1. عروسُ الكأْس يجلوها نديمي

    علينا في ثيابٍ من نعيم

    My drinking companion unveils the bride of the cup

    before us, in robes of bliss.

  2. أَدِرْها واحْيِ أَباحاً تراها

    رَميماً بين أَجداث الهموم

    Pass her round, and revive [unclear word] that you see

    as crumbling remains among the tombs of cares.

  3. وداوِ بها جِراحات الليالي

    فلستَ على التّداوي بالمَلوم

    And heal with her the wounds of the nights,

    for you are not to blame for seeking a cure.

  4. ولا تكسِر حُمَيّاها بمَزْجٍ

    فتضعُفَ عن مُقاومة الغريم

    And do not break her fiery strength by mixing,

    lest you weaken in resisting the adversary.

  5. وأَعجَبُ كيف تبرُز وهي شمسٌ

    مكلَّلةَ الجوانب بالنّجوم

    And I marvel: how does she emerge, a sun,

    crowned around her edges with stars?

  6. إِذا طافت همومُك حولَ كأْسٍ

    ترامتْ نحوها شُهْبُ الرُّجوم

    When your cares circle a cup,

    stoning meteors hurtle toward them.

  7. وقد زَفّ الربيع إِليك رَوْضاً

    قشيبَ الزَّهْر مُعْتَلَّ النسيم

    And spring has brought you a garden in bridal procession,

    fresh in blossom, its breeze languid.

  8. فَحُثَّ اليَعْمَلات إِلى دمشقٍ

    سقاها اللهُ هَطّال الغيوم

    So urge the swift she-camels toward Damascus;

    may God water her with the clouds' abundant rain.

  9. فيا لله درُّكِ من ديارٍ

    تَراضَعنا بها حَلَب الكروم

    So, by God, how splendid an abode you are!

    There we suckled together the milk of the vines.

  10. فما رقأَتْ دموعي حين غابت

    جواسقُها ولا اندملت كُلومي

    So my tears did not cease when there vanished

    her palaces, nor did my wounds heal.

  11. إِذا ما طُفت حول دروب مقرى

    فعرِّج بي إِلى دَيْر الحكيم

    Whenever you roam around the lanes of Maqra,

    then turn aside with me to Dayr al-Hakim.

  12. وبادرْ نحو رَبْوتِها ففيها

    إِذا واجهتها بُرْءُ السقيم

    And hasten toward her hill, for within it,

    when you face it, is healing for the sick.

  13. وحيِّ النّيْرَبين فكم مضى لي

    على الشرفَيْن من شجنٍ قديم

    And greet al-Nayrabayn: how much I have known

    of old longing upon al-Sharafayn!

  14. إِذا الخُطباء في الأَغصان قامت

    تهُزُّ النائمين عن النعيم

    When the orators rise among the branches,

    rousing the sleepers from their bliss,

  15. إِذا كأْس الصَّبا دارت سُحَيْراً

    تحُلُّ معاقد الدُرّ النظيم

    when the east wind's cup goes round before dawn,

    it loosens the knots of the strung pearls.

  16. لقد أَهدت لها الخضراء بُرْداً

    بديع النَّسج مختلف الرُّقوم

    The green sky has indeed given her a mantle,

    wondrously woven, with varied patterns.

  17. وفي تلِّ الثعالب راح عنها

    ففيها منشإي وبها تميمي

    And at Tall al-Tha'alib is wine from her [wording uncertain],

    for there is my birthplace, and there is my Tamim.

  18. لقد حلّت جِنانُ الخُلد فيها

    وفي حلبٍ هَوْت نارُ الجحيم

    The gardens of eternity have indeed settled within her,

    and in Aleppo the fire of Hell has fallen.

  19. إِذا عُرضت عليك رأَيت فيها

    عِراصَ الخير دائرةَ الرُّسوم

    When she is shown to you, you see within her

    the courts of goodness, their outlines effaced.

  20. مُناخُ للأَراذل منذ كانت

    محرَّمَةٌ على الحرّ الكريم

    A camping ground for the base since she first existed,

    forbidden to the freeborn, noble man.

  21. أَقمتُ بها فلم يظفر طِلابي

    بذي أَدبٍ ولا خِلٍّ حميم

    I dwelt within her, but my search did not succeed

    in finding a man of culture or an intimate friend.

  22. وأَرذلُ من ترى فيها وأَخزى

    ذوو الأَقداء والحسب الصميم

    And the basest you see within her, and the most shameful,

    are those with ancestral roots and unalloyed ancestral honor.

  23. تُرى يحنو الزمان عليَّ يوماً

    فأَشكو ما لقِيت إِلى رحيم

    Will Time, I wonder, show me tenderness one day,

    so I may lament what I endured to someone merciful?

  24. لعلّ الله أَن يُدني زماناً

    تَهُبّ لنا به ريحُ القُدوم

    Perhaps God will bring near a time

    when the wind of arrival blows for us.

  25. وأبناء الزمان كما تراهم

    أَفاعٍ دأْبُها نَفْثُ السّمومِ

    And the sons of the age, as you see them,

    are vipers whose habit is spewing venom.

  26. فلا يحنو القويُّ على ضعيفٍ

    ولا يصل المَخوف إِلى رَؤوم

    So the strong show no tenderness toward the weak,

    nor does the feared one reach anyone tender-hearted.

  27. وسُقت إليهم الآمال حَثّاً

    فما وجدتْ سوى مرعىً وَخيم

    And I drove my hopes toward them with urgency,

    but they found only an unwholesome pasture.

  28. رأَيتُ سحائباً فظننتُ فيها

    رَذاذاً مُنْعِشاً لثرىً عديم

    I saw clouds, and so I thought they held

    a drizzle to revive impoverished soil.

  29. يحاربني الزمان وأَيّ والٍ

    يناصفني وأَيامي خُصومي

    Time wages war on me—and what ruler

    will treat me fairly, when my days are my adversaries?

  30. تَبَلَّغْ باليسير وعِش كريماً

    وغُضّ الطرف عن نظر اللئيم

    Make do with little, and live nobly,

    and lower your eyes from the gaze of the base.

  31. فقد عقمت عن الكرم اللّيالي

    فلا تَرْجُ الوِلادة من عقيم

    For the nights have become barren of generosity,

    so do not hope for childbirth from the barren.

  32. وناديتُ العفاف: إِذا اقتسمنا

    فكن ما عشتُ في الدنيا قسيمي

    And I called to Self-Restraint: "When we divide the shares,

    be my partner as long as I live in this world."