بزجاج خدك هل سقيت حميما

ام هل سقيت مصفقا تسنيما

Have you watered the flowers of your cheek with life's sweet drink

Or have you watered them with a gentle breeze's hymn?

اغناك عن كاس النديم مديرها

عدّ المدام فقد شربت نديما

Your laughing cup has made the wine-pourer neglect his task;

For you have drunk deep of the wine of manhood and fame.

احبب بحاملها ودع محمولها

شمساً يتوجها الحباب نجوما

Love the bearer but leave the borne behind,

A sun wearing the mist as a crown.

قم عاطها بكراً يفضّ ختامها

او عاطها مختومة خرطوما

Give him the wine-cup when dawn spills its seal,

Or give it to him sealed, like a locked antrum.

راحٌ وعت عاد الاولى ثم انتشت

حببا فعادت في الاناء كروما

The first went and roamed and returned to be poured again,

As love, and returned to the bowl like a swarm of bees.

امحكمي بأناء خمر رضابه

حكَّمت في نطف الخمور حكيما

Judge me by the bowl of a pleasing wine -

You judged the buds of grapes to be wise.

امطارح الطير الهزار لشدوه

مهما يردّد صوته تنغيما

Don't chase away the merry bird of rhyming -

No matter how much he repeats his song's tune.

ومرقص القرط المذبذب زاهياً

ومُعقِّص الليل الاحمّ بهيما

And the shaking, wavering, laughing, dancing anklet,

And the night, dark and sad, prowling, howling.

ومتيم الحرباء في دورانها

ومهيم الرشأ الاغن رخيما

And the amorous, circling, moaning dove,

And the complaining, weeping, wailing wind.

جئني بمثلك في الغزالة طلعة

او في الغزال شمائلاً ورسوما

Meet me with your beautiful, delicate, graceful steps,

Or meet me in the eyes and features of a deer.

في الظبي منك لواحظ شهدت بها

حدق جرحن برامتين الريّما

In your gazelle's eyes I discern witnesses that wound me,

Two piercing, sad, sleepy, dreamy eyes.

صاغ الهلال معوذاً طوقاً لهُ

بالعين لاح بجيده مفصوما

The crescent moon shaped a necklace for itself,

Piercing through the neck with its sharp horns.

حلو الفكاهة إن جرى بحديثه

اجرى بسمعك لؤلؤً منظوما

Sweet is the wit that flows through his talk

And flows to your hearing like rhythmic pearls.

فلقد جنيت بوجنتيه منمنماً

وقرأت في ديباجتيه رقوما

So you have plucked from his cheeks a flowering,

And read on his face something wonderful written.

أَلغى نسيم الورد غبّ مخيلةٍ

من شمَّ من ورد الخدود نسيما

The scent of roses has cleared the imagination of musk -

For I smelled the roses from his cheeks' breath.

كسر الجفون فهوَّمت بسنا الكرى

ونفى الكرى عن مقلتي تهويما

The eyelids captivate so I worry

About the eyes, and the eyes refuse my passionate confusion.

يا مالكي قلبي واقسم حلفة

نصفين غودر بالنوى مقسوما

O you who own my heart, I swear sincerely,

Cut in half, split in two like a ripe date.

اردد عليَّ النصف منه ترّحماً

لو كنت ذا نصفٍ لكنتَ رحيما

Return to me half of it out of mercy,

If you are not totally merciful or kind.

إن الهوى نعم الرفيق فان يكن

ناراً أراه جنة ونعيما

Passion is a great friend, and if it becomes

A fire, I feel it is a paradise and pleasure.

قد لامني وهو الملوم بحبه

ارأيت ذا لومٍ يكون ملوما

Blameworthy as it is, I blame it for its love,

Did you ever see blame that is blameable?

معنى بعينك لم اطق تحديده

بفمي فآثرن السكون وجوما

Your eyes mean more than my mouth can utter,

So I chose silence, quietude, and stillness.

قم لابساً برد السعود مورّد ال

كمين رفّ مسهما تسهيما

Rise, wearing the coat of happiness, lined with

The finest armament, armed from head to toe.

في ليلة قرنت بشمس نهارها

قمر الدجى الحسن بن ابراهيما

On a night paired with a day whose sun was

The full moon of beauty, Judge Abu Ibrahim.

الكاسر الاصنام في البيت الذي

رفعت قواعده يداه قديما

The idol smasher in the house whose foundations

Were raised by hands long ago.

والمثقل النادي اذا عقد الحبا

والمستخف من الجبال حلوما

He who loads generosity with gifts when passion

Forms bonds of love, who makes mountains light as feathers.

إن لم يلد ندٌّ له فلعله

جاء الزمان به وعاد عقيما

If an equal is not born for him, perhaps

Time will bring one, though now he has no match.