لَعَمرِيَ ما مَلَّكتُ مِقوَدِيَ الصِبا

فَأَمطَوَ لِلذاتِ في السَهلِ وَالوَعِرِ

By my life! I do not control my youth

So it wandered freely over plains and rugged land

وَلا أَنا مِمَّن يُؤثِرُ اللَهوَ قَلبُهُ

فَأُمسي في سُكرٍ وَأَصبِحَ في سُكرِ

Nor am I one who prefers frivolity so that his heart

Gets drunk by night and drunk by morning

وَلا قارِعٌ بابَ اليَهودِيِّ مَوهِناً

وَقَد هَجَعَ النَوامُ مِن شَهوَةِ الخَمرِ

Nor do I knock on a Jew's door feebly

While the sleepers are sunk in their wine's rapture

وَأَوتَغَهُ الشَيطانُ حَتّى أَصارَهُ

مِنَ الغَيِّ في بَحرٍ أَضَلَّ مِنَ البَحرِ

And Satan has led him astray until he is

More lost in sin than lost at sea

أَغُذُّ السُرى فيها إِذا الشَربُ أَنكَروا

وَرَهنِيَ عِندَ العِلجِ ثَوبي مِنَ الفِجرِ

I take meals secretly when drinking is denied

And pawned my clothes at dawn to pay for wine

كَأَنّي لَم أَسمَع كِتابَ مُحَمَّدٍ

وَما جاءَ في التَنزيلِ فيهِ مِنَ الزَجرِ

As if I never heard Muhammad's book

And what the Revelation contains of warnings

كَفانِيَ مِن كُلِّ الَّذي أُعجِبوا بِهِ

قُلَيلَةُ ماءٍ تُستَقى لي مِنَ النهرِ

A little water drawn from the river

Suffices me from all they delight in

فَفيها شَرابي إِن عَطَشتُ وَكُلَّ ما

يُريدُ عِيالي لِلعَجينِ وَلِلقَدرِ

With it is my drink when thirsty, and all that

My dependents need for dough and cooking pot

بِخُبزٍ وَبَقلٍ لَيسَ لَحماً وَإِنَّني

عَلَيهِ كَثيرُ الحَمدِ لِلَّهِ وَالشُكرِ

With bread and onions, no meat, yet I

Thank and praise Allah abundantly for it

فَيا صاحِبَ اللحمانِ وَالخَمرِ هَل تَرى

بَوَجهي إِذا عايَنتَ وَجهِيَ مِن ضُرِّ

So, O friend of meat and wine, do you see

In my face, when you look upon my face, any harm?

وَبِاللَهِ لَو عُمِّرتُ تِسعينَ حَجَّةً

إِلى مِثلِها ما اِشتَقتُ فيها إِلى خَمرِ

By God, if I lived ninety Pilgrimages more

I would not crave in them for wine

وَلا طَرِبت نَفسي إِلى مِزهِرٍ وَلا

تَحَنَّنَ قَلبي نَحوَ عودٍ وَلا زَمرِ

Nor would my soul delight in a musical instrument or

My heart incline towards lute or flute

وَقَد حَدّثوني أَنَّ فيها مَرارَةً

وَما حاجَةُ الإِنسانِ في الشُربِ لِلمُرِّ

And they tell me there is bitterness in it

Yet what need has man in drinking for bitterness?

أَخي عُدَّ ما قاسَيتَهُ وَتَقَلَّبَت

عَلَيكَ بِهِ الدُنيا مِنَ الخَيرِ وَالشَرِّ

Brother, count what you endured and how

The world turned over you with good and evil

فَهَل لَك في الدُنيا سِوى الساعَةِ الَّتي

تَكونُ بِها السَرَّاءُ أَو حاضِرُ الضُرِّ

Then do you have in the world but the hour in which

You are either fortunate or afflicted by misfortune?

فَما كانَ مِنها لا يُحَسُّ وَلا يُرى

وَما لَم يكُن مِنها عَمِيٌّ عَنِ الفِكرِ

What of it was not felt and not seen

And what was not blind to thought?

فَطوبى لِعِبدٍ أَخرَجَ اللَهُ روحَهُ

إِلَيهِ مِنَ الدُنيا عَلى عَمَلِ البِرِّ

Blessed is the servant whom God takes his spirit

From the world through righteous work

وَلَكِنَّني حُدِّثتُ أَنَّ نُفوسَهُم

هُنالِكَ في جاهٍ جَليلٍ وَفي قَدرِ

But I am told their souls over there

Are in exalted, glorious rank and worth

وَأَجسادُهُم لا يَأكُلُ التُربُ لَحمَها

هُنالِكَ لا تَبلى إِلى آخِرِ الدَهرِ

And their bodies—the earth eats not their flesh—

Do not decay, until the end of time