عَادَ عَهْدُ الشَّقَا إِلَيْهِ فَعُودِي

وَانْدُبِيهِ يَا طَيْرُ فَوْقَ العُودِ

The days of woe have returned, so return

And lament it, O bird, above the branch

حَوَّلَتْ شَدْوَكِ اللَّيَالِي نُوَاحًا

فارْجِعِي ... فارْجِعِي عَنِ التَّغْرِيدِ

Your singing has turned the nights into wailing

So go back...go back from twittering

كَانَ رَوْضَ المُنَى فَبَاتَ وَأَهْلُو

هُ لُحُودٌ تَسِيرُ بَيْنَ لُحُودِ

The garden of wishes has become desolate

It is now barren plains amid barren plains

يُرْهِقُ الدَّهْرُ كُلَّ حَرٍّ عَلَيْهِ

فَهوَ فِيهِ المَسِيحُ بَيْنَ اليَهُود

Time wears down all the free

So He is among them like Messiah among Jews

إِيهِ لُبْنَانَ! كَمْ بَكَيْتَ وَتَبْكِي

بَيْنَ عَهْدٍ مَضَى، وَعَهْدٍ جَدِيدِ

Oh Lebanon! How much you cried and still cry

Between a past era and a new one

كُنْتَ تَبْكِي فِيهِ وَهَا أَنْتَ تبْكِيـ

ـهِ عَلَى رغْمِ بُؤْسِهِ المَعْهُودِ

You cried then and here you are crying

Over its misery despite its familiarity

يَا حَنِينِي إِلَى مغَانِيكَ لَوْلَا

صَارِمٌ فِيكَ سُلَّ للتَّهْدِيدِ

My yearning for your songs, if not for

A blade among you unleashed for threats

وَإِلَى الأُفقِ صَافِيًا فِيكَ لَوْلَا

مَا بِهِ اليومَ مِنْ غَمَائِمَ سُودِ

And for the sky clear in you, if not for

The clouds of gloom it holds today

وَإِلَى الماءِ طيِّبَ الوِرْدِ لَوْلَا

مَا جَرَى فِيهِ مِنْ سُمُومِ الوَعِيدِ

And for the pure water of roses, if not for

The poisons of threats that have flowed in it

وَإِلَى الريحِ مِنْ صُرودِكَ لَوْلَا

نفثَاتُ الفسادِ بَيْنَ الصُّرودِ

And for the wind from your peaks, if not for

The breaths of corruption among the peaks

وَإِلَى البحرِ فِي شَوَاطِيكَ لَوْلَا

أَنَّهُ نَمَّ بِالعَدَاءِ الشديدِ

And for the sea on your shores, if not for

That it has slept with intense enmity

وَإِلَى الأَرْزِ شَامِخَ الرأسِ لَوْلَا

أَنَّهُمْ حَمَّلُوهُ ذُلَّ السُّجُودِ

And for the defiant cedar, if not for

They burdened it with the humiliation of prostration

وَضَعُوهُ طَيَّ المُثَلَّثِ، تَحْتَ الـ

ـبِيضِ، بينَ الدِّمَا وبين الحديدِ

They placed it under the triangle, between the

White, between the blood and the iron

لَهَفِي للرُّبوعِ تُضْحِي وَتُمْسِي

وَهْيَ خُلوٌ إِلَّا مِنَ التنكيدِ

My craving for the meadows that rise and set

Devoid except for frustration

يَنْزَحُ السَّاكِنُونَ عَنْهَا وَوَجْهُ الـ

أَرْضِ رَحْبٌ إِلَى المَزَارِ البَعِيدِ

The inhabitants evacuate them and the face of

The land is vast towards the distant tomb

مِنْ فَتَاةٍ، وَمِنْ فَتًى، وَغَنِيٍّ

وَفَقِيرٍ، وَوَالِدٍ وَوَلِيدِ

Of a girl, a boy, a rich man, a poor one, a father and a newborn

As birds evacuate the land when it's flowers have withered

مِثْلَمَا تَنْزَحُ الطُّيُورُ عَنِ الرو

ضِ وَقَدْ رَاعَهَا ذُبُولُ الوُرُودِ

Or as gazelles flee a pond

When the wolf has come for the flowers

أَوْ كَمَا تَنْفُرُ الظِّبَا عَنْ غَدِيرٍ

أمَّهُ الذِّئْبُ طَالِبًا لِلْوُرُودِ

They left it with tears filling the valleys

For its groves, and flames filling the livers

وَدَّعوهَا والدَّمْعُ مِلْءُ المَآقِي

لِنَوَاهَا، وَالنَّارُ مِلءُ الكُبودِ

And if the deaf could hear a sound

They would scream aboard the silent ships: Return!

وَلَو انَّ الأَصَمَّ يَسْمَعُ صَوْتًا

صَرَخُوا بِالبَوَاخِرِ الصُّمِّ: عُودِي