ما على مبسم الربيع الجديد

من أقاحٍ ونرجسٍ وورود

What lies upon the smiling mouth of the new spring,

of daisies, narcissi, and roses,

وعلى الدوح من جنى كعيونٍ

شاخصات ومن جنى ونهود

and upon the spreading trees, of fruit like eyes

staring, and of fruit and breasts—

كله صورة لعيدك يا بولس

أنعم بيومه من عيد

all is an image of your feast, O Boulos.

How delightful a feast is its day!

كنت أزجي الحياة يأساً فلما

جاء ناديت يا حياتي عودي

I was passing my life in despair; then, when

it came, I cried: "O my life, return!"

وغشيت الرياض في ساحل المت

ن وكم لي بظلها من عهود

And I visited the gardens on the coast of al-Matn;

and how many memories of past days I have beneath their shade!

وتلمست عندها خاطراً ضاع

وفتشت عن رسيس قصيدي

And there I groped for a thought that had been lost,

and searched for the lingering trace of my verse.

فاباحت ما في حماها لإلها

مي شعراً في عيد خير عميد

So they opened all within their sanctuary to my inspiration,

as verse for the feast of the finest leader.

وحمتني من نخلها برماحٍ

والتقتني من موزها ببنود

And they protected me with spears from their palms,

and met me with banners from their banana trees.

فحللت الوادي وفواره يج

ري ويملي علي آي الخلود

So I settled in the valley, where its gushing spring

flows and dictates to me the verses of eternity.

وهميم النسيم بين الخزامى

مثل بث المتيم المعمود

And the breeze's murmur among the lavender

is like the outpouring of a lovesick, tormented lover.

ورنيم الحمام فوق الأراك ال

غض يوحي ايحاءه الداوودي

And the doves' song above the tender arak trees

imparts its Davidic inspiration.

تلك للشعر دولةٌ رحت فيها

نافذ الأمر والقوافي عبيدي

That is poetry's realm, in which I moved

with my command obeyed, and rhymes my slaves.

فانتحلت القريض من نفح ريا

ها ومن شدوِ طيرها الغريد

So I borrowed verse from the breath of their fragrance,

and from the song of their melodious birds.

وتركت النحوس مخذولة خل

في إلى ملتقى ثغور السعود

And I left ill fortunes vanquished

behind me, to meet good fortune's smiling lips.

اجتلي سيداً له فخره بالع

لم والحزم والعلى والجدود

I behold a lord whose pride lies in

learning, resolve, eminence, and ancestry.

وعليه خمسون حولاً ولا سا

عة منها بلا فعال حميد

And he bears fifty years, with not one

hour among them devoid of praiseworthy deeds.

أي أباً ملةٍ تحيي بك العل

م وفضل الرأي الصحيح السديد

O father of a religious community that honors in you

learning and the excellence of sound, judicious thought!

ما نسيناك كيف كنت لنا أيام

كنا اقوات طاغٍ مبيد

We have not forgotten you—what you were to us in the days

when we were food for an annihilating tyrant.

ما نسيناك كيف كنت لنا أيام

كنا كصالح في ثمود

We have not forgotten you—what you were to us in the days

when we were like Salih among Thamud.

وقت كان المقام في ارضنا مثل

مقام المسيح بين اليهود

At a time when dwelling in our land was like

Christ's dwelling among the Jews,

والدواهي حيناً هي الحبل في الجيد

وحيناً مثقفٌ في الوريد

and calamities were, at times, the rope around the neck,

and at times, a straightened lance in the jugular vein.

تتمشى على نهود العذارى

دائسات أقدامها في الحدود

They walk upon the breasts of maidens,

their feet trampling amid the cutting edges.

تصرعُ الأم في الطريق وثدي

الأم حانٍ على شفاه الوليد

They strike the mother down on the road, while the breast

of the mother bends tenderly over the newborn's lips.

ما نسيناك كيف كنت للبنان

ولبنان في الليالي السود

We have not forgotten you—what you were to Lebanon,

while Lebanon was in the black nights.

ان مدحنا فنحن نمدح مولىً

كان عوذ الجاني وغوث الطريد

If we praise, we praise a lord

who was the wrongdoer's refuge and the outcast's succor.