أقولُ لما فازَ قِدْحِي به

منْ لكمُ بي والسُّها دوني

I say, as my cup gained from him

Some wine, and left me careless in my sorrow,

قد طلع البدرُ فأهلاً به

مُطالِعاً بالسَّعْدِ مَقْرُون

The full moon rose before me, so greetings to it,

Rising fortune-blessed and well-matched.

غيثٌ هي بالمجدِ في رَوْضَةٍ

ما شئتَ منْ عزٍّ وتمكين

It is a plentiful rain in a garden of glory,

Whatever you wish of honor and strength.

فانتشقا نَشْرَ التُّقَى إنَّهُ

أطْيَبُ مِنْ نَشْرِ الرَّياحين

So they split, spreading the fragrance of piety - indeed it

Is sweeter than the scent of meadows.

والتمحا زَهْرَ العُلا إنه

أَوْما إلى زهْرِ البساتين

And they wiped away the flowers of ascension - indeed it

Brought more radiance than garden blooms.

وبأبي كيفَ تجلَّيْتُما

عن كلِّ تأميلٍ وتأمين

By my father, how you two glittered,

Beyond all hope and security.

وكيف جاءوك بشمسِ الضحى

والليلَ في أثوابهِ الجون

And how they brought you the morning sun

While night was clothed in its gown.

جاءوك بالسّحْرِ ولا بابلٌ

والمسكِ لا من أُفْقِ دارين

They brought you magic, not from Babylon,

And musk, not from the horizon's houses.

واستودعوها قُبّةً سَمْكُها

أجْنِحةُ الطَّيرِ المآمين

And they entrusted you to a dome whose ceiling

Is the wings of sheltering birds.

إلا تكنْ عدناً ففي ظلّها

أنتَ وإحدى حُورِها العِين

Unless it were Eden, in its shade,

You and one of its maidens with dark eyes.

إيهٍ أبا بكرٍ وهذي المنى

تَفْتَنُّ منها في أفانين

Alas! O Abu Bakr, these wishes

Seduce me into fantasies.

يا جُمْلَةَ العلم وتفصيلَه

منْ كل مَفْروضٍ ومسنون

O essence of knowledge and its details

Of every duty and tradition!

إن جيءَ قومٌ بدواوينهمْ

فأنتَ ديوانُ الدواوين

If a people come with their records,

You are the record of records.

بمنْ يباهي القوم أعداءهم

في كلِّ حَفْلٍ منكَ مفتون

With whom do people compete against their foes,

In every gathering enraptured by you?

قد أقْفَرَتْ منكَ ميادينُنَا

فأصبَحَتْ غيرَ ميادين

Our battlefields have been emptied of you

And become other than battlefields.

تَعَضُّ من شوقٍ ومنْ حسرةٍ

على يَدَيْ لهفانَ مغبون

You bite your hands in longing and regret,

For one enraptured, and overcome with passion.

وكلما سِرْتَ إلى بلدةٍ

نادتْ بأعلى الصوتِ يكفيني

And whenever you traveled to a country,

It called out in the loudest voice, "Enough for me!"

حتى إذا أُوطِئْتَ حمصاً أتتْ

تَنْظُرُ في أعْطافِ قارون

Until you came and stayed in Homs, there came

A watching of the flanks of Korah.

زاحمْ بركنٍ غيرِ مَوْهُونِ

منْ كلِّ تحسينٍ وتحصين

Vie for honor, though unfortified,

From all embellishment and fortification.

فقد صفا عيشُكَ فانْعَمْ به

فهو متاعٌ لا إلى حين

For your life is now clear, so enjoy it,

Since it is a possession, not forever.