قد عَصَيْنا النُّهَى فكيف النُّهاتَا

وأَطَعْنَا الصِّبا فيكف الصُّباتا

We disobeyed advice, so how can we avoid perdition?

We obeyed youthful passion, so how can we curb excesses?

وخشِينا فواتَ لَذَّةِ عيشٍ

قَلَّما ساعدَ الخليعَ مُوَاتَى

We feared missing out on the joys of life,

Though the dissolute are seldom aided by death.

فالسُّقاةَ السُّقاةَ أَسعدكَ الل

ه على حَثِّكَ السُّقاة السُّقاتا

Let the cupbearers, the cupbearers bring more wine,

God bless your pressing them for more, O cupbearers!

هاتِ بنتَ الكرومِ واستعِملِ اللحْ

ن لمعنىً عندي وقُلْ لِيَ هاتَا

Bring jars of wine and prepare the vine-juice;

Speak meaningfully and say “Give me some!”

عَلَّمَ المُعْجِزُ المسيحيُّ عينَيْ

هِ فأَحْيَا بلَحْظِها أَوْ أَماتا

The miracle-working Messiah taught his eyes

To resurrect or else destroy with a glance.

فأَدارَ الكؤوسَ تُلْهِي عن الهَمِّ

سريعاً وما يَجوز اللَّهَاتا

So he turned the cups around to distract from cares

Swiftly—no shame in that, nothing sinful at all.

ما ركبْنَا منها الكُمَيْتَ فثُرْنَا

في نواحِي الهُمومِ إِلا كُماتا

When we rode the wineskin, we were scattered

In the regions of worries—all confounded.

أَيُّها العاذِلُ المُفَنِّدُ فيها

لاتَ حينَ الملام وَيْحَكَ لاتَا

You who find fault and argue it worthless,

Woe to you, in blame, alas, enough, enough!

جَعَلَتْنَا المدامُ نُصْبِحُ أَحيا

ءً ونُمْسِي في حُكْمِها أَمواتا

Wine has made us wake up alive

And sleep subject to its rule as dead.

فإِذا ما سَأَلْتَ عنِّي فاسْأَلْ

كيف أُضْحِي ولا تَسَلْ كيفَ باتا

So if you ask after me, just ask

How I sacrificed; don’t ask how I slept.

ليَ كالنَّخْلَةِ السَّحوقِ حديثٌ

غَيْرَ أَنِّي كما غَرَسْتُ النَّواتا

I’m like a palm tree worn down by talk,

Except I never planted seeds.

كنتُ لا أَرْهَبُ الليوثَ وقددا

رَزمانِي حَتَّى رَهِيْتُ الشَّاتا

Once I did not fear lions, though fate

Had crushed me until I feared jackals.

وَلَوَ آنِّي قذفتُ يوما حَصَاةً

بِيَدَيْ فِطْنَتِي أَصَبْتُ الحَصَاتَا

And if one day I flung a pebble

With the skill of my intellect, I'd hit a boulder.

قُلْ لمَنْ مَا لَهُ سِلاحٌ يَدَعْ من

جَرَّدَ العضبَ واسْتَجَرَّ القناتا

Say to him with no weapon he should leave off

One who bared his canine and bared his blade.

وهنياً له أبو القاسم النَّدْ

بُ نهانِي بما أَقولُ النُّهَاتا

I end my words of blame, enough, enough!

He is an ocean, and no envier can trouble it

هو بَحْرٌ وما يُكَدِّرُهُ الحا

سِدُ أَنْ باتَ فِيه يُلْقِي القَذَاتا

If he spits in it, just bubbles on the surface.

Slanderers have tried to incite him against me,

قد سَعَى بي الوشاةُ نحو عُلاهُ

فسعَوْا لي فلا عَدِمْتُ الوشاتا

But they incited me, so I did not lack incitement.

They provoked suspicion of me in him, and thought

حَرَّكوا لي الشَّباةَ منه وظنُّوا

أَنهم جرَّدوا عَلَيَّ الشَّباتا

They provoked him against me.

So he called me from Palermo, and I answered,

فَدَعَا من بَلَرْمَ حَجِّي فلبَّيْ

تُ وَكانَتْ سُرْقُوسَةَ الميقاتا

Though Syracuse was the appointed place.

I crossed the desert, plunging into terror,

وامتَطْيُت الفلاةَ أَقْتَحِمُ الهو

لَ وَلولاهُ مَا امتطيْتُ الفلاتا

Without him, I'd not have crossed the deserts.

In mountains where winter resides

فِي جبالٍ أَرسى الشتاءُ عليها

قاطناً لا يخافُ عنها الشَّتاتا

Permanently, fearing no departures,

Every rising sun a mountaineer climbs

كلُّ سامِي الذُّرى تُسَامِقُه الشم

سُ فيعتدُّ نحوَها مِرْقاتا

Aspiring towards it with steps.

It’s said "Ride off on a journey in zeal,

وقيلٌ أَن يركَبَ الركْبَ في السَّعْ

يِ لمغناهُ المَوْتَ لا المَوْماتا

Not for your singing, but for death."

He swore and asked God to bear witness

وَهْوَ قَدْ جَدَّ واسْتَجَدَّ على شَرْ

طِ أَبُوَّاتِهِ وقال وماتا

To his oath—and died.

We shared the place of a passing raincloud;

واقتسمنا مكانَ عارِضِ غيثٍ

عِشْتُ في ظلَّهِ وكنتُ النَّباتا

I lived in its shade; I was its vegetation.

Ease there required that my day become Sabbath,

واقْتَضَتْ عنده الرَّفاهَةُ أَنِّي

صارَ يومي سَبْتاً ونَوْمِي سُباتا

My sleep an unawakening slumber.

I penetrated languages of diverse peoples,

وتَبَحَّرْتُ في لغاتِ أُناسٍ

لَمْ تَزَلْ عَنْ مَسَامِعِي مُلْغَاتا

Ever a jargon to my hearing.

I failed in loyalty toward him, but without

قد عدمتُ الوفاءَ منمهم ولولا

عَطْفَةٌ منه ما عَدِمْتُ الوَفَاتا

His kindness, I'd have lacked all loyalty.

Then I greeted his face, beholding a shyness

ثم حَيَّيْتُ وجْهَهُ فتأَمل

تُ حياءً يُولِي الحَيَا والحياتا

That turns the living's cheeks to turn pale.

A bounty fulfilling promises; a sultan

كرمٌ ينجِزُ العِداتِ وسلطا

نٌ على رسمه يُبيدُ العُداتا

To his custom destroying those hostile;

He examines disease and, when they say,

يرقبُ الداءَ والدّواءَ إِذا ما

قيلَ قَد قَرَّبُوا إِليهِ الدَّواتا

“The remedies are near,” cures are brought.

His open hands in the West are strange,

ويداهُ في الغَرْبِ أَغْرَبُ شيءٍ

ما تَرَى النَّيلَ منهما والفُراتا

You see neither Nile nor Euphrates in them.

And bonds in God well knotted, so nothing

وحبالٍ في الله رَثَّتْ فما با

تَ إِلى أَنْ لَمْ يُبْق منها انْبِتَاتا

Remained of them but the plaited ends.

Of Quraysh, who are the mountain of glory

مِنْ قُرَيْشَ الذين هُمْ جَبَلُ الفخ

رِ إِذَا كان غَيْرُهُمْ مِرْدَاتا

While others are but lowlands,

Deemed foremost in excellence those who worship

عُدَّ مِنهُمْ في السَّبْقِ مَنْ يَعْبُدُ الل

هَ تعالَتْ صِفاتُه واللاَّتا

God—Exalted His Attributes and His Uniqueness!

Not those whose ties have died, while he

لا كَمَنْ ماتَتِ المَنَاسِبُ منهُ

فَهْوَ يُحْيِي أَرضَ المِحالِ المَوَاتا

Gives life to the land of impossibility.

If glory took shape, he'd be its barefoot

لو غَدَا المَجْدُ صُورَةً كان منها

أَخْمَصاً حافِياً وكُنْتَ الشَّواتَا

Ragamuffin while you were the boot.

And I am he who clarifies evidence in words

وأَنا المُوضِحُ الدَّليلَ بلَفْظٍ

ما ارتضى تُوضِيحاً ولا المِقراتا

Never satisfied by clarifying or repeating.

I have a nature the rhymes came to readily,

لِيَ طَبْعٌ لانَتْ لديهِ القوافي

فلوِ اختارَ لم يَدَعْ بَعْدُ هاتا

So if it chose, afterward it would leave nothing.