1. وَصَهْباء فاتت أن تُمَثَّلَ بالفَهمِ

    أقولُ وقد رَقَّتْ عن اللَّحْظ والوهمِ

    And of a tawny wine beyond the mind's conception,

    I say, as it has grown too subtle for sight and fancy:

  2. خُذوا عَرَضَاً يا قوم قامَ بنفسه

    فقد خَرَقَ العاداتِ واسْماً بلا جسمِ

    Take, O people, an accident subsisting by itself

    (for it has defied the usual order), and a name without a body.

  3. فقد كاد يَخْفَى كَأْسُها بضيائها

    كإخفائها بالجهل مَنْقَبة الحِلمِ

    For its cup nearly disappears in its radiance,

    as through folly it conceals the virtue of forbearance.

  4. كأنَّ الشُّعاع الأُرْجُوانيَّ فوقَه

    سَنا شَفَقٍ يَنْجَاب في الليل عن نَجْمِ

    As though the purple radiance above it

    were twilight's glow, parting at night to reveal a star.

  5. إذا أقبلتْ ولَّى بها الهَمُّ مُدْبِراً

    كما أدبر العِفْريتُ من كوكب الرَّجْم

    When it approaches, care turns and flees before it,

    as the demon fled from the pelting star.