لا تبكينَّ على الطَلَل

وعلى الحبيبِ إذا رحَل

Do not weep over the ruined campsites,

Nor for the beloved when he departs.

من غابَ عنكَ فلا تقل

يا ليتَ شعري ما فعَل

For he who vanishes from your sight, do not say:

"Oh, I wonder what became of him."

إن تلتمس بدلاَ بهِ

يوماً تجد ألفي بدَل

If you seek a substitute for him,

You shall find two thousand in a single day.

وأباكَ فاعصِ ولا تطع

وأخاكَ فاجفُ ولا تصل

Disobey your father, yield him no ground,

And shun your brother, let no bond be found.

والجارَ خلّ سبيلَهُ

وأقذفهُ من أعلى جبَل

As for the neighbor, abandon his path,

Or cast him down from the highest mountain peak.

والجارَ إن تحفظ لهُ

حقاً فجهلُكَ قد كمل

If you preserve the rights of a neighbor,

Then your ignorance is surely complete.

وأقطع من الرحم الذي

بكَ في المناسبةِ اتّصَل

Sever the ties of the womb that bind,

Those connected to you by lineage defined.

وإذا أخ يوماً بهِ

عثرَ الزمان فلا تقل

And if a brother should one day stumble

Upon hard times, do not offer words of comfort.

واجعل يديكَ على التي

ملكت يداه بالحيل

But lay your hands on whatever wealth

His hands possessed through cunning and stealth.

وإذا أباك غششتَهُ

فعَن الغريبِ فلا تسَل

And if you have deceived your own father,

Then do not ask what to do with a stranger.

وليضربِ الثقلانِ في

نقضِ العهودِ بك المثل

Let both mankind and Jinn strike,

Through you, a proverb in the breaking of oaths.

دع عنكَ قولَ الناسِ هذا لا يجوز ولا يحل

Ignore the talk of those who say, "This is not allowed nor lawful."

وأطع هواكَ وغادِها

صهباءَ ترمي بالشعَل

Obey your lusts and seek out early

The russet wine that shoots forth sparks.

ونكِ الغلامَ إذا نشا

وإذا التحى وإذا اكتهل

Bed the young lad when he blooms,

When he beards, and when he turns gray.

وحريمَ جارِكَ فانتهك

والمالَ منهُ فاستحل

Violate the women of your neighbor's house,

And deem his wealth lawful for yourself.

وإذا دُعيتَ إلى التقى

والصالحاتِ من العمَل

If you are summoned to acts of piety,

And to works that are righteous and good,

فأجب بأن لا ناقةٌ

لي في الصلاح ولا جمل

Answer: "I have no camel in this race,"

"Nor any horse in the field of virtue."

لا تحفلنَّ بمَن لحا

كَ على هواك ولا تبَل

Do not heed him who censures you

For your desires, pay him no mind.

لا تضمرنّ إلى الذي

صاحبتَهُ إلّا الدخَل

Do not harbor toward your companion

Anything but corruption and deceit.

وأجب إذا عطسَ الندي

مُ بذبحةٍ وإذا سعَل

And if your drinking partner sneezes, answer

With a curse of death, and if he coughs,

سيّان عندكَ فليكن

مَن لمي صلكَ ومَن وصَل

Let them be equal in your eyes:

The one who shunned you and the one who joined.

واشهر بسفيِكَ مصلتاً

واقطع على الناس السُبل

Brandish your sword, drawn and bare,

And cut the roads against all men.

واسلك سبيلاً واحداً

بذوي التفرّقِ في المِلَل

Treat them all with a single method,

Despite their differing sects and creeds.

واضمر لهم سُمّاً وهَب

لهمُ من القولِ العَسَل

Conceal poison for them, yet offer

Them words as sweet as honeyed mead.

حتى إذا أمنوكَ مِن

جهلٍ ومثلهمُ جهَل

Until, when they feel safe from you—

Out of folly, and their like are fools—

فاقتلهمُ واصلبهمُ

جمعاً على أعلى دَقَل

Kill them and crucify them all,

En masse upon the highest pole.

وإذا أتى شهرُ الصيا

مِ ففيه بالمَرض اعتلل

And when the month of fasting arrives,

Feign sickness throughout its days.

وإذا سُئِلتَ أجائزٌ

فيه اللواطُ فقُل أجَل

And if asked, "Is sodomy permitted

During the fast?" Reply, "Oh yes."

منعَ النفوسَ من التي

تهوى العظيمُ من الزلَل

To deny the soul what it desires

Is truly the greatest slip of all.

لا تقربِ البيتَ الحرا

مِ وخلّه حتى يحَل

Do not approach the Sacred House,

And leave it be until the rites are done.

وإذا رأيت ركائباً

نحو الحجيج حدَت فقُل

And if you see the caravans

Urging toward the pilgrimage, then say:

ما لي يُطوّفُ بي وما

أنا بالأسير على جَمَل

"Why should I be made to circle 'round?

Am I a captive bound upon a camel?"

فإذا كبرتَ ولم تطق

حملَ الصوارمِ والأسَل

And if you age and lose the strength

To carry sharp swords and spears of war,

فخذِ الزجاجَ ورضّهُ

واطرحهُ في طرُقِ السفَل

Take glass and crush it into dust,

And strew it on the paths of the common folk.

فبذاكَ أنتَ مجاهدٌ

ولكَ الغنيمةُ والمَثَل

By this, you are a holy warrior,

Yours is the prize and the high renown.

وإلى إلهكَ في التجا

وزِ عن خاياك ابتهِل

And pray to your God to overlook

Your sins with humble supplication.

فهو المجيبُ لمَن دعا

وهو الجوادُ إذا سُئِل

For He answers those who call,

And He is generous when asked.

هذي وصاةُ أبي نؤا

سٍ مُذ نشا لذوي الجدَل

This is the counsel of Abu Nuwas,

Since youth, for those of wit and debate.

أوصى بها من بعدما

لاقى من الدهر الدوَل

He bequeathed it after enduring

The shifting turns of fate and time.