1. My friend, refresh me with a sip and pour,
But speak no words to me of love's allure,

2. For the field of youth is too constricted for passion now,
So my soul returns to truth and equity.

3. This is the season of blossoms, greeting you by name,
The traits of mankind apparent on its serene face.

4. The day of clouds has led a procession, as though
They are companions come walking gently apace.

5. Like thunder’s guide that lost its way,
Shaking the lightning’s torch to find its place.

6. A meadow’s sanctuary the rain visited and met
Its east and west pilgrims at the set time and space.

7. The lily has turned its gown therein,
As ostriches displayed it to partake of grace.

8. The narcissus’ ailing soul grew restless,
As foliage wept loudly in its place.

9. The shady raincloud pitied what it held
Spilling its clouds as the breeze climbed to its place.

10. I arrived with roses, a gift of oblation,
So I could sacrifice my drinking horn in their place.

11. I flooded it red as the raincloud hovered
Above, making room for it in the aerial space.

12. It has aged from the elongation of its life
And the burning of its limbs in the kiln’s embrace.

13. I toasted it with cups as if they were
Bodies that revive the soul at existence’s base.

14. The pitcher mistakes them during its prostration
For an imam prolonging his bow at “qalqalah’s” place.

15. It repeats them to train its nature through practice,
But cannot articulate them with eloquence and grace.

16. The lute has bent its ribs over a priest
Who utters what the fingerboard prompts at its place,

17. And expresses what is in the heart as though
We sought augury or were confined in a strait place,

18. We dwelled on it as lightning, resembling
A herd of blond gazelles racing to the winning place.

19. The night’s expanse was filled with awe from the light’s radiance,
And the hearts of stars raced from the intensity apace.

20. If nights don the coldness of the morning breeze
And block the paths to pleasures in that time and space,

21. Console yourself with a hint of favoring days,
What loss if a way leads you to pursue and chase?