لا تلمني إن السماع يقيت

وهو يحيي بطيبه ويميت

Do not blame me: listening to music gives sustenance.

And it gives life through its sweetness and brings death.

وهو باب لبيت سر عظيم

بيت حق جداره التثبيت

And it is a door to a house of great mystery,

a house of truth, whose wall is steadfastness.

نفحات من الغيوب تبدت

بث مسك منه لدينا حتيت

Fragrant breaths from unseen realms appeared;

its scrapings scattered musk among us.

وعلى الجاهلين ريح كريه

فائح منه عندهم كبريت

And to the ignorant, a foul odor

wafts from it: sulfur, to them.

والذي عندهم هزار وبوم

لم يغيره منهما التصويت

And he among them whom nightingale and owl

have not stirred with their calls

حيوان في الطبع لا إنسان

وهو حي وفي الحقيقة ميت

is an animal by nature, not a human,

and he is alive, but in truth dead.

حبذا حبذا سماع الأغاني

والنشيد الذي إليه دعيت

How lovely, how lovely, listening to songs,

and the chant to which I was invited!

تتثنى به الرجال انطراباً

كغصون لها الصبا قال هيت

Men sway to it in rapture,

like branches to which the east wind said, 'Come!'

سيما والدفوف منطرقات

والمزامير مالها تفويت

Especially when the frame drums are being struck,

and the pipes are not to be missed.

وفم الناي نافخ بثنايا

منه لاح المحيى بنا المميت

And the reed flute's mouth blows through front teeth;

from it the Life-Giver, the Death-Bringer, shone through us.