1. Stop with the caravans and let the driver sing,
Of the one who loaded the beautiful, slender camels.

2. The feverish drunkard tended to them, then set out,
To go roaming with them, scattering anemones.

3. He swayed with them, though he had not spent the night drunk,
Save for his disheveled hair, choking him.

4. If he wished, he would have smiled pearls,
And adorned his cheeks with smiles.

5. He tied them with the leather ropes, though they were not
Reddened lips or carnelian beads.

6. Hard-hearted they are, yet to us
They revealed gentle, delicate faces.

7. Their cheeks softened while their consciences hardened,
So we rested our cheeks on gentle companions.

8. More radiant than ostrich eggs, bare,
Her buttocks folded like sand grouse.

9. My flesh and bones have melted away together
And nothing remains that feels the burning.

10. Prostrating in the valley, they sold my faith for
Mere dirhams to the foreigners.

11. Drinking from cups more distant that what
A thirsty man can reach and kiss.

12. I took from their brows tempting glances -
As though a barren man grasped shining stars.

13. Overlook for a moment the debauched gazes,
For how many debauched have I excused?

14. Guard your glances in watching them,
As though in their eyes lie gardens.

15. I followed the singing behind them,
Sing, if he sang, capturing the deserter.

16. None escaped me but exhausted me,
Both my mouth and energy pursuing him.

17. I rode my misfortune, so who can
Become old after passing through youth?

18. Man is created with a natural disposition,
Meet him on nothing but his own terms.

19. Alas for youth, its days have turned
Black, after once whitening the separation.

20. Nothing remains in the decanter but the dregs,
A vessel not pleasing to the Creator.

21. Treachery to people has become a habit,
Find a sincere one, you find one unaccustomed.

22. None remains but the benefactor of good deeds,
Who has scattered goodness in the land.

23. The breaths of dawn carried longing for him,
Filling the horizon with beautiful fragrance.

24. When you see him, scent the world with his being,
And if you wish, scent people with his nature.

25. I drank from his manners a draft,
That I drank like a overflowing cup.

26. He is the morning and evening twilight, so take
Advantage of his temper whether forthcoming or aloof.

27. I yearn for him though he has not yet passed the bloom of youth,
And even if he did, he is accustomed to perpetual youth.

28. I miss him, and even if tomorrow he misses me,
I would pave the roads and shelters.

29. If imagination were true in its wanderings,
I would be content even if imagination alone came to me.

30. Such are the imaginations that roam the youth,
Falsely – if only they would send a truthful vision!