دَعِ الرَبعَ ما لِلرَبعِ فيكَ نَصيبُ

وَما إِن سَبَتني زَينَبٌ وَكَعوبُ

Leave the tavern be, it has no place in you,

Leave the ruins behind; in ruins you have no share,

And neither has Zainab enchanted me, nor Ka'b.

Neither Zaynab nor Ka'ub has held my heart in care.

وَلَكِن سَبَتني البابِلِيَّةُ إِنَّها

لَمِثلِيَ في طولِ الزَمانِ سَلوبُ

Rather, it was Babylon that captivated me,

Instead, the Babylonian vintage has enslaved my soul,

For she is, like me, accustomed to nights of wakefulness.

For she has plundered men like me while ages roll.

جَفا الماءُ عَنها في المِزاجِ لِأَنَّها

خَيالٌ لَها بَينَ العِظامِ دَبيبُ

The water has dried up within her, for she is

Water shuns her mixture, refusing to dilute,

A fantasy that stirs between bones.

For she is a phantom spirit, creeping to the root.

إِذا ذاقَها مَن ذاقَها حَلَّقَت بِهِ

فَلَيسَ لَهُ عَقلٌ يُعَدُّ أَديبُ

When one tastes her, she ensnares him,

When the taster sips her, she takes flight with his mind,

Rendering him senseless, unable to be called cultured.

Leaving him bereft of reason, all wit left behind.

وَلَيلَةِ دَجنٍ قَد سَرَيتُ بِفِتيَةٍ

تُنازِعُها نَحوَ المُدامِ قُلوبُ

On a starless night, I walked with some youths

On many a gloomy night I journeyed with a band,

Whose hearts competed as they strode toward the tavern.

With hearts yearning for the wine, crossing the land.

إِلى بَيتِ خَمّارٍ وَدونَ مَحَلِّهِ

قُصورٌ مُنيفاتٌ لَنا وَدُروبُ

Toward a wine-seller's house, and below it

To the tavern-keeper’s door, though guarding his retreat

Were lofty mansions with paths leading to them.

Were towering palaces and the winding street.

فَفُزِّعَ مِن إِدلاجِنا بَعدَ هَجعَةٍ

وَلَيسَ سِوى ذي الكِبرِياءِ رَقيبُ

Startled by our late-night approach after slumber,

Startled by our night-arrival after he had slept,

With none present save the arrogant watcher,

With no watcher to fear but the Lord whom secrets kept.

تَناوَمَ خَوفاً أَن تَكونَ سِعايَةٌ

وَعاوَدَهُ بَعدَ الرِقادِ وَجيبُ

He tossed apprehensively, fearing it was a raid,

He feigned slumber, dreading a raid by the patrol,

And his anxiety returned after his rest.

As a trembling panic seized his very soul.

وَلَمّا دَعَونا بِاسمِهِ طارَ ذُعرُهُ

وَأَيقَنَ أَنَّ الرَحلَ مِنهُ خَصيبُ

When we called his name, terror gripped him,

But when we called him by name, his terror took flight,

And he knew the travelers would profit from him.

Certain now that his saddlebag would profit from the night.

وَبادَرَ نَحوَ البابِ سَعياً مُلَبِّياً

لَهُ طَرَبٌ بِالزائِرينَ عَجيبُ

He hurried to the door, eager to welcome

He hastened to the door, answering our call with zeal,

The visitors ‒ strange is his joy in them!

Filled with a wondrous joy that he could not conceal.

فَأَطلَقَ عَن نابَيهِ وَانكَبَّ ساجِداً

لَنا وَهوَ فيما قَد يَظُنُّ مُصيبُ

He bared his teeth and fell prostrate before us,

He smiled broadly and fell prostrate on the floor,

Thinking himself, in this, perspicacious.

Before us, correct in the profit he foresaw.

وَقالَ اِدخُلوا حُيِّيتُمُ مِن عِصابَةٍ

فَمَنزِلُكُم سَهلٌ لَدَيَّ رَحيبُ

"Welcome," he said. "Your arrival gladdens

Saying, "Enter! May you be greeted, noble company,"

A company, and with me you have ample lodging."

"For my home is yours, spacious and free."

وَجاءَ بِمِصباحٍ لَهُ فَأَنارَهُ

وَكُلُّ الَّذي يَبغي لَدَيهِ قَريبُ

He brought a lantern and lit it,

He brought forth his lamp and kindled its flame,

And all that we desired was near for him.

And all that we desired was there to claim.

فَقُلنا أَرِحنا هاتِ إِن كُنتَ بائِعاً

فَإِنَّ الدُجى عَن مُلكِهِ سَيَغيبُ

We said, "Give us rest. Sell to us, if selling

We said, "Bring us relief! Fetch the wine if you sell,"

Is your trade, for darkness is vanishing from its dominion."

"For the darkness is fading and breaking its spell."

فَأَبدى لَنا صَهباءَ تَمَّ شَبابُها

لَها مَرَحٌ في كَأسِها وَوُثوبُ

He presented to us a pale honey-colored one,

He revealed a golden vintage, aged to perfection,

Full of gaiety in her cup and clothing.

Possessing a lively joy leaping in the cup's reflection.

فَلَمّا جَلاها لِلنَدامى بَدا لَها

نَسيمُ عَبيرٍ ساطِعٍ وَلَحيبُ

When he poured her out to the boon companions,

When he unveiled it to the boon companions, it revealed

The scent of delicate fragrant air was manifest to her.

A rising fragrance of ambergris, a light unsealed.

وَجاءَ بِها تَحدو بِها ذاتُ مُزهِرٍ

يَتوقُ إِلَيها الناظِرونَ رَبيبُ

She came swaying with a blossoming figure.

It was brought forth by a lutanist urging the round,

The onlookers desire her as she sways gently.

A sheltered beauty in whom desire is found.

كَثيبٌ عَلاهُ غُصنُ بانٍ إِذا مَشى

تَكادُ لَهُ صُمُّ الجِبالِ تُنيبُ

She is a dune on which there grows a bending bough.

A sand dune topped by a willow branch; when she walks,

If she walks, the stone cliffs appear to sway with her.

Even the solid mountains nearly bow as she talks.

وَأَقبَلَ مَحمودُ الجَمالِ مُقَرطَقٌ

إِلى كَأسِها لا عَيبَ فيهِ أَريبُ

The beauty Mahmud approached, sparkling,

Then approached a tunicked youth of praised grace,

Drawn to her cup in which no defect is evident.

Tending the cup with skill, no flaw in his face.

يَشُمُّ النَدامى الوَردَ مِن وَجَناتِهِ

فَلَيسَ بِهِ غَيرُ المِلاحَةِ طيبُ

The revelers inhale the rose's fragrance from his cheeks ‒

The drinkers breathe the scent of roses from his cheek,

Nothing in it but pleasant redolence.

For he wears no perfume but the comeliness they seek.

فَمازالَ يَسقينا بِكَأسٍ مُجِدَّةٍ

تُوَلّي وَأُخرى بَعدَ ذاكَ تَؤوبُ

He continued serving us with brimming cups,

He ceased not serving us with a diligent cup,

One disappears as another after it returns.

One round departing as another was filled up.

وَغَنّى لَنا صَوتاً بِلَحنٍ مُرَجَّعٍ

سَرى البَرقُ غَربِيّاً فَحَنَّ غَريبُ

He sang for us in a trilling, modulated voice.

And he sang to us a verse with a trilling tone:

Lightning flashed westerly, and a stranger wept.

"Lightning flashed in the west, and the stranger wept alone."

فَمَن كانَ مِنّا عاشِقاً فاضَ دَمعُهُ

وَعاوَدَهُ بَعدَ السُرورِ نَحيبُ

Whoever among us was a lover, his tears flowed,

Then he among us who was a lover let his tears flow,

And after joy, his laments returned.

And sobbing seized him after the joy began to go.

فَمِن بَينِ مَسرورٍ وَباكٍ مِنَ الهَوى

وَقَد لاحَ مِن ثَوبِ الظَلامِ غُيوبُ

Among the joyous, the weeping lovers,

So we remained, between delight and weeping for love,

As the garments of darkness revealed hidden things...

Until rifts appeared in the garment of night above.

وَقَد غابَتِ الشِعرى العَبورُ وَأَقبَلَت

نُجومُ الثُرَيّا بِالصَباحِ تَثوبُ

The Pleiades have set, and the Thurayya

Sirius the Crosser had set, and the sight

With the dawn, begins to rise.

Of the Pleiades returning signaled the morning light.