كم للنّواظر من دمٍ مطلولِ

ومُدَفّعٍ عن وَجْدِه ممطولِ

How many eyes has the wine made languid,

And how many revellers has it made loose-tongued!

ولقد حملتُ غداة زُمّتْ للنّوى

أُدْمُ الرّكائبِ فيه كلَّ ثقيلِ

And I, one morn when the pitcher was passed round,

Bore off the dregs of the wine-skins however heavy.

وقنعتُ منهمْ بالقليل ولم أكنْ

أرضى قُبَيلَ فراقهمْ بقليلِ

I was content with a little from them, nor was I

Pleased, before parting, with a little from them.

لولا دموعي يوم قامتْ ودّعتْ

ما كان روضُ الحَزْنِ بالمطلولِ

Had it not been for my tears the day they departed

The garden of sorrow would not have flowed.

وأَرَتْك وجهاً لم تُنِرْ شمسُ الضّحى

إلاّ به ما كان بالمملولِ

And she showed a face the sun of morning

Had never shone on save with a sparkling radiance.

وتقلّدَتْ بأساودٍ من فرعها

وتبسّمتْ عن أشْنَبٍ معسولِ

She donned the black garments of its branches

And smiled through lips sweetened with wine;

وَرَنتْ إليك بطرف جَوْذَرِ رملةٍ

وخطتْ بحِقْفٍ في الإزار مَهيلِ

She glanced at you with the corner of a fawn-like eye

And traced with down on the skirt of her shift.

إنْ كنتَ تُنكر ما جَنَتْه يدُ النّوى

فالشّاهدان صبابتي ونحولِي

If you deny what the hand of fate has done

My witnesses are my wasting frame and my tears.

ما ضرّ من ضنّتْ يداه بمُنْيَتِي

أَن لا يَضِنّ عليَّ بالتّعليلِ

What matters the niggardliness of their hands to me

If they are not niggardly in upbraiding me?

فإلى متى أشكو إلى ذي قسوةٍ

وإلى متى أرجو نوالَ بخيلِ

How long shall I complain against the cruelty of one deaf

And how long hope for bounty from a miser?

قل للحُداةِ خلال عيسٍ ضُمَّرٍ

بطُلىً إلى حادي الرّكائبِ مِيلِ

Tell the assailants, now that the Pleiades decline,

My inclining is toward the driver of the wine-skins.

حُطّوا إلى ملكِ الملوكِ رحالَكْم

فَفِناؤه للرّكبِ خيرُ مَقيلِ

Make your way to the King of kings, your halting places,

For the halting of the caravan is best at his abode,

حيث الثّرى لاقى الجباه وأرضُه

للقومِ موسَعَةٌ من التّقبيلِ

Where the soil has kissed foreheads and its expanse

Is spacious for a people given to kissing.

وكأنّما قمرُ الدّياجي وجهُه

ورُواء لونِ الصّارمِ المصقولِ

Like the moon of the gloaming his face

And its brightness is that of a polished blade.

للَّهِ دَرُّك في مقامٍ لم تزلْ

عَجِلاً تلفّ رعيلَه برعيلِ

God reward you for standing at a station you have not ceased

To be a foal circling round the other foals.

والخيلُ جائلةٌ على قِممٍ هَوَتْ

ومناكبٍ فارقن كلّ قليلِ

While the horses charge down from the hilltops

And the camels leave behind them all the little hills,

وكأنّهنّ يخُضن ماءَ ترائبٍ

لمجدّلين يخُضن ماءَ وُحولِ

As though they were swimming the eddies of Nu'm

Smooth rocks swimming in eddies of mist,

قد جرّبوك غداةَ جنّتْ فتنةٌ

رَمَتِ العقول من الورى بخبولِ

They tried you when discord raised its head

And reason in men was struck as by epilepsy,

فكأنّ مُضرمَها مضرّمُ عَرْفَجٍ

في الدَّوِّ حان حصادُه بقبيلِ

As though it were a spark in the blackness of night

Whose reaping comes not with host or company,

وكأنّها عشواءُ في غبشِ الدّجى

تطوي الفَلا خَبْطاً بغير دليلِ

As though it were a wild thing in the darkness of night

Blundering blindly and without guide.

فعدلتها بالرّأي حتّى نكّبَتْ

عنّا بغير قنىً وغيرِ نُصولِ

But you made it swing straight with your wisdom

Until it turned its back on us without scent or track,

وَركبتَ منها وهي شامسةُ القَرا

عمّا قليلٍ ظهرَ أيِّ ذَلولِ

And you mounted it when the dawn flushed red

At an hour when mounts the base-born wretch.

ولو اِنّها عاصَتْك حكّمتَ القَنا

فيها وحدَّ الباترِ المسلولِ

Had it been truly rebellious against you

You had tamed it with the halter firmly bound.

وملأتَ قطرَ الأرضِ وهي عريضةٌ

بصوارمٍ وذوابلٍ وخيولِ

And filled the breadth of the wide earth with swordblades and spears

And horses and warriors;

وبكلّ مُستَلَبِ المَلامِ كأنّما

شهد الكتيبة طالباً بذُحولِ

As though the battalion in desire for booty

Craved only for blood-wit of the wounded;

عُريانَ إِلّا من لباسِ بسالةٍ

ظمآنَ إلّا من دمٍ لقتيلِ

Bare of all but the raiment of valour,

Athirst save with the blood of the slain to drink.

وَأَنا الّذي أهوى هواك وأبتغي

أبداً رضاك وإنّه مأمولي

And I who love your love and ever seek

Always your pleasure, and that is my hope,

ومتى تبدّل جانباً عن جانبٍ

قومٌ فإنّك آمنٌ تبديلي

Whenever a people change from side to side,

Then you are secure from my changing.

وإذا صححتَ فإنّ قلبي مُقسِمٌ

أنْ لا يبالي في الورى بعليلِ

And if you come to regard me justly

My heart swears it cares not for blamer or dispraise

وذرِ اِنتقادي بالشُّناةِ فلم تُنِرْ

شمسُ الظّهيرة للعيون الحُولِ

Leave me to criticize those who criticize;

The noontide sun sheds no light for the dim of sight.

وليسلني عَن فوت ما نال الورى

إنْ لم أقمْ فيه مقامَ ذليلِ

Let me make up for the good fortune others enjoy

If I do not take in it the rank of the abject.

خدُّها كما اِبتسم النّهار لمُدجنٍ

أعيا عليه قصدُ كلّ سبيلِ

Her cheek dimpled like the dawn smiling on an actor

Weary with long quest of every spectator.

وكأنّها للمبصريها جَذوَةٌ

ولناشقيها فَغْمةٌ لشَمولِ

As though for those who see her she were a flame

And for those who kiss she were all-embracing.

وكأنّما هي عزّةً لا تُبْتَغى

عرِّيسةٌ للأُسْدِ ذاتُ شبولٍ

As though she were a mighty thing unpursued,

A trembling doe, but lioness when she has whelped.

وكأنّها روضُ الفلا عبثتْ به

أيدي شمالٍ سُحْرةً وقَبولِ

As though she were the garden of Eden sacked

By left hands of sorceresses acceptable.

صِينتْ عن المعنى المعاد وقولُها

ما كان في زمنٍ مضى بمقولِ

Her figure repudiates the known meaning of figure;

Her speech was not as the speech of yore.

وإذا النّضارةُ في الغصون تغيّرتْ

كانت نضارتُها بغير ذبولِ

And when the bloom in the branches turns color

Her bloom is changeless and knows no fading.

فاِسعَدْ بهذا العيد واِبقَ لمثله

في منزلٍ من نعمةٍ مأهولِ

Rejoice in this feast and linger on

In mansion of delight thronged with blessings.

ولقد نَضَوْتَ الصّومَ عنك ولم تَعُجْ

فيه بجانبِ هفوةٍ وزليلِ

You kept the fast from yourself but were not perturbed

By anything of error or slip.

وكففتَ عن كلّ الحرامِ وإنّما

صاموا عن المشروب والمأكولِ

You held aloof from all forbidden things;

They only fasted from food and drink.

وإذا بقيتَ فما نبالِي مِن جرتْ

منّا عليه ردىً دموعُ ثَكولِ

And if you live we care not if there comes to us

Misfortune, the tears of misery are our consolation.