مَلامَكُما كُفَّا فَقَد قُضِيَ الأَمرُ

ولا نُصحَ لي يُسديه زَيدٌ ولا عَمرو

Enough of your reproach, you two—the matter has been decided.

No counsel offered me by Zayd or ʿAmr will avail.

أنا مِنكما أدرى بِحالي فَخَلِّيا

سَبيلي فما لِلعَبد نَفعٌ ولا ضُرُّ

I know my condition better than either of you, so leave

me to my path: a slave has no power to profit or harm.

لقد كنتُ قبلَ اليوم ِ حُراً مُمَلَّكاً

وما أنا بعدَ اليومِ ذَلِكمُ الحُرُّ

Before today I was free, sovereign over myself;

after today, I am no longer that free man.

يقولونَ لي صبراً على ما قَضَى الهوَى

وهل أرتَجي صبراً وقد نَفِدَ الصَّبرُ

They tell me, “Bear patiently what passion has decreed.”

How can I hope for patience when patience is spent?

سَعَيتُ بِطرفي نحو حَتفي وهكذا

أُسِرتُ على طَوعٍ ولَذَّلىَ الأسرُ

With my own glance I sought the road to my death—and thus

I was willingly taken captive; captivity itself delighted me.

لقد صادَني من جِئتُ أبغي اصطِياده

وقد غَرَّني منه التنقُل والذُّعرُ

The one I came seeking to hunt has hunted me;

his darting flight and alarm deceived me.

لِحَبَّةِ قلبي ضَمَّ فخُّ أضالعي

فَطَار بها يَشدو وقد أُحكِمَ النَّقرُ

At the grain of my heart, inside the snare of my ribs,

he pecked with perfect skill, then flew off with it, singing.

فما حِيلتي والقلبُ في يَدِ شادِنٍ

إذا ما شَدَا حَنَّ إلى كأسها الخَمرُ

What recourse have I, with my heart in a young gazelle’s hand?

Whenever he sings, wine yearns for its cup.

فَعَوِّذ بها مِنِّي فُؤاداً أصابَهُ

على حَذَرٍ مِن نَفثِ أجفانِه سِحرُ

Then shield from him this heart of mine, already struck,

despite its caution, by magic breathed from his eyelids.

وهل بِرُضابِ الثَّغرِ مُرجٍ لها فَقَد

كَوى كَبِدي مِن نارِ وجنتِه جَمرُ

Is there hope for it in the nectar of his mouth, when

an ember from the fire of his cheek has seared my liver?

ولم نَدرِ لمَّا تَلثِمُ الكأسُ ثَغرَهُ

حُبَابٌ طَفا لاح مِن ثَغرِه دُرُّ

We could not tell, when the goblet kissed his mouth,

whether bubbles surfaced, or pearls flashed from his teeth.

مُدَامٌ كَأنَّ الشَّمسَ حَلَّت بِكَاسِهَا

لها اللَّونُ والإنعاشُ والنُّورُ والحَرُّ

Wine—as though the sun had settled in its cup—

possesses color, exhilaration, light, and heat.

كَفَت وَرِعاً يَخشى منَ الإثمِ شُربَها

بِرُؤيتِها في الكأسِ يَنشَرِح الصَّدرُ

How many a scrupulous man, fearing the sin of drinking it,

has felt his breast expand merely on seeing it in the cup.

أدِرهَا فقد أغضَى الزَّمانُ جُفونَه

وقد حَدَجَتنَا قبلُ أجفانهُ الخُمرُ

Pass it round: Time has lowered its eyelids,

though before now its wine-dark eyes had glared at us—

على سادةٍ غُرٍّ تَضَوَّعَ مِنهُمُ

منَ المِسكِ نَشرٌ لا يُافاوِحُه نَشرُ

among radiant noble lords, from whom wafts

a breath of musk no other fragrance can rival;

نَدامى صَفوا نَفساً ورَقُّوا شَمائِلاً

نَعِشتُ بهم روحاً كما نَفَحَ الزَّهرُ

drinking companions pure in soul and refined in character,

through whom the spirit revives as flowers breathe fragrance.

وهل لابنِ دَاوودٍ يُلِمُّ بِمِعزَفٍ

لَديهِ على أوتَارِ أنغَامِهِ وِترُ

And does Ibn Dāwūd come calling with a lute,

across whose strings runs a strand of his melodies?

فلِلصَّبرِ ما بالقَلبِ أودَعَ وقعُهُ

وما فَعَلت فينا أناملُه العَشرُ

Patience must bear the blow implanted in the heart,

and all that his ten fingers have done to us.

يقولً ابنً عَبَّاسٍ تَهَتَّكَ سِترُنا

متى كانَ من سِترٍ فَيُنتَهكُ السِّترُ

Ibn ʿAbbās tells you, “You have torn away our veil.”

Since when was there a veil that could not be torn?

وحَطباً بِمَرعى الآسفِي عُشبَ وَقدِه

فإن تَحتَ طِب طِب عيشةٌ حُلوُها مُرُّ

And firewood in the myrtle meadow, its kindling amid the grass—

for beneath the delight of life, even its sweetness is bitter.

بَدَا خَنِث الأعطاافِ إن ماسَ خِلتَهُ

وليسَ به سُكرٌ يُرَنِّحهُ السُّكرُ

He appeared tender and supple-limbed; when he swayed, you took him for drunk,

though no intoxication was in him for wine to make him reel.

عَجِبتُ لِقَومٍ أنكَروا مِن جَمالِ

وعِندَ اكتمالِ البدر هل يُحجَبُ البَدرُ

I marvel at my people, who deny him any beauty,

when to my eyes he is the full moon in perfection—is the moon not wondrous?

ويدعَونَهُ بالشَّافعي وهو مالِكي

وذاكَ دليلٌ أنَّ قَولَهمُ نُكرُ

They call him al-Shāfiʿī, though he is my Mālikī—my master;

that alone proves how strange their claim is.

وَهبهُمُ عُمياً أينَ أوصافُ حُسنِه

فمَالهمُ عُذرٌ وإن لهمُ عُذرُ

Suppose them blind—where, then, are the qualities of his beauty?

They have no excuse—though indeed, they have their excuse.

أَاحمدُ إنِّي في حِبالِكَ مُوثَقٌ

وبين يديكَ النَّهىُ مولايَ والأمرُ

Shall I deny that I am bound fast in your love,

while my reason, my lord, and all command lie in your hands?

فَرِفقاً بِقَلبِي إنَّ قلبيَ عاجِزٌ

على حَملِ وَقرِ الحُبِّ إن نَزَل الوَقرُ

Be gentle with my heart, for my heart is too frail

to bear love’s heavy burden, should that weight descend.

وحاذِر صُروفَ الدَّهرِ عندَ تَقلُّبٍ

فلِلدّهرِ مثلُ البحرِ مَدُّهُ والجَزرُ

Beware the turns of Time when it changes course:

for Time, like the sea, has its flood and ebb.

فليسَ جَمالُ الوَجه في الوجه خالدا

وتَبقى فِعال الخَيرِ ما بَقِىَ الدَّهرُ

The beauty of a face does not remain forever upon the face,

but deeds of goodness endure as long as Time endures.