1. And a day when it seemed as though time forgave me for it
So its name between us became a gift of time

2. On it the steeds of youth flowed happily
To the honored monastery of Mourad and life

3. Where the air of the two hills is fragrant
With the breeze of the winds and flowers

4. So from a garden of beauty another is fed
And from a river of plenty another river flows

5. And in the frequented shrine I took my fill of it
And my friends, lawful after paying the dowry

6. And I valued it beyond mere dinars
Thus have I continued to drink pure from the pure

7. And made lawful what was forbidden of it
Can the forbidden be forbidden in the land of infidels?

8. So the days gifted me on it an affection
That called me in secret and I responded in secret

9. It came from noble nature, sincere inclination
Addressing me on the essence of poetry and prose

10. And my reply was obedience not refusal
For who does not respond to ease?

11. I found eyes full of grace and resolve
Features sweetened with cheerfulness and glad tidings

12. And it shamed me with righteousness until I thought
It wanted to cheat me of my heavens though I knew not

13. And it was pure from all but sincerity in our gathering
So we were like two hearts in one chest

14. And happiness willed that a third join us
Whether we floated by the full moon or my brother the moon

15. With eyes that grant what they desire of his beauty
And hearts that avoid me and keep distant

16. We plucked roses in their off season
And the basil bloomed from the gardens of his cheeks and lips

17. And he met us with his face and wine
Like two suns amid the darkness of night and hair

18. And sang till hearing became like seeing
Grasping the amplest share of his brilliant charms

19. And delighted us from his two cheeks with the likes of what
His hands mixed of water and wine

20. A sober joy we thanked when it called
To it and did not thank the joy of drunkenness

21. As though the nights forgot him, so when
They awoke they turned loyalty to betrayal

22. He left and it was as though I had been
Worried, speaking of a phantom of the imagination passing

23. Can man gain from all with which
Days indulge him save by remembrance?