عَزاؤكَ طولَ الدَّهرِ يا ابنَ أبي الفَخْرِ

عزيزُ أسى إذْ لستَ تجنَحُ للصَبْرِ

Your solace is as long as time, O son of Abu al-Fakhr

A dear sorrow, since you do not incline towards patience

فلا تبدين حزنا فيشمت حاسد

وكَفْكفْ دموعَ العينِ في السّرِّ والجَهرِ

So do not show grief, lest the envious gloat

And restrain the tears of your eyes in secret and openly

وَعج سالياً عن بنتِ عاج عَدمتَها

فصوصُ قمار كُنَّ أغلى منَ البدرِ

You missed a girl of ivory, carried off

By fate's thieves, more precious than the full moon

منعّمةٌ بَيضاءُ خُضْرٌ نُقوشُها

كَنَقْش كُفوفِ الغيدِ أضحينَ في الخدرِ

A white, green-figured beauty

Like the patterns on gambling arrows released at dusk

تلوح على الأرساغ شبهُ دجنّةِ

فَمِن مَنَ سام في المسيرِ وَمُنْحَرِّ

She appeared on the couch like a docile gazelle

So who could keep pace or stand firm?

تُطاوِعُها في الأمرِ وَهي أبيّةٌ

مرادُكَ بينَ الشُّربِ في النّهْي والأمر

She obeyed you in your requests, though she was stubborn

Your will was between drinking, prohibition and command

ورُبّتَما أصبحتُ في القَمْر عنَدها

بقَهْرٍ وما تُبدي لها ألمَ القَهْر

And often I spent the night with her by force

Yet showed no sign that force pained me

كأنَّ سطورَ السّرِّ أسطُرُ مهَرقٍ

غنيتُ بها عن كُلِّ نَظْمٍ وَعَن نَثْر

As if the lines of passion were lines of poetry

Through her I had no need for prose or verse

ويذكُرُكَ الجارُ المربّعُ شَكْلُه

صَليبكَ فوقَ الزّنْد في غُرةِ العُمْر

And your carved cross above the lintel

Reminded the neighbor, square in form

وتَصبوا إلى الثالوثِ بالسّا إذا بَدَت

ثلاثاً فَتَرعاها لذلكَ في البَرِّ

When three dice showed, they drank to the Trinity

And took them as such, through righteousness

وللبنج فعلُ البَنْج في اللبِ ما بَدا

وألهاكَ عن صوم الفريضة والفطرِ

The die's work in the cup appeared

Distracting you from obligatory and feast day fasts

إذا ما بَدا للدُّوِّ شَكلان أمَسيا

أليفَيْنِ وصلا لا يُراعانِ بالهجرِ

When two dots appeared on the dice

Dear friends joined, heedless of separation

وكالخالِ نَقْشُ أليَكَّ يَسْبيكَ لونُه

فأنتَ بهِ صَبُّوا الفؤادِ مدى الدَّهرِ

Like a beauty mark, the dots of your dice enchanted you

So you were passionate all your life

تَروقُك منْ شَفعٍ وَوَترٍ نُقوشُها

وَتُلهيكَ ما لاحَتْ عنِ الشّفعِ والوترِ

Her evenly and unevenly dotted dice pleased you

And distracted you from pairs and odds

إذا لَثَمَتْ ثغراً هناك بَدا لهَا

طنين كَصَوتِ العودِ والدفِّ والزَّمرِ

When she pressed her lips, a sound emerged

Like that of the lute, tambourine and reed pipe

فَعُوِّضْتَ عنها فوق عينيكَ مِثلها

فصوص عمى يا قرمَةَ النار يا جمرى

So above your eyes she was replaced by her likeness

Dots of blindness, O ember, O hot coal!