Kahlil Gibran: Love is a spirit and you its essence

Love is a spirit and you its essence

الحب روح أنت معناه

Love is a spirit and you its essence

With a good word you fashioned it

Have mercy on a heart on the brink of

Perishing and protect him with thy care

When I saw you my destiny was fulfilled

A dream delighting in your beauty

O blessed are my eyes in your company

O joyful is my heart when you confide in it.

Translated by Michael Curtotti

الحب روح أنت معناه

والحسن لفظ أنت مبناه

إرحم فؤادا في هواك غدا

مضنى وحماه حمياه

تمت برؤيتك المنى فحكت

حلما تمتعنا برؤياه

يا طيب عيني حين آنسها

يا سعد قلبي حين ناجاه

Some we love, but we do not come near

البعض نحبهم لكن لا نقترب منهم

Some, we love them …

But we do not come near

For distance exalts them

And in the night sky they shine

And in the distance, they are more beloved

. البعض نحبهم ..

لكن لا نقترب منهم

فهم في البعد أحلى

وهم في البعد أرقى

وهم في البعد أغلى

And some we love them …

But we have forgotten how to come near

Life’s troubles have made a gulf between us

And separation from them is painful

And without them, we know not how to live

.والبعض نحبهم ..

ونسعى كي نقترب منهم

ونتقاسم تفاصيل الحياة معهم

ويؤلمنا الإبتعاد عنهم

ويصعب علينا تصور الحياة حين تخلو منهم

And some we love them …

And we hope to live a beautiful story with them

We contrive excuses to meet them

And invent reasons to to see them

And life with them is more fantasy than truth

. والبعض نحبهم ..

ونتمنى ان نعيش حكاية جميلة معهم

ونفتعل الصدف لكي نلتقي بهم

ونختلق الأسباب لكي نراهم

ونعيش في الخيال أكثر من الواقع معهم

Some, we love them …

But a secret love unspoken

And we remain silent, despite its pain

And we do not proclaim that love, even to them

For the obstacles are insuperable

And the punishment fearful

And it is better for each of us

that the doors of love between us

remain … forever … locked

. والبعض نحبهم ..

لكن بيننا وبين أنفسنا فقط

فنصمت برغم ألم الصمت

فلا نجاهر بحبهم حتى لهم

لان العوائق كثيره

والعواقب مخيفه

ومن الافضل لنا ولهم

ان تبقى الابواب

بيننا وبينهم .. مغلقه ..

Some we love them …

And with that love we fill the Earth

And proclaim them to the world

And speak of them at all times

And we need their presence …

like water … like air …

And in their departure, we would drown,

Even if deprived of them for a day.

. والبعض نحبهم ..

فنملأ الارض بحبهم

ونحدث الدنيا عنهم

ونثرثر بهم في كل الاوقات

.ونحتاج الى وجودهم ..

.كالماء … والهواء ..

ونختنق في غيابهم

أو حتى الإبتعاد عنهم

Some, we love them …

Because we find no other

And our need for love impels us to them

And the days pass

And life wastes like a candle

And time does not stop

For we are afraid of being alone.

.والبعض نحبهم ..

لأننا لا نجد سواهم

وحاجتنا الى الحب تدفعنا نحوهم

فالأيام تمضي

والعمر ينقضي

والزمن لا يقف

ويرعبنا بأن نبقى بلا رفيق

And some, we love them …

Because their like deserves nothing but love

And before them we have nothing save love

And from them we learn what beauty means

And with them we heal many things

With them life itself is restored and made new

And we strive sincerely to fill their measure of happiness.

.والبعض نحبهم ..

لأن مثلهم لا يستحق سوى الحب

ولا نملك امامهم سوى ان نحب

فنتعلم منهم أشياء جميلة

ونرمم معهم أشياء كثيرة

ونعيد طلاء الحياة من جديد

ونسعى صادقين كي نمنحهم بعض السعادة

And some, we love them …

But in their hearts, we find no echo of love

And we fall and break

And flounder in our failure

For we cannot hate them

Nor forget them

And we love no other

And only tears are left after every failed attempt.

والبعض نحبهم ..

لكننا لانجد صدى لهذا الحب في قلوبهــم

فننهار و ننكسر

و نتخبط في حكايات فاشلة

فلا نكرهُهُم

ولا ننساهم

ولا نحبُّ سواهم

ونعود نبكيهم بعد كل محاوله فاشله

And some, we love them,

And we remain … if only they would love us,

For we love them.

Translated by Michael Curtotti

والبعض نحبهم ..

ويبقى فقط ان يحبوننا..

مثلما نحبهم..