يا رُبَّ صاحِبِ حانَةٍ قَد رُعتُهُ

فَبَعَثتُهُ مِن نَومِهِ المُتَزَمِّلِ

O Lord of the tavern keeper I have awakened

Oh, many a tavern owner have I startled,

So I sent him from his deep slumber

Rousing him from his sleep, wrapped in blankets.

عَرَفَت ثِيابَ الطارِقينَ كِلابُهُ

فَيَبِتنَ عَن سَنَنِ الطَريقِ بِمَعزَلِ

His dogs knew the clothes of those knocking

His dogs recognized the clothes of the night-visitors,

And they distance themselves from the path's ways

So they spent the night keeping clear of the path.

ما زِلتُ أَمتَحِنُ الدَساكِرَ دونَهُ

حَتّى دُفِعتُ إِلى خَفِيِّ المَنزِلِ

I kept examining the patrols around him

I kept testing the roadside taverns in his stead,

Until I was pushed to the hidden house

Until I was driven to the hidden abode.

فَعَرَفتُهُ وَاللَيلُ مُلتَبِسٌ بِنا

بِرَفيفِ صَلعَتِهِ وَشَيبِ المِسحَلِ

So I recognized him while the night was ambiguous upon us

I knew him, though the night enveloped us,

With the rustling of his baldness and graying hair

By the gleam of his bald head and his graying beard.

يا صاحِبَ الحانوتِ لا تَكُ مَشعِياً

إِنَّ الشَرابَ مُحَرَّمٌ كَمُحَلَّلِ

O owner of the shop, do not be a lamplighter

O master of the shop, do not be an informer,

Verily, wine is forbidden like what is made lawful

For drink is forbidden, though [sought] like the lawful.

فَدَعِ الَّذي نَبَذَت يَداكَ وَعاطِني

لِلَّهِ دَرُّكَ مِن نَبيذِ الأَرجُلِ

So leave what your hands have fermented and give me

So leave what your hands have brewed and serve me—

For God's sake, your pressed grape juice

God bless you!—the wine pressed by feet,

مِمّا تَخَيَّرَهُ التُجارُ تَرى لَها

قَرصاً إِذا ذيقَت كَقَرصِ الفُلفُلِ

Of what the merchants have chosen, you see it has

From what the merchants have chosen; you find in it

A bite when tasted like a chili bite

A bite when tasted, like the sting of pepper.

وَلَها دَبيبٌ في العِظامِ كَأَنَّهُ

قَبضُ النُعاسِ وَأَخذُهُ بِالمِفصَلِ

It has a tingle in the bones as if it is

It creeps through the bones as though it were

The grip of drowsiness taking the joints

The grip of drowsiness seizing the joints.

عَبِقَت أَكُفُّهُم بِها فَكَأَنَّما

يَتَنازَعونَ بِها سِخابَ قَرَنفُلِ

Their palms smell of it as if they are competing

Their palms are fragrant with it, as if

Over its vapors like vying over cloves

They were vying over a necklace of cloves.

تَسقيكَها كَفٌّ إِلَيكَ حَبيبَةٌ

لا بُدَّ إِن بَخِلَت وَإِن لَم تَبخَلِ

A beloved hand serves it to you

A hand beloved to you pours it out,

No doubt, reluctantly or freely

Inevitably, whether it gives sparingly or freely.