بادِر شَبابَكَ قَبلَ الشَيبِ وَالعارِ

وَحَثحِثِ الكَأسَ مِن بِكرٍ لِإِبكارِ

Make the most of your youth before old age and disgrace,

Seize your youth before gray hairs and shame arrive,

And pass around the cup of morning wine for celebration,

And urge the cup along from dawn to early dawn.

مِن قَهوَةٍ لَم تَزَل تَخفى وَيَحجُبُها

كِنُّ الحَرائِرِ عَصراً بَعدَ إِعصارِ

Coffee that has always been hidden and veiled

Draft a dark vintage that has long lain hidden, veiled

Like the privacy of chaste women in the evening after turmoil,

Like sheltered noble ladies, age following upon age.

ظَلَّت مِنَ الدَهرِ أَزماناً مُخَدَّرَةً

يَصونُها كَنَفٌ مِن بَيتِ خَمّارِ

It has remained sedated by time for ages

She remained cloistered through the eras of time,

Protected in the bosom of a liquor shop,

Guarded by the care of a vintner’s house.

مِن قَعرِ جَوفٍ ذي ساقٍ بِلا قَدَمٍ

نيطَت بِدَنٍّ عَظيمِ البَطنِ هَدّارِ

From the depths of a belly with a leg without a foot

From the depths of a hollow vessel, legged but footless,

Fastened to an enormously fat body,

Suspended in a great-bellied cask that rumbles deep.

مُمازِجُ الخَلقِ مِن زِفتٍ بِطانَتُهُ

وَالظَهرُ مِن فَوقِهِ بِنيانُ فَخّارِ

The creation is made of dregs that line it

A blend of elements, its inner lining made of pitch,

And the back above it is made of fragile clay,

While its outer back is built of fired clay.

فيهِ مُدامٌ كَعَينِ الديكِ صافِيَةٌ

مِن مِسكِ دارينَ فيها نَفحَةُ الغارِ

It contains a pure liquid like the eye of a rooster

Within holds wine clear as a rooster’s eye,

With the scent of musk of two abodes wherein lies the aroma of the cave,

Carrying the scent of laurel and musk from Darin.

يا رُبَّ لَيلٍ طَرَقنا بَيتَ صاحِبِها

بِفِتيَةٍ كَنُجومِ اللَيلِ أَحرارِ

O Lord of a night in which we knocked on the door of its companion

How many a night have we knocked at her master's door,

With youths like the free stars of the night,

With a band of noble youths like stars in the night.

فَقامَ مُستَنبِطاً لِلراحِ في ظُلَمٍ

يَسعى إِلى شَبَحٍ في كِنِّ أَستارِ

So he got up searching for comfort in the darkness

He rose to draw the wine amidst the gloom,

Seeking an image in the fold of curtains,

Making his way toward a phantom veiled in drapes.

فَقالَ بَعضُهُمُ لَمّا رَأَوا عَجَباً

في الكَأسِ تَحتَ الدُجى مِن زِندِها الواري

Some of them said when they saw the wonder

And some exclaimed, when they witnessed the wonder

In the cup glowing under the darkness:

Of the cup beneath the dark, lit by its kindling spark:

شَمسُ النَهارِ وَماذا وَقتُ طَلعَتِها

وَقالَ بَعضُهُمُ ضَوءٌ مِنَ النارِ

“It’s the sun of daytime, what is the time of its rising?”,

"Is this the sun of day? Yet what time is this for rising?"

And some said: “It’s a light from the fire.”

While others said, "It is a gleam of fire."

حَتّى إِذا نَقَلَت كاساتِها خُرُدٌ

مِن بَينِ ذي قُرطُقٍ أَو ذاتِ زِنّارِ

Until when the little cups were passed around

Until, when bashful maidens bore its cups around,

Among the short-statured or the accessorized,

Dressed in silken tunics or girded with waist-sashes,

جاءَت بِمُشرِقَةٍ تُهدى السَراةُ بِها

إِن ضَلَّ في ظُلمَةٍ عَن قَصدِهِ الساري

She came with a radiance by which the elite are gifted

She brought a radiant draught to guide the night-traveler,

If one gets lost in the darkness from his path.

Should the wayfarer stray from his path in the dark.

كَأَنَّها عِندَ مَسِّ الماءِ مِنجَزَعٍ

وَالماءُ يَجزَعُ مِنها شِبهَ فَرّارِ

As if it was shaken by the touch of water and alarmed,

When touched by water, she seems to tremble in panic,

And the water got alarmed by its resemblance to mercury,

While the water recoils from her like one in flight.

في حَلبَةِ الحانِ جانٌ خَلفَهُ شُهُبٌ

مُبادِرٌ راعَهُ شَخصٌ بِإِنفارِ

In the hippodrome of melodies a soul followed by sorrows,

In the tavern’s arena: a spirit pursued by shooting stars,

An eager person startled by someone’s neighing,

A fugitive startled by a figure into sudden retreat.

وَالكَأسُ تُمسِكُها مِن أَن تُراعَ فَما

تَنفَكُّ فيها بِإِقبالٍ وَإِدبارِ

And the cup held by someone lest it gets startled, so

Yet the cup contains her, lest she flee in terror,

It does not stop pouring in and pouring out,

So she swirls within, advancing and retreating.

عَروسُ خِدرٍ مِنَ الياقوتِ نَشرَبُها

تُكِنُّ تَحتَ سَماها بَدرَ أَقمارِ

The bride of narcotics made of ruby we drink her

A secluded bride of ruby essence we drink,

Who hides moons under her mark,

Who shelters beneath her sky a brilliant full moon.

تَبدو لَنا عُطُلاً حَتّى إِذا مُزِجَت

حَلّى لَها المَزجُ سِمطَي دُرِّ قَسطارِ

She seems suspended to us until when blended,

She appears to us unadorned, but once she is mixed,

Mixing embellished her with scattered pearls,

The mixture decks her in strings of tested pearls.

كَأَنَّهُ بَرَدٌ في الطَوقِ مِنتَظِمٌ

في غَيرِ سِلكٍ وَلَم يوثَق بِمِسمارِ

As if it is ice around the neck, neatly arranged

Like hailstones arranged in a perfect collar,

Without wire nor fastened with nails,

Strung without cord, secured without a clasp.

وَخادِلٍ مِن جَواري الحَيِّ تُسعِدُها

أَصواتُ مُختَلِفٍ مِن وَقعِ أَوتارِ

And a necklace from the lively, arousing concubines

And a tender maiden of the tribe accompanies her

With varying melodious rhythms of strings,

With the varied melodies of struck strings.

مِن بَينِ بَمٍّ إِلى مَثنىً وَمَثلَثِهِ

وَما خَلى ذاكَ مِن أَصواتِ أَوتارِ

Among the bass, the octave and its double,

Ranging from the bass string to the second and the third,

And that was not devoid of sounds of strings,

And all the resonant tones the cords can yield.

نيطَت إِلى بَدَنٍ كَالخَلقِ لَيسَ لَهُ

روحٌ وَلَكِنَّهُ مِن تَحتِ نَجّارِ

Fastened to a body without spirit like creation

Attached to a body shaped like a man, yet possessing

But made by a skillful carpenter,

No soul, fashioned beneath a carpenter’s hand.

أَتاهُ في غَيضَةٍ فَاِختارَ جَيِّدَهُ

وَظَلَّ يَنحى لَهُ قَطعاً بِمِنشارِ

He came across it in a swoon so he chose the finest parts

He came to it in the thicket, selected the finest wood,

And kept tilting cuts towards it with a saw,

And set about carving it, cutting with a saw.

مُعَقرَبُ الرَأسِ كَالمِسراجِ صَنعَتُهُ

سِحرٌ وَما مَسَّهُ تَعقيدُ سَحّارِ

Obliquely headed like a lamp, magic made it

With a scorpion-curved head, crafted like a lamp,

Not touched by the intricacy of a magician,

It is pure magic, though untouched by sorcerer’s knots.

تَمَّت مَلاويهِ حَتّى خِلتَ خِلقَتَها

أَصابِعاً حُرِّكَت مِن مِفصَلِ جارِ

Its keys were completed so that its creation was perfected

Its tuning pegs were finished until you would swear

Fingers moved by the articulation of a neighbor,

They were fingers moving from a neighbor’s joint.

يَحكي صَداهُ مَجيدَ الصَوتِ إِذ نَطَقَت

مِنهُ اللُغاتُ عَلى طَبلٍ وَزَمّارِ

Its echo tells of the majestic voice when languages spoke

Its resonance mimics a glorious voice when

Through the drum and guitar.

Its notes speak over the drum and the piper's flute.

فَذاكَ قَبلَ نُزولِ الشَيبِ عادَتُنا

لَكِنَّنا نَرتَجي غُفرانَ غَفّارِ

That’s how we were before the descent of old age,

Such was our custom before the descent of gray age,

But we hope for the forgiveness of the Forgiver.

But now we hope for the mercy of the All-Forgiving.