أَيُّها الرائِحانِ بِاللَومِ لوما

لا أَذوقُ المُدامَ إِلّا شَميما

O you two who come with blame, blame on,

I taste not the wine, save for its scent.

نالَني بِالمَلامِ فيها إِمامٌ

لا أَرى لي خِلافَهُ مُستَقيما

An Imam has afflicted me with censure for it,

And I deem it not right for me to oppose him.

فَاِصرِفاها إِلى سِوايَ فَإِنّي

لَستُ إِلّا عَلى الحَديثِ نَديما

So turn the cup toward another, for truly I

Am but a drinking companion for the conversation.

كُبرُ حَظّي مِنها إِذا هِيَ دارَت

أَن أَراها وَأَن أَشُمَّ النَسيما

My utmost share of it, when it circulates,

Is to gaze upon it and breathe in its breeze.

فَكَأَنّي وَما أُزَيِّنُ مِنها

قَعَدِيٌّ يُزَيِّنُ التَحكيما

Thus I am, in how I adorn its praises,

Like a sitter-at-home extolling the call to Judgment;

كَلَّ عَن حَملِهِ السِلاحَ إِلى الحَر

بِ فَأَوصى المُطيقَ أَلّا يُقيما

Who grew too weak to bear arms into the war,

So he urged the able-bodied not to stay behind.