أحبابنا مذ بانوا — Alshaghouri — Saqi

Since our beloveds departed,
they have banished our sleep.
So after them, they have not dried—
the eyelids, wet with their tears.
They departed; and my heart, wherever
they are, has a home.
Its yearnings have not grown still,
while they dwell within it.
I conceal my love for them—but can
there be concealment with weeping?
How many a departing maiden
the camel-litters carried away!
Her sides sway;
the bān trees are bewildered by her.
Her buttocks quiver;
the sand dunes envy her.
The gazelles have neither her neck
nor her drowsy gaze.
How far apart! How can the spear's butt compare with
what the spearhead has attained?
And her cheek was lent
Lebanon's apples.
And in her two cheeks were laid
the gardens' roses.
On her chest are two breasts, envied
by the pomegranates.
For she is resplendent with the best of what
makes a garden resplendent.
No longer delightful, after them,
are that sanctuary and the bān trees.
And after Nuʿm, no longer
does Naʿmān stir my longing.
No, nor Wajra, since
the gazelles are not there.
Wine—as though
pure gold had melted in it.
So the sober one is the loser, then,
and the drunken one the winner.
So fill the cup for me, for my heart
is full of sorrow.
It was with the prophet Noah
when the Flood came.
Its bubbles are Mālik to me,
and love of it is Riḍwān.
And this world, to us,
is a beloved adorned.
And her saliva is nothing but
what the wine jars have spat out.
Through drinking it are bestowed upon us
repose and sweet basil.
From one called the All-Forgiving
forgiveness is hoped for.
My lord Badr al-Dīn, may
time never oppose you.
And may you endure as long as
Thahlān stands in its place.
May the Qurʾān guard you from
what the conjunction brings about,
when we see Jupiter
in conjunction with Saturn.
In a realm whose sultan
has no equal among sultans.
You are the youth whom
Fityān excels at praising.