I Do Not Know

Light streamed among the particles of the ether, and space smiled...

Dawn trailed its rosy skirts, and from among the thickets of the hills flowed the cooing of the birds...

The sun scattered its golden rays, and nature sang...

The dewdrop glistened in the eye of morning, and the eyelids of the flowers opened...

The moon stole in among the branches, and nature's smiles parted.....

O space! You have smiled at the light — and I, at what shall I smile? Shall I smile at the darkness?!

O bird! For the dawn you warbled — and I, shall I warble while around me are those who wail and lament??!

O nature! You have sung for the life that the warmth of the sun built within you — but I, hemmed about by misery and torpor, how shall I sing??!

O flowers! Your eyelids have opened upon gentle drops of dew, but my eyelids are sore with the tears my eyes have shed at hearing the sighs of sorrowing hearts...

Your smiles have parted, O nature, at the magic of the moon — and I, at what should my smiles part?! At tyranny and despotism? At poverty and misery? At lying and deceit? At rancor and envy? Or at dissoluteness and corruption, at arrogance, imitation, and hypocrisy??!!

O space! When shall I see the medals of honor and glory gleam upon the breasts of the sons of my homeland?

When shall I see mercy overflow from the hearts of men? Then I shall smile at the light as you smile!

O bird! When shall I see hearts moist with the dew of love, and souls adorned with the balm of forgiveness? Then I shall warble to the dawn as you warble?

O nature! When shall I see the banners of freedom flutter in the sky of Lebanon, and the wings of sincerity and truth soar above its hills? Then I shall sing to the rays of the sun as you sing!

O flowers! When shall I see a soul that longs to be a spring of water in the garden of this life, that every thirsty one may drink of it, and a tree in the orchard of this universe, that every hungry one may pluck its fruit? Then my eyelids will open to the pearls of morning as yours do...

O nature! When will a monument be raised to lofty morals? To sound upbringing? When will the disease of envy be uprooted from the hearts of men? When will the corners of our society be perfumed with the fragrance of dignity and sobriety? When will the clouds of treachery and evil be torn from our souls? When will the lamps of virtue be kindled within us? When shall I find all this — so that my smiles may part for your magic, for your splendor, for your majesty, O moon??

When shall I see you beautiful, O life?
When shall I rejoice in life??
I do not know!