كُنتَ في قُرَّةِ عَيني

مَع أُبَيٍّ وَحُصَينِ

You were the apple of my eye

You were the solace of my eyes,

With Ubayy and Husayn

Along with Ubayy and Husayn,

وَالفَتى الأَرقَطِ يَحيى

وَعُبَيدِ العاشِقينِ

And the virtuous, noble Yahya

And the freckled youth, Yahya,

And the lovers, Ubayd

And Ubayd of the lovers' guild,

وَاِبنِ رِبعَيِّ الفَتى السَم

حِ الجَوادِ الراحَتَينِ

And the son of Rabia, the noble Samh

And Ibn Rib'i, that gentle lad,

The generous, easy-going

Lavish with his open palms,

عِندَنا الصَهباءُ صِرفاً

في قَواريرِ اللُجَينِ

Wine flows freely for us

With us was reddish wine, unmixed,

In crystal decanters

In flagons made of silver bright,

وَنَدامايَ كِرامٌ

كُلُّهُم زَينٌ لِزَينِ

And we have generous, noble friends

My drinking mates were noble men,

Each more beautiful than the next

Each an adornment to the rest,

وَنُغَنّي حينَ نَلهو

لِغَريضٍ وَحُنَينِ

And we sing when we play around

We sang, as we pursued our joy,

Out of longing and love

To the tunes of Gharid and Hunayn,

وَخِمٌ فَظٌّ غَليظٌ

ساقَهُ اللَهُ لِحَيني

And Khim is harsh, mean and rude

[Till came] a heavy, rude, coarse lout,

May God destroy him soon

God drove him here to be my bane,

ذاكَ مِن شِقوَةِ جَدّي

بَينَ إِخواني وَبَيني

That's the wretched legacy

It was a stroke of wretched luck,

Of my grandfather between me and my brothers

That came between my friends and me.