عللاني بصفو ما في الدنان — Al Akouk

Soothe me, you two, with the clear wine in the jars,

and disregard what the two reproachers say.

And outrun death’s cruel blow on white camels;

for all perish as night and day pass.

Soothe me with a draught that dispels worry

and banishes the visitations of sorrow.

And cast into ears that fasting has sealed

the spells of al-Mawsili or Dahman.

Shawwal has come to us, and life has begun anew,

and has forcibly overrun Ramadan.

An excellent aid for a young man against Time’s reversals

is hearing the singing girls and the lutes,

and cups flowing with the water of vines,

and the cups’ mounts are the singing girls’ hands.

Of wine that kills all reserve,

and makes one drinking companion delight in another.

And it is as though the mixing water strikes from it

sparks amid ingots of pure gold.

So drink the wine, and defy whoever blames you for it;

it is indeed an excellent provision for young men.

And keep company with Time, in travel and rest;

do not fear what night and day bring.

One seeking strength against the ages has a sufficient pillar

in Hamid, a bulwark against misfortune.

A king who stores noble deeds as treasure,

and you see him among the most generous young men.

His two palms were made for generosity and valor,

and his wealth for the tongue’s thanks.

Maʿadd made him king over the people,

and the sons of Qahtan acknowledged him.

Freely generous, fair of countenance,

his hand and the sky are bound in a pact.

His face shines on whoever seeks his bounty,

and his two hands gush forth with rain.

He divided Time between his two days into two portions:

lavish kindness and the heat of spear-thrusts.

So when he marches with the army to war,

the eastern and western horizons fall short of his full-speed course.

And when you rouse him to generosity,

the two horizons are too narrow for his spacious breast.

Rain in drought when he stays, a springtime

that blankets every place with bounty.

O Abu Ghanim, may you endure through Time,

and live forever while night and day run their course.

We care not, if death passes you by,

whom it strikes with breast and throat.

We have dispatched our mounts to you,

fleeing our treacherous age.

And we have loaded our needs upon noble mounts,

pledged to meet their riders’ needs.

No generosity beyond yours is sought out,

nor does one in distress seek bounty from anyone else.