1. عَسى أَنْ يَسُرَّ السَّائِرين إِيابُ

    وأَنْ يردَعَ البينَ المُشِتَّ عِتابُ

    May a return gladden the travelers,

    and may reproach hold back divisive separation.

  2. وما العِشْقُ إِلا موتُ نفسٍ إِذا دَعا

    فإِنَّ نفوسَ العاشقِين جوابُ

    And love is nothing but a soul's death; when it calls,

    then lovers' souls are the answer.

  3. ومَنْ صَحَّ مِنْ داءِ الصَّبابَةِ قَلْبُه

    رَأَى أَنَّ رأْي العَاذِلينَ صَوابُ

    And whoever's heart recovers from the sickness of yearning

    sees that the reproachers' judgment is right.

  4. رعى اللهُ قوماً روَّعوا بفراقِهم

    فُؤاداً حَماهُ عَن حِجَاهُ حِجَابُ

    May God protect a people whose departure terrified

    a heart that a veil has barred from its own reason.

  5. عَبَرْنَا فكَمْ مِنْ عَبْرَةٍ في دِيَارهم

    تَزلُّ ونَفْسٍ بالحَنَينِ تُذَابُ

    We passed by—how many a tear in their dwellings

    slides down, and how many a soul is melted by longing!

  6. وغَانيةٍ لم تَعْدُ عِشرين حِجَّةً

    أَقولُ لها قَولاً لَدَيه ثَوابُ

    And a beauty, no older than twenty years—

    I speak to her words that carry a reward:

  7. عليكِ زكاةٌ فاجْعليها وصالَنا

    لأَنَّكِ في العشرين وهْي نِصَابُ

    Alms are due from you, so let them be our union,

    for you are twenty, and that is the threshold for alms.

  8. وما طَلبي إِلا قَبولٌ وقُبْلةٌ

    وما أَرَبي إِلاَّ رِضاً ورُضَابُ

    My request is only acceptance and a kiss,

    and my desire only consent and sweet saliva.

  9. فكنتُ كَمنْ يَستنزلُ العُصْمَ بالرُّقىَ

    ويأْمُل أَن يَروِي صَدَاه سرابُ

    So I was like one who lures ibex down with incantations,

    and hopes a mirage will quench his thirst.

  10. تذكَّرْتُ دهراً ليس يُنسيه لذةٌ

    ولم يُسْلِ قَلبي عن هواهُ شَراب

    I recalled a time no pleasure can make me forget,

    and no wine has turned my heart from its love,

  11. وحَجيِّ إِلى حانوت راحٍ وراحَةٍ

    وكعبةُ تَهادَى والعُقودُ حَبابُ

    and my pilgrimage to a tavern of wine and repose,

    and a Kaaba swaying gently, its necklaces bubbles,

  12. وإفراط حبي للعجوز التي غدت

    عروساً تهادى والقصود حباب

    and my excessive love for the old woman who became

    a bride who sways, with bubbles as the objects sought.

  13. تُعيدُ شبَابَ العقل شَوْبا وشيبةً

    ويرجعُ مِنْها للكبيرِ شَبَابُ

    She turns the mind's youth into confusion and gray hair,

    yet through her the old regain their youth.

  14. إِذا قتلوها بالمِزَاج تَبَسَّمت

    كشاربِها يرتَاحُ وهْو مُصَابُ

    When they kill her by dilution, she smiles,

    like her drinker, who rejoices though he is stricken.

  15. ومن عَجَبٍ أَنَّا نصيرُ بشرْبِها

    شياطينَ تُردى النَّاسَ وهْي شِهَاب

    And it is a wonder that by drinking her we become

    devils who ruin people, though she is a shooting star.

  16. فتىً أَشْرقَتْ مِنه خصالٌ شريفةٌ

    كما أَغْرَبَتْ في البَذْلِ مِنْه رِغَابُ

    A young man whose noble qualities shone forth,

    as his lavish gifts were wondrous in generosity.

  17. وقد صادَقَ الإِنجازَ منه مَواعِدٌ

    كما جَانَبَ الإِخْلافَ منه جَنَابُ

    And his promises have befriended fulfillment,

    just as his presence has shunned broken pledges.

  18. على ماله مِنه عَذابٌ أَصارَه

    مواردَ جُودٍ كُلُّهن عِذَابُ

    His wealth suffers torment from him, which has turned it

    into wellsprings of bounty, every one sweet.

  19. أَيادٍ له بيضٌ حسانٌ سخَتْ بها

    يدٌ لم يشنْها في العطاءِ حسابُ

    White and lovely favors are his, freely bestowed by

    a hand no reckoning has marred in giving.

  20. مَواهِبُه عِتقُ النُّفوسِ أَقَلُّها

    إِذا صافَحتْ بيضَ الصّفاحِ رقابُ

    The least of his gifts is the freeing of souls,

    when necks shake hands with gleaming sword-blades.

  21. وآراؤه تَثْنِي النُّصولَ بغيظِها

    إِذا لم يكن إِلا الدِّماءَ خِضَابُ

    And his counsels bend sword-blades with their fury,

    when there is no dye but blood.

  22. فَكُلّ كِتابٍ مِنْه سيفٌ مُجَوْهَرٌ

    يروق إِذا ما شِمْتَه ويُهابُ

    So every letter from him is a jeweled sword:

    it delights when you draw it, and is feared.

  23. تجُزُّ مَعانيه الرقابَ فَقَد غدا

    يُخَيَّل لي أَن الكتابَ قِرابُ

    Its meanings sever necks; thus it has come

    to seem to me that the letter is a scabbard.

  24. فيالَكِ من كُتبِ لأَخطر خاطرٍ

    تُعَارُ وليست بالغموض تُعاب

    What wondrous letters of the most formidable mind,

    lent out, yet never faulted for obscurity!

  25. ليَهْنِكَ عيدٌ إِنْ أَتى كنتَ عيدَه

    وإِن غاب أَضْحى مِنك عَنْه مَنابُ

    May the festival gladden you: if it comes, you are its festival,

    and if it is absent, you take its place.

  26. أَضاحِيكَ فيه حاسدٌ ومنافِقٌ

    وحَجُّك غزوٌ للعدا وحِرَاب

    Your sacrifices at it are an envier and a hypocrite,

    and your pilgrimage is raiding foes and waging war.

  27. فلا زلتَ تُغْنِي بالنَّدى كلَّ طالبٍ

    إِليك ولا يَعْا عليك طِلابُ

    May you never cease enriching with generosity every petitioner

    who comes to you, and may no request prove too hard for you.

  28. إِذا ما دعا الدَّاعي بمقْولِ نِعمةٍ

    لِمَنْ قد حَباها فالدُّعاءُ مُجاب

    Whenever a supplicant prays with a blessing's tongue,

    for the one who bestowed it, the prayer is answered.