نك مَن لقيتَ من البَشر

واعذر أخاكَ إذا فجَر

You are who you meet of mankind

Bed whoever you encounter among mankind,

Excuse your brother if he errs

And excuse your brother if he falls into sin.

واخلع عذاركَ في الهوى

فعلَ الخليعِ المشتهَر

And remove your reproach in love

Cast off all restraint in the ways of passion,

The vile and notorious act

Following the path of the renowned libertine.

واقبل مقالةَ خاسرٍ

واعص الرشيدَ إذا أمَر

And accept the saying of a loser

Heed the counsel of a wretched soul,

And disobey the right-minded if he commands

And disobey the Righteous Guide whenever he commands.

واجسر فما نالَ الذي

يهواهُ إلّا مَن جسَر

And take risks, for only those

Be bold, for no one ever attained

Who dare get what they desire

What he desires, save the one who dared.

ودعِ الصلاةَ وأهلَها

إنّ الحراثَ على البَقَر

And leave prayer and its people

Abandon prayer and the pious folk,

Ploughing is upon the cows

For the yoke of the plow belongs upon the ox.

إنّ التنسّكَ عندنا

يا صاح من إحدى الكِبَر

Asceticism with us, my friend

Verily, ascetic devotion is, in our view,

Is one of the major sins

O friend, counted among the gravest sins.

لا يمنعنّك زاجرٌ

مِن نيكِ أُنثى أو ذكَر

No deterrent prevents you

Let no scolding voice deter you

From laying a female or male

From bedding a female or a male.

واشرب معتّقةَ الكرو

مِ ولا تعفّ عن السَكَر

And drink matured wine

Drink deep the aged vintage of the vines,

Do not abstain from drunkenness

And do not hold yourself back from intoxication.

واسكر لتضحى شُهرةً

متلوّثاً وسطَ القذَر

Get drunk to become famous

Get drunk until you become a public spectacle,

Defiled amidst the filth

Soiled and wallowing amidst the filth.

واسحب ذيولكَ في الصبا

ودعِ العواذلَ في سقَر

And drag your train in youth

Trail your robes arrogantly in youthful passion,

And leave the chaste in hell

And leave the critics to burn in Hellfire.

والمرد لا تتركهمُ

أهلَ التسفّرِ والطُرَر

And never leave the deviants

And the beardless youths—do not shun them,

The rascals and wanderers

Those of unveiled beauty and carefully styled locks.

ممّن إذا كلّمتَهُ

أبدى الشتيمة أو نخَر

Who if you speak to

Even the one who, when you speak to him,

Slander or scoff he displays

Responds with insults or an arrogant snort.

ممّن يقولُ لأرضهِ

سيري ويمرحُ ذا بطَر

Like the son of Sisila the clown

The one who commands the very ground he walks on:

And the braggart and arrogant

"Move," as he struts with insolent pride.

مثل ابن سيسلَ ذي الدلا

لِ وذي التزنّ والفخَر

They said, "Shave," so he erased

Like Ibn Sisl, possessor of such coquetry,

The hair on his face completely

Of affectation and boastful vanity.

قالوا التحى فمحا محا

سنَ وجهِهُ نبتُ الشَعَر

I replied, they will not precede me

They claimed his beard grew out and erased

In falsehood, your rain of lies

The charms of his face with the sprouting hair.

فأجبتُهم لا يسبقن

في الزورِ سيلُكُمُ المطر

That beard is a green meadow

But I answered them: Do not let your flood of lies

Growing flowers and trees

Outstrip the rain in its torrent.

تلك اللُحيّةُ روضةٌ

خضراءُ تنبتُ في زَهَر

Now it is beautiful when it grew

That beard is but a verdant garden,

The blossoms on the branches

Green and flourishing amidst the blooms.

الآن طابَ وقد نما

حسنُ البهارِ على الشجَر

If not for darkness on the moon

It has only now become delightful, as the beauty

By God, the moon is not beautiful

Of spring blossoms grows upon the boughs.

لولا سوادٌ في القمَر

واللَهِ ما حسُنَ القمَر

My critic of love

Were it not for the dark spots upon the moon,

This is my rebuttal to you both

By God, the moon would not possess such beauty.

يا عاذليّ على الهوى

هذا تجاهكما الحجَر

Strike both your heads with it

O you two who blame me for my passion,

And you are both dust from the grave

Behold, there is a stone right before you;

دقّا بهِ رأسيكما

وكُلا الترابَ من المَدر

No, no, I excuse who I love

Go smash your heads against it,

And reproach even if he errs

And eat the dirt from the clods of earth.

لا لا عذرتُ إلى المما

تِ بمَن هويتُ وإن عذَر

By God, I will not deprive him of me

No, no! I shall not repent until death comes

Union even if he is estranged

Of the one I desire, even if he turns away.

واللَهِ لا أجنيتُهُ

منّي الوصالَ وإن هجَر

By God, I shall not deny him

My union, even if he forsakes me.