تركوه على الصليب مسمر

دمه من كلومه يتفجر

They left him nailed upon the cross.

His blood gushes from his wounds.

هو رب السماء يشقى ويقهر

ويعاني نزع الحمام الأحمر

He, the Lord of heaven, suffers and is oppressed,

And endures the throes of crimson death.

اسلم الروحَ بعد طول العذابِ

فغدا الكونُ كله في اضطراب

He yielded up his spirit after long torment,

And the whole universe fell into turmoil.

غابت الشمس قبل وقت الغياب

ودجت ظلمةٌ على الأرض تنشر

The sun vanished before its hour of setting,

And darkness deepened, spreading over the earth.

بعد ذا شققت بطون القبور

مثلما فطرت قلوبُ الصخور

After this, the bellies of the graves were split open,

Just as the hearts of the rocks were cleft.

وبدا البرق في الدُجى كسطورِ

من سعيرٍ والرعدُ في الجوِّ زمجر

And lightning appeared in the darkness like lines

Of blazing fire, while thunder roared in the air.

ثم سادَ السكون في الغبراءِ

تحت حزنِ الطبيعةِ البكماءِ

Then stillness reigned upon the dusty earth,

Beneath the grief of mute nature.

ولوى للهدوء ذو الضوضاءِ

وإلى الكهف كل حيٍّ ادبر

And the clamorous turned toward quiet,

And every living thing retreated into the cave.

ذاك خطبٌ قد أخرسَ الأطيارا

فسجت واستظلتِ الأوكارا

That calamity had silenced the birds,

So they grew still and sheltered in their nests.

غير أن الاشجار والأزهارا

كان ما بينها حديثٌ يُذكر

Yet the trees and the flowers

Had among themselves a conversation worth recounting.

قال منها صنوبرٌ في الشآم

مات ربي فادي جميع الأنام

A pine among them in al-Sham said:

My Lord, the Redeemer of all mankind, has died.

فاسودادي ووحدتي في مقامي

قد أشارا إلى حداد الصنوبر

So my blackening and my solitude where I stand

Have pointed to the mourning of the pine.

وبصر فند اشعرت بالحداد

كرمة بعد موت ذاك الفادي

And at Sarafand, mourning was proclaimed

By a vine after that Redeemer's death:

عناقيدها إذ غدت في اسوداد

تقطر الدمع أحمراً إذ تعصر

Its clusters, when they turned black,

Drip red tears when pressed.

ثم قال السرو الذي في الكرمل

مات ربي فالحزن بي يتأصل

Then the cypress in Carmel said:

My Lord has died, so grief takes root in me.

وبظلي كل القبور تظلل

وبغصني أحرم الطير موكر

And in my shade all graves are shaded,

And on my branch I deny the birds a nesting place.

ثم لاح الصفصاف في الحسرات

بغصون إلى الثرى مائلات

Then the willow appeared amid lamentations,

With branches leaning toward the earth,

تتدلى من فوق نهر الفرات

ودموع الصباح منها تنثر

Hanging down above the Euphrates River,

And morning's tears scattered from them.

وإلى بقس قاف نفخة ريح

حملت من زفير صدر المسيح

And to the boxwood of Qaf, a gust of wind

Carried, from the breath of Christ's breast,

زفرةً غادرته في تبريح

فذوى عرقه وقد كان أخضر

A sigh that left him in torment;

So its root withered, though it had been green.

ثم قال الشربين قد مات ربي

فأنا بعده موالٍ لكربي

Then the juniper said: My Lord has died,

So after him I remain devoted to my grief.

وبانفاسي اللظية يجري

سم داء يبت حبل العمر

And through my fiery breaths flows

The poison of a sickness that severs life's cord.

وإذا النحل جاء يمتص زهري

فبزهري للنحل موتٌ مقرر

And when the bees come to suck my blossoms,

In my blossoms death is decreed for the bees.

ثم صاحت شقائق النعمان

مات فغرت أحزاني

Then the anemones cried out:

He has died; my sorrows have gaped open.

فانظروا فحمةً مكان جناني

فهي قلبي من بعد ما قد تسعر

So look: a piece of charcoal where my heart once was;

For it is my heart after it blazed up.

كل نبتٍ بادٍ على الغبراء

حركتهُ عواملُ البأساءِ

Every plant appearing upon the dusty earth

Was stirred by the forces of affliction,

ما خلا الجور صاحب الكبرياء

شهد الخطب دون ان يتأثر

Except the poplar, possessed of pride:

It witnessed the calamity without being moved.

حينما قيل مات فادي الأنام

قال قد مات عن ذوي الآثام

When it was said: The Redeemer of mankind has died,

It said: He has died on behalf of those with sins.

فأنا لا أراع من ذا الحمام

إذ أنا طاهر فلا اتغير

So I am not alarmed by this death,

For I am pure, and therefore do not change.

كان إذ ذاك طائراً في القضاء

ملك ينتحي ربوع السماء

At that moment, flying through the sky,

Was an angel heading for the realms of heaven.

بين كفيه ضم كأس دماء

نالها من لدى الصليب الأطهر

Between his palms he clasped a cup of blood

That he had taken from beside the purest cross.

سمع الحور إذ غدا يتكلم

فأذاب الملاك من ذلك الدم

He heard the poplar as it began to speak,

So the angel melted some of that blood

فوق عرق الحور الذي ما تألم

لمصاب له الجماد تفطر

Over the root of the poplar, which had felt no pain

At a calamity for which even lifeless matter had split apart.

ثم ناداه يا أخا الإعجاب

ان تكن قد ثبت يوم المصاب

Then he called to it: O brother of self-admiration,

If you stood firm on the day of calamity,

فلتقم دائماً اليف اضطراب

يا أخا الكبرياء ربك أكبر

Then stand forever a companion to trembling.

O brother of pride, your Lord is greater!

وكذا الحور منذ ذاك الزمان

ألف الارتجاج في كل آنِ

And thus the poplar, since that time,

Has grown accustomed to trembling at every moment;

وحفيف الأوراق في الأغصان

كاسانٍ بأمره قد أخبر

And the rustle of leaves upon its branches

Is like a tongue [uncertain reading] recounting its plight.