اِسقِني إِن سَقَيتَني بِالكَبيرِ

مِن لَذيذِ الشَرابِ لا بِالصَغيرِ

Quench me, if you quench me, with a great cup

Pour for me, if you must pour, from the great vessel,

Of delicious drink, not a small one,

Of the luscious drink, and never from the small;

مِن مُدامٍ مُعَتَّقٍ أَخرَسَتهُ

حِقبَةُ الدَهرِ بَعدَ طولِ الهَديرِ

Of matured wine which silence has hushed

From an aged vintage silenced by the passing eras,

For an epoch of time after prolonged murmuring,

Stilled by time after its long, thundering ferment;

بابِلِيٌّ صافٍ مُؤَنَّثَةٌ طَو

راً وَطَوراً تَهُمُّ بِالتَذكيرِ

Babylonian, pure, feminine, bending

A clear Babylonian wine, appearing feminine at times,

Now this way, now that, inclined to masculinity,

Yet at others, it asserts a masculine strength;

في أَباريقَ سُجَّدٍ كَبَناتِ ال

ماءِ أَقعَينَ مِن حِذارِ الصُقورِ

In decanters of prostration like the water jars

Served in pitchers bowed low like water-birds,

Fearfully sheltering from the hawks,

Crouching down in terror of the falcons;

فَإِذا ما الكُؤوسُ دارَت عَلَينا

قَذَفَت في أُنوفِنا بِالعَبيرِ

So when the cups circulated amongst us,

And when the cups circulate among us,

They blew into our noses the fragrance,

They cast a heady perfume into our breath;

وَلَدَينا المُهَذَّبُ اِبنُ رَبابٍ

عِصمَةُ المُعتَفينَ بَحرُ البُحورِ

And with us was the refined son of Rabab,

For with us is the refined Ibn Rabab,

Guardian of those who confess, an ocean of oceans,

The sanctuary of seekers, the sea of all seas;

صاغَهُ رَبُّهُ عَلى الجودِ وَالحِل

مِ وَما شِئتَ مِن حَياءٍ وَخَيرِ

Fashioned by his Lord for generosity and forbearance

His Lord fashioned him from generosity and forbearance,

And whatever you wish of modesty and goodness.

And whatever you might desire of modesty and virtue.