لقد سمح الدّهرُ بالمُقْتَرحْ

وكان السكوتُ تمامَ الفرَحْ

Time has allowed the proposal

And silence was the height of joy

وما زال إِنشادُك الشعر لي

يَمُرُّ بسمعيَ حتى انقرَحْ

Your poetic recitation still flows through my hearing

Until it is torn open

ونغَصتَ عَيْشي بترداده

وأَفسدتَ من حالتي ما صلضح

You have embittered my life by repeating it

And spoiled what was settled of my state

فلا خير في نظم هذا القريض

ولا في تغزُّله والمِدَحْ

So there is no good in composing this poem

Nor in its amorousness and praise

لحا الله قلباً يحبّ المِلاح

ولثْمَ الأَقاحي ورَشْف القَدَحْ

May God bless a heart that loves jokes

And kissing cheeks and sipping from a cup

ويهتَزُّ عند اهتزاز الغصون

ويعجبه ظَبْيُ سِرْبٍ سَرَحْ

And it trembles when the branches tremble

And it likes a herd of gazelles grazing freely

وتُطربه رَوْضةُ العارِضيْن

وما في شمائِلها من مُلَحْ

And the garden of maidens delights it

And the charm in their features

لئِن سَرَّكُمْ حُسنُ وَجْهِ الحبيب

فما ذاك عنديَ إِلاّ تَرَح

If their lover's beauty pleases you

That is nothing to me but slackness

وللهِ دَرُّ عجوزٍ تروق

لطرفِ الحكيمِ إِذا ما لَمحْ

Praiseworthy is an old woman who is pleased

By the gaze of a wise man when he glimpses

ويُعْجِبُه صِبْغُ حِنّائِها

وما بين أَسنانها من قَلَح

And her henna dyeing appeals to him

And the gaps between her teeth

لها رَحِمٌ مثلُ حبل العِقال

إِذا ما دنوت إِليه رَشَح

She has a womb like the rope of a well-bucket

When I approach it, it drips

وإِن حَرَّكتْه ذُكور الرّجال

تخيَّلْت ذاك كنيفاً فُتِح

And if the penises of men arouse it

You'd think it an open scabbard

فهذي مقالة هذا الحكيم

ولا خَيْرَ فيمن إِلها جَنَح

So these are the words of this wise man

And there is no good in one who inclines to them

فَدَعْ قوله واختصر صورةً

كأَنّ الجمال لها قد شرح

So leave his words and summarize an image

As if beauty itself opened up for her

إِذا ما استدارتْ نطاق الخصور

وماستْ قُدودٌ بزَهْوِ المِدَحْ

When the belt of a waist turns

And breasts touch the splendor of praise

فكم من غريقٍ بماء الجفون

وكم من زِنادِ فؤادٍ قَدَح

So how many drown in the water of eyelids

And how many flints of hearts are struck

أَدِرْها وروِّ بها حائِماً

ودارِكْ بقيَّةَ عُمْرٍ نَزَح

Turn her around and pasture next to her bent over

And avoid the rest of a vanishing life

ولا تَجعلِ المزج إِلاّ الرُّضاب

وواصل غَبوقك بالمُصْطَبَح

And do not let your mingling be anything but pleasure

And continue your amorousness in the morning

أَطِعْ في حبيبك غِشّ الهوى

وعاصِ العذول إِذا ما نصح

Obey the cheating of passion for your lover

And disobey chastity if it advises

ولُذْ بضلالك قبل الهدى

وبادِرْ ظلامك قبل الوَضَح

And cling to your misguidance before guidance

And hasten your darkness before dawn breaks

وَدَعْ عنك وَضْعَ شِباك المُحال

ونَصْب الفخخ وعَدَّ السُّبَحْ

And leave off placing the nets of the impossible

And setting traps and counting prayer beads

ولا تُغْلِقَنّ بحمْل الهمو

م بابَ السّرور إِذا ما انفتح

And do not let carrying worries

Close the door of happiness if it opens

وإِنْ خِفتَ من عاتبٍ فاستترْ

بليل الشَّباب إِذا ما جَنَح

And if you fear a reproacher then hide

In the night of youth when it inclines

فَتَبّاً لدهرٍ يُعِزُّ اللئام

وقدرُ الكرام به مُطَّرَحْ

Woe to a time that empowers scoundrels

While the noble in it are discarded

ذَلول إِذا ما امتطاه الجهول

وما رامه الحُرُّ إِلا مُمْتَدَح

Subservient when ignoramuses mount it

While the noble only seeks its praise

وقد طُمِسَتْ أَوجهُ المَكْرُمات

وقد عُطِّلَتْ هُجْنُها والصُّرُح

The faces of virtues are erased

And their splendor and palaces abandoned

ولا خير فيمن غدا طائِعاً

للؤمٍ أَلَمَّ وبُخْلٍ أَلَحْ

There is no good in one who obeys

Vile, painful miserliness

إِذا بهرجته عُقولُ الرّجال

وأَخجله النّقْص لمّا افتضح

When the minds of men shame him

And his deficiency is exposed

لئن قَصَّرَتْ خُطوةُ الحظّ بي

فماليَ عن هِمّتي مُنْتَزَح

If the steps of fate fell short with me

My resolve is not diminished

وإِن عَدَّ مُفْتخِرٌ فضلَه

فبي يُخْتَمُ الفضلُ بل يُفْتَتَح

And if a boaster counts his merits

Merit is sealed through me, rather opened

وكم للفضائلِ من خاطبٍ

وما كلُّ خاطب بِكرٍ نَكَح

And how many virtues have a suitor

Yet not every suitor marries a maiden