1. ترفق بجسمٍ كاد ينهكه الجهد

    برغبة نفس لا يجارى لها قصد

    Be gentle with a body that toil has nearly worn out,

    driven by the longing of a soul whose resolve none can match.

  2. فحسب بني مارون ما قد أنلتهم

    وحسبك هل بعد الذي نلته بعد

    What you have bestowed is enough for the sons of Maron;

    and enough for you—is there anything beyond what you have attained?

  3. اخاف عليك العجب لولا طلاقةً

    بوجهك معناها التةاضع والزهد

    I would fear conceit for you, were it not for a cheerfulness

    in your face that speaks of humility and renunciation.

  4. فانت الذي باللين يقرن مجده

    ويا حبذا لينٌ يقارنه المجد

    For you are the one who joins his glory to gentleness,

    and how lovely is gentleness accompanied by glory!

  5. ولست من القوم الألى تنفخ العلى

    معاطسهم أو يستفزهم الحمد

    Nor are you among those whose eminence puffs up

    their nostrils, or whom praise carries away.

  6. ولا أنا في عد السجايا بجاهدٍ

    فتلك اماني عندها يقف الجهد

    Nor am I striving to count your virtues;

    for those are aspirations before which effort halts.

  7. ولكنها نجوى بنيك الأولى غدوا

    وازرهم في جنب مجدك مشتد

    But this is the whispered speech of your sons, who now stand

    with their strength grown firm beside your glory.

  8. لقد مر عهد البعدِ فيهم فلا تسل

    قلوبهم كم مض حباتها الوجد

    A time of separation passed over them; do not ask

    their hearts how deeply longing stung their cores.

  9. ليالي باتوا لست تدري اغفوةً

    تولت عليهم أم يعذبهم سهد

    Nights they spent—you cannot tell whether a doze

    came over them, or sleeplessness tormented them.

  10. لواحظهم للبحر تهفو شواخصاً

    وبحر دموع الشوق فيها له مد

    Their eyes yearn toward the sea, fixed in a stare,

    and in them a sea of longing's tears has its rising tide.

  11. تراقبُ سيرَ البطريرك ذليلةً

    لديه الأماني وفدها اثره وفد

    They watch the patriarch's progress; humbled

    before him are their hopes, a delegation in his wake.

  12. اقر مآقيها بلوغك رومةً

    على جانح النعمى يرافقك السعد

    Your arrival in Rome cooled their eyes,

    on blessing's wing, with good fortune accompanying you.

  13. حللت بحيث الدين يخفق بنده

    بظل إمامٍ لا يضارعهُ ند

    You alighted where faith's banner flutters,

    in the shade of a spiritual leader whom no peer can rival,

  14. بظل أبي الدنيا خليفة بطرسٍ

    ليحي سعيداً والزمان له عبد

    in the shade of the world's father, Peter's successor.

    May he live happily, with Time his slave.

  15. على بابه للمجد راسٌ مطأطاءٌ

    وعند ثرى أقدامه يوضع الخد

    At his door, glory bows its head,

    and in the dust at his feet the cheek is laid.

  16. فكان لقاء رنحَّ الشرق غبطةً

    وكان حديث كل مضمونه الود

    So it was a meeting that made the East sway with joy,

    and a conversation whose whole substance was affection.

  17. فيا حبذا للدين عاصمة بها

    اقمت فقام اليمن وارتحل النكد

    So how lovely for faith is a capital in which

    you stayed: good fortune rose, and misery departed.

  18. فللبرق فينا كل يوم بشائرٌ

    تطيبُ لها بيض اللمائم والمرد

    For every day the telegraph brings us glad tidings

    that gladden the white-haired and the beardless youths.

  19. برزت إلى عبد الحميد فريدةً

    بعقد موالٍ حبذا ذلك العقد

    You went forth to Abd al-Hamid, a peerless pearl

    in a necklace of loyal followers—how lovely that necklace!

  20. طلعت بحيث العز لاحَ هلاله

    بمطلع ملكٍ حوله الغرر السعد

    You rose where majesty's crescent shone,

    at a king's rising-place, surrounded by auspicious luminaries,

  21. لدى عاهلٍ لا مجده بمطاولٍ

    ولا مسلكٌ من دون مسعاه منسد

    before a sovereign whose glory none can rival

    and before whose endeavor no path is barred.

  22. فرزانك منه بالوسام مرصعاً

    به خير صدرٍ لم يطئ بابه حقد

    Thus a medal from him adorned you, set upon

    the noblest breast, whose doorway malice never trod.

  23. هي المنة العظمى التي لم يفز بها

    سوى نخبةٍ عد الأنامل لو عدوا

    It is the supreme favor that none has won

    save a chosen few, no more than the fingers if counted.

  24. فلا زلت مرموقاً بلاحظة العلى

    تدين لك الجلى ويخدمك الجد

    May you ever remain in the gaze of eminence;

    may great undertakings yield to you, and good fortune serve you.

  25. ويا بطريرك الشرق تهنيك رحلةٌ

    وعودٌ به البشرى على الشرق تمتد

    And O patriarch of the East, may your journey bring you joy,

    and your return, through which glad tidings spread across the East.

  26. رجعت بمجدٍ ضاء نيرُ بدره

    وضاع به مسك الأحاديث والند

    You returned with glory whose full moon shone bright,

    and through it the musk of conversation and aloeswood spread their scent.

  27. فللشعر هذا اليوم فيك مهزةٌ

    وللنثرِ روضٌ والثناء به ورد

    So poetry thrills in your honor today,

    and prose has a garden, with praise as its roses.