يا شَقيقَ النَفسِ مِن حَكَمٍ

نِمتَ عَن لَيلي وَلَم أَنَمِ

O companion of my soul with wisdom

Oh brother of my soul from the clan of Hakam,

I could not sleep though the night was long

You slept through my night, while I found no sleep.

فَاسقِني الخَمرَ الَّتي اختَمَرَت

بِخِمارِ الشَيبِ في الرَحِمِ

So serve me the wine that was fermented

So pour me the wine that has fully matured,

With the yeast of old age in the womb

Veiled in grayness while still within the womb.

ثُمَّتَ اِنصاتَ الشَبابُ لَها

بَعدَما جازَت مَدى الهَرَمِ

Then the youth would listen to it

Then youthfulness harkened back to it,

After it crossed the expanse of time

After it had passed the furthest limits of senility.

فَهيَ لِليَومِ الَّذي بُزِلَت

وَهيَ تِربُ الدَهرِ في القِدَمِ

It is for the day when it was poured

For on the very day its vessel was broached,

And it is the soil of time from early days

It was already the peer of Time in ancientness.

عُتِّقَت حَتّى لَوِ اتَّصَلَت

بِلِسانٍ ناطِقٍ وَفَمِ

It was preserved as if it was endowed

It has been aged so long that, were it possessed

With a tongue and an eloquent mouth

Of a speaking tongue and a mouth,

لا اِحتَبَت في القَومِ ماثِلَةً

ثُمَّ قَصَّت قِصَّةَ الأُمَمِ

It would not be concealed amongst the people

It would sit among the assembly, upright and dignified,

Then it narrated the story of civilizations

And recount the history of vanished nations.

قَرَّعَتها بِالمِزاجِ يَدٌ

خُلِقَت لِلكَأسِ وَالقَلَمِ

A hand well-made for the goblet and the pen

A hand struck it with the mixing water,

Tempered it with perfect blend

A hand created for both the goblet and the pen.

في نَدامى سادَةٍ نُجُبٍ

أَخَذوا اللَذّاتِ مِن أُمَمِ

In the drinking parties of eminent nobles

Amidst drinking companions, noble lords all,

Who took pleasures from civilizations

Who have seized life's pleasures in abundance.

فَتَمَشَّت في مَفاصِلِهِم

كَتَمَشّي البُرءِ في السَقَمِ

It crept in their joints

So it coursed through their very joints,

As creeps the innocence in the sick

As the flow of healing courses through sickness.

فَعَلَت في البَيتِ إِذ مُزِجَت

مِثلَ فِعلِ الصُبحِ في الظُلَمِ

It acted in the house when it was blended

It transformed the house the moment it was mixed,

Like the dawn acts in the darkness

Just as the dawn breaks upon the darkness.

فَاهتَدى ساري الظَلامِ بِها

كَاهتِداءِ السَفرِ بِالعَلَمِ

So the wanderer in darkness was guided by it

So the night-traveler found his way by its light,

As is the journey guided by the flag

As wayfarers are guided by a mountain landmark.