إِن كُنتَ نَدماني أَبا مالِك

فاسقِ أَبا الهِنديِّ بِالكُندَرَهْ

If you are my cup-companion, O Abu Malik,

Then pour for Abu Al-Hindi into the large goblet,

مِن قَهوةٍ صَهباءَ كَرخيَّةً

تأخُذُ بِالرأسِ وَبالحَنجَرَةْ

Some reddish-brown wine from Karkh,

That seizes both the head and the throat,

تُسكبُ مِن زقٍّ لَنا مُسنَدٍ

اسحَم رشاش لَهُ قَرقَرهْ

Poured for us from a propped-up wineskin,

Dark and spurting, with a gurgling sound;

كَأَنَّما أَكرُعُه إِذ بَدَت

أَيدي لصوص قُطِعت مُنكرَهْ

As if its tied legs, when they appear,

Are the severed, grotesque hands of thieves.