A Voice from Heaven

In the beginning…
The early dawn of Creation was an order
Whose echo today surpasses any border;
The ruling Spirit of God there was the only presence,
God Lord of space,
Time, all Creation, existence.
Before and after were now reality, elements and light,
Evolution rolled onward with no barrier in sight;
A word, a command, an order issued by the voice of Heaven,
“Be, thou! Exist!” Awesome, divine, resonance is given.
This voice from on high made all commence,
The cosmos, mankind, and all we conceive.
This heavenly voice with its harmony still
Resounds in great souls, in true artists of will.
In Lebanon seed by God’s hand was sown,
Land of the gifted where genius is grown,
Land of the Cedars that voice made its own,
Voice of the Baptist, of Magdalen, Mary, Zenobia, Astarte,
Venus born on our shore’s golden sand,
Goddess Europa once torn from our strand.
The voice of the Maker as ever takes form
And now in a jewel, a pearl, is reborn –
Feyrouz! Feyrouz, magical echo and twilight prayer,
Morning dew and musk-shrouded flower,
Dream in the mist, springtime’s new birth,
Presence unrivalled with no like on the earth,
Warmth of the heart but hymns of seraphim,
And in her silence the fire of cherubim.
Her voice of quiet, and of love, makes us know
In the land of the Cedars our freedom’s warm glow.
Heiress of Cadmus, of Sidon, this maid
Sends sacred songs where the Pole Star is laid
Through delicate tones deep passion displayed.
Listening to you, high enchantment we feel,
A blessing from heaven, is it magic or real?
Your fairylike voice is a wand with a star
Bringing strange beauty that comes from afar.
You are this monument put up in time
Sending out music to which our hearts rhyme.
Notes follow smoothly and warn of what follow
To make a sweet melody stirring and mellow.
As the nightingale sweetly salutes the night air
You sing love of Lebanon, this country so fair.
Fluent and light, subtle and bright,
Your voice full of mystery gives us delight.

French by Joseph Matar – Translation: K.J. Mortimer