أيُّ يومٍ من صاعدٍ لم أرحْ في
هِ بخيلٍ كثيرةِ الأسْلابِ
What day ascending have I not seen in it
Generous men, flowing-robed,
من نَوالٍ يسري بغيرِ سُؤالٍ
وعَطاءٍ يأتي بغيرِ طِلابِ
Bestowing without asking,
Giving without request,
قسَّمَ اللهُ يومَه للمَعالي
بين ضَرب اللَّها وضَرب الرِّقابِ
God apportioned their day to glories
Between striking with blades and striking necks.
جئتُه زائراً وقد ركِبَ الأفْ
لاكَ والنجمُ تحتَهُ في التُّرابِ
I came visiting, and he had mounted eminence,
The stars beneath him in the dust,
بمعانٍ سرَقتُها من عُلاه
فكأني قرأتُها من كتابِ
With meanings I stole from his loftiness,
As though I read them from a book,
فأشارتْ ألحاظُه بذنوبي
فكأني سمعتُ فصلَ الخِطابِ
So his glances gestured at my sins,
As though I heard the sermon's judgment.
ثم قبلتُ ظاهرَ الكفِّ منه
فكأنّي قبّلتُ خَدَّ السَّحابِ
Then I kissed the back of his hand,
As though kissing the cheek of a cloud.
يا جَواداً أرواحُنا من عَطايا
هُ وأفهامُنا مع الألْبابِ
O generous one, our spirits are from his gifts,
And our minds from the perspicacious.
إنّ هذي الهمومَ تقدحُ فينا
قدْحَ كفَّيكَ في السِّلام الصِّلابِ
These cares strike us
Like your palms in resolute peace.
فاسقِنا صيِّبَ المُدامِ سقاكَ ال
لهُ صوبَ الآمالِ والآرابِ
So give us to drink the rain of wine, your pouring
Toward hopes and dwellings.
خَنْدَريساً كأنّها تتقي المزْ
جَ بدرعٍ مَسرودةٍ من حَبابِ
Like Indian aloes as though wearing
Armour of interlaced mail.
خَجلت من حُلاهُمُ فأتَتْنا
في رداءٍ مُورَّدٍ ونِقابِ
Ashamed before their beauty, she came to us
In a rose-colored gown and veil.
تَهَبُ المالَ للفقيرِ وتغزو
شَرْبَها في عساكِرِ الإطرابِ
She bestows wealth on the poor and invades
Their drinking in the hosts of perturbation.
سرقتْ حُسْنَ خلقها من سَجايا
كَ وأخلاقكَ الكرامِ الرِّغابِ
She stole the beauty of her nature from your
Generous character and pleasing manners.
إنّها في السَّحابِ وبلٌ وفي الري
حِ نسيمٌ ونشوةٌ في الشّرابِ
She is in the clouds, tribulation, and in the wind
A breeze, and in wine, delight.
خلقَ اللهُ صاعداً يومَ خلْق ال
ناسِ للكأسِ والنّدى والضِّرابِ
God created Saʿd, the day He created man,
For the cup, conviviality, and rapture.
ما سؤالُ الدّنيا له وهي في عي
نيه أدنى من وُدِّها الكذّابِ
The world has no claim on him, while in his eyes
It is lower than its lying affection.
قد ظلمناهُ في السّؤالِ لأنّا
ما سألْناهُ ردَّ شَرخِ الشّبابِ
We wronged him in asking, for we
Did not ask him to mend the rending of youth.
