-1-
Look, my beloved, at my eternal paradise
And thank God for His many blessings.
In its hanging gardens are fruit-bearing trees,
singing birds,
and springs of honey,
which, at their confluence, formed a river,
that none but you have ever relied upon,
Guarding its banks are a million nymphs,
Carrying cymbals in their hands,
and bottles of rosewater.
This paradise of mine, its name is... Lebanon.
-2-
Here, my love, was our meeting,
And here we shall end…
There is no paradise more beautiful than my homeland.
“Its cedar forest” is my garden,
“Baalbek Castle” is my palace,
“Byblos” is the source of my craft,
And from its springs flows my blood.
How could I not give it to you,
When you are its true owner?!
You are its daughter and the apple of its eye,
So, do not withhold your children from it.
-3-
Return to it, so that they may return…
Love it, so that they may love it…
Feed them its food,
Let them drink from its heritage,
And clothe them in the grains of its soil.
For the dust of the homeland is sacred, my love.
Let them tickle it with their bare feet.
I have entrusted my homeland to you,
Just as I have entrusted my generations to you…
So be a good mother.
**
