اِكسِر بِمائِكَ سَورَةَ الصَهباءِ

فَإِذا رَأَيتَ خُضوعَها لِلماءِ

Break with your waters the wall of endurance

Break the violence of the crimson vintage with your water,

And when you see it submit to the water

And when you witness its submission to the stream,

فَاِحبِس يَدَيكَ عَنِ الَّتي بَقِيَت بِها

نَفسٌ تُشاكِلُ أَنفُسَ الأَحياءِ

Then restrain your hands from what remains

Restrain your hand from that which yet retains

A soul that rivals souls of the living

A spirit resembling the very souls of the living.

صَفراءُ تَسلُبُكَ الهُمومَ إِذا بَدَت

وَتُعيرُ قَلبَكَ حُلَّةَ السَرّاءِ

Yellow that robs you of worries when it appears

A golden draught that steals away sorrow when unveiled,

And mocks your heart with the garb of bliss

And clothes your heart in the raiment of pure delight.

كَتَبَ المِزاجُ عَلى مُقَدَّمِ تاجِها

سَطرَينِ مِثلَ كِتابَةِ العُسَراءِ

Disposition wrote on the front of its crown

The mixture has inscribed upon the front of its crown

Two lines like the writing of hardship

Two lines that resemble the scribbling of the left-handed.

نَمَّت عَلى نُدَمائِها بِنَسيمِها

وَضِيائِها في اللَيلَةِ الظَلماءِ

It grew on its groves with its breeze

It betrayed its drinking companions with its fragrant breath,

And its glow in the dark night

And by its radiance amidst the pitch-black night.

قَد قُلتُ حينَ تَشَوَّفَت في كَأسِها

وَتَضايَقَت كَتَضايُقِ العَذراءِ

I said when it peered into its cup

I spoke when it gazed up from within its goblet,

And was straitened like the straitening of the maiden

Constricted and shy like the hesitation of a virgin:

لا بُدَّ مِن عَضِّ المَراشِفِ فَاِسكُني

وَتَشَبُّكِ الأَحشاءِ بِالرَحشاءِ

You must bite the pillows, so settle

"The lips must inevitably be bitten, so be still,

And the intestines cling to the mattress

And let the vitals intertwine with your flowing essence."

وَمُهَفهَفٍ نَبَّهتُهُ لَمّا هَدا

وَتَغَلَّقَت عَيناهُ بِالإِغفاءِ

And a drowsy one I awakened when he nodded off

And a slender-waisted lad I roused when he had settled,

And his eyes shut heavily with sleep

And his eyes were heavily sealed by slumber.

وَشَكا إِلَيَّ لِسانُهُ مِن سُكرِهِ

بِتَلَجلُجٍ كَتَلَجلُجِ الفَأفاءِ

And his tongue complained to me of his drunkenness

His tongue complained to me of his intoxication,

With babbling like the babbling of delirium

With a stammer like the speech of one who stutters.

فَعَفَوتُ عَنهُ وَفي الفُؤادِ مِنَ الهَوى

كَتَلَهُّبِ النيرانِ في الحُلَفاءِ

So I pardoned him and in my heart from passion

So I pardoned him, though within my heart lay passion

Is the flaming of fires in the tent poles

Raging like fire blazing through dry alfa grass.