لا تَبكِ لَيلى وَلا تَطرَب إِلى هِندِ

وَاِشرَب عَلى الوَردِ مِن حَمراءَ كَالوَردِ

Do not weep, O Layla, nor yearn for India,

Weep not for Layla, nor waste your heart on Hind,

And drink rose-red wine like a rose's hue.

But drink, upon the rose, a vintage red as the rose.

كَأساً إِذا اِنحَدَرَت في حَلقِ شارِبِها

أَجدَتهُ حُمرَتَها في العَينِ وَالخَدِّ

A cup, when it flows down a drinker's throat,

A draught which, when it descends the drinker's throat,

Finds its redness in his eye and cheek.

Leaves its crimson trace within his eye and cheek.

فَالخَمرُ ياقوتَةٌ وَالكَأسُ لُؤلُؤَةٌ

مِن كَفِّ جارِيَةٍ مَمشوقَةِ القَدِّ

So wine is a ruby and the cup a pearl

The wine is a ruby gem, the cup a pearl of white,

From the palm of a slender-waisted girl.

From the hand of a maiden, graceful and slender of form.

تَسقيكَ مِن عَينِها خَمراً وَمِن يَدِها

خَمراً فَما لَكَ مِن سُكرَينِ مِن بُدِّ

She gives you wine to drink from her eyes,

She serves you wine from her eyes, and wine from her hand—

And from her hand wine - so what need have you of two intoxications?

Intoxication doubled, from which there is no escape.

لي نَشوَتانِ وَلِلنُدمانِ واحِدَةٌ

شَيءٌ خُصِصتُ بِهِ مِن بَينِهِم وَحدي

I have two raptures while the revellers have but one -

Two raptures are mine, while the companions have but one;

Something I was singled out for, from among them, uniquely.

A distinction reserved for me, alone amidst the throng.