بِالقَفصِ لِلقَصفِ مَنزِل كَثَبُ

ما لِلتَصابى في غَيرِهِ أَرَبُ

The cage is home to birds, where they make their abode

Free birds have no joy outside their natural mode

جادَت بِهِ ديمَةُ السُرورِ وَحَل

ل اللَهو فيهِ وَعَرَّسَ الطَربُ

Bliss has made it a place full of joy and delight

Play and music and dance are hosted here at night

دارَت نُجومُ السُرورِ في فَلَكٍ

منه لَهُ مِن فُتُوَّتي قَطَبُ

Stars of happiness orbit in its celestial sphere

My exuberance made it the pole and axis here

مِن كُلِّ جِسمٍ كَأَنَّهُ عَرَضٌ

يَكادُ لُطفاً بِاللَحظِ يُنتَهبُ

Each part of it seems like a vision that could

Almost with a glance, gently be robbed

نورٌ وَإِن لَم يَغِب وَوَهمٌ وَإِن

صَحَّ وَماءٌ لَو كانَ يَنسَكِبُ

An illusion, though constant, and water though

Would spill if tipped, and perfect but for one flaw

لا عَيب فيهِ سِوى إِذاعَتهُ السْ

سِرَّ الَّذي في حَشاهُ يُحتَجِبُ

Which is its broadcasting the secret I hide

In its enclosure from which I cannot divide

كَأَنَّما صاغَهُ النِفاقُ فَما

يُخلِصُ مِنهُ صِدقٌ وَلا كَذِبُ

As if hypocrisy formed it, so that in the end

Neither truth nor falsehood from it I can defend

فَهُوَ إِلى لَون ما يُجاوِرُهُ

عَلى اِختِلافِ الطِباعِ يَنتَسِبُ

It takes the color of what sits next to its space

Matching each nature that it needs to embrace

إِذا اِدَّعاهُ اللَجينُ أَكذَبَهُ

بِالراحِ في صَبغِ جِسمِهِ الذَهَبُ

When the base claim it, it rejects their lie

As the wine stains its gold to redden its dye

جَلَت عَروسُ المَدامِ حالِيَةً

فيهِ عَلَينا الأَوتارُ وَالنَخبُ

The bride of revelry graced it, radiant and fair

With rhythms and melodies filling the air

فَالراحُ بَدرٌ وَالجامُ هالَتُهُ

وَالأُفُقُ كَفي وَالأَنجمُ الحَبَبُ

The wine is a moon and the cup is its crescent phase

The sky is my palm and the stars are beloved maze

حالَ بِهِ الماءُ عَن طَبيعَتِهِ

بِالمَزجِ حَتّى خلناهُ يَلتَهِبُ

The water let go its nature with perfect blend

Mixing with us until we saw it ignite

وَنَحنُ في مَجلِسٍ تُديرُ بِهِ ال

خَمرَ عَلَينا الأَقداحُ لا العُلَبُ

In a gathering where cups, not jars, bring around

Wine that for homelessness provides the best ground

يَنسى بِأَوطانِهِ الحَنينَ إِلى ال

أَوطانِ مَن بِالسُرورِ يَغتَرِبُ

Forgetting home when immersed in joy is found

By those who from home for happiness are bound

لَولا حِفاظي المَشهورما أَمِنت

مِن بُعدِ بغدادَ سَلوَتى حَلَبُ

Without my famous self-restraint I could not feel secure

Far from Baghdad, finding in Aleppo my cure