أهلا بطلعة وجهك المحبوب

وبيوم مبعث شخصك المحجوب

Welcome to the sight of your beloved face,

and to the day your hidden form rises anew,

وبجمعنا هذا وما ترضاه من

نثر ونظم فائق التهذيب

and to this gathering of ours, and whatever pleases you of

prose and verse, supremely refined;

وبعصبة الود الصحيح وعترة ال

فضل الرجيح وشاعر ولبيب

and to the fellowship of true affection, the kindred of

preeminent merit, and every poet and discerning mind,

من كل معترف بفضلك قاصر ال

شكران بالانشاد والتطريب

each acknowledging your merit, yet falling short in

gratitude through recitation and melodious song.

هذا الشآم وهذه ابناؤه

هرعوا اليك بافصح الترحيب

Here is al-Sham, and here are its sons,

rushing to you with the most eloquent welcome.

وتسابقوا لخلود شخصك مثلما

خلّدت ذكرك مثل عرف الطيب

They raced to immortalize your form, just as

you immortalized your memory, like the fragrance of perfume.

لله أنتم يا بني لبنان يا

مثل الوفاء بمشهد ومغيب

God bless you, sons of Lebanon, you

models of fidelity, present or absent!

لله در السابقين إلى الندى

في أبعد الأمصار سبق قريب

How admirable those first to generosity,

in the farthest cities, hastening as though nearby!

يا حبذا مسعاتكم زادت لكم

في المجد سطرا ليس بالمكذوب

How splendid your endeavor! It has added for you

a line of glory that cannot be denied.

هذا أبو إسحاق يشكر صنعكم

هل فوق هذا الفخر من مطلوب

Here is Abu Ishaq, thanking you for your deed;

what greater glory could one seek?

ان الامام قد استوى ما بيننا

من بعد طول مسافة إلى غريب

The master has indeed taken his place among us,

after a long journey to a foreign land.

وكأنه وكأننا لم نفترق

من قبل هذا الموعد المضروب

It is as though he and we had never parted

before this appointed meeting.

هذا أمير الفضل افصح معرب

ان قال قولا بز كل خطيب

Here is the prince of excellence, the most eloquent speaker:

whenever he spoke, he surpassed every orator.

هذا إمام الناظمين وسيد ال

مترسلين وقطب كل أديب

Here is the leader of poets and master of

prose writers, the axis of every man of letters.

هذا الذي انقادت اليه رئاسة ال

علماء فانقادت لخير نقيب

He is the one to whom the leadership of the

learned yielded, yielding to the finest chief.

هذا الإمام ابن الإمام المغتني

عن نعت ناعته وعن تلقيب

Here is the master, son of the master, beyond need

of anyone's description or bestowed titles.

طلاع انجدة البيان وسحره

نظام سر ضيائه الموهوب

He scales the heights of eloquence and its magic,

weaving into verse the secret of its bestowed radiance.

طب بادواء الكلام مبرز

ابقى لأهل الفضل أي طبيب

A preeminent physician, skilled in speech's ailments;

what a physician he has left to men of merit!

صواغ آيات البلاغة والنهى

بفرائد حسانة الترتيب

A goldsmith of marvels of eloquence and reason,

in peerless gems, beautifully arranged.

لله نجعته وشرعته وما

في عرفه من طيب منخوب

How wondrous his quest for pasture, his path, and the

choice perfume in his fragrance!

هذي رسائله وطبع صفاته

قد نزهت عن شبهة وضريب

Here are his epistles and the impress of his qualities,

free of all suspicion and without a peer.

كم ميت احيا بتابين وكم

لعداته من مدمع مسكوب

How many a dead man he revived through elegy, and how many

tears his enemies shed!

ومقدمات منزلات عندها

قس يعود بصفقة المغلوب

And prefaces like revelations, before which

Quss comes away with the loser's bargain.

وابن المففع لو رأى انشآءه

باهى وقال قد انتقى أسلوبي

And Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ, had he seen his prose,

would have boasted, saying: He has chosen my style!

هذا الذي باهت به أوطانه

وله استهل الفضل بعد قطوب

He is the one in whom his homelands took pride,

for whom excellence brightened after frowning.

هذا الذي احيا لنا اللغة التي

لاقت من الأيام شر خطوب

He is the one who revived for us the language that

had suffered time's worst calamities.

حمل اللواء لها ونادى عزمة

دانت له في الموقف المرهوب

He bore its banner and called with firm resolve;

it yielded to him at that fearsome stand.

فاطاعه اللفظ العصيّ وجاء ال

معنى القصيّ بغير ما تجليب

Rebellious wording obeyed him, and the

far-off meaning came without clamorous summoning.

واتى بأوضاع تضوع نشرها

وعنا له الاعجام بالتعريب

He brought forth formulations whose fragrance spread,

and foreign speech bowed to him through Arabization.

فجلا لنا من كل فن سورة

حازت من الابداع كل نصيب

He unveiled for us a chapter of every art,

endowed with every share of creative brilliance,

في منهج ملك البلاغة سائغ

في ذوق أهل العصر سوغ شروب

in the manner of eloquence's king, pleasing

to the taste of the age's people, like an easy draught.

هذا أبو الأحرار أول صارخ

كم تستنيم لذل حكم غريب

He is the father of free men, the first to cry:

How long will you rest content with the abasement of foreign rule?

دع مجلس الغيد الأوانس واعتزم

عزما يعود عليك بالمسلوب

Leave the gathering of graceful, charming maidens, and muster

a resolve that will restore what was stolen from you.

أي النعيم لمن يبيت على بسا

ط الذل يقنعه شقا المحروب

What bliss is there for one who sleeps on the carpet

of abasement, content with the despoiled man's misery?

ولمن ازمته بكف عداه يظ

لم ىيسا من ناصر ومجيب

Or for one whose reins are in his foes' hands, who is

wronged, despairing of a helper or an answering voice?

ولمن تباع حقوقه ودماؤه

بيع الخسائس عقب عام جدوب

Or for one whose rights and blood are sold

like worthless goods after a year of drought?

هل قام فينا قبله داع إلى

وطنية عربية التضريب

Had anyone before him risen among us to call for

a patriotism Arab in its stamp?

طورا بتهذيب اللسان وتارة

بالنصح والانذار والترغيب

Now through the refinement of language, and now

through counsel, warning, and encouragement.

ياقوم ان لسانكم حرز لكم

فقد اللسان قضى بهلك شعوب

My people, your language is a safeguard for you;

the loss of language has decreed the ruin of peoples.

هذا تراث لم تنله امة

من قبلكم متكامل الترتيب

This is a legacy no nation attained

before you, complete in its arrangement.

يا قوم صونوه صيان جواهر

هذا القديم يفوق كل قشيب

My people, guard it as jewels are guarded;

this ancient inheritance surpasses everything new.

طرف عتيق لا يخون مصاحبا

بحر وان نعتوه باليعبوب

A noble, purebred steed that never betrays a companion,

an ocean, though they call it a swift steed;

في الوعر سهل لا يعاصي عالما

بفنونه سباق كل ركوب

easy on rugged ground, never defying one versed

in its arts, outstripping every mount.

واف بحاجات الزمان وقانع

منكم يرعى صحابة المصحوب

It meets the age's needs, and is content

with one among you who cherishes a companion's fellowship.

يا قوم لا دول ولا وطن بلا

لغة وهل بيت بلا تطنيب

My people, there are no states and no homeland without

a language; can a tent stand without guy ropes?

ذي البعض من آياته فتذكروا

فبذكرها شرف لكل اريب

These are some of his marvels, so remember them;

for recalling them brings honor to every discerning mind.

يا خادم الوطن العزيز ومطلعا

عزا لامته بغير غروب

O servant of the beloved homeland, and raiser of

glory for his nation, never to set,

لا ينكرن عظيم فضلك منصف

في العرب أو يلفى اذل كذوب

No fair-minded man will deny your great merit

among the Arabs, or he will prove the basest liar.

اليوم أدت أمة لك فرضها

في عرف عصر بالفنون عجيب

Today a nation has fulfilled its duty to you,

in keeping with an age wondrous in the arts.

قالت لمن معنا وآت بعدنا

هذا مثال الفضل والتهذيب

It said to those with us and those who come after us:

This is the image of merit and refinement.

هذا مثال فتى تضن بمثله

غرر العصور كذا بكل نجيب

This is the image of a man whose like

the brightest ages seldom yield—as with every noble spirit.

لو كان كل عظيم قوم يفتدى

لفداك أقوام كرام قلوب

If every great man of a people could be ransomed,

noble-hearted peoples would have ransomed you.

أو كان يعطى المرء عدلا حقه

لبلغت أقصى مطلب لأديب

Or if a man were justly given his due,

you would have attained a man of letters' highest aspiration.