكَ أَهلاً لِلحَياةِ لَما

ماتوا وَفي أَرضِهِم تُركٌ وَأَلمانُ

If your people were truly worthy of life, they would not have

Died while Turks and Germans occupied their land.

وَكُلُّ مَن لا يَرى في الذُلِّ مَنقَصَةً

لا يَستَحِقُّ بِأَن يَبكيهِ إِنسانُ

For he who sees no shame in humiliation,

Deserves not the tears of any human being."

كُفّي مَلامَكِ يا حَسناءُ وَاِتَّإِدي

فَإِنَّ مَدحَ ذَوي العُدوانِ عُدوانُ

I said: "Cease your blame, O beauty, and be gentle,

For to praise the aggressors is itself an act of aggression.

وَأَنتِ مِن أُمَّةٍ تَأبى خَلائِقُها

أَن يَقتُلَ الطَيرَ في الأَقفاصِ سَجّانُ

And you come from a nation whose noble nature refuses

To see a jailer slaughter birds within their cages.

وَإِنَّ قَومي طُيورٌ غَيرُ كاسِرَةٍ

سَطَت عَلَيها شَواهينٌ وَعُقبانُ

My people are peaceful birds, not birds of prey,

Upon whom falcons and eagles have swooped down.

لا تَحسَبي أَنَّني أَبكي لِمَصرَعِهِم

فَكُلُّنا لِلرَدى شيبٌ وَشُبّانُ

Do not think that I weep merely for their death,

For to death we all belong, the gray-haired and the young alike.

لَكِن بَكَيتُ مِنَ الباغي يُعَذِّبُهُم

وَهُم شُيوخٌ وَأَطفالٌ وَنِسوانُ

But I weep because the tyrant torments them,

While they are but elders, children, and women."

وَرُحتُ أَشكو إِلَيها وَهيَ ساهِيَةٌ

لَكِنَّما قَلبَها الخَفّاقُ يَقظانُ

I continued to pour out my complaints while she seemed distant,

Yet her beating heart was fully awake.

حَتّى اِنتَهَيتُ فَصاحَت وَهيَ مُجهِشَةٌ

يا لَيتَ ما قُلتَهُ زورٌ وَبُهتانُ

When I finished, she cried out, sobbing convulsively:

"Would that what you said were falsehood and slander!

بَل لَيتَني لَم أُسائِل عَنكَ جارَتَنا

بَل لَيتَ قَلبي إِذ ساءَلتَ صَوّانُ

Would that I had never asked our neighbor about you,

Would that my heart, when I asked, had been made of stone.

يا لَيتَ شِعري وَهَذي الحَربُ قائِمَةٌ

هَل تَنجَلي وَلَنا في الشامِ إِخوانُ

I wonder—as this war still rages on—

Will it end while we still have brothers left in the Levant?

وَهَل تَعودُ إِلى لُبنانَ بَهجَتَهُ

وَهَل أَعودُ وَفي لُبنانَ نَيسانُ

Will joy ever return to Lebanon?

And will I return to find April blooming there,

فَأَسمَعَ الطَيرَ تَشدو في خَمائِلِهِ

وَأُبصِرُ الحَقلَ فيهِ الشيحُ وَالبانُ

To hear the birds singing in its thickets,

And gaze upon fields of wormwood and willow?"

بَني بِلادي وَلا أَدعو بَخيلَكُمُ

غَيرُ البَخيلِ لَهُ قَلبٌ وَوِجدانُ

O sons of my land—I do not call upon the miserly among you,

For only those who are not misers possess a heart and conscience.

بَني بِلادي وَلا أَدعو جَبانَكُمُ

ما لِلجَبانِ وَلا لِيَ فيهِ إيمانُ

O sons of my land—I do not call upon the cowards among you,

For the coward has no faith, nor have I faith in him.

بَني بِلادي وَكَم أَدعو أَلَيسَ لَكُم

كَسائِرِ الخَلقِ أَكبادٌ وَآذانُ

O sons of my land—how often must I call? Do you not possess,

Like the rest of creation, feeling hearts and listening ears?

لا تَضحَكوا وَبِأَرضِ الشامِ نائِحَةٌ

وَلا تَناموا وَفي لُبنانَ سَهرانُ

Do not laugh while in the lands of the Levant a woman wails,

And do not sleep while in Lebanon there is one who cannot close his eyes.