طَرِبتُ إِلى الصَنجِ وَالمِزهَرِ

وَشُربِ المُدامَةِ بِالأَكبَرِ

I was drawn to revelry and flowers,

I thrilled to the rhythm of cymbals and the lute,

And drinking wine in large vessels.

And to draining the wine from the greatest goblet,

وَأَلقَيتُ عَنّي ثِيابَ الهُدى

وَخُضتُ بُحوراً مِنَ المِنكَرِ

I cast off the garb of piety,

I cast off from myself the robes of pious guidance,

And plunged into oceans of sin.

And plunged deep into oceans of forbidden sin,

وَأَقبَلتُ أَسحَبُ ذَيلَ المُجونِ

وَأَمشي إِلى القَصفِ في مِئزَرِ

I began to let my skirt trail behind me,

I advanced, trailing the hem of debauchery behind me,

And walked with my ankles showing.

Walking toward the revelry in but a single wrap.

لَيالٍ أَروحُ عَلى أَدهَمٍ

كُمَيتٍ وَأَغدو عَلى أَشقَرِ

At night I mounted a bay horse,

Nights when I depart in the evening upon a dark steed,

At dawn a gray one.

A deep bay, and set out at dawn on a golden sorrel—

خُيولٌ مِنَ الراحِ ما عُرِّيَت

لِيَومِ رِهانٍ وَلَم تُضمَرِ

Horses whose manes were never braided

Steeds fashioned from wine, that were never stripped bare

For a race day or parade.

For a day of racing, nor trained to be lean.

بَراقِعُها مِن سَحيقِ العَبيرِ

وَمِن ياسَمينٍ وَسَيسَنبَرِ

Their blankets were made of fragrant musk,

Their bridles are woven of crushed perfume,

Of jasmine and lilac.

Of jasmine and wild marjoram intertwined.

ذَخائِرُ كِسرى لِأَولادِهِ

وَغَرسُ كِرامِ بَني الأَصفَرِ

The treasures of Chosroes for his sons,

Hoards of Chosroes kept safe for his heirs,

And a plantation for the noble yellow-skins.

And the vintage planted by noble Byzantines.

غَدا المُشتَرونَ عَلى أَهلِها

فَقالوا أَتَيناكُمُ نَشتَري

The next day the buyers came to their owners

The buyers went early to the keepers of the vine,

And said: “We’ve come to buy

Saying, "We have come to purchase from you

خُيولاً لَكُم قَد أَتَت فُرَّهاً

فَمِن بَينِ أَحوى إِلى أَحوَرِ

Horses whose prime is past.”

Horses of yours that have arrived brisk and spirited,

Among the twisted ones I inclined to the crooked one.

Ranging from dark hues to the starkly bright."

فَقالوا لَهُم إِنَّما خَيلُنا

سُلافَةُ كَرمِ بَني قَيصَرِ

They said to them: “Our horses

They replied, "These steeds of ours are but the essence,

Are the heritage of Caesar’s nobility.

The purest nectar of the vine of Caesar’s sons.

وَلا تَحمِلُ اللِبدَ لَكِنَّها

خُيولٌ لِكُلِّ فَتىً أَزهَرِ

They bear no packs, rather they are horses

They bear no saddle-pads upon their backs,

For every blossoming youth.

Yet they are mounts for every radiant youth.

وَسيما إِذا أَنتَ باكَرتَها

كَمِثلِ دَمِ الجَوفِ في الأَبهَرِ

Especially when you first break them in

Especially when you seek them at the break of dawn,

They are like blood gushing from a slaughtered beast.

Like heart’s blood pulsing through the aorta.

مُشَعشَعَةٌ مِن بَناتِ الكُرو

مِ سالَت نِطافاً وَلَم تُعصَرِ

Gleaming, the daughters of wild mares

Diluted with light, a daughter of the vineyard,

Whose streams flow freely, unmilked.

She flowed as droplets, never harshly pressed.

عَقيلَةُ شَيخٍ مِنَ المُشرِكينَ

أَتَتنا تَهادى مِنَ الكَوثَرِ

The she-camel of an aged pagan

The sequestered treasure of a pagan elder,

Came to us from Paradise.

Coming to us swaying, as if from Paradise’s stream.

وَلَونانِ لَونٌ لَها أَصفَرٌ

وَلَونٌ عَلى الماءِ كَالعُصفُرِ

She has one coat colored golden

She possesses two hues: one of pale gold,

And another like crushed saffron.

And one upon the water, red as safflower.

لَو أَنَّ أَبا مَعشَرٍ ذاقَها

لَخَرَّ صَريعاً أَبو مَعشَرِ

If the Father of Ma’shar had tasted her

Had Abu Ma'shar ever tasted her draught,

The Father of Ma’shar would have collapsed.

Abu Ma'shar would have fallen in a swoon,

وَكَبَّرَ مِن طيبِها ساعَةً

وَقالَ بِها ثُمَّ لَم يَصبِرِ

For a while her scent made him exalt

And praised God an hour for her scent,

And say of it, then he could bear no more.

And sung her name, finding no patience to abstain."

فَما بَرِحَ القَومُ حَتّى اِشتَرَوا

وَمَن يَشتَرِ الراحَ لَم يَخسَرِ

The people had scarcely left when they bought her,

So the company did not depart until they bought,

He who buys spirit loses nothing."

And he who purchases wine has never lost.