لا تَبكِ لِلذاهِبينَ في الظُعُنِ

وَلا تَقِف بِالمَطِيِّ في الدِمَنِ

Weep not for those who left in sorrow's night,

Weep not for those who vanished in the caravan,

Nor stand where roads end and journeys blight.

Nor halt your mount where ruined traces lie,

وَعُج بِنا نَصطَبِح مُعَتَّقَةً

مِن كَفِّ ظَبيٍ يَسقيكَها فَطِنِ

Come! Let's enjoy what morn's young hand presents

But turn with us to drink the vintage morning draught,

From a fawn's palm whilst keen with good intents.

From a clever gazelle’s hand who serves it forth.

تُخبِرُ عَن طيبِهِ مَحاسِنُهُ

مُكَحِّلٌ ناظِرَيهِ بِالفِتَنِ

His lovely looks do of his goodness tell;

His lovely features tell of his sweet nature,

Dark-lashed eyes take hearts prisoner and quell.

With kohl of sheer seduction round his eyes.

ما أَمَّتِ العَينُ مِنهُ ناحِيَةً

إِلّا أَقامَت مِنهُ عَلى حَسَنِ

I spied him not from any quarter but

The gaze directs not to a part of him,

Saw there perfection, loveliness absolute.

But that it settles on a beauteous spot.

يُزهى بِخَدَّينِ سالَ فَوقَهُما

صُدغانِ قَد أَشرَفا عَلى الذَقَنِ

He's graced with cheeks whence flows a stream that waters

He boasts of cheeks upon which flow freely

Chin mounds rising o'er his collar's borders.

Two temple-locks that overlook the chin.

حَتّى إِذا ما الجَمالُ تَمَّ لَهُ

وَالظُرفُ قالا لَهُ كَذا فَكُنِ

Till perfection was completed in his charm,

Until, when beauty was complete in him,

Wit and grace proclaimed, 'Be thou shaped thus and form!'

And charm as well, they told him: "Be thou thus!"

نازَعتُهُ في الزُجاجِ مِثلَ دَمِ ال

شادِنِ تَنفي طَوارِقَ الحَزَنِ

I vied with glass of wine red as his lips

I vied with him o'er cups like blood of fawns,

To drive away the woes that to sad bosoms cling.

That banish every onset of despair.

فَدَبَّتِ الراحُ في مَفاصِلِهِ

وَرَنَّقَت فيهِ فَترَةُ الوَسَنِ

The morning breeze then stirred in his slender waist,

Then through his joints the wine began to creep,

As in his neck eve's languor interlaced.

And the languor of slumber clouded him.

قُلتُ لَهُ وَالكَرى يُغازِلُهُ

هَل لَكَ في النَومِ قالَ لَم يَحِنِ

I said, while passion courted him with yearning,

I asked him, while sleep flirted with his gaze,

'Hast longing for sleep?' Said he, 'No, I've no burning

"Have you a mind for bed?" He said, "Not yet."

يُراقِبُ الصُبحَ أَن يَبينَ لَهُ

فَيَغتَدي سالِماً وَلَم يَهِنِ

Desire for slumber, but the morn I await

He watched the dawn, fearing it might appear,

To rise up fresh, serene, sedate.'

That he might leave in safety, undemeaned.

حَتّى إِذا ما النُعاسُ أَقصَدَهُ

نامَ فَنِلتُ السُرورَ مِن سَكَني

But when drowsiness assailed him and held sway,

But when the heavy drowsiness struck true,

He slept; and from his stillness joy I did convey.

He slept, and I obtained my heart's desire.

فَلَم أَقُل بَعدَما ظَفِرتُ بِهِ

يا لَيتَ ما كانَ مِنهُ لَم يَكُنِ

When he was captured, I exclaimed in glee

And I said not, once I had won my prize,

Not 'Would he had not been!' but 'Hail! What bliss for me!'

"Alas, I wish this deed had never been."

كَأَنَّنا وَالفُسوقُ يَجمَعُنا

بَعدَ الكَرى طائِرانِ في غُصُنِ

Though lewdness gathered us, we seemed as if

As though we two, whom wild indulgence bound,

Two birds paired on a bough in friendliest love.

Were, after sleep, two birds upon a bough.

لا تَطلُبَنَّ اللَذّاتِ مُكتَتِماً

وَاِغدُ إِلَيها كَخالِعِ الرَسَنِ

Seek thou not secret sensual delights, but go

Seek not your pleasures while concealing them,

With open heart to them like one who casts off woe.

But rush to them like one who casts the reins.