ما الفتح من كلل المدافع

توليك دائرة المرابع

Conquest is not won by cannon shot

that grants you a domain of homesteads.

كلا ولا هو بالفيا

لق والاساطيل الدوارع

No—nor is it won by armies

and armored fleets.

الفتح ما اعلاك عن

عرش قوائمه الأضالع

Conquest is what raises you above

a throne whose supports are ribs,

وحباك ملكاً في القلو

ب بقوة الشيم الروائع

and grants you a kingdom in hearts

through the strength of splendid virtues.

للمشرفي المرغمون

وللمحبة كلُّ طائع

To the Mashrafi sword yield the coerced;

to love, everyone yields willingly.

وهي الفضائل قد تنو

ل ما يعز على القواطع

And virtues may attain

what lies beyond cutting blades.

ان المسيح بها جرى

لا بالفيالق والمدافع

Christ indeed advanced through them,

not through armies and cannons.

ومن اقتفاه فالعلى

تلقاه حاسرة البراقع

And whoever follows him—the heights

greet him with their veils cast off.

يا من كتائبه المكا

رم والفضائل والصنائع

O you whose battalions are noble deeds,

virtues, and acts of kindness,

هذي جيوشك قد فتح

ت بها القلوب بلا وقائع

these are your armies: you have conquered

hearts through them, without battles.

زحفت وانت اميرها

وكفت لنافعها طلائع

They marched, and you were their commander;

and sufficed as vanguards for their benefactor.

فالمجد من علياك ساطع

والنصر من مجلاك لامع

Glory shines from your lofty station,

and victory gleams from your presence.

لبيك يا ملك القلو

ب فكلها مهج طوائع

At your service, O king of hearts:

all are willing souls.

تلقاك هانئةً وانت

بها بخير الملك راتع

They greet you joyfully, while you

revel in the finest kingship within them.

حفت بطلعتك الوضيئة

في السوابل والقوارع

They thronged around your radiant face

along the roads and thoroughfares,

وتألبت حوليك من

كل المناسل والمنازع

and gathered around you from

every lineage and persuasion.

ولقد زهت وزهوت فيها

في المواقف والمجامع

They shone with pride, and you shone among them,

in public places and assemblies.

فاحكم كما شاء الهوى

العذري بالمهج الخواضع

So rule, as love wills,

in its chastity, over the yielding souls.

واعلم فديتك ان قلبي

بينها بهواك والع

And know—may I be your ransom—that my heart

is among them, ardent in its love for you.

ان كنت تجهله فان

خموله بنهاك شافع

If you do not know it, then

its obscurity pleads for it before your wisdom.

قد كان عياف القريض

وطبعه للصمت نازع

It had been averse to verse,

its nature drawn to silence,

لما رآه سلعةً

كسدت بساحة كل بائع

when it saw verse as a commodity

grown unsalable in every seller's marketplace.

ندت عواطفه به

عن خلة المطري المخادع

Its feelings carried it away

from the ways of the deceitful flatterer.

فاقام يزرع صدقه

والصدق في بعض المزارع

So it settled to sow its truth,

and truth is found in certain fields.

والصدق نجنيه بألفاظٍ

معانيها ضوائع

And we harvest truth in words

whose meanings go to waste.

اما وقد اطربته

مما زففت إلى المسامع

But now that it has been delighted

by what you brought to listening ears—

غررٌ ترتل عن خلا

لك والمآثر والصنائع

choice verses chanting of your qualities,

glorious deeds, and acts of kindness—

اصبت قوافي الي

فجاء طبعي لا يمانع

they drew the rhymes toward me,

and my poetic nature offered no resistance.

وقطعت صمتي واعتذر

ت بان هذا الصدق قاطع

I broke my silence and excused myself

by saying that this truth is compelling.

يا أيها القمر الذي

شاءَ التنقل في المطالع

O moon, who

chose to wander among the places of rising,

لك في فؤادِ الشام خفقة

واجدٍ لرضاك ضارع

in al-Sham's heart you have the heartbeat

of one yearning, pleading for your favor.

يا يوم حركت الركا

ب تحركت فيه الزعازع

O day when you set the mounts moving:

the storm winds stirred that day.

وتأثرت مقل السما

ء ترشُّ حوليك المدامع

The eyes of heaven were moved,

sprinkling tears all around you.

هاتيك اجلالاً وذي

عبرات قرتها هوامع

Those were in homage, and these

were tears offered by downpours.

ما كان من تلك الموا

نع للمواكب عنك مانع

Not one of those obstacles

kept the processions away from you.

فلقد قضت بيروت سا

نحةً من الزمن المطاوع

For Beirut enjoyed

a chance afforded by obliging time.

رقصت واطلعت الكوا

كب حين جنح الليل ناقع

She danced and made the stars rise

when the wing of night was pitch-dark.

بين الألوف من الألوف

طلعت مسعود الطوالع

Amid thousands upon thousands,

you appeared with auspicious omens.

مجلاك يطرب كل محزون

ويؤنس كل جازع

Your presence delights every sorrowing soul

and comforts everyone afraid.

ويضيق عنك وعن موا

كبك المعرج وهو واسع

There is too little room for you and your processions

on the ascent, though it is broad.

عهدٌ مضى لاخيك ليس

له سوى هذا مضارع

An earlier occasion for your brother has no

parallel except this one.

نبذت به بيروت شا

غلة المتاجر والمصانع

On it, Beirut cast aside

the cares of shops and factories.

فاقمت متبوعاً بأهليها

وكلهم توابع

So you remained, followed by its people,

all of them your followers.

ولنا بك اليوم الحظو

ظ وكم لنا فيها منازع

Today we have the good fortune of your presence;

how many rival us for it!

لو كنت تلزمنا لما

بقيت لذي طمع مطامع

Were you to remain with us,

no covetous person would have hopes left.

مولاي ما هو بالتجمل

لا ولا أنا بالمصانع

My lord, this is no affected courtesy;

no, nor am I an ingratiating flatterer.

لكنها خطرات قلبٍ

بالحقيقة لا يخادع

These are the stirrings of a heart

that, in truth, does not deceive.

انا لفي وطنٍ لنا

أحبارنا فيه مراجع

We live indeed in a homeland

where our clergy are our authorities.

وهم الملاذ لكل مذ

عورٍ ومفزع كل فازع

They are the refuge of everyone terrified,

the haven of all who fear.

ما ضرنا ما قام من

بعض التباين بالشرائع

We are unharmed by what has arisen

of certain differences in religious laws.

ولنا جوامع جمةٌ

منها اسم عيسى خير جامع

We have many bonds in common;

among them, the name of Jesus is the finest bond.

انا متى ناديتمو

نا اخوةٌ من غير مانع

We, whenever you call upon us,

are brothers, with nothing to hinder us.

وعلى رضاكم قد تعا

قدنا الاصابع بالأصابع

And for your favor we have pledged ourselves,

fingers clasped with fingers.

فتدبروا فالأمر يد

عو رأيكم والرأي صادع

So give thought: the matter calls

for your judgment, and judgment is decisive.

واثنوا نواظركم على

لبنان مقتنص الفواجع

And turn your eyes toward

Lebanon, the prey of calamities.

هذي مرابعه غدت

من بعد أهليها بلاقع

These are its homesteads, now become

desolate wastes after their people were gone.

جاعوا فراموا رزقهم

من حيث يشبع كل جائع

They hungered and sought their livelihood

where every hungry person is fed.

ومضاجع لهم أُقضت

بعد ناعمةِ المضاجع

And their resting places were made rough,

after the soft beds they once knew.

فجلوا وقلب بلادهم

متلهبٌ والطرف دامع

So they departed, while their country's heart

was ablaze and its eye tearful.

وهنا بقيتهم لقد

قنعت بنقنقةِ الضفادع

And here, those who remained

have settled for the croaking of frogs.

لعبت بها أيدي التخا

ذل فهي اشتات ضوائع

The hands of mutual abandonment have toyed with them,

leaving them scattered and lost.

هذا يضج من السفو

ح وذاك يصرخ في الفوارع

One cries out from the slopes,

another screams on the heights.

ما ذاك يا مولاي ذنب

محكم أو ذنب شارع

That, my lord, is not the fault

of a judge or a lawgiver.

الذنب أن عيوننا

عن شأنكم كانت هواجع

The fault is that our eyes

had slept, heedless of your affairs.

فاليوم لاح لنا الصوا

ب وامرنا للرشد راجع

Today the right course has become clear to us,

and our affairs return to sound guidance.

وبدت لنا الدرع التي

فيها وقاية كل دارع

And we have seen the coat of mail

that safeguards everyone who wears it.

فتدبروا الأمر الخطير

فقد أمضتنا القوارع

So attend to this grave matter,

for calamities have tormented us.

مولاي صرخة مخلصٍ

يرتاد فيها خير سامع

My lord—a cry from one sincere,

seeking the best listener for it.

لا استجيشك للكريهة

أو لغشيان المواقع

I do not seek your military aid for battle

or for entering battlefields.

لكنني ادعو المؤا

سي وهو اعلم بالمواجع

But I call upon the consoler,

who knows suffering best.

ولديك يا مولاي اعهد

في المواجع كل ناجع

And with you, my lord, I know there is

every effective remedy for suffering.

حسبي فلست ازيد علمك

وهو مرتاد المطالع

Enough: I add nothing to your knowledge,

which explores the horizons.

فاعطف علي تعد الي

من المسرة كل ضائع

So show me kindness: you will restore to me

every lost portion of joy.

لا تولني إلا رضا

ك فانني برضاك قانع

Grant me nothing but your favor,

for your favor is enough for me.