1. I yearned for wine and cups overflowing,
And the tent of a landlord where revelry played.

2. With sincere youths from the clan of Ibn Malik,
And the noble Azd of Oman of glory and pride.

3. When we arrived we stayed in Ashmaṭ,
Generous of welcome, blatant idol-worshipper.

4. He had the faith of a priest and the wits of a scribe,
The pomp of a tyrant, and the words of a poet.

5. He bade us welcome and stay, then said “Settle down,
You have come to us in blessed, auspicious time.”

6. We said “Wine is our food,
And we are wise and discerning folk.”

7. So he brought it, though toil had wasted his body,
And summer heat pained him, in the blazing noon.

8. When her radiance shone in the wine-cup,
Rising above it, blossoming and bright,

9. I said “Speak, wine, tell how long you have lived?”
But she said “God spare you! I will not speak.”

10. “I saw Thamud in the day they were destroyed,
And lived through the days of ‘Amr ibn ‘Aamir.”

11. We drank her down in great drafts,
Sipped by a fanciful, flirtatious sot,

12. And this has been our way and nourishment
For thirty days and dark, moonless nights.

13. You will find us doing all that God hates,
Except polytheism, service of idols.