لم يُعْلِ ذا الدهرُ سِوَى

قومٍ لئامٍ حَقَدَهْ

This age has raised none aloft but

a band of vile men, out of its spite.

فدَعْه مَعْ أشكاله

وأتركْه مع من عَبَدَه

So leave it among its own kind,

and leave it to those who worship it.

ورُحْ بنا نشربُها

مدامةً مُنْتقدَه

Come away with us, and let us drink it—

a wine chosen with a connoisseur’s care—

كأنّها في كأسها

ياقوتةٌ في بَرَده

as though, there within its cup, it were

a ruby set amid hailstones:

مسْكٌ وشُهْدٌ جُمِعا

في شعلة مُتَّقده

musk and honey gathered together

within a blazing flame.

فقم فقد جَنَّ دجا ال

لَيلِ وغاب الحَسَدَه

Rise, then: the blackness of the

night has closed in, and the envious are gone.

وأسعِدِ اللهوَ فقد

أفلح من قد أسعَدَه

And lend delight your aid, for

prosperous is whoever has gladdened it—

لا سيِّما إن حُرِّكتْ

عيدانُنا مُجْتَلِده

especially when set in motion are

our lutes, contending fiercely,

وشُيِّعت بالضرب من

أيدي القيان النَّقَدَه

accompanied by strokes from

the hands of discerning singing-girls.

لا تُبْسقِ يوماً لغدٍ

فأَبْعَدَ اللهُ غدَه

Do not let a day stretch into tomorrow;

may God cast its morrow far away.

لا بُدَّ مما قدّر ال

له وممَّا عقدَه

There is no escaping what has been decreed by

God, nor what He has bound fast.