1. Does it not please you that the earth is verdant
And the wine is brimming, pure and chaste?

2. There is no excuse for you to remain sitting
Like the night that begot it and the mother who is green.

3. Hasten, for the gardens of al-Karkh are blooming,
Untouched by the hands of harsh war.

4. In it are scattered kinds of birds
Inarticulate, wary of speech.

5. When they sing, they leave no sad one
Except relieved by it of illness.

6. O Lord of the abode of a tavern I visited
While the night donned its gown black as tar.

7. A bushy-headed man rose from his bed
Reeling from drunkenness, bleary-eyed.

8. He asked gently, “Who are you?” I said,
“One of the noble ones, and I have names in description.”

9. I said, “I came seeking wine.”
He said, “Money, can the dowry wait?”

10. When he saw I was no miser
And had no business but this, no waiting,

11. He brought coffee as clear as musk,
Like a teardrop shed by a shy, fawn-eyed gazelle.

12. Its seller kept serving it to me and I drank it
While with us was a fair, beautiful flirt.

13. How she sang! No blame clings to us.
Spare me your blame, for blame is but temptation.