إذا ولجَ البعيرُ فروغ صبري

إذا ولجَ البعيرُ فروغ صبري

عن الصهباء في سُمّ الخياط

عن الصهباء في سُمّ الخياط

If a camel enters—the ending of my restraint [wording unclear]—

When the camel enters the empty desert of my patience

When the camel squeezes through the breach of my patience,

From tawny wine—into the eye of a needle.

Among the seamstresses' awls and needles,

Renouncing red wine to enter the needle's eye,

فإن رابطتَ في ثغرٍ فدعني

فإن رابطتَ في ثغرٍ فدعني

يكون ببيتِ خمّارٍ رباطي

يكون ببيتِ خمّارٍ رباطي

If you keep watch at a frontier, then leave me:

If you tie me down in a tavern,

If you stand guard at the holy frontier, then leave me be,

Let my watch be in a wine-seller’s house.

My bond will be to a wine-server.

For in the vintner's house my own garrison shall lie.

وحجَ إذا أردتَ فإنّ حجّي

وحجَ إذا أردتَ فإنّ حجّي

إلى شُربِ المدامةِ بالبواطي

إلى شُربِ المدامةِ بالبواطي

And make the pilgrimage if you wish, for my pilgrimage

And if you want me to go on Hajj, my pilgrimage

Perform the Hajj if you wish, for my pilgrimage

Is to drink wine from bowls.

Is to drinking wine in the ruins.

Is to the heavy flagons where the wine runs high.

مشعشعةٌ تزيل الهمّ عنّي

مشعشعةٌ تزيل الهمّ عنّي

وتحيي بعد مُنكسري نشاطي

وتحيي بعد مُنكسري نشاطي

Watered wine that takes my cares away

It eliminates my worries, shining,

A sparkling draught that sweeps my cares away,

And revives my vigor after my dejection.

And restores my broken vitality.

And breathes life into me when my spirits die.

غنينا بالمدامةِ عن سواها

غنينا بالمدامةِ عن سواها

وعن نيكِ الزواني باللواطِ

وعن نيكِ الزواني باللواطِ

With wine we have no need of anything else,

Wine makes us self-sufficient, needing nothing else,

We found wealth in wine above all other things,

Nor of fucking whores, thanks to sodomy.

Not even the company of handsome young men.

And in the love of lads over the whores you buy.

غدير الفاتكِ العيّارِ مثلي

غدير الفاتكِ العيّارِ مثلي

يغمّي حيث تشرب بالبواطي

يغمّي حيث تشرب بالبواطي

The pool of the reckless, wily rogue like me

My boon companion is the vintner, killer swordsman that he is,

The way of a reckless scoundrel such as I

Casts a veil where wine is drunk from bowls.

Wherever wine is drunk in the ruins.

Is to swoon where the brimming vessels multiply.

يعاطينا الزجاجةَ أريحيّ

يعاطينا الزجاجةَ أريحيّ

رخيم الدلّ بوركَ من معاطي

رخيم الدلّ بوركَ من معاطي

A generous man passes us the wineglass,

He gives us the bottle gently,

A spirited youth passes us the glass,

Gentle in his coquetry—blessed be such a cup-giver!

Blessed is he who pours it from its veins.

Soft in his grace—blessed be the one to supply.

أقولُ له على طربٍ ألطني

أقولُ له على طربٍ ألطني

ولو بمؤاجرٍ علِج نباطي

ولو بمؤاجرٍ علِج نباطي

I say to him in ecstasy, “Sodomize me,

Happily I say to him, "Sate me,

I say to him in rapture: 'Have your way with me,'

Even through a hired, burly Nabataean.”

Even if only with fermented barely brew!"

Even were you rough as a hired Nabatean guy.

فإن الخمرَ ليس تطيب إلّا

فإن الخمرَ ليس تطيب إلّا

على وضَرِ الجنابةِ واللواط

على وضَرِ الجنابةِ واللواط

For wine tastes pleasant only

For wine tastes good only

For the vintage is never truly sweet unless

Amid the filth of sexual impurity and sodomy.

With the sweat of exertion and pederasty.

Mixed with the stains of lust and sodomy nearby.

وقل للخمس آخر ملتقانا

وقل للخمس آخر ملتقانا

إذا ما كان ذاك على الصراطِ

إذا ما كان ذاك على الصراطِ

And tell the five prayers: our final meeting,

And say to the taxman, the last time we meet,

And tell the Five Prayers that our final tryst

If it ever happens, will be on the Sirat.

If that should be on the Straight Path:

Shall be upon the Bridge of Judgment, by and by.

فإنّي قد جعلتُ الحجّ عمّي

فإنّي قد جعلتُ الحجّ عمّي

وفي قُطربلٍ أبداً رباطي

وفي قُطربلٍ أبداً رباطي

For I have already made pilgrimage my uncle,

"I have made my pilgrimage to be my uncle,

For I have turned my pilgrimage toward the cask,

And in Qutrabbul my watch remains forever.

And my bond forever only wine!"

And in Qutrabbul shall my station forever lie.