من لم يعانق غزالاً في مغازله

ما بين ممتنع طورا ومنفعل

He who has not embraced a gazelle in his flirtations

Between refusing for a while and being infatuated

فما قضى من لبانات الصبا وطرا

ولا تنزه في روض من الجذل

Has not fulfilled the sweetness of youth and delight

Nor strolled in a garden of beauty

وعاذلين رأوا أني على خطأ

كما رأيت بأن القوم في خطل

And moralizers saw that I was in the wrong

Just as I saw that they were confused

هل أنكروا غير تهيامي بغانية

سكرى من الدل أو ألحاظها النجل

Did they reject anything but my love songs to the gazelle

Drunk on charm or her bewitching eyes

ما زال يحجبها الغيران مذ نشأت

لو غيرها حجب الغيران لم أبل

She has been veiled by jealousy since she was young

If it were another veiled by jealousy I would not care

في كلة سُيراء تتقي نظري

يا أيها الناس حتى الظلم في الكلل

In an aloof beauty avoiding my gaze

O people even darkness in the crescent moon

من لي به حيث لا تخشى مراقبة

ولا نبيت من الواشي على وجل

If only I had her where no spying is feared

Nor do I spend the night anxious and sleepless

في ليلة لا يلي المريخ مدتها

ولا يقيم بها الا على زحل

On a night not ruled by Mars in its span

Where only Saturn remains

أما الليالي فقد أمهرتها قدحا

من المدام نكاحا ليس فيه ولي

As for nights, I have mastered them with a cup

Of wine, a marriage without a guardian

عقيقة في يدي سألت وأشربها

لو شعشعت بسجايا الدهر لم تسل

Carnelian in my hand I asked for and drank

Had I illuminated the darkness of time, it would not disappear