1. خَلَعتَ عَنِ الروحِ ثَوبَ المَدَر

    فَخَفَّ العَذابُ وَطابَ السَفَر

    You stripped the soul of its garment of clay.

    So torment eased, and the journey grew sweet.

  2. وَأَقبَلتَ فَالقَمَرُ المُستَهامُ

    أَخوكَ يُناجيكَ خَلفَ الشَجَر

    And you have come; the love-stricken moon,

    Your brother, whispers to you behind the trees.

  3. وَهذي بِلادُكَ مَهدُ الزَمانِ

    يَهُزُّ بِها الشَوقُ حَتّى الحَجَر

    And this is your land, the cradle of time;

    Longing shakes even stone within it.

  4. وَهذا النَسيمُ كَما كانَ أَمسِ

    وَهذي الجِبالُ وَهذا الحَوَر

    And this breeze is as it was yesterday,

    And these are the mountains, and these the poplars.

  5. وَهذي الكُهوفُ بِصُلبِ الصُخورِ

    جَلالُ القُرونِ عَلَيها اِنتَشَر

    And these caves in the heart of the rocks—

    The majesty of centuries has spread over them.

  6. وَهذي عَذاراكَ يا اِبنَ الرَبيعِ

    تُناديكَ مِن شَرَفاتِ القَمَر

    And these are your maidens, O son of spring,

    Calling to you from the moon's balconies.

  7. وَصِنّينُ ما زالَ جارَ السَماءِ

    وَما زالَتِ الهَضَباتُ الأُخَر

    And Sannin remains the sky's neighbor,

    And the other hills remain as well.

  8. وَإِن تَكُ تُبصِرُ في سَفحِها

    سَواعِدَ دَقَّت وَخُلقاً ضَمَر

    And though you may see at their foot

    Arms grown thin and character withered,

  9. فَروحُ بِلادِكَ لَمّا يَزَل

    وَإِن راغَ مِنهُ صِباغُ الطُرَر

    Yet your country's spirit still endures,

    Though the dye of its fringes has slipped away.

  10. تَبَدَّلَ مِنهُ الإِطارَ الهَزيلُ

    وَهَل يَتَبَدَّلُ إِلّا الخَبَر

    Its frail frame has changed,

    And does anything change but the news?

  11. حَكيمَ الزَمانِ وَقيثارَهُ

    وَمَهدَ الهَوى وَالحَنانِ الأَبَر

    O sage of the age and its lyre,

    And cradle of love and the kindliest tenderness,

  12. هُنا الحورُ فَاِرقُد قَريراً فَما

    أَحَبَّ وَأَقدَسَ هذا المَقَر

    Here are the poplars; rest content, for how

    Beloved and sacred is this resting place!

  13. هُنا الأَنبِياءُ الأُلى قَبَّلوكَ

    فَنَبَّأتَ بِالأَدَبِ المُبتَكَر

    Here are the prophets who kissed you,

    So you prophesied through original literature.

  14. هُنا طَهُرَ الشِعرُ في شَفَتَيكَ

    بِنارِ الأُلوهَةِ يا اِبنَ البَشَر

    Here poetry grew pure upon your lips

    By the fire of divinity, O son of man.

  15. سَمِعتُ عَروسَكَ مُنذُ لَيالٍ

    تُنَبّىءُ بِالحَدَثِ المُنتَظَر

    I heard your bride some nights ago

    Foretelling the awaited event;

  16. وَفي يَدِها خَشَباتُ رَبابٍ

    تَشَظّى عَلَيهِ الأَسى فَاِنكَسَر

    And in her hand were wooden pieces of a rebab:

    Sorrow splintered upon it, and it broke.

  17. وَأَبصَرتُ وَجهَكَ هذا الصَباحَ

    يَطفو عَلَيهِ صَباحٌ أَغَرّ

    And I saw your face this morning,

    A radiant dawn floating upon it,

  18. فَيَغمُرُهُ بِبَخورِ الحَنانِ

    وَيَسمَحُهُ بِزُيوتِ الكِبَر

    Flooding it with the incense of tenderness,

    And smoothing it with the oils of age,

  19. وَيَعقُدُ في شَفَراتِ جُفونِكَ

    ذَرّاتِ نورٍ كَرُؤيا ظَهَر

    And stringing along the rims of your eyelids

    Motes of light that appeared like a vision.

  20. كَأَنَّ عَرائِسَكَ الخالِداتِ

    وَقَد كُسِيَت مِن رُؤاكَ الحِبَر

    As though your immortal brides,

    Already clad in the patterned robes of your visions,

  21. أَتَتكَ تُوَدِّعُ هذا الجَمالَ

    فَذابَت عَلى وَجهِكَ المُحتَضَر

    Had come to bid this beauty farewell,

    Then melted upon your dying face.

  22. عَروسُكَ عَذراءُ مِن عَبقَرٍ

    أَتَتكَ مُصَبَّغَةً بِالخَفَر

    Your bride, a virgin from Abqar,

    Came to you tinged with bashfulness,

  23. تُذيبُ عَلَيكَ رُؤى الأَنبِياءِ

    مُعَرَّفَةً بِرُموزِ السُوَر

    Melting the prophets' visions over you,

    Made known through the symbols of the surahs.

  24. مِنَ السِحرِ في مُقلَتَيها رَشاشٌ

    وَلِلحُبِّ في شَفَتَيها ثَمَر

    In her eyes is a spray of magic,

    And love has fruit upon her lips.

  25. فَدَغدَعتَها في خُدورِ الرَبيعِ

    وَعانَقتَها في خُدودِ الزَهَر

    So you tickled her in spring's secluded chambers,

    And embraced her upon the cheeks of flowers.

  26. غَزَلتَ لَها حُوَّةً في الجُفونِ

    تُخَدِّرُها عِفَّةٌ في النَظَر

    You spun for her a dusky hue upon the eyelids,

    Lulled by chastity in the gaze.

  27. وَغَمَّستَ ريشَةَ وَحيِكَ في

    شَفَتَيها وَلَوَّنتَ تِلكَ الصُوَر

    And you dipped the brush of your inspiration into

    Her lips, and colored those pictures:

  28. مَشاهِدُ أَدمَيتَ قلبَكَ فيها

    وَما زِلت تُدميهِ حَتّى اِنفَجَر

    Scenes in which you made your heart bleed,

    And kept making it bleed until it burst.

  29. تَبارَكَ قَلبٌ تُفيضُ رُسومُكَ

    مِنهُ عَلى كُلِ لَوحٍ أَثَر

    Blessed is a heart; your paintings pour

    From it a trace upon every panel.

  30. وَجِئتَ الوَرى بِأَناشيدِ حُبٍّ

    نَقِيٍّ كَوَجهِكَ أَو كَالسَحَر

    And you came to humankind with songs of love,

    Pure as your face, or as the hour before dawn.

  31. أَناشيدَ ما صَعِدَت قَبلَ عَهدِكَ

    مِن حَلقِ إِنسٍ وَلا مِن وَتَر

    Songs that had never risen before your time

    From a human throat, nor from a string.

  32. أَناشيدَ كانَت عَلى شَفَتَيكَ

    رِضاعَ الهَوى مُنذُ كانَ الصِغَر

    Songs that, upon your lips, were

    Love's milk since the days of childhood.

  33. حَلَمتَ بِأَنغامِها في الصِبى

    وَعَلَّمتَ أَوضاعَها في الكِبَر

    You dreamed of their melodies in youth,

    And taught their forms in maturity.