أَحسَنُ مِن وَقفَةٍ عَلى طَلَلِ

كَأسُ عُقارٍ تَجري عَلى ثَمَلِ

Far better than standing over the ruins of the past,

Is a cup of wine circulating among the intoxicated,

يُديرُها أَحوَرٌ بِهِ هَيَفٌ

مُعتَدِلُ الخَلقِ راجِحُ الكَفَلِ

Passed round by a fawn-eyed youth with a slender waist,

Well-proportioned in form, heavy in the haunches.

عَلى شَبابٍ ما فيهِمُ خَرِقٌ

وَلا سَفيهٌ وَلا أَخو زَلَلِ

Amongst young men who have no clumsy lout in their midst,

Nor a fool, nor one prone to stumbling in error.

إِذا اِستَدارَت بِكَفِّهِ وَبَدَت

رَأَيتَ فيها كَهَيأَةِ الشُعَلِ

When the cup circles in his hand and gleams,

You see within it the resemblance of flames.

تَحكي لَنا الجُلَّنارَ وَجنَتُهُ

إِذا عَلاها تَوَرُّدُ الخَجَلِ

His cheek evokes for us the pomegranate blossom,

When the rosy flush of shyness rises upon it.

فَإِن تَرُم عِندَهُ مُداعَبَةً

قالَ لَكَ اِحذَر مِن ذَلِكَ العَمَلِ

Yet if you seek some playful dalliance with him,

He says to you, "Beware of such a deed."

فَحينَ مِنهُ خَشيتُ جَلوَتَهُ

أَكثَرَ في جودِهِ مِنَ القُبَلِ

So when I feared his open confrontation,

He became lavish in his generosity with kisses.

وَما لِمَن رامَ مِنهُ جَلوَتَهُ

وَصِرتُ مِن حُبِّهِ عَلى وَجَلِ

Yet finding no hope for one who sought his full unveiling,

I became, out of love for him, filled with dread.

دَعَوتُ إِبليسَ ثُمَّ قُلتُ لَهُ

قَد أَعجَزَتني مَذاهِبُ الحِيَلِ

I summoned Iblis, and then I said to him,

"The paths of trickery have left me baffled."

حَبلي وَحَبلُ الَّذي كَلِفتُ بِهِ

عَلى تَدانيهِ غَيرُ مُتَّصِلِ

"My rope and the rope of the one I am enamored with,"

"Despite his nearness, remain unconnected."

فَرَدَّهُ الشَيخُ عَن صُعوبَتِهِ

وَصارَ قَوّادَنا وَلَم يَزَلِ

So the Old Master turned him away from his stubbornness,

And became our procurer, and has remained so ever since.