طَرِبتُ إِلى خَمرٍ وَقَصفِ الدَساكِرِ

وَمَنزِلِ دُهقانٍ بِها غَيرِ دائِرِ

I yearned for wine and cups overflowing,

I yearned for wine and the revelry of village halls,

And the tent of a landlord where revelry played.

And a landlord's manor there, untouched by ruin,

بِفِتيانِ صِدقٍ مِن سَراةِ ابنِ مالِكٍ

وَأَزدِ عُمانٍ ذي العُلى وَالمَفاخِرِ

With sincere youths from the clan of Ibn Malik,

With trusty youths, the noble sons of Ibn Malik,

And the noble Azd of Oman of glory and pride.

And Azd of Oman, lords of glory and renown.

فَلَمّا حَلَلناها نَزَلنا بِأَشمَطٍ

كَريمِ المُحَيّا ظاهِرِ الشِركِ كافِرِ

When we arrived we stayed in Ashmaṭ,

When we arrived, we lodged with a gray-haired host,

Generous of welcome, blatant idol-worshipper.

Generous of face, a patent idolater, an infidel.

لَهُ دينُ قِسّيسٍ وَتَدبيرُ كاتِبٍ

وَإِطراقُ جَبّارٍ وَأَلفاظُ شاعِرِ

He had the faith of a priest and the wits of a scribe,

He held a priest's belief and a scribe's precision,

The pomp of a tyrant, and the words of a poet.

The solemn silence of a tyrant, and a poet's words.

فَحَيّا وَبَيّا ثُمَّ قالَ لَنا اربِعوا

نَزَلتُم بِنا رَحباً بِأَيمَنِ طائِرِ

He bade us welcome and stay, then said “Settle down,

He greeted and welcomed us, then said, "Alight here,

You have come to us in blessed, auspicious time.”

You have found a spacious home, under a blessed omen."

فَقُلنا لَهُ إِنَّ المُدامَ غِذاؤنا

وَإِنّا أُلو عَقلٍ وَأَهلُ بَصائِرِ

We said “Wine is our food,

We said to him, "The aged wine is our nourishment,

And we are wise and discerning folk.”

For we are men of intellect and insight."

فَجاءَ بِها قَد أَنهَكَ الغَموُ جِسمَها

وَأَوجَعَها في الصَيفِ حَرُّ الهَواجِرِ

So he brought it, though toil had wasted his body,

He brought her forth—her body wasted by long sealing,

And summer heat pained him, in the blazing noon.

And pained in summer by the heat of blazing noons.

فَقُلتُ لَها لَمّا أَضاءَ سَناؤُها

عَلى صَحنِ كَأسٍ قَد عَلا الكَفَّ زاهِرِ

When her radiance shone in the wine-cup,

I said to her, when her radiance illuminated

Rising above it, blossoming and bright,

The hollow of the cup held by a shining hand:

أَبيني لَنا يا خَمرُ كَم لَكِ حُجَّةً

فَقالَت لَحاكَ اللَهُ لَستُ بِذاكِرِ

I said “Speak, wine, tell how long you have lived?”

"Reveal to us, O Wine, how many years you claim?"

But she said “God spare you! I will not speak.”

She said, "God chide you! I am not one who remembers.

شَهِدتُ ثَموداً حينَ حَلَّ بِها البِلى

وَأَدرَكتُ أَيّاماً لِعَمرِ بنِ عامِرِ

“I saw Thamud in the day they were destroyed,

I witnessed Thamud when destruction settled on them,

And lived through the days of ‘Amr ibn ‘Aamir.”

And I attained the days of 'Amr son of 'Amir."

فَقُلنا أَنُسقاها عَلى وَجهِ أَهيَفٍ

لَهُ تيهُ مَعشوقٍ وَشَخرَةُ شاطِرِ

We drank her down in great drafts,

We asked, "Shall we drink her before a slender youth,

Sipped by a fanciful, flirtatious sot,

Possessing a beloved's pride and a rogue's bravado?"

فَما زالَ هَذا دَأبُنا وَغِذاءَنا

ثَلاثينَ يَوماً مَع لَيالٍ غَوابِرِ

And this has been our way and nourishment

So this remained our custom and our sustenance,

For thirty days and dark, moonless nights.

For thirty days, along with passing nights.

تَرى عِندَنا ما يَكرَهُ اللَهُ كُلَّهُ

سِوى الشُركِ بِالرَحمَنِ رَبِّ المَشاعِرِ

You will find us doing all that God hates,

You would see among us everything that God abhors,

Except polytheism, service of idols.

Save for associating partners with the Merciful, Lord of the Rites.