1. تمهّل أمام الماء حين ابتسامه

    على الكرز البسام غير مرائي

    Linger before the water as it smiles

    upon the beaming cherry tree, without pretense.

  2. تولى صقيع كاد يودي بحسنه

    وجمد حتى دمعه كرجائي

    A frost has passed that nearly ruined its beauty

    and froze even its tears, like my hope.

  3. تخيّلته في الحلم ميتا مجرحا

    ففاء ولكن عالقا بدماء

    I imagined it in a dream, dead and wounded;

    then it revived, though still stained with blood.

  4. وقد نفض الأكفان بيضا تبعثرت

    وبدل منها حالمات ضياء

    It had shaken off its white shrouds, which scattered,

    and replaced them with dreamers of light:

  5. بنات الهوى والفن تشرق بالمنى

    كما تشرق الأطياف للشعراء

    daughters of love and art, shining with hopes,

    as visions shine for poets.

  6. نماها القصي الشرق ثم أتى بها

    شعور إخاء أو شعوب ولاء

    The distant East nurtured them; then they were brought

    by a feeling of brotherhood, or by loyal peoples.

  7. فرفّت حنينا كالأشة عندما

    تحن إلى أصل لها وسماء

    So they fluttered with longing, like a young palm when

    it yearns for its own roots and sky.

  8. ورفت وفاء للديار التي احتفت

    بها وأعزتها على النظراء

    And they fluttered in loyalty to the lands that welcomed

    them and prized them above their peers.

  9. وقد أشعلوا المصباح رمزا لعيدها

    كأن به للعيد كنز ضياء

    And they had lit the lamp as a symbol of their festival,

    as though it held a treasure of light for the festival.

  10. لئن سكنت هذي البحيرة لم يكن

    سكون لها إلا سكون حياء

    Though this lake lay still, there was no

    stillness in it but the stillness of shyness.

  11. وفيها ضروب من عواطف لم تكن

    لتسكن بل جاشت بغير نداء

    And within it were kinds of feeling that would not

    lie still, but surged without a summons.

  12. أتسمعها إني لأسمع شعرها

    أغاني من حب لآخر ناء

    Do you hear it? I surely hear its poetry:

    songs of love for another far away.

  13. أتبصرها إني لأبصر بعضها

    مرائي تجلوها فنون مرائي

    Do you see it? I surely see some of it:

    scenes revealed by the artistry of mirrors.

  14. وقد عكست في الماء فاهتاجه الغنى

    فكان لهيبا أو مذاب ذكاء

    And they were reflected in the water, and richness stirred it,

    so it became a blaze, or molten sunlight.

  15. لئن زارها العشاق من كل بقعة

    فكم عاشق في غربة بعنائي

    Though lovers have visited it from every place,

    how many a lover, far from home, shares my anguish!

  16. وأما العصافير اللواهي بقربها

    فهنّ معاني رفقة وإخاء

    And as for the sparrows frolicking near it,

    they embody companionship and brotherhood.

  17. تلاهت تلاهي النحل غنت لطلعه

    على زمر الأزهار دون عناء

    They frolicked as bees do, singing to its blossom

    upon clusters of flowers, without toil.

  18. فأخجلني أني المقصر بينها

    وأن غنائي ليس فيه غنائي

    So it shamed me that I fall short among them,

    and that my singing is of no use to me.