يا خَليلَيَّ قَد خَلَعتُ عِذاري

وَبَدا ما أُكِنُّ مِن أَسراري

O my two friends, I have cast off all restraint,

And the secrets I kept hidden have been revealed.

فَاِشرَبا الخَمرَ وَاِسقِياني سُلافاً

عُتِّقَت بَينَ نَرجِسٍ وَبَهارِ

So drink the wine and pour me the purest draft,

Aged amidst the narcissus and the chamomile.

لَبَثَت في دِنانِها أَلفَ شَهرٍ

لَم تُقَمَّص وَلَم تُعَذَّب بِنارِ

It lingered in its clay vessels for a thousand months,

Neither encased in pitch nor tortured by fire.

نَسَجَ العَنكَبوتُ بَيتاً عَلَيها

فَعَلى دَنِّها دِقاقُ الغُبارِ

The spider has woven a web over it,

And upon its jar lies a layer of fine dust.

فَأَتى خاطِبٌ مَليحٌ إِلَيها

ذو وِشاحٍ مُؤَزَّرٌ بِإِزارِ

Then a handsome suitor came to it,

Adorned with a sash, girded with a wrapper.

نَقَدَ المَهرَ ثُمَّ زُفَّت إِلَيهِ

في سَراويلِها وَفي الزُنّارِ

He paid the dowry, then she was wedded to him,

Still clad in her trousers and her belt.

فَدَعا بِالبِزالِ ثُمَّ وَجاها

فَجَرَت كَالعَقيقِ وَالجُلَّنارِ

He called for the auger, then pierced her seal,

And she flowed out like carnelian and pomegranate blossoms,

في أَباريقَ مِن لُجَينٍ حِسانٍ

كَظِباءٍ سَكَنَّ عَرضَ القِفارِ

Into beautiful pitchers made of silver,

Like gazelles dwelling in the expanse of the wastelands,

أَو كَراكٍ ذُعِرنَ مِن صَوتِ صَقرٍ

مُفزَعاتٍ شَواخِصَ الأَبصارِ

Or like cranes terrified by the cry of a falcon,

Panicked, with eyes fixed in a stare.

قَد تَحَسَّيتُها عَلى وَجهِ ساقٍ

خالِعٍ في هَوايَ كُلَّ عِذارِ

I sipped it while gazing at the face of a cupbearer,

Who, for my love, has cast off all restraint.

قَمَرٌ يَقمُرُ الدَواجي بِوَجهٍ

ضَوءُهُ في الدُجى صَباحُ النَهارِ

A moon that vanquishes the darkness with a face,

Whose light makes the gloom of night like the morning day.

يَتَثَنّى كَأَنَّهُ غُصنُ بانٍ

مَيَّلَتهُ الرِياحُ بِالأَسحارِ

He sways as if he were a willow branch,

Inclined by the winds at the time of dawn.

بِأَبي ذاكَ مِن غَزالٍ غَريرٍ

في قَباءٍ مُهَلَّلِ الأَزرارِ

I would ransom my father for that innocent gazelle,

Dressed in a tunic with buttons undone.

كَم شَمَمنا مِن خَدِّهِ الوَردَ غَضّاً

وَمَزَجنا رُضابَهُ بِعُقارِ

How often we inhaled the fresh rose from his cheek,

And mixed the nectar of his lips with the wine.