يَا مُسْهِدَ القَوْمِ أَطَلْتَ السِّنَهْ

مَا الدَّهْرُ إِلاَّ بَعْضُ هَذِي السَّنَهْ

O you who consoled the people, you lived long

For life is but a part of this longevity

يَوْمُكَ فِي لُبْنَانَ يَوْمٌ لَهُ

أَنْبَاؤُهُ فِي آخِرِ الأَزْمِنَهْ

Your day in Lebanon is a day for it

With news at the end of times

هَوَّنَ مِنْ دَمعِي عَزِيزاً أَجَلْ

وَعِزَّةِ الخَطْبِ الَّذِي هَوَّنَهْ

You made my precious tears feel trivial

And the dignity of this grieved matter that made it feel trivial

بَكَيْتُ تِلْكَ المَحْمَدَاتِ الَّتِي

بَعْدَكَ أَمْسَتْ بِالنوى مُؤْذِنَهْ

I cried for those praises that after you

At Nawa they became like a prayer caller

وَهَى بِهَا الرُّكُنُ الرَّكِينُ الَّذِي

مَا لَبِثَ الوَاجِبُ أَنْ أَوْهَنَهْ

It is by them that the firm, steady pillar

Did not take long for obligation to weaken it

بَكَيْتُ ذَاكَ الخُلٌقَ الحْرَّ مَا

أَحْصَنَهْ وَالخَلْقُ مَا أَحْسَنَهْ

I cried for that virtuous, protected character

That his moral compass protected and the people's character adorned

بَكَيْتُ ذَاكَ الوُدِّ أَتْحَفْتَنِي

بِآيَةٍ مِنْ أُنْسِهِ بَيِّنَهْ

I cried for that love you granted me

With a clear sign of its intimacy

بَكَيْتُ عِلْماً شَامِلاً نَفْعُهُ

دَوَّنَ مِنْهُ المَجْدُ مَا دَوَّنَهْ

I cried for encompassing knowledge, its benefit

Immortality recorded what it documented

بَكَيْتُ إِلهَاماً أَتَاهُ عَلَى

أَقْرَانِكَ الوَحْيُ الَّذِي لَقَّنَهْ

I cried for inspiration that came to him over

Your peers, the revelation that dictated to him

بِالفِكْرِ تَسْتَنْزِلُهُ مِنْ عَلٍ

وَالصَّوْغُ تُغْلِي فِي الحِلَى مَعْدَنَهْ

With thought, you summon it from the Most High

And composition makes its essence boil in ornaments

مَعنَاهُ مَا أَبْلَغَ وَاللَّفَّظُ مَا

أَفْصَحَ وَالأُسْلُوبُ مَا أَرْصَنَهْ

Its meaning is most eloquent, and the wording

Most expressive, and the style most well-organized

بَكَيْتُ ذَاكَ الأَدَبَ العَذْبَ فِي

جَاعِلِهِ مِنْ كَرَمٍ دَيْدنَهْ

I cried for that fresh, refined literature

That generosity was its habit

وَالجَانِبَ اللَّيِّنَ حَتَّى إِذَا

دَعَا حِفَاظٌ عَادَ مَا أَخْشَنَهْ

And the gentle disposition, so that if

Preservers called, it returns what it roughened

وَالجُودَ تَفْنِي فِيهِ مِنْ رِقَّةٍ

مَا صَوَّرَ اللُّطْفَ وَمَا فَنَّنَهْ

And the generosity thatrefine in it from gentleness

What depicted graciousness and what adorned it

بِلَحْظَةٍ أَوْ لَفْظَةٍ تَغْتَدِي

مُحْسِنَةً قَبْلَ اليَدِ المُحسِنَهْ

With a glance or a word it indulges

Before the act of benevolence, the benevolent hand

أَمْرٌ عَظِيمٌ أَنْ يَجُودَ امْرُوءٌ

وَسِرُّهُ مِصْدَاق مَا أَعْلَنَهْ

It is a great matter that a man be generous

And its secret is the sincerity of what he declared

مَا نَفَقَاتُ المَالِ إِلاَّ عَلَى

مَا تَشْتَهِيهِ النَّفْسُ بِالهَيِّنَهْ

Not expenditures of wealth, except upon

What the self desires lightly

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاعِيِهِ فِي قَوْمِهِ

نَعَيْتَ أَوْفَى خَادِمٍ مَوْطِنَهْ

O you who mourned among his people

You mourned the most loyal servant of his homeland

فَتىً رَعَى كُلَّ مَوَاثِيقِهِ

عَلَى اخْتِلافِ الحَالِ وَالآوِنَهْ

A young man who kept all his covenants

Despite differing eras and times

إِنْ يَرْأَسِ الشُّورَى يَسُسْهَا وَلَمْ

تُؤْخَذْ عَلَيْهِ فِي مَقَامٍ هَنَهْ

If he leads the council, he runs it and he was not

Faulted in any position or task

وَلَمْ يَكُنْ إِلاَّ أَخاً نَاصِحاً

فِي رُفْقَةٍ عَنْ ثِقَةٍ مُذْعِنَهْ

He was only an advising brother

Amongst comrades, obedient with confidence

أَوْ يَبْرَحِ المَنْصِبَ تَنْهَضْ عَلَى

قُدرَتهِ فِي ذَاتِهِ البَيِّنَهْ

Or he leaves office, his evident

Ability in himself takes charge

فِي جَنْبِ ذَاكَ الفَضْلِ أَقْلِلْ بِمَا

تُعَدِّدُ الأَقلامُ وَالأَلسِنَهْ

Next to that virtue, minimize with what

Pens and tongues enumerate

يَا عَانِياً يَفْدِيهِ مِنْ قَيْدِهِ

أَعِزَّةٌ لَوْ فِدْيَةٌ مُمْكِنَهْ

O you who suffers, may dignities redeem him

If ransom was possible from his bondage

ضَمَّكَ لُبْنَانُ إِلَى صَدْرِهِ

وَقَدْ يَجِد الحِسُّ بِالأَمْكَنَهْ

Lebanon embraced him to its chest

And perception may find what is feasible

رَقَّتْ لَكَ الأَضْلاعُ مِنْهُ فَمَا

وُسِّدْتَ إِلاَّ مُهْجَةً لَيِّنَهْ

Its ribs softened toward you, so you were not

Filled except as a gentle blaze

نَمْ هَانِئاً كَمْ سَاهِدٍ فِي ثَرَى

غُرْبَتِهِ وَدِّ بِهِ مَدفَنَهْ

Sleep comfortably, how many a comrade in the foreign

Soil of his exile, make his grave homely

وَلَتَكْسُ مَثْوَاكَ غَوَادِي الحَيَا

مِنْ كُلِّ نَاضِرٍ أَزْيَنَهْ

And your dwelling will cover the valleys of life

With every blossoming adornment

فِيهِ صِبىً حَقَّ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ

أَنْ تَحْنُوَ الوَرْدَةُ وَالسَّوْسَنَه

In it is a child befitting his like

That the rose and lily bow