أَيا مَن لا يُرامُ لَهُ كَلامُ

فَكَيفَ سِوى الكَلامِ إِذاً يُرامُ

O you whose speech is never desired,

O you with whom mere speech is beyond hope,

Then how else could speech possibly be desired?

How then can one aspire to more than words?

وَلا التَسليمُ إِلّا مِن بَعيدٍ

فَيَشمَلُني مَعَ القَومِ السَلامُ

No greeting except from afar,

Nor is a greeting granted save from afar,

So it includes me along with the rest of the people.

That I might share the salutation with the throng.

أُحِبُّ اللَومَ فيهِ لَيسَ إِلّا

لِتَردادِ اِسمِهِ فيما أُلامُ

I love blame in it, there is nothing but

I cherish the blame regarding him for one cause alone:

The repetition of his name in what I am blamed for.

To hear his name repeated in the reproach.

وَيَدخُلُ حُبُّهُ في كُلِّ قَلبٍ

مَداخِلَ لا تُقَلقِلُها المُدامُ

And love for him enters every heart

For his love penetrates into every heart,

Through passages that alcohol does not disturb.

Through secret ways that vintage wine cannot perturb.