1. عاذِلي لَو شِئتَ لَم تَلُمِ

    فَبِسَمعي عَنكَ كَالصَمَمِ

    My reproacher, if you wished, you would not reproach me.

    For my hearing is as though deaf to you.

  2. فَاِرضَ مِن سِرّي عَلانِيَتي

    أَنِفَت مِن رَفضِها شِيَمي

    So accept my outward life instead of my secrets;

    my nature has disdained to renounce it.

  3. وَأَرعَ سَرحَ اللَهوِ مُغتَدِياً

    غَيرَ مُستَبِطٍ وَلا سَئِمِ

    And pasture pleasure's flock, setting out at dawn,

    neither sluggish nor weary.

  4. وَأَقِم بِالسوسِ مُعتَكِفاً

    كَاِعتِكافِ الطَيرِ بِالحَرَمِ

    And remain in al-Sus in seclusion,

    as birds abide in the sacred sanctuary.

  5. وَاِشرَبِ الراحَ الَّتي حُجِبَت

    عَن عُيونِ الدَهرِ بِالخَتَمِ

    And drink the wine that was hidden

    from the eyes of Time under seal.

  6. نارُها شَمسٌ وَمَشرَبُها

    صَيِّبٌ مِن واكِفٍ سَجِمِ

    Its fire is a sun, and its drink

    a downpour from a dripping, streaming cloud.

  7. فَدَعا صِنوانَها لَقَحٌ

    لَم يَكُن حَملاً عَلى عُقُمِ

    Then pollination called forth its kindred stems—

    no pregnancy laid upon barren stock.

  8. وَاِنثَنَت أَفياءُ نَبعَتِها

    عَن نَباتٍ سالَ كَالجُمَمِ

    And the shadows of its shoot bent back

    from growth that flowed like locks of hair,

  9. بِعَناقيدٍ مُعَثكَلَةٍ

    كَشُعورِ الزَنجِ في الحَمَمِ

    with densely bunched grape clusters,

    like the hair of the Zanj in its coal-blackness.

  10. فَدَعاها الطَلقُ فَاِنفَطَرَت

    لِوِلادٍ لَيسَ في الرَحِمِ

    Then labor summoned it, and it split open

    for a birth that was not in the womb.

  11. فَتَهادَتها ثَمودُ إِلى

    قَومِها مِن وارِثي إِرَمِ

    Then Thamud passed it as a gift to

    its people, among the heirs of Iram.

  12. وَتَخَطَّتها العُصورُ فَلَو

    نَطَقَت في الكَأسِ بِالكَلِمِ

    And the ages passed it by; so, if it

    were to speak in the cup with words,

  13. ثُمَّ أَدَّت كُلَّ ما شَهِدَت

    مِن قُرونِ الناسِ وَالأُمَمِ

    then recount all that it had witnessed

    of human generations and nations...

  14. فَاِقتَنَتها فِتيَةٌ سُمُحٌ

    مِن أُناسٍ سادَةٍ هُضُمُ

    Then generous young men acquired it,

    from a people of unassuming lords.

  15. فَاِستَنارَت في أَكُفِّهِمُ

    كَسَنا النيرانِ في الأَجَمِ

    Then it shone in their palms

    like the glow of fires in thickets.

  16. تِلكَ ما تَحيا النُفوسُ بِها

    فَمَتى أَنزِل بِها أُقِمِ

    That is what souls live by;

    so whenever I alight beside it, I stay

  17. في نَواحي هَيكَلٍ أَرِجٍ

    عاكِفاً فيهِ عَلى صَنَمِ

    in the precincts of a fragrant temple,

    devoted there to an idol

  18. نُقِشَت بِالحُسنِ صورَتُهُ

    مِن ذُرى قَرنٍ إِلى قَدَمِ

    whose form was engraved with beauty,

    from the tips of his locks down to his feet.

  19. فَإِذا سَكَّنتُ رَوعَتَهُ

    وَرَعى في مُقلَتَيهِ فَمي

    So when I had soothed his fright,

    and my mouth had grazed in his two eyes,

  20. عادَ لي قُطبُ السُرورِ كَما

    كُنتُ مُعتاداً عَلى القِدَمِ

    the axis of joy returned to me, as

    was my wont in days of old.