إِصدَع نَجِيَّ الهُمومِ بِالطَرَبِ

وَاِنعَم عَلى الدَهرِ بِاِبنَةِ العِنَبِ

Shatter the intimate companion of sorrows with mirth,

And seek bliss against the turn of time with the daughter of the grape.

وَاِستَقبِلِ العَيشَ في غَضارَتِهِ

لا تَقفُ مِنهُ آثارَ مُعتَقَبِ

Welcome life in the bloom of its lush freshness;

Do not follow the traces of what has passed and gone.

مِن قَهوَةٍ زانَها تَقادُمُها

فَهيَ عَجوزٌ تَعلو عَلى الحُقُبِ

Drink of a vintage wine, adorned by its antiquity,

For she is an aged crone who rises above the epochs.

دَهرِيَةٌ قَد مَضَت شَبيبَتُها

وَاِستَنشَقَتها سَوالِفُ الحِقَبِ

Ancient and eternal, her youth has long departed,

And the bygone eras have breathed her in deep.

كَأَنَّها في زُجاجِها قَبَسٌ

يَذكو بِلا سَورَةٍ وَلا لَهَبِ

As if, within her glass, she is a kindled ember,

Glowing intensely without violence or flame.

فَهيَ بِغَيرِ المِزاجِ مِن شَرَرٍ

وَهيَ إِذا صُفِّقَت مِنَ الذَهَبِ

Before the mixing, she is composed of scattered sparks,

And once decanted, she is wrought of gold.

إِذا جَرى الماءُ في جَوانِبِها

هَيَّجَ مِنها كَوامِنَ الشَغَبِ

When water courses through her vessel's sides,

It stirs up her latent, hidden tumults.

فَاِضطَرَبَت تَحتَهُ تُزاحِمُهُ

ثُمَّ تَناهَت تَفتَرُّ عَن حَبَبِ

She churns beneath it, jostling for space,

Then settles, smiling with a set of bubbles.

يا حُسنَها مِن بَنانِ ذي خَنَثٍ

تَدعوكَ أَجفانُهُ إِلى الرِيَبِ

Oh, the beauty of the cup in the fingertips of a delicate youth,

Whose heavy eyelids summon you to illicit desires.

فَاِذكُر صَباحَ العُقارِ وَاِسمُ بِهِ

لا بِصَباحِ الحُروبِ وَالعَطَبِ

So praise the morning draught of wine and ascend by it,

Not the morning of warfare and ruin.

أَحسَنُ مِن مَوقِفٍ بِمُعتَرَكٍ

وَرَكضِ خَيلٍ عَلى هَلا وَهَبِ

For better than a stance taken on a battlefield,

And the galloping of horses to cries of attack and command,

صَيحَةُ ساقٍ بِحابِسٍ قَدَحا

وَصَبرُ مُستَكرِهٍ لِمُنتَحِبِ

Is the call of a cupbearer to one withholding the cup,

And the patience of a reluctant soul listening to a lament.

وَرِدفُ ظَبيٍ إِذا اِمتَطَيتَ بِهِ

أَعطاكَ بَينَ التَقريبِ وَالخَبَبِ

And the haunches of a gazelle, which, if you were to mount,

Would offer you a gait between a gallop and a trot.

يَصلُحُ لِلسَيفِ وَالقَباءِ كَما

يَصلُحُ لِلبارِقَينِ وَالسُحُبِ

He is suited for the sword and the military tunic, just as

He is suited for the flashing lightning and the rain-clouds.

حَلَّ عَلى وَجهِهِ الجَمالُ كَما

حَلَّ يَزيدٌ مَعالِيَ الرُتَبِ

Beauty has settled upon his face, just as

Yazid has settled in the highest of ranks.