حيَّا الرَّبيعُ بِنَرجِسٍ وَبَهارِ

فارْدُدْ تَحيَّتَهُ بكأسِ عُقارِ

Spring greeted with narcissus and blossoms

Reply to its greeting with a cup of wine

لا تَجْنِ زَهْرَتَهُ لِغَير سُلافَةٍ

تصريفَكَ الدِّينارَ بالدِّينارِ

Don't be stingy with its flowers for other than revelry

Spending your dinars for dinars in return

وَأْنَفْ لأيَّامِ الرَّبيعِ وفَضْلِها

فَضْلاً سِوى في الكاسِ والأوتارِ

And give the days of spring and its excellence

A preference only in the cup and strings

أوَما تَرَى وَجْه الزَّمانِ قد اكْتَسى

كعِذارِ آسٍ أو كآسِ عِذارِ

Don't you see the face of time has worn

Like the excuse of a staff or a cup of excuse?

والأرضُ قد لَبِسَتْ مَطارِفَ نَبْتِها

وتَوشَّحتْ بِصَوارِمِ الأنْهارِ

The earth has worn her fine clothes of growth

And adorned herself with swords of rivers

والدَّوْحُ أمْثال المَنابرِ فوقَها

خُطباءُ بالإسْحارِ في الأسْحارِ

Dew like pulpits above her

Preachers at dawn during dawns

فاقْدَحْ زِنادَ الكأْسِ عن لَهَبِيَّةٍ

تُغْشي ظَلامَ اللَّيلِ ضَوْءَ نَهارِ

So ignite the flint of the cup with a flame

That shades the darkness of night with daylight's glow

ولْتَجْلُها بَدراً عَلى بَدْرٍ لَدى

بَدْرٍ تَفُزْ بِثَلاثةٍ أقْمارِ

And sip it like a full moon next

To a moon, outshining three orbiters

مِنْ كَفِّ بارِعَةِ الجَمال بَديعةٍ

تُربي عَلى الأوْطار والأطْوارِ

From the palm of a lovely beauty

Raised on camping and traveling

في لَيْلةٍ كَسَتِ الشُّعورَ سَوادَها

وجَلَتْ من الوَجَناتِ ثَوْبَ شِعارِ

On a night that clad passions in its darkness

And revealed from veils the dress of virtue

ما فاحَ نَدُّ اللَّيلِ عَن مِثْل الطِّلا

قُدِحَتْ شَرارَتُها بِصَوب قِطارِ

The sweet scent of night never exhaled the like

Of perfume, sparked toward the Pleiades

أفْدِي الَّتي لَوْلا سوادُ خِضابِها

مَحَتِ الدُّجا بأشِعَّةِ الأنْوارِ

I'd sacrifice her but for the darkness of her dye

That erased shadows with rays of light

هَيْفاءُ تُحْمى عن تَخالُسٍ ناظِرٍ

بِشفارِ سُمْرٍ أو بسُمْرِ شِفارِ

Haifa, protected from a watcher's slyness

By edge of sword or sword's edge

في ليلِ طُرَّتِها ولَيْلِ خِضابِها

بَدْرانِ من وَجْهٍ وكأْسِ عُقارِ

In the night of her cloak and the night of her dye

Two moons from a face and cup of wine

أعْيَتْ عَلى العُشَّاقِ طُرْقُ وصالِها

فَمَنالُها بالوَهْمِ والتَّذكار

The ways to meet her have wearied lovers

So she's attained through fantasy and recollection

عاطَيْتُها راحاً كأنَّ حَبابَها

تَحْتَ الدُّجا في الكأْسِ عِقْدُ دَراري

I plied her with rest as if her love

Under darkness were a string of pearls

صَفْراءُ عَتَّقها الزَّمانُ وراضَها

طُوْلُ الثِّقافِ بِدَنِّها والغارِ

Yellow-skinned, aged by time and content

With long refinement of her art and cave

فأتَتْ كَما الأُلهوبُ تَلْفَحُ نارُها

حَرَّى ولا عَهْدٌ لَها بالنَّارِ

She came like flash kindling its fire

Hot, though unfamiliar with fire

مازِلْتُ أسْقيها وأشْرَبُ رِيْقَها

والسُّكْرُ يَعطِفُنا عَلى مِقدارِ

I continued to ply and make her drink my spittle

Till drunkenness brought us closer together

حَتَّى ثَنَتْها الرَّاحُ طوعَ سَواعِدي

والرَّاحُ تَعْلَمُ كَيفَ أخْذُ الثَّارِ

Till the wind bent her to my shoulders' power

And the wind knows well how to take revenge

فاسأل بِطيْبِ حَديثِ لَيْلَتِنا وَلا

تُغْفِلْ عَفافي عِنْدَها ووَقاري

So ask about the sweetness of our night but do not

Neglect to mention my virtue and dignity with her