أَشتَهي الساقِيَينِ لَكِنَّ قَلبي

مُستَهامٌ بِأَصغَرِ الساقِيَينِ

I long for both cupbearers, but my heart

I desire both cupbearers, yet my heart

Is enamored with the younger of the two.

Is held captive by the younger of the pair.

لَيسَ بِاللابِسِ القَميصَ وَلَكِن

ذي القِباءِ المُعَقرَبِ الصُدغَينِ

It's not about his shirt he's wearing, but

Not the one clad in the tunic, but he—

The one with the tipped cap and dimpled cheeks.

The one in the coat, with ringlets at his temples.

الَّذي بِالجَمالِ زَيَّنَهُ اللَ

هُ وَحُسنِ الجَبينِ وَالحاجِبَينِ

The one whom God adorned with beauty,

He whom God has embellished with beauty,

With a fine brow and elegant eyebrows.

With the grace of his forehead and the arch of his brows.

يَتَلاهى إِذا اِستَحَثَّ لِشُربٍ

في سُكونٍ وَيَمسَحُ العارِضَينِ

He lingers when summoned for a drink

He dallies playfully when pressed to serve the drink,

In tranquility, stroking his sideburns.

In quiet stillness, smoothing his downy cheeks.

خَرسَنوهُ وَما دَرى ما خُراسا

نُ بِلُبسِ القِباءِ وَالمِئزَرَينِ

They teased him, though he knew not what they said

They styled him Khorasani—though he knows not Khorasan—

In their garb of cloak and waistcloth.

By clothing him in the robe and the double-sash.

هُم يَجورونَ في المُزاحِ عَلَيهِ

وَهوَ يَحكي بِعَدلِهِ العُمَرَينِ

They jested at his expense, while he

In jest, they treat him with unjust excess,

Retold in justice the tale of both their lives.

While he, in his equity, mirrors the justice of the two Umars.