أَما يَسُرُّكَ أَنَّ الرَرضَ زَهراءُ

وَالخَمرُ مُمكِنَةٌ شَمطاءُ عَذراءُ

Does it not please you that the earth is verdant

Does it not delight you that the earth is radiant and in bloom,

And the wine is brimming, pure and chaste?

And wine is within reach—gray-haired with age, yet a virgin pure?

ما في قُعودِكَ عُذرٌ عَن مُعَتَّقَةٍ

كَاللَيلِ والِدُها وَالأُمُّ خَضراءُ

There is no excuse for you to remain sitting

You have no excuse to sit idle, far from the vintage draught,

Like the night that begot it and the mother who is green.

Whose father is the dark night, and whose mother is the green vine.

بادِر فَإِنَّ جِنانَ الكَرخِ مونِقَةٌ

لَم تَلتَقِفها يَدٌ لِلحَربِ عَسراءُ

Hasten, for the gardens of al-Karkh are blooming,

Make haste! For the gardens of Karkh are lush and fine,

Untouched by the hands of harsh war.

Untouched by the clumsy, ravaging hand of war.

فيها مِنَ الطَيرِ أَصنافٌ مُشَتَّتَةٌ

ما بَينَهُنَّ وَبَينَ النُطقِ شَحناءُ

In it are scattered kinds of birds

Within them, birds of scattered kinds abound;

Inarticulate, wary of speech.

Between their warbling and human speech, there is no feud.

إِذا تَغَنَّينَ لا يُبقينَ جانِحَةً

إِلّا بِها طَرَبٌ يُشفى بِهِ الداءُ

When they sing, they leave no sad one

When they sing, they leave no heart within the breast

Except relieved by it of illness.

Without a thrill of joy that cures every pain.

يا رُبَّ مَنزِلَ خَمّارٍ أَطَفتُ بِهِ

وَاللَيلُ حُلَّتُهُ كَالقارِ سَوداءُ

O Lord of the abode of a tavern I visited

How often I circled the vintner’s house,

While the night donned its gown black as tar.

When the night wore a cloak as black as pitch,

فَقامَ ذو وَفرَةٍ مِن بَطنِ مَضجَعِهِ

يَميلُ مِن سُكرِهِ وَالعَينُ وَسناءُ

A bushy-headed man rose from his bed

And a thick-haired youth rose from the depths of his bed,

Reeling from drunkenness, bleary-eyed.

Swaying from drowsiness, his eyes heavy with sleep.

فَقالَ مَن أَنتَ في رُفقٍ فَقُلتُ لَهُ

بَعضُ الكِرامِ وَلي في النَعتِ أَسماءُ

He asked gently, “Who are you?” I said,

He asked gently, 'Who are you?' and I replied,

“One of the noble ones, and I have names in description.”

'One of the noble kind, known by many names.'

وَقُلتُ إِنّي نَحوتُ الخَمرَ أَخطُبُها

قالَ الدَراهِمَ هَل لِلمَهرِ إِبطاءُ

I said, “I came seeking wine.”

I said, 'I have come to woo the wine, seeking her hand to wed.'

He said, “Money, can the dowry wait?”

He asked, 'The silver coins—is there delay in the dowry?'

لَمّا تَبَيَّنَ أَنّي غَيرُ ذي بَخَلٍ

وَلَيسَ لي شُغُلٌ عَنها وَإِبطاءُ

When he saw I was no miser

But when he saw clearly that I was no miser,

And had no business but this, no waiting,

And that I had no mind to stall or turn away,

أَتى بِها قَهوَةً كَالمِسكِ صافِيَةً

كَدَمعَةٍ مَنَحَتها الخَدَّ مَرهاءُ

He brought coffee as clear as musk,

He brought her forth: a vintage clear, dark as musk,

Like a teardrop shed by a shy, fawn-eyed gazelle.

Like a tear shed upon the cheek by a bright-eyed beauty.

ما زالَ تاجِرُها يَسقي وَأَشرَبُها

وَعِندَنا كاعِبٌ بَيضاءُ حَسناءُ

Its seller kept serving it to me and I drank it

Her merchant kept on pouring, and I quaffed the cup,

While with us was a fair, beautiful flirt.

While beside us sat a maiden, fair and radiant.

كَم قَد تَغَنَّت وَلا لَومٌ يُلِمُّ بِنا

دَع عَنكَ لَومي فَإِنَّ اللَومَ إِغراءُ

How she sang! No blame clings to us.

How often she sang! with no reproach to haunt us there;

Spare me your blame, for blame is but temptation.

So cease your blaming of me, for blame only tempts me more.