1. غَرِيبٌ تَهُزُّ الْحَيَاةُ حَنِينِي

    وَتَتْرُكُنِي غَارِقًا فِي شُجُونِي

    I am a stranger; life stirs my longing,

    and leaves me drowning in my sorrows.

  2. فَأَصْرُخُ فِي وَجْهِهَا مُغْضَبًا

    إِذَا كُنْتِ أُمِّي فَلاَ تُهْمِلِينِي

    So I cry out angrily in her face:

    If you are my mother, do not neglect me.

  3. وَإِنْ كُنْتُ وَحْدِيَ سِرَّ الوُجُودِ

    كَمَا تَزْعُمِينَ، فَجُلِّي ظُنُونِي

    And if I alone am the secret of existence,

    as you claim, then dispel my doubts.

  4. أَأَنْتِ الَّتِي عَلَّمَتْ أَهْلَهَا

    بِأَنْ يَطْلُبُونِي لِكَيْ يَصْلِبُونِي؟!

    Are you the one who taught her people

    to seek me out so they might crucify me?!

  5. وَقَدْ كُنْتُ فِي دَرْبِهِمْ وَاحَةً

    أَبُلُّ صَدَاهُمْ بِمَاءٍ مَعِينِ

    Though I had been an oasis along their path,

    quenching their thirst with flowing water,

  6. وَرَوْضًا زَكِيًّا قَرِيبَ الثِّمَارِ

    فَمَا أَزْمَعُوا غَيْرَ أَنْ يَحْرِقُونِي

    and a fragrant garden with fruit within reach,

    they resolved on nothing but burning me.

  7. وَنَايًا فَتِيَّ اللُّحُونِ.. فَجَاؤُوا

    بِأَبْوَاقِ فِسْقٍ لِكَيْ يُخْرِسُونِي

    And a flute with youthful melodies—yet they came

    with trumpets of vice to silence me.

  8. وَشَمْسًا تُضِيءُ الدُّرُوبَ، وَلَكِنْ

    أَرَادُوا وَهَيْهَاتَ أَنْ يُطْفِئُونِي

    And a sun that lights the paths; yet

    they wished—in vain—to extinguish me.

  9. أَنَا يَا حَيَاةُ رَضِيتُ بِمَا قَدْ

    دَرَ اللهُ لِي، وَبِهَمِّ السِّنِينِ

    I, O Life, am content with what

    God has decreed for me, and with the burdens of the years.

  10. وَلَكِنْ لِمَاذَا نَثَرْتُ أَحِبَّا

    يَ بَيْنَ شَرِيدٍ، شَهِيدٍ، سَجِينِ

    And yet why have I scattered my loved ones

    among the exiled, the martyred, the imprisoned?

  11. وَفِي رُوحِ كُلِّ أَخٍ لِي حَيَاةٌ

    أَمُوتُ إِذَا غَرَبَتْ عَنْ عُيُونِي

    And in each brother's soul I have a life;

    I die when it sets beyond my sight.

  12. وَكَيْفَ تَكُونُ حَيَاةُ الْمُشَرَّ

    دِ فِي كُلِّ أَرْضٍ وَفِي كُلِّ حِينِ؟!

    And what is life like for the displaced

    in every land and at every hour?!

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  14. تَبَسَّمَتِ الأُمُّ فِي رِقَّةٍ

    وَقَالَتْ بِصَوْتٍ شَجِيِّ الرَّنِينِ:

    The mother smiled gently,

    and said in a voice with a plaintive ring:

  15. هُوَ الدَّرْبُ، دَرْبُ الهُدَاةِ الأُبَاةِ

    مَلِيءٌ بِشَوْكِ الأَسَى وَالأَنِينِ

    It is the path—the path of unbowed guides—

    full of the thorns of sorrow and groaning.

  16. وَمَنْ كَانَ يَبْغِي جِنَانَ النَّعِيمِ

    يَجِدْ سُكْرَهُ فِي كُؤُوسِ الْمَنُونِ

    And whoever seeks the gardens of bliss

    will find his intoxication in the cups of death.

  17. فَيَا عَاشِقَ الخُلْدِ، إِنِّي وَلَدْتُ

    كَ حُرًّا، طَمُوحًا، فَسِرْ بِيَقِينِ

    So, O lover of immortality, I bore

    you free and ambitious; go forth with certainty.

  18. وَيَرْعَى خُطَاكَ الَّذِي سَيَّرَ الكَوْ

    نَ فِي بَحْرِ أَقْدَارِهِ كَالسَّفِينِ

    And your steps are watched over by Him who steered the universe

    like ships upon the sea of His decrees.