وهمت فليس ما سمي

ته الإيمان إِيمانا

You were mistaken: what you called

faith is not faith.

ولا هذا الذي قد خل

ته تقواك فحوانا

Nor is this, which you took

for your piety, our true meaning.

أَتهذي بالسلو وقد

غرام الغيد أَضنانا

Do you babble of forgetting love, when

passion for graceful maidens has worn us out?

وقد للكأس تهفو نف

س من يسلوه أَحيانا

And toward the cup yearns the soul

of one who sometimes forgets it.

وذو الشوق القديم إِذا

تذكر عاد ولهانا

And one whose longing is old, when

he remembers, becomes lovesick again.

فدع عنك الهراء وقم

نذع للناس إِعلانا

So put aside the nonsense and rise:

let us broadcast an announcement to the people:

أَلا من يشتري بالح

ان والألحان تقوانا

Come, who will buy at the tavern

and amid melodies our piety,

بسعر صلاة أسبوع

ببعض الكأس ملآنا

at the price of a week's prayers,

for a little from a brimming cup?

وأَجود صنف تسبيح

بذكر اللّه ريانا

And the finest sort of praise,

steeped in remembrance of God,

يباع وجملة بالكمش

لا يحتاج ميزانا

is sold wholesale, by the handful—

needing no scales—

بنظرة شبه حسناء

تطلع في محيانا

for a glance from a near-beauty

looking into our faces.

فهل وبهذه الأسع

ار شارية بعمانا

So, at these prices,

is there a woman to buy in Amman?

لو أَني أَرأَس الوزراء

أَو قاض كمولانا

If I headed the ministers,

or were a judge like our lord,

لأَلغيت العقاب ولم

أَدع للنفي إِمكانا

I would abolish punishment and not

leave any possibility of exile.

أَما وأنا من اتخ

ذوه للإِرهاق ميدانا

But since I am one they have made

an arena for torment,

فمن سجن إلى من

فى لآخر شط أبوانا

it is from prison to exile,

to the farthest shore of Abwana.

فهات الكأس مترعة

من الصهباء ألوانا

So bring the cup brimful

of tawny wine in many hues.

يطالعنا بها حبب

كعين الديك يقظانا

In it, bubbles gaze out at us,

like the eye of a wakeful rooster.

وهب عمان ماثلة

وظن حميد حمدانا

And suppose Amman stands before you,

and take Humayd for Hamdan,

وهذا الكوخ ديوان الأم

ير وذاك رغدانا

and this hut for the emir's court,

and that one for Raghadan.

وقل للهبر يا باشا

وسم هديب شوشانا

And say to al-Habr, “O Pasha,”

and call Hudayb “Shushan.”

وعش رغم القوانين

التي آذتك سلطانا

And live, despite the laws

that hurt you, as a sultan.

فمثلك من تمرد

كلما ساموه إِذعانا

For one like you rebels

whenever they demand submission of him.

لعمر الحق لن يتن

كب الإخلاص خذلانا

By the life of Truth, never shall

sincerity shoulder defeat.

وسوف يظل سيف

النصر للأحرار معوانا

And ever shall the sword

of victory be a staunch ally to the free.

وسوف نهير من هذي

الصروح الهلس بنيانا

And we shall bring down, from among these

flimsy edifices, a structure.

فلا يخدعك ظاهرها

ولا تهويل مولانا

So let not their outward show deceive you,

nor our lord's bluster.

وقل إن قيل لا عفو

لعل العفو لا كانا

And say, if it is said, “No pardon,”

“May pardon never be!”

فعين العزم ترمقنا

وعين الحزم ترعانا

For determination's eye watches us,

and prudence's eye guards us.

ولطف الكاس إِثر

الكاس نشربها تولانا

And the gentle grace of cup after

cup we drink has taken us in its care.

فحسبي بالنخيل الباس

ق الفينان جيرانا

So enough for me are the towering palms,

luxuriant, as neighbors,

وبالنورية الحسناء

والصحراء ندمانا

and the lovely Gypsy woman

and the desert as drinking companions.