1. ربَّتي، رَبَّةُ أشعا

    ري، وحُبِّي، وغنائي

    My goddess, goddess of my poe-

    try, my love, and my song,

  2. هي حوريَّةُ غابٍ

    لم تَبِنْ للشعراءِ

    she is a woodland nymph

    who has never appeared to poets,

  3. وعروسٌ من بنات الـ

    ـجنِّ لم تَبْدُ لرائي

    and a bride among the daughters of the

    jinn, never seen by any beholder.

  4. مثلَها لم يَرَ صَيَّا

    دٌ على صفحةِ ماءِ

    Her like has never been seen by a fish-

    erman upon the water's face.

  5. فِتنةُ الشاعر في وحـ

    ـدتِهِ كلَّ مساءِ

    The poet's enchantment in his soli-

    tude each evening,

  6. غَنَّتِ الأحلامُ في غر

    فتِهِ لحنَ اللِّقاءِ

    dreams sang in his cham-

    ber the melody of meeting,

  7. وسَرَتْ تَرْقُصُ حَوْلَيـ

    ـهِ على خَفْق الهواءِ

    and glided, dancing around

    him to the pulse of the air,

  8. ورفيفِ السُّحبِ والأنـ

    ـجم والشهبِ الوضاءِ

    and the flutter of clouds and the

    stars and radiant meteors.

  9. ولغيري لم تكنْ تخـ

    ـطرُ في هذا الرواءِ

    For none but me did she

    glide in such loveliness.

  10. لا، ولم تروِ كهذا الـ

    ـلحنِ في هذا الصَّفاءِ

    No, nor did she render such a

    melody in such purity.

  11. وليالي الصيفِ منها

    كأَماسيِّ الشتاءِ

    And summer nights, because of her,

    are like winter evenings.

  12. بِتُّ أسقيها وتسقيـ

    ـني على محض الوفاءِ

    I spent the night giving her drink, and she gave

    me drink in pure fidelity:

  13. خَمرةً ما قَبَّلَتْ غيـ

    ـر شفاهِ الأنبياءِ

    wine that had kissed none but

    the lips of prophets;

  14. خمرةً في الغيبِ كانتْ

    قطراتٍ من ضياءِ

    wine that, in the unseen, had been

    drops of light.

  15. خُتِمَتْ بالشفَق الور

    ديِّ في أصفى إناءِ

    It was sealed with twilight, rose-

    colored, in the purest vessel.

  16. جُبِلَتْ فَخَّارَتاهُ

    من صفاءٍ ونقاءِ

    Its two earthenware halves were molded

    from clarity and purity.

  17. حدَّثوا عنها، وما أحـ

    ـلى حديثَ الندماءِ

    They spoke of it—and how

    sweet is the talk of drinking companions!

  18. قال منهم واحدٌ في

    غير زهوٍ وادِّعاءِ:

    One of them said, with

    no conceit or pretense:

  19. هذه الخمرةُ كانتْ

    لملوكٍ أتقياءِ

    This wine once belonged

    to pious kings.

  20. عصروها من جَنَى الرَّ

    بَّاتِ في فجر شتاءِ

    They pressed it from the fruit of the god-

    desses at a winter dawn.

  21. ثم آلتْ لغلامٍ

    رائعٍ جمِّ الذكاءِ

    Then it passed to a youth,

    splendid, exceedingly intelligent,

  22. شَرِهِ النظرة، عربيـ

    ـدٍ، شديدِ الغُلَواءِ

    voracious of gaze, a drunken rev-

    eler, fiercely impetuous.

  23. عشقَ البحرَ وعافَ الـ

    ـقصرَ مرفوعَ البناءِ

    He loved the sea and shunned the

    palace, loftily built,

  24. ومضى يضربُ في الكو

    ن على غير اهتداءِ

    and went roaming through the uni-

    verse without guidance.

  25. عاش كالقرصانِ يطوي

    كلَّ بحرٍ وفضاءِ

    He lived like a pirate, traversing

    every sea and open expanse,

  26. بشراعٍ صُنْعُهُ إحـ

    ـدى أعاجيبِ الخفاءِ

    with a sail whose making was one

    of the marvels of the unseen.

  27. غَزِلًا يملك بالشعـ

    ـر مقاليدَ النساءِ

    Amorous, he held through poe-

    try the keys to women.

  28. كلما هام بأُنثى

    أو صَبَا بعد اشتهاءِ

    Whenever he was smitten with a woman

    or felt love's longing after desire,

  29. وشكا الكأْسُ إليهِ

    طولَ هجرٍ وجفاءِ

    and the cup complained to him

    of long abandonment and estrangement,

  30. هَمَّ أنْ يشربَ فارتدَّ،

    فأغْضَى في حياءِ

    he made to drink, then recoiled,

    and lowered his eyes in shame.

  31. ضَنَّ بالقطرة منها،

    وكذا شرعُ الولاءِ

    He begrudged even a drop of it,

    and such is the law of loyalty.

  32. ومضى جيلٌ وجيلٌ،

    وهو مشبوبُ الدماءِ

    And generation after generation passed,

    while his blood still burned,

  33. ضاربًا في العاصفِ الثا

    ئرِ والرِّيح الرُّخاءِ

    roaming through the gale in its

    fury, and the gentle wind.

  34. وأتاهُ القَدَرُ السا

    خرُ أو حكمُ القضاءِ

    And Fate came to him, mock-

    ing—or destiny's decree.

  35. فدعا الرَّباتِ واستصـ

    ـرخَ، من فرطِ عياءِ

    So he called the goddesses and cried

    out for help, from utter exhaustion.

  36. فأتَتْهُ ربَّة الشعـ

    ـر على رغم التنائِي

    Then she came to him, the goddess of poe-

    try, despite the distance.

  37. قال إنْ متُّ فما أجـ

    ـدرُ مثلي بالرثاءِ

    He said: If I die, how wor-

    thy one like me is of lament!

  38. ورثاءٌ منك يُحييـ

    ـني علي رغم الفناءِ

    And an elegy from you would revive

    me, despite death.

  39. وحباها سِرَّهُ الخا

    لدَ أو سِرَّ البقاءِ

    And he bestowed on her his immor-

    tal secret, or the secret of survival,

  40. هامسًا، والنُّورُ في نا

    ظره وَشْكَ انطفاءِ:

    whispering, as the light in his

    eye was about to fade:

  41. لكِ ما استُودِعْتُ أو ما

    صُنْتُ في هذا الإناءِ

    Yours is what I was entrusted with, or what

    I guarded in this vessel.

  42. لا تذودي عنه معشو

    قَك، يا بِنْتَ السماءِ

    Do not drive away from it your be-

    loved, O daughter of heaven.

  43. إنه مَلَّاحُ بحرٍ

    ما لهُ من نُظَرَاءِ

    He is a seafarer upon a sea,

    with no equal.

  44. فيهِ أحيا، وبه أنـ

    ـشرُ في البحر لوائِي

    In it I live, and by it I un-

    furl my banner upon the sea.

  45. هذه خَمرة أشعا

    ري، وحُبِّي، وغنائي

    This is the wine of my poe-

    try, my love, and my song,

  46. في قصيدٍ مُحْدَثٍ، أو

    في حديثِ القدماءِ

    in newly composed verse, or

    in the tales of the ancients.