1. أدِرْ كؤوسَ الرِّضا ناراً عَلى عَلَمِ

    لا خَيْرَ في لَذَّةٍ بتّاً لِمُكتَتمِ

    Pass round the cups of contentment—a fire upon a mountain.

    There is no good at all in pleasure for one who conceals it.

  2. ولْتَجْلُها بنتَ دَنٍّ عُمْرُها عُمُري

    تَسْتَدرجُ العَقلَ فِعلَ الشَّيبِ باللَّمَمِ

    And unveil her, the cask's daughter, whose age is mine,

    She steals the mind away as grayness steals through locks.

  3. مَشْمُولَةً نَسجَتْها للشَّمالِ يَدٌ

    والطَفتها أكُفُّ اللُّطفِ في القِدَمِ

    Cooled by the north wind, whose hand has woven her,

    And the hands of grace caressed her in pre-eternity.

  4. فَما لَها غيرَ رُوحِ الرُّوحِ من قَدَحٍ

    ولا لَها غَيْرُ سِرِّ السِّر مِنْ فَدَمِ

    So she has no cup but the spirit of the spirit,

    Nor any strainer but the secret of the secret.

  5. بَيْنا تُرى في أكُفِّ الشَّاربينَ طِلاً

    إذْ تَسْتحيلُ شُعاعاً في خُدودِهمِ

    While she is seen as wine in the drinkers' palms,

    Suddenly she turns to radiance in their cheeks.

  6. كَذاكَ من كَتَمتْ سِرّاً ضَمائِرُهُ

    كَساهُ منه رداءٌ غيرُ مُنْكَتِمِ

    So too, one whose inmost thoughts have concealed a secret:

    A robe of that secret clothes him, itself unconcealed.

  7. قُم هاتِها فرياضُ الكونِ قد جُليت

    وقامَ للْحُسن ترتيبٌ على قَدمِ

    Rise, bring her, for creation's gardens have been unveiled,

    And beauty's array has risen to its feet.

  8. ولاحَتِ الشُّهبُ كالأكواسِ دائِرةً

    تُغْريكَ بالسُّكر مِنْ صَهباءِ حُبِّهمِ

    And the stars shine out like circling cups,

    Enticing you to drunkenness with the tawny wine of their love.

  9. وساجَلَتْ أدْمعُ السُّحب الحمامَ بُكاً

    عَلى الرِّياضِ فأضْحَى جدَّ مُبْتسِمِ

    And the clouds' tears vied with the doves in weeping

    Over the gardens, till they were all smiles.

  10. فَسَلْ أزاهيرَ رَوضِ الحُسن غِبَّ ندىً

    هَلْ نَبَّهت وَقعاتُ الطَّلِّ عينَ عَمِ

    Then ask the blossoms of beauty's garden, after the dew:

    Have the falling dewdrops awakened a blind man's eye?

  11. في كُلِّ حُسنٍ لهُ مَعنىً تشاهدُه

    عينُ الصَّفِيِّ وقلبُ الحاضرِ الفَهِمِ

    In every beauty lies a meaning of his, beheld

    By the pure-hearted one's eye and the heart of the attentive, discerning one.

  12. يا لامعَ البَرْقِ بل بالناظرين عَشىً

    وهو الصَّباحُ تَفرَّى عن دُجا الظُّلَمِ

    O lightning's gleam—no, the beholders' sight is dim;

    Yet it is dawn, breaking through the gloom of darkness.

  13. أَعِدْ على مُقلتي لَمْحاً يؤنِّقُها

    عسَى يَراكَ مُحِبٌّ عن سَناكَ عَمِ

    Cast upon my eye again a flash that delights it,

    Perhaps a lover blind to your radiance will see you.

  14. ياواديَ الحَيِّ والأمْواهُ ثاعِبةٌ

    واحرَّ قَلْبي لِذاكَ المَوردِ الشَّبمِ

    O valley of the tribe, with waters gushing,

    How my heart burns for that cool watering place!

  15. بل هَلْ يُبَلِّغُني وَخْد المَطِيِّ عَلى

    شَحْطِ المزارِ إلى رَبْعٍ بذي سَلَمِ

    But will the camels' swift stride bring me, however

    Distant the place, to a dwelling at Dhu Salam?

  16. لِمَعْهدٍ طالَما حَلَّ القُلوبُ بهِ

    مُخَيِّمينَ وبانُوا عَنْ جُسومِهمِ

    To an abode where hearts have so often alighted,

    Pitching their tents and leaving their bodies behind;

  17. لِعُمدةِ الدِّينِ والدُّنْيا وقُطبهما

    ومُنْتهى الشَّرَفِ الأصليِّ والكَرمِ

    To the pillar of faith and the world, and the axis of both,

    And the pinnacle of innate nobility and generosity;

  18. لأَفضلِ النَّاسِ من حافٍ لمُنْتَعِلٍ

    وأكرمِ الرُّسلِ من بادٍ لِمُخْتَتِمِ

    To the best of humankind, from the barefoot to the shod,

    And the noblest of messengers, from the first to the last;

  19. لأحمدٍ سَيِّدِ الأرسال قاطِبةً

    مُحَمَّدٍ خيرِ خَلْقِ اللهِ كُلِّهمِ

    To Ahmad, master of all the messengers,

    Muhammad, the best of all God's creation.

  20. يا حاديَ العيس نَحْوَ القومِ مُرتَهناً

    يرمي بهِ الشَّوقُ من غَوْرٍ إلى تَهمِ

    O driver of the pale camels toward those folk, held captive,

    Whom longing flings from valley to lowland,

  21. رفقاً بنا في بقايا أنفُسٍ خَفِيَتْ

    عَنِ المَنايا فلم تَمْتز من العَدمِ

    Be gentle with us, with the remnants of souls that hid

    From death, and so were indistinguishable from nothingness.

  22. لأُلحِفَ الجسمَ ثَوبَ السُّقْمِ مُمْتَهناً

    وأذرفَ العَيْنَ صوبَ الأدْمُع السُّجمِ

    I shall surely clothe my body, abased, in a robe of sickness,

    And make my eye shed a torrent of streaming tears,

  23. وأُشربَ الوجدَ قَلبي والجوى كَبدي

    والسُّهدَ جَفْني وأنواعَ الشجون دَمي

    And make my heart drink longing, and my liver burning grief,

    And my eyelid sleeplessness, and my blood every kind of sorrow,

  24. إن لم أَحُطّ ركابي في أبرِّ ثَرىً

    حتَّى أُعفرِّ فيهِ وَجْنَتي وفَمي

    If I do not halt my mounts upon the most blessed soil,

    Until I rub my cheek and mouth in its dust,

  25. ذُلّاً وخَوفاً وإشْفاقاً ومَنْدمَةً

    عَلى مساوئَ قد زلَّتْ بها قَدمي

    In abasement and fear, in apprehension and remorse,

    For the misdeeds through which my foot has slipped.

  26. يا طَيْبَةَ الطَّيِّبين اللهَ أنشُدكم

    أما سَرَتْ نسمةٌ من جانب العَلَم

    O Taybah of the pure, I implore you by God:

    Has no breeze wafted by night from the mountain's side?

  27. عَساكُمُ أنْ تُوالُوها سَلامَكُمُ

    حتَّى يَبينَ الرِّضا مِنْها لِمُنْتَسِمِ

    May you keep bestowing your greetings upon it,

    Till favor is plain in it to one who breathes it in.

  28. وإنْ تَعُدْكُم فَحيُّوها فَعَوْدَتُها

    مِنِّي بردِّ سلامٍ غَيْرِ مُنْصَرِمِ

    And if it revisits you, greet it, for it returns

    From me with an answering greeting that never ends.