كفى ملامك ياذات الملامات

كفى ملامك ياذات الملامات

فما أريد بديلاً بالرقاعات

فما أريد بديلاً بالرقاعات

Enough of your blame, O woman of reproaches.

Enough with your blame, o fault finder,

For I want no substitute for buffoonery.

I do not want an alternative with parchments,

كأنني وجنود الصفع تتبعني

كأنني وجنود الصفع تتبعني

وقد تولت مزامير الرطانات

وقد تولت مزامير الرطانات

It is as though I, with troops of slaps pursuing me,

As if I and the armies of slaps are chasing me,

And the psalms of foreign babble having taken over,

And the flutes of gossip have taken over,

قسيس دير تلا مزماره سحراً

قسيس دير تلا مزماره سحراً

على القسوس بترجيع ورنات

على القسوس بترجيع ورنات

Were a monastery priest reciting his psalm before dawn

The priest of the monastery tuned his flute at night,

To the priests, with trills and ringing tones.

With melodious notes over the priests,

وقد مجنت وعلمت المجون فما

وقد مجنت وعلمت المجون فما

أدعي بشيء سوى رب المجانات

أدعي بشيء سوى رب المجانات

I have been ribald and taught ribaldry, so I am not

I have been immoral and taught immorality, yet

Called anything but the master of ribald antics.

I do not claim anything but the Lord of gifts,

وذاك أني رأيت العقل مطرحاً

وذاك أني رأيت العقل مطرحاً

فجئت أهل زماني بالحماقات

فجئت أهل زماني بالحماقات

And that is because I saw reason cast aside,

That is because I saw reason discarded,

So I brought follies to the people of my age.

So I came to the people of my time with follies,

إني سأدخل عذالي على عذل

إني سأدخل عذالي على عذل

في الحب أن عذلوني في الحرامات

في الحب أن عذلوني في الحرامات

Indeed, I shall subject my reproachers to reproach

I will bring my troubles upon the troubled,

In love, because they reproached me over forbidden deeds.

In love that the troubled blamed me for prohibitions,

أفدي الذين نأوا والدار دانية

أفدي الذين نأوا والدار دانية

وشتتوا بالجفا شمل المودات

وشتتوا بالجفا شمل المودات

I would ransom those who withdrew, though their dwelling is near,

I sacrifice those who avoided while the house was near,

And with coldness scattered the bonds of affection.

And scattered with estrangement the solidarity of affection,

كم قد نتفت سبالي في صدورهم

كم قد نتفت سبالي في صدورهم

والصد أصعب من نتف السبالات

والصد أصعب من نتف السبالات

How often I have plucked my whiskers against their chests;

How my tresses have been plucked from their chests,

Yet rejection is harder than the plucking of whiskers.

And estrangement is harder than plucking of tresses,

سقياً ورعياً لأيام لنا سلفت

سقياً ورعياً لأيام لنا سلفت

بالقفص قصرها طيب اللذاذات

بالقفص قصرها طيب اللذاذات

May rain and care bless the days we once had,

Quenching thirst and grazing for days gone by,

At al-Qafas, shortened by the sweetness of pleasures.

With its shortness caged, the good pleasures,

إذا لا أروح ولا أغدر إلى وطن

إذا لا أروح ولا أغدر إلى وطن

إلا إلى ربع خمار وحانات

إلا إلى ربع خمار وحانات

When I went neither at evening nor [at dawn?] to any home,

If I neither go nor betray my homeland,

Except to a wine seller's abode and taverns.

Except to a place of alcohol and taverns,

أيام أسحب أذيال الهوى مرحاً

أيام أسحب أذيال الهوى مرحاً

مصرعاً بين سكرات ونشوات

مصرعاً بين سكرات ونشوات

Days when I trailed the skirts of passion merrily,

Days I drag the hem of passion happily,

Laid low amid drunken stupors and ecstasies.

Perishing between intoxications and delights,

عوضت منهن أحزانا تؤرقني

عوضت منهن أحزانا تؤرقني

بعد السرور وفرحات بترحات

بعد السرور وفرحات بترحات

In their place I was given sorrows that keep me awake,

I substituted for them sorrows that disturb me

After joy, and griefs in exchange for gladness.

After joy and moments of relaxation with anxieties,

لولا عذار تعالى كيف صوره

لولا عذار تعالى كيف صوره

رب العباد اتعذيبي وحسراتي

رب العباد اتعذيبي وحسراتي

But for cheek-down—glory to Him!—how He fashioned it,

If it were not for the Almighty's punishment, how could

The Lord of humankind, [for my torment] and my regrets—

The Lord of creation imagine my torment and regrets,

كأنه مشقة من خد من شقيت

كأنه مشقة من خد من شقيت

روحي بهجرانه أو عطف نونات

روحي بهجرانه أو عطف نونات

As though it were a strip from the cheek of one whose

As if it is an ordeal from the cheek of whom I suffered,

Abandonment made my soul wretched, or the curves of nūn letters—

My soul with his estrangement or the union of beauties,

لما حللت بدار مالها أحد

لما حللت بدار مالها أحد

إلا أناس تواصوا بالخساسات

إلا أناس تواصوا بالخساسات

I would not have lodged in an abode inhabited by none

When I lodged in a house that has no one

But people who urged one another to base deeds.

Except people who conspired with villainy,

لو كنت بين كرام ما تهضمني

لو كنت بين كرام ما تهضمني

دهر أناخ على أهل المروءات

دهر أناخ على أهل المروءات

Had I been among generous people, I would not have been wronged

If I were among honorable people, time would not belittle me,

By Time, which has encamped upon people of noble virtue.

A time that settled upon the people of chivalry.