1. أدارَ الكأس مترعةً شرابا

    وأهداها لنا ذهباً مذابا

    He passed around the cup, brimming with wine,

    and offered it to us as molten gold.

  2. وقد غارت نجوم الصبح لمَّا

    رأته وهو قد كشفَ النقابا

    And the stars of dawn had vanished when

    they saw him, with his veil already lifted.

  3. وقالَ ليَ الهوى فيه اصطحبها

    وطِبْ نفساً بها فالوقت طابا

    And my love for him said to me, 'Take her as your companion,

    and be glad at heart with her, for the time is sweet.'

  4. ونحنُ بجنَّةٍ لا خلدَ فيها

    ولا واش نخاف به العقابا

    While we were in a paradise with no eternity in it,

    and no informer to make us fear punishment.

  5. ونارُ الحسن في وَجَنات أحوى

    من الغلمان تلتهب التهابا

    And beauty's fire in a dusky youth's cheeks

    among the lads blazes fiercely.

  6. أدرها يا غلام عَليَّ صرفاً

    وأرشفني بريقتك الرضابا

    Pass it to me, lad, unmixed,

    and let me sip your sweet saliva.

  7. أدرها مُزَّة تحلو وَدَعني

    أُقبِّل من ثناياك العذابا

    Pass it around, tart yet sweet, and let me

    kiss your sweet front teeth.

  8. أراش سهامَ مقلته غريرٌ

    إذا أرمى بها قلباً أصابا

    An innocent youth fletched the arrows of his gaze;

    whenever he shot them at a heart, he struck it.

  9. وطافَ بها على الندمان يسعى

    كأَنَّ بكفِّهِ منها خضابا

    And he hurried round with it among the drinking companions,

    as though some of it were dye upon his palm.

  10. وشَرِبٍ يشهدون الغيَّ محضاً

    إذا الشيطان أبصرهم أنابا

    And a band of drinkers who witness unalloyed vice—

    when Satan sees them, he repents.

  11. عكفت بهم على اللَّذَّات حتَّى

    قرعت بهم من الغايات بابا

    I devoted myself with them to pleasures, until

    with them I knocked at a door of the furthest bounds.

  12. متى حجب الوقار اللَّهو عنهم

    رأوا أنْ يرفعوا ذاك الحجابا

    Whenever dignity veiled amusement from them,

    they resolved to lift that veil.

  13. وقاموا للَّتي لا عيبَ فيها

    يرَوْنَ بتركها للعاب عابا

    And they rose for her in whom there is no fault,

    deeming forsaking her a fault in a reveler.

  14. كأَنَّ مجالس الأفراح منهم

    كؤوس الرَّاح تنظمهم حبابا

    As though their gatherings of joy

    were winecups, stringing them together like bubbles.

  15. تريك مذاهباً للقومِ شتَّى

    وتذهب في عقولهم ذهابا

    It shows you the company's many different ways,

    and ranges far through their minds.

  16. تحرَّينا السرور وَرُبَّ رأيٍ

    أرادَ الخِطْءَ فاحتمل الصوابا

    We sought joy; and many a judgment

    aimed at error, yet contained what was right.

  17. وما زلنا نريق دمَ الحميَّا

    ونشربها وقد ساغتْ شرابا

    And we kept spilling the blood of potent wine,

    and drinking it, a draught that went down smoothly,

  18. إلى أن أقلعت ظلم الدياجي

    كما طيَّرتَ عن وكرٍ غرابا

    until the dark shadows of night withdrew,

    as when you send a raven flying from a nest.

  19. وغنَّتنا على الأَغصان وُرْقٌ

    نهزّ لهنَّ أعطافاً طرابا

    And gray doves sang to us upon the branches;

    we swayed our bodies for them in rapture.

  20. وقد ضحكَ الأَقاح الغضُّ منَّا

    وأبصرَ من خلاعتنا عجابا

    And the fresh daisies laughed at us,

    and saw wonders in our wantonness.

  21. وظلّ البان يرقص والقماري

    تغنِّيه انخفاضاً وانتصابا

    The moringa kept dancing, while the turtledoves

    sang to it as it bowed and rose.

  22. وفينا كلُّ مبتهج خليعٍ

    طروب شبَّ عارضه وشابا

    And among us was every joyful libertine,

    easily enraptured, his cheek-beard sprouted and grayed.

  23. إذا شرب المدام وأطربته

    أعادَ على المشيبِ بها الشبابا

    When he drank wine and it delighted him,

    he restored youth to gray old age through it.

  24. ألا بأبي من العشَّاق صبٌّ

    متى ذكر الغرام له تصابى

    Ah, my father be the ransom of a lovesick one among lovers,

    who acts youthful whenever passion is mentioned to him,

  25. بكُلِّ مهفهفِ الأعطاف يعطو

    بجيد الظبي روع فاسترابا

    for every slender-waisted youth who stretches upward

    with the neck of a gazelle, startled and wary.

  26. إذا وطئ التراب بأخمصيه

    تمنَّى أن يكون له ترابا

    When he treads the dust with his arched soles,

    the lover wishes to become dust beneath him.

  27. وأيم الله إنك مستهام

    إذا استعذبت في الحبِّ العذابا

    And, by God, you are truly love-besotted

    if you find torment sweet in love.

  28. أعدْ لي ذكر أقداحٍ كبارٍ

    ملاءً من شربك أو قرابا

    Tell me again of large goblets,

    filled with your drink, or nearly full.

  29. وخلِّ اليوم عنك حديث سلمى

    فلا سلمى أريد ولا الربابا

    And put aside today the tale of Salma,

    for I want neither Salma nor al-Rabab,

  30. ومن قول الشجيّ سألت ربعاً

    خلا ممَّن أُحبّ فما أجابا

    and such words of the grieving lover as: 'I questioned a dwelling

    empty of those I love, so it gave no answer.'

  31. وخذ بحديث سلمانٍ فإنِّي

    أحبّ به الثناء المستطابا

    And take up the tale of Salman, for I

    love the pleasing praise of him.

  32. يهاب مع الجمال ولا يدارى

    ويوصف بالجميل ولا يحابى

    He is held in awe for all his beauty, and is not humored,

    and is described as virtuous, without favoritism.

  33. فلو فاكهته لجنيت شهداً

    ولو عاديته لشهدت صابا

    So if you bantered with him, you would harvest honey,

    and if you opposed him, you would encounter bitter sap.

  34. ولم ترَ قبله عينٌ رأته

    جميلاً راح محبوباً مهابا

    And no eye that saw him had seen before him

    one so fair who became beloved and held in awe.

  35. ينوب عن الصَّباح إذا تجلَّى

    وما ناب الصَّباح له منابا

    He takes the place of morning when he appears,

    yet morning has never taken his place.

  36. بنفسي من أفديه بنفسي

    وما فدَّاه من أحدٍ فخابا

    My life for him whom I would ransom with my life—

    and none who ransomed him was disappointed.

  37. رغبت عن الأنام به فأضحى

    يطوِّقني أياديه الرغابا

    I turned from humankind for him, and he began

    to garland me with his abundant favors.

  38. فكان ليَ الثناء عليه دأباً

    وكان له الندى والجود دابا

    So praise of him became my constant practice,

    and largesse and generosity were his constant practice.

  39. هم الرأس المقدَّمُ من قريش

    يريك الناس أجمعها ذنابا

    They are the foremost head of Quraysh,

    showing you all other people as tails.

  40. وهم من خير خلق الله أصلاً

    وفرعاً واحتساباً وانتسابا

    They are of the best of God's creation in root

    and branch, in seeking reward and in lineage.

  41. ويرضى الله ما رضيت قريشٌ

    ويغضب إنْ هم راحوا غضابا

    And God is pleased when Quraysh is pleased,

    and grows angry if they become angry.

  42. ففيهم شيَّد الله المعالي

    وفيهم أنزل الله الكتابا

    For among them God raised lofty honors,

    and among them God sent down the Book.

  43. أولئك آلُ بيتٍ أنزلوها

    تراثاً عن أبيهم واكتسابا

    Those are the family of a house who established those honors

    as inheritance from their father, and by their own attainment:

  44. شواهق من جبال المجد تسمو

    مفاخرها وأبنية رحابا

    lofty peaks among glory's mountains, rising high

    in their splendors, and spacious edifices;

  45. وأخلاقاً مهذَّبة لِداناً

    وإيماناً من الجدوى رطابا

    and refined, gentle character,

    and faith, fresh and moist with generous giving.

  46. إليكم ننتمي وبكم نباهي

    من البحر الشرايع والعبابا

    To you we belong, and through you we vie in splendor

    with the sea's waterways and swelling surge.

  47. وفي الدَّارين ما زلنا لديكم

    نجوز الأجر منكم والثوابا

    And in both worlds we have always, at your side,

    gained recompense and reward from you.

  48. وأبلغ ما يكون به التَّمنِّي

    دنوًّا من جنابك واقترابا

    And the furthest that desire can reach

    is nearness to your presence and drawing close.

  49. زماناً راعني بنواك شهراً

    فما لي لا أريع به الركابا

    For a time—a month—your absence distressed me;

    so why should I not rouse the riding camels on its account?

  50. فليس العيدُ ما أوفى بعيدٍ

    ولم أشهد به ذاكَ الجنابا

    For Eid, whenever it arrives, is no Eid

    if I have not been in that presence on it.

  51. وعاتبنا بفرقتك الليالي

    على ما كانَ حزناً واكتئابا

    And in your absence we reproached the nights

    for what had been sorrow and dejection.

  52. فأمَّا أقصر الأَشراف باعاً

    فأطولهم مع الدُّنيا عتابا

    As for the nobleman with the shortest reach,

    he is the longest in reproaching the world.

  53. فيا قمراً عن الزوراء غابا

    زماناً للتنزُّه ثمَّ آبا

    O moon that vanished from al-Zawra

    for a time of recreation, then returned!

  54. طلعت طلوع بدر التِّمِّ لمَّا

    غَرَبْتَ فلا لقيت الاغترابا

    You rose like the moon at its full after

    you had set; may you never suffer life far from home.

  55. وجئت فجئتنا بالخيرِ سيلاً

    تُسيلُ به الأباطح والهضابا

    And you came, bringing us goodness in a torrent,

    making the gravelly valleys and hills flow with it.

  56. فإنَّك كلَّما استُسقيت وبلاً

    سقيت وكنت يومئذٍ سحابا

    For whenever you were asked for a downpour,

    you gave water, and that day you were a cloud.

  57. فمن مِنَح شرحتَ لنا صدوراً

    ومن مِنَنٍ تقلّدها الرقابا

    Among them are gifts with which you have opened our hearts,

    and favors that necks wear as necklaces.

  58. ولمَّا أنْ نظمتُ له القوافي

    ولجت بها على الضرغام غابا

    And when I composed the rhymes for him,

    I entered a thicket with them to meet the lion.

  59. وقمتُ عليه أُنشدُها وأهدي

    لحضرته الدعاء المستجابا

    And I stood before him, reciting them and offering

    to his presence a prayer that finds an answer.

  60. إذا منع اللئيم ندى يديهِ

    أبى إلاَّ انصباباً وانسكابا

    When the miser withholds the bounty of his hands,

    he, by contrast, insists on pouring forth and overflowing.