1. إن الهوى المجحودا

    ينهاكُما أن تَعودا

    Indeed, disavowed love

    forbids you both to return.

  2. وكلما قال كُفا

    يا ناظِريَّ فزيدا

    And whenever it says, “Desist,”

    O my two eyes, shed still more.

  3. فما أرى لي عليه

    إلا الدموعَ شُهودا

    For I see nothing in my favor against it

    but tears as witnesses.

  4. وربَّ طارق طيفٍ

    أدنى حبيباً بَعيدا

    And many a night-visiting dream-image

    has brought a distant beloved near.

  5. أمسى الوفاءُ مقيماً

    عندي وأضحى شَرودا

    At evening, loyalty dwelt

    with me; by morning, it was a fugitive.

  6. صِلي بطيفكِ طَرفي

    وطاوِليني الصُّدودا

    Visit my eyes with your dream-image,

    and prolong your aloofness toward me.

  7. فقد رَضيتُ على أن

    لا تَبعَثي التَّسهيدا

    For I have consented, provided

    you do not bring on sleeplessness.

  8. قم يا غلامُ فنبِّه

    للكأسِ قوماً رُقودا

    Rise, boy, and awaken

    a sleeping company for the cup.

  9. وعوضِ الليل منهم

    تلكَ الدنان القُعودا

    And give the night, in their stead,

    those seated wine-jars.

  10. مضى النهارُ فأطلِع

    منها نهاراً جَديدا

    The day has passed; bring forth

    from them a new day.

  11. ولا تسامِح ليالي

    كَ أن توافيك سودا

    And do not allow the nights

    of yours to come to you black.

  12. وقل لساقٍ وشادٍ

    أحسنتُما فأعيدا

    And tell a cupbearer and a singer,

    “Well done, both of you; do it again!”

  13. وليَمضِ وقتُكَ هذا

    قبل الفواتِ حَميدا

    And let this time of yours pass

    worthily, before it slips away.

  14. وإن ألمَّ ملمٌّ

    فكُن عليه جَليدا

    And if an affliction strikes,

    be steadfast against it.

  15. فلستَ تلقى إذا ما

    شكوتَ إلا حَسودا

    For you encounter, whenever

    you complain, none but an envious man.

  16. إن ينصرِف عنك صرفٌ

    يَسُؤهُ أن لا يَعودا

    If some misfortune leaves you,

    it grieves him that it does not return.

  17. فاضرِب عن الناسِ صَفحاً

    حتى تُلاقي فَريدا

    So turn away from people

    until you meet one without peer.

  18. مات الكرامُ وأمسى

    أبو الوحيدِ وَحيدا

    The noble have died, and now

    Abu al-Wahid stands alone.

  19. فحيثُ ما حلَّ حلَّت

    به العفاةُ وفُودا

    And wherever he alights, there come

    to him bands of supplicants.

  20. يَستصرخونَ على الدَّه

    رِ منه مَجداً وجُودا

    They cry for help against

    Time, calling on his glory and generosity.

  21. للَّه دركَ صَعباً

    على الزمان شَديدا

    God bless you, so unyielding

    and fierce against Time!

  22. تشتدُّ بأساً على صَر

    فِهِ وتصلُبُ عُودا

    You grow fiercer in might against the blows

    it deals, and your stem grows harder.

  23. تحيدُ عنك الليالي

    إن استَطاعَت مَحيدا

    The nights veer away from you,

    if they can find a way to escape.

  24. تُضحي مُفيداً لتُمسي

    من الثنا مُستَفيدا

    You give by day, so that by evening

    you may benefit from praise.

  25. ذا همَّةٍ قد تَناهَت

    وتَستَلذُّ الصُّعودا

    Yours is an ambition that has reached the utmost

    and still delights in ascent.

  26. لو مُنِّيت لتمنَّت

    أن تستطيعَ مَزيدا

    If offered a wish, it would wish

    to be capable of still more.

  27. وعزمةٍ لا تراها

    تزدادُ إلا وقُودا

    And a resolve you never see

    grow except in burning fervor.

  28. وربَّ يوم طرادٍ

    لم تُلفَ فيه طَريدا

    And on many a day of pursuit,

    you were not found pursued.

  29. تزدادُ فيه شباباً

    إذا أَشاب الوَليدا

    On it you grow younger,

    when it turns even a newborn gray.

  30. مناقبٌ لك كلَّف

    نَ حملهنَّ القَصيدا

    Virtues of yours have charged

    verse with bearing them.

  31. سيَّرتها وأطلت اس

    تِماعَها والنَّشيدا

    I sent them forth and prolonged

    the hearing and chanting of them.