دَع عَنكَ يا صاحِ الفِكَر

فيمَن تَغَيَّرَ أَو هَجَر

Cast aside, my friend, all anxious thoughts

Of those who changed or turned away.

وَاِشرَب كُمَيتاً مُزَّةً

عَنَسَت وَأَقعَدَها الكِبَر

And drink a dark red vintage, tart and sharp,

Which time has aged and settled deep with years.

مِن كَفِّ ظَبيٍ ناعِمٍ

غَنِجٍ بِمُقلَتِهِ حَوَر

From the hand of a soft-skinned gazelle,

A flirtatious youth with wide, striking eyes,

يَسبي القُلوبَ بِدَلِّهِ

وَالطَرفِ مِنهُ إِذا نَظَر

Who takes hearts captive with his coy play,

And with the glance he casts when he looks.

فَكَأَنَّها في كَفِّهِ

شَمسٌ وَراحَتُهُ قَمَر

It is as though the wine within his hand

Were a sun, and his palm a moon.

لَم يَصطَبِح مِنها النَدي

مُ ثَلاثَةً إِلّا سَكِر

No companion drinks a morning draught of it—

Just three cups—without becoming intoxicated,

طَرَباً وَغَنّى مُعلِناً

وَالطَرفُ مِنهُ قَد نَكَر

Filled with ecstasy, singing out aloud

While his gaze turns strange and dazed:

يا مَن أَضَرَّ بِهِ السَهَر

عِندي مِنَ الحُبِّ الخَبَر

"O you whom sleeplessness has harmed,

I hold the true tidings of love."