إن كانتِ الخمرُ قد عَزّت وقد مُنِعَت

إن كانتِ الخمرُ قد عَزّت وقد مُنِعَت

وحالَ من دونها الإسلامُ والحرَجُ

وحالَ من دونها الإسلامُ والحرَجُ

If wine has grown hard to come by and has been forbidden,

Though wine has grown scarce and been forbidden,

and Islam and dread of sin stand between me and it,

and Islam and religious restraint have barred the way to it,

فقد أباكِرُها رِياً وأشربُها

فقد أباكِرُها رِياً وأشربُها

صِرفاً وأطرَب أحياناً فأمتزجُ

صِرفاً وأطرَب أحياناً فأمتزجُ

still, at dawn I drink my fill of it, and drink it

I have often sought it at dawn to drink my fill, and drunk it

unmixed; at times I grow rapturous and mingle.

unmixed; at times I have grown merry and mixed my drink.

وقد تقومُ على رأسي مُغنّيةٌ

وقد تقومُ على رأسي مُغنّيةٌ

فيها إذا رَفعت من صوتها غُنُجٌ

فيها إذا رَفعت من صوتها غُنُجٌ

And sometimes a singing-girl stands at my head;

And sometimes a singing woman would stand at my head,

when she lifts her voice, there is coy allure in her.

with coquetry in her whenever she raised her voice.

تُرفِّعُ الصوتَ أحياناً وتخفِضُهُ

تُرفِّعُ الصوتَ أحياناً وتخفِضُهُ

كما يَطِنُّ ذبابُ الروضةِ الهَزِجُ

كما يَطِنُّ ذبابُ الروضةِ الهَزِجُ

She raises her voice at times and lowers it,

She would sometimes raise her voice and lower it,

as the meadow’s lilting fly hums.

as the garden's tuneful flies buzz.