1. حَياةٌ ما نُريدُ لَها زِيالا

    وَدُنيا لا نَوَدُّ لَها اِنتِقالا

    A life we do not wish to vanish,

    and a world we do not wish to see depart.

  2. وَعَيشٌ في أُصولِ المَوتِ سَمٌّ

    عُصارَتُهُ وَإِن بَسَطَ الظِلالا

    And a life amid death's roots—poison

    is its sap, though it spreads its shade.

  3. وَأَيّامٌ تَطيرُ بِنا سَحاباً

    وَإِن خيلَت تَدِبُّ بِنا نِمالا

    And days that carry us flying like clouds,

    though they seem to creep with us like ants.

  4. نُريها في الضَميرِ هَوىً وَحُبّاً

    وَنُسمِعُها التَبرُّمَ وَالمَلالا

    We show them passion and love within our hearts,

    yet let them hear our irritation and boredom.

  5. قِصارٌ حينَ نَجري اللَهوَ فيها

    طِوالٌ حينَ نَقطَعُها فِعالا

    Short when we pursue amusement in them,

    long when we spend them in work.

  6. وَلَم تَضُقِ الحَياةُ بِنا وَلَكِن

    زِحامُ السوءِ ضَيَّقَها مَجالا

    Life has not grown cramped for us, but

    the press of evil has narrowed its scope.

  7. وَلَم تَقتُل بِراحَتِها بَنيها

    وَلَكِن سابَقوا المَوتَ اِقتِتالا

    Nor has she slain her children with her own palm,

    but they raced death by fighting one another.

  8. وَلَو زادَ الحَياةَ الناسُ سَعياً

    وَإِخلاصاً لَزادَتهُم جَمالا

    If people enriched life with striving

    and sincerity, it would enrich them with beauty.

  9. كَأنَّ اللَهَ إِذ قَسَمَ المَعالي

    لِأَهلِ الواجِبِ اِدَّخَرَ الكَمالا

    As though God, when He apportioned lofty honors,

    reserved perfection for those devoted to duty.

  10. تَرى جِدّاً وَلَستَ تَرى عَلَيهِم

    وُلوعاً بِالصَغائِرِ وَاِشتِغالا

    You see earnestness, and do not see in them

    obsession with trifles or preoccupation with them.

  11. وَلَيسوا أَرغَدَ الأَحياءِ عَيشاً

    وَلَكِن أَنعَمَ الأَحياءِ بالا

    They are not the most comfortable of the living,

    but the most tranquil in mind.

  12. إِذا فَعَلوا فَخَيرُ الناسِ فِعلاً

    وَإِن قالوا فَأَكرَمُهُم مَقالا

    When they act, they are the best of people in deeds;

    and when they speak, the noblest in speech.

  13. وَإِن سَأَلَتهُمو الأَوطانُ أَعطَوا

    دَماً حُرّاً وَأَبناءً وَمالا

    And if their homelands ask of them, they give

    freeborn blood, sons, and wealth.

  14. بَني البَلَدِ الشَقيقِ عَزاءَ جارٍ

    أَهابَ بِدَمعِهِ شَجَنٌ فَسالا

    Sons of the sister land, accept a neighbor's condolences:

    grief called forth his tears, and they flowed.

  15. قَضى بِالأَمسِ لِلأَبطالِ حَقّاً

    وَأَضحى اليَومَ بِالشُهَداءِ غالي

    He paid the heroes their due yesterday,

    and today is lavish in praise of the martyrs.

  16. يُعَظِّمُ كُلَّ جُهدٍ عَبقَرِيٍّ

    أَكانَ السِلمَ أَم كانَ القِتالا

    He honors every brilliant effort,

    whether in peace or in battle.

  17. وَما زِلنا إِذا دَهَتِ الرَزايا

    كَأَرحَمِ ما يَكونُ البَيتُ آلا

    And whenever calamities strike, we have always been

    like a household at its most compassionate toward its kin.

  18. وَقَد أَنسى الإِساءَةَ مِن حَسودٍ

    وَلا أَنسى الصَنيعَةَ وَالفِعالا

    I may forget an envious person's injury,

    but never forget kindness and deeds.

  19. ذَكَرتُ المِهرَجانَ وَقَد تَجَلّى

    وَوَفدَ المَشرِقَينِ وَقَد تَوالى

    I recalled the festival as it shone forth,

    and the delegation of the two Easts as it arrived in succession,

  20. وَداري بَينَ أَعراسِ القَوافي

    وَقَد جُلِيَت سَماءً لا تُعالى

    and my house amid the wedding feasts of rhyme,

    unveiled as a sky none could rise above.

  21. تَسَلَّلَ في الزِحامِ إِلَيَّ نِضوٌ

    مِنَ الأَحرارِ تَحسَبُهُ خَيالا

    An emaciated man slipped through the crowd to me,

    one of the free, whom you would take for a phantom.

  22. رَسولُ الصابِرينَ أَلَمَّ وَهناً

    وَبَلَّغَني التَحِيَّةَ وَالسُؤالا

    An envoy of the steadfast, he called late at night,

    and brought me greetings and inquiries.

  23. دَنا مِنّي فَناوَلَني كِتاباً

    أَحَسَّت راحَتايَ لَهُ جَلالا

    He drew near and handed me a letter;

    my two palms sensed its majesty.

  24. وَجَدتُ دَمَ الأُسودِ عَلَيهِ مِسكاً

    وَكانَ الأَصلُ في المِسكِ الغَزالا

    I found the lions' blood upon it to be musk,

    and musk's original source was the gazelle.

  25. كَأَنَّ أَسامِيَ الأَبطالِ فيهِ

    حَوامِمٌ عَلى رِقٍّ تَتالى

    As though the heroes' names in it

    were Ha-Mim surahs following one another on parchment.

  26. رُواةُ قَصائِدي قَد رَتَّلوها

    وَغَنَّوها الأَسِنَّةَ وَالنِصالا

    The reciters of my poems had chanted them,

    and sung them to spearheads and blades.

  27. إِذا رَكَزوا القَنا اِنتَقَلوا إِلَيها

    فَكانَت في الخِيامِ لَهُم نِقالا

    When they planted their spears, they turned to the poems,

    so in the tents the poems were their sweet fare.

  28. بَني سورِيَّةَ اِلتَئِموا كَيَومٍ

    خَرَجتُم تَطلُبونَ بِهِ النِزالا

    Sons of Syria, unite as on the day

    when you went forth seeking battle.

  29. سَلو الحُرِيَّةَ الزَهراءَ عَنّا

    وَعَنكُم هَل أَذاقَتنا الوِصالا

    Ask radiant Freedom about us

    and yourselves: has she let us taste union?

  30. وَهَل نِلنا كِلانا اليَومَ إِلّا

    عَراقيبَ المَواعِدِ وَالمِطالا

    And have both of us gained to this day anything but

    Urqub-like promises and procrastination?

  31. عَرَفتُم مَهرَها فَمَهَرتُموها دَماً

    صَبَغَ السَباسِبَ وَالدِغالا

    You knew her dowry, so you paid it in blood

    that dyed the open plains and thickets.

  32. وَقُمتُم دونَها حَتّى خَضَبتُم

    هَوادِجَها الشَريفَةَ وَالحِجالا

    And you stood in her defense until you dyed

    her noble howdahs and bridal chambers.

  33. دَعوا في الناسِ مَفتوناً جَباناً

    يَقولُ الحَربُ قَد كانَت وَبالا

    Let a deluded coward among the people

    say, "War has proved a calamity."

  34. أَيُطلَبُ حَقَّهُم بِالروحِ قَومٌ

    فَتَسمَعُ قائِلاً رَكِبوا الضَلالا

    Can a people's right be sought with their lives,

    only for you to hear someone say, "They have embarked on error"?

  35. وَكونوا حائِطاً لا صَدعَ فيهِ

    وَصَفّاً لا يُرَقَّعُ بِالكَسالى

    And be a wall without a crack,

    and a rank not patched with idlers.

  36. وَعيشوا في ظِلالِ السِلمِ كَدّاً

    فَلَيسَ السِلمُ عَجزاً وَاِتِّكالا

    And live in peace's shade, toiling,

    for peace is not incapacity and dependence,

  37. وَلَكِن أَبَعدَ اليَومَينِ مَرمىً

    وَخَيرَهُما لَكُم نُصحاً وَآلا

    but, of the two days, the farther-reaching in aim,

    and the better for you in counsel and outcome.

  38. وَلَيسَ الحَربُ مَركَبَ كُلِّ يَومٍ

    وَلا الدَمُ كُلَّ آوِنَةٍ حَلالا

    War is not a mount for every day,

    nor is blood lawful to shed at every hour.

  39. سَأَذكُرُ ما حَيِّتُ جِدارَ قَبرٍ

    بِظاهِرِ جِلَّقَ رَكِبَ الرِمالا

    I shall remember, as long as I live, a tomb's wall

    outside Jilliq, riding upon the sands.

  40. مُقيمٌ ما أَقامَت مَيسَلونٌ

    يَذكُرُ مَصرَعَ الأُسُدِ الشِبالا

    Enduring as long as Maysalun endures,

    reminding the cubs of the lions' fall.

  41. لَقَد أَوحى إِلَيَّ بِما شَجاني

    كَما توحي القُبورُ إِلى الثَكالى

    Indeed, it whispered to me what stirred my sorrow,

    as graves whisper to bereaved mothers.

  42. تَغَيَّبَ عَظمَةُ العَظَماتِ فيهِ

    وَأَوَّلُ سَيِّدٍ لَقِيَ النِبالا

    Azma, the greatest of the great, lies hidden within it,

    and the first leader to meet the arrows.

  43. كَأَنَّ بُناتَهُ رَفَعوا مَناراً

    مِنَ الإِخلاصِ أَو نَصَبوا مِثالا

    As though its builders had raised a beacon

    of devotion, or erected a statue.

  44. سِراجُ الحَقِّ في ثَبَجِ الصَحارى

    تَهابُ العاصِفاتُ لَهُ ذُبالا

    A lamp of truth in the heart of the deserts,

    whose wick the storms stand in awe of.

  45. تَرى نورَ العَقيدَةِ في ثَراهُ

    وَتَنشَقُ في جَوانِبِهِ الخِلالا

    You see the light of conviction in its earth,

    and breathe in virtues all about it.

  46. مَشى وَمَشَت فَيالِقُ مِن فَرَنسا

    تَجُرُّ مَطارِفَ الظَفَرِ اِختِيالا

    He marched, and legions from France marched,

    trailing victory's cloaks in pride.

  47. مَلَأنَ الجَوَّ أَسلِحَةً خِفاقاً

    وَوَجهَ الأَرضِ أَسلِحَةً ثِقالا

    They filled the sky with fluttering weapons,

    and the face of the earth with heavy weapons.

  48. وَأَرسَلنَ الرِياحَ عَلَيهِ ناراً

    فَما حَفَلَ الجَنوبُ وَلا الشَمالا

    And they sent the winds against him as fire,

    yet he heeded neither the south wind nor the north.

  49. سَلوهُ هَل تَرَجَّلَ في هُبوبٍ

    مِنَ النيرانِ أَرجَلَتِ الجِبالا

    Ask him: did he dismount amid a blast

    of flames that made the mountains dismount?

  50. أَقامَ نَهارَهُ يُلقي وَيَلقى

    فَلَمّا زالَ قُرصُ الشَمسِ زالا

    He remained all day, dealing blows and receiving them,

    then, when the sun's disk vanished, he vanished.

  51. وَصاحَ نَرى بِهِ قَيدَ المَنايا

    وَلَستَ تَرى الشَكيمَ وَلا الشِكالا

    And, friend, we see upon him death's fetter,

    yet you see neither bit nor hobble.

  52. فَكُفِّنَ بِالصَوارِمِ وَالعَوالي

    وَغُيِّبَ حَيثُ جالَ وَحَيثُ صالا

    So he was shrouded in sharp swords and tall spears,

    and buried where he ranged and where he charged.

  53. إِذا مَرَّت بِهِ الأَجيالُ تَترى

    سَمِعتَ لَها أَزيزاً وَاِبتِهالا

    When generations pass by him one after another,

    you hear their murmur and supplication.

  54. تَعَلَّقَ في ضَمائِرِهِم صَليباً

    وَحَلَّقَ في سَرائِرِهِم هِلالا

    He hung as a cross within their consciences,

    and soared as a crescent in their innermost hearts.