من يدخل الافيون بيت لهاته

من يدخل الافيون بيت لهاته

فليلق بين يديه نقد حياته

فليلق بين يديه نقد حياته

Whoever admits opium to the chamber of his throat,

Whoever enters the opium den, let him put his life in his hands before him.

Let him cast before it the coin of his life.

And if you hear of my drinking liquor, excuse it after his life with his death.

وإذا سمعتم بأمري شرب الردى

وإذا سمعتم بأمري شرب الردى

عزوه بعد حياته بمماته

عزوه بعد حياته بمماته

And if you hear of a man who has drunk death,

Or it is said that his disposition is companionship and fun for him, do not blame him for that is of his habits.

Console him, after his life, for his death.

What is his concern that misfortune has made him despondent. He does not wake from his slumber for an age.

أو قيل ملته الصحاب وملهم

أو قيل ملته الصحاب وملهم

لا تعذلوه فذاك من عاداته

لا تعذلوه فذاك من عاداته

Or if they say his companions tired of him, and he of them,

If I had seen your love before what dissolved the opium and mingled with his being.

Do not reproach him: that is among his habits.

At the age of the full moon he grazes in the garden of flowers like a gazelle in its playfulness.

ما شأنه وحشاه بؤوى ارقما

ما شأنه وحشاه بؤوى ارقما

لا يستفيق الدهر من وثباته

لا يستفيق الدهر من وثباته

What is his plight, his entrails harboring a speckled serpent,

From over the cheek of fate he drags the train of his garment spread among the people while he is dead.

From whose leaps he never recovers throughout his life?

You see him when the breeze plays with his forelock. It picks the clusters of the branch in its motions.

لو با بثين رأيت حبك قبل ما

لو با بثين رأيت حبك قبل ما

الافيون انحله وحل بذاته

الافيون انحله وحل بذاته

Had you, O Buthayn, seen your beloved before

And when he walks lost among his lovers, the destinies drip from his perils.

Opium emaciated him and lodged in his very being,

He intends and does whatever he wishes as if the angel of death yielded from his glances.

في مثل عمر البدر يرتع في ريا

في مثل عمر البدر يرتع في ريا

ض الزهر مثل الظبي في لفتاته

ض الزهر مثل الظبي في لفتاته

At an age like the full moon's, he frolics in gardens

You would have seen the image of beauty in his mirror and lifted the full moon from his threshold.

Of flowers, like a gazelle in his turns.

Beauty, how does it mix with his being? And now how did become part of his attributes?

من فوق خد الدهر يسحب ذيل

من فوق خد الدهر يسحب ذيل

ثوب مداه بين الناس وهو مواته

ثوب مداه بين الناس وهو مواته

Across Time's cheek he trails the hem

How malice if it clung to a man no trace of him remains for the onlookers except his features.

Of his life's robe among men, while Time favors him.

I grieve the days of youth. Blessed is the time of childhood and play in its hours.

وتراه ان عبث النسيم بقده

وتراه ان عبث النسيم بقده

ينقد شروى الغصن في حركاته

ينقد شروى الغصن في حركاته

And you see him, if the breeze toys with his figure,

Days when I do not fear time that was folding like a bosom friend over its blemishes.

Bending like a branch in his movements.

It continued to turn its eyes away from me and I seized the essence of life from it in its heedlessness.

وإذا مشى تيها على عشاقه

وإذا مشى تيها على عشاقه

تنقطر الاجال من خطراته

تنقطر الاجال من خطراته

And when he walks in pride before his lovers,

Until it changed and transformed as if it were the morals of the star of religion in its states.

Deaths drip from his swaying steps.

My Master if the sinner came to him stumbled he would find nothing but forgiveness for his stumble.

يرنو فيفعل ما يشاء كأنما

يرنو فيفعل ما يشاء كأنما

ملك المنية صال من لحظاته

ملك المنية صال من لحظاته

He gazes and does whatever he wishes, as though

And if estrangement came to its end with him, the response would match stopping its extent.

Death's angel charged forth from his glances.

And if he undertook the sciences discussing them, the Discloser does not disclose its goals.

لرأيت شخص الحسن في مرآته

لرأيت شخص الحسن في مرآته

ورفعت بدر التم من عتباته

ورفعت بدر التم من عتباته

You would have seen Beauty embodied in his mirror,

O you who see the sinner’s face illuminated by the traces of swallowed anger before it is too late.

And lifted the full moon from his thresholds.

If one protected by your sublime praise commits a sin, it is to him like a rose at its times.

حسن ولا كيف يخالط ذاته

حسن ولا كيف يخالط ذاته

والآن صار الكيف بعض صفاته

والآن صار الكيف بعض صفاته

Beautiful, with no intoxication mingling with his essence;

No wonder the generous stumbles and rarely does the tongue of man be devoid of its slips.

And now intoxication has become one of his attributes.

So excel in your affection, for thus is man built upon his stumbles.

والكيف حقد ان تشبت بامرىء

والكيف حقد ان تشبت بامرىء

لم يبق للرائين غير سماته

لم يبق للرائين غير سماته

And intoxication is rancor: if it clings to a man,

So pardon, your servant has come to you with an intercessor if you yourself do not overlook his lapses.

Nothing remains for onlookers but his outward features.

An excuse that appeared in the lined parchment of his poetry that casts spell on you from its compositions.

أسفي على عهد الشباب وحبذا

أسفي على عهد الشباب وحبذا

زمن الصبا واللهو في ساعاته

زمن الصبا واللهو في ساعاته

Alas for the days of youth! How lovely

She devises in her musk-scented lines that came to you from my home from its breaths.

The time of youth, and diversion in its hours!

From every line a severing for the rancor as if it were the saw of life from its tools.

ايام لا اخشى الزمان وكان كالا

ايام لا اخشى الزمان وكان كالا

صحاب منطوياً على علاته

صحاب منطوياً على علاته

Days when I feared not Time, and it was like

So the coward hovers in his field and returns frightened of the mines of demise.

Companions, concealing its failings within.

Open for it the door of acceptance, for it will count before your eminence among his virtues.

ما زال يغضى طرفه عني وانهب

ما زال يغضى طرفه عني وانهب

منه صفو العيش في غفلاته

منه صفو العيش في غفلاته

It kept averting its gaze from me, while I plundered

You still are amiable with gentle charm in the ages like a mole on smooth skin.

From it life's pure delight in its heedless moments,

The lure of love no longer spent the night in its burrows and comfort broke from its comfort.

حتى تبدل واستحال كأنه

حتى تبدل واستحال كأنه

اخلاق نجم الدين في حالاته

اخلاق نجم الدين في حالاته

Until it changed and was transformed, as though it were

Najm al-Din's character in his various states.

مولى إذا الجاني اتاه بهفوة

مولى إذا الجاني اتاه بهفوة

لم يلق غير العفو عن هفواته

لم يلق غير العفو عن هفواته

A lord: when an offender comes to him with a lapse,

The offender finds nothing but pardon for his lapses.

وإذا انتهت هجراً إليه نهاية

وإذا انتهت هجراً إليه نهاية

كان الجواب بقدر رد نهاته

كان الجواب بقدر رد نهاته

And if an extreme of foul speech reaches him [wording unclear],

The answer is proportionate to the rebuttal of his reprovers.

وإذا تصدى للعلوم مباحثا

وإذا تصدى للعلوم مباحثا

لا يكشف الكشاف عن غاياته

لا يكشف الكشاف عن غاياته

And when he takes up the sciences in learned discussion,

Al-Kashshaf cannot reveal his utmost reaches.

يا من يرى الجاني ينير وجهه

يا من يرى الجاني ينير وجهه

آثار كظم الغيظ قبل فواته

آثار كظم الغيظ قبل فواته

O you whose face the offender sees illumined

By signs of anger restrained before it passes,

ان يجن ذنبا من يوالي مدحك

ان يجن ذنبا من يوالي مدحك

السامي له كالورد في أوقاته

السامي له كالورد في أوقاته

If one who continually praises you commits a fault—

Lofty praise, for him a litany at its appointed times—

لا غرو ان يكبو الجواد وقلما

لا غرو ان يكبو الجواد وقلما

يخلو لسان المرء من فلتاته

يخلو لسان المرء من فلتاته

No wonder that a noble steed should stumble; seldom

Is a man's tongue free of its slips.

فاستبق ودك بالسماح فهكذا

فاستبق ودك بالسماح فهكذا

الانسان مبني على عثراته

الانسان مبني على عثراته

So preserve your affection through forgiveness, for thus

Man is built upon his stumbles.

فاصفح فعبدك قد اتاك بشافع

فاصفح فعبدك قد اتاك بشافع

ان لم تجاوز انت عن زلاته

ان لم تجاوز انت عن زلاته

So pardon, for your servant has come to you with an intercessor,

If you yourself will not overlook his lapses:

عذراء تجلى في محبر طرسها

عذراء تجلى في محبر طرسها

تملي عليك السحر من نفشاته

تملي عليك السحر من نفشاته

A virgin unveiled upon her embellished parchment,

Dictating magic to you from its markings.

تحتال في مسكي برد سطورها

تحتال في مسكي برد سطورها

جاءتك من دارين من نفحاته

جاءتك من دارين من نفحاته

She plies her arts in the musky mantle of her lines;

She has come to you from Darin, from its fragrant breaths.

من كل سطر للضغينة قاطع

من كل سطر للضغينة قاطع

فكأنه منشار عمر عداته

فكأنه منشار عمر عداته

Every line cuts through resentment,

As though it were a saw through his enemies' lives.

فهم الجبان يحوم في ميدانه

فهم الجبان يحوم في ميدانه

ويعود خوفا من قنا الفاته

ويعود خوفا من قنا الفاته

The coward's mind circles in its arena,

And retreats in fear of the lances of its alifs.

فافتح لها باب القبول فانها

فافتح لها باب القبول فانها

ستعد عند علاك من حسناته

ستعد عند علاك من حسناته

So open for her the door of acceptance, for she

Will be counted by your exalted self among his good deeds.

لا زلت باللطف الجميل محببا

لا زلت باللطف الجميل محببا

في الدهر مثل الخال في مجناته

في الدهر مثل الخال في مجناته

May you ever be beloved through gracious kindness,

In Time, like a beauty mark upon its cheeks.

ما بات مغرى الحب في لوغاته

ما بات مغرى الحب في لوغاته

وانفكت الراحات من راحاته

وانفكت الراحات من راحاته

As long as one enthralled by love spends the night in its pangs,

And comforts are released from his palms.