بُكاءٌ وَكَأسٌ كَيفَ يَتَّفِقانِ

سَبيلُهُما في القَلبِ مُختَلِفانِ

Tears and wine cup, how can they agree?

Their paths in the heart are so different.

دَعاني وَإِفراطَ البُكاءِ فَإِنَّني

أَرى اليَومَ فيهِ غَيرَ ما تَرَيانِ

It called me, this excess of tears, but I

See today in it other than you two see.

غَدَت وَالثَرى أَولى بِها مِن وَلِيِّها

إِلى مَنزِلٍ ناءٍ لِعَينِكِ دانِ

They became, and dust is worthier of them than their guardian,

To an abode sloping to your eye obedient.

فَلا وَجدَ حَتّى تَنزُفَ العَينُ ماءَها

وَتَعتَرِفَ الأَحشاءُ بِالخَفَقانِ

So no ecstasy until the eye sheds its water,

And the guts confess the fluttering.

وَكَيفَ بِدَفعِ اليَأسِ وَالوَجدِ بَعدَها

وَسَهماهُما في القَلبِ يَعتَلِجانِ

And how to ward off despair and ecstasy after them

While their two arrows in the heart twist and turn?