تَعالَي نَتَعاطاها كَلَونِ التِبرِ أَو أَسطَعِ

وَنَسقي النَرجِسَ الواشي بَقايا الراحِ في الكاسِ

Come let us take it like the colors of amber or brighter

Come, let us share a drink the color of gold dust, or even brighter,

And water the narcissus shedding the remnants of spirit in the cup

And pour the dregs of the cup for the spying Narcissus,

فَلا يَعرِفُ مَن نَحنُ وَلا يُبصِرُ ما نَصنَع

وَلا يَنقُلُ عِندَ الصُبحِ نَجوانا إِلى الناسِ

So no one knows who we are and no one sees what we do

So he will not know who we are, nor see what we do,

And no one conveys our goblets at dawn to the people

And will not carry our morning whispers to the people.

تعالَي نَسرُقُ اللَذاتِ ما ساعَفَنا الدَهرُ

وَما دُمنا وَدامَت لَنا في العَيشِ آمالُ

Come let us steal the pleasures while fortune indulges us

Come, let us steal life's pleasures while fate allows,

And while we and our hopes in life remain

And while we endure and hope remains alive for us.

فَإِن مَرَّ بِنا الفَجرُ وَما أَوقَظَنا الفَجرُ

فَما يوقِظُنا عِلمٌ وَلا يوقِظُنا مالُ

For if dawn passes by and dawn does not awaken us

For if the dawn passes us by and fails to wake us,

Then no knowledge or wealth will awaken us

Then neither knowledge nor wealth shall ever rouse us.

تَعالَي نُطلِقُ الرَوحَينِ مِن سِجنِ التَقاليدِ

فَهَذي زَهرَةُ الوادي تُذيعُ العِطرَ في الوادي

Come let us unleash our spirits from the prison of conventions

Come, let us liberate our souls from the prison of tradition,

For this is the valley’s flower spreading fragrance in the valley

For behold the valley flower, spreading its fragrance through the vale,

وَهَذا الطَيرُ تيّاهٌ فَخورٌ بِالأَغاريدِ

فَمن ذا عَنَّفَ الزَهرَةَ أَو مَن وَبَّخَ الشادي

And this is the proud bird singing melodies

And this wandering bird, proud of its melodies;

So who reproached the flower or blamed the chorister?

Who then has chided the flower, or who has rebuked the singer?

أَرادَ اللَهُ أَن نَعشَقَ لَمّا أَوجَدَ الحُسنا

وَأَلقى الحُبَّ في قَلبِكِ إِذ أَلقاهُ في قَلبي

God wanted us to love when He created beauty

God intended for us to love when He created beauty,

And cast love in your heart when He cast it in mine

And He cast love into your heart just as He cast it into mine.

مَشيأَتُهُ وَما كانَت مَشيأَتُهُ بِلا مَعنى

فَإِن طَحبَبتِ ما ذَنبُكِ أَو أَحبَبتِ ما ذَنبي

His will and His will was not meaningless

It is His will, and His will was never without purpose;

So if you sin by loving or I sin by loving, what is my or your sin?

So if you love, what is your sin? And if I love, what is mine?

دَعي اللاحي وَما صَنَّفَ وَالقالي وَبُهتانَه

أَلِلجَداوِلِ أَن يَجري وَلِلزَهرَةِ أَن تَعبَق

Leave the moralizer and his classifications and the slanderer his lies

Ignore the critic and his judgments, the hater and his slander;

It is for the streams to flow and for the flower to be fragrant

Is the stream allowed to flow, and the flower to smell sweet,

وَلِلأَطيارِ أَن تَشتاقَ أَيّاراً وَأَلوانَه

وَما لِلقَلبِ وَهوَ القَلبُ أَن يَهوى وَأَن يَعشَق

And for the birds to yearn for melodies and colors

And the birds to yearn for May and its colors,

And what is it to the heart when it is the heart to love and adore?

Yet the heart—being a heart—is forbidden to desire and to love?

تَعالَي إِنَّ رَبَّ الحُبِّ يَدعونا إِلى الغابِ

لِكَي يَمزُجُنا كَالماءِ وَالخَمرَةِ في كاسِ

Come for the Lord of Love calls us to the forest

Come, for the Lord of Love calls us to the forest,

That He may blend us like water and wine in a goblet

To blend us together like water and wine in a cup,

وَيَغدو النورُ جِلبابُكِ في الغابِ وَجِلبابي

فَكَم نُصغي إِلى الناسِ وَنُعصي خالِقَ الناسِ

And light becomes your gown in the forest and my gown

Where the light becomes your garment in the woods, and mine.

How we heed the people and disobey the Creator of people!

How long shall we heed the people and disobey the Creator of the people?

يُريدُ الحُبُّ أَن نَضحَكَ فَلنَضحَك مَعَ الفَجرِ

وَأَن نَركُضَ فَلنَركُضَ مَعَ الجَدوَلِ وَالنَهرِ

Love wants us to laugh so let us laugh with the dawn

Love wills us to laugh, so let us laugh with the dawn,

And run so let us run with the stream and the river

And to run, so let us run with the stream and the river,

وَأَن نَهتِفَ فَلنَهتِف مَعَ البُلبُلِ وَالقَمري

فَمَن يَعلَم بَعدَ اليَومِ ما يَحدُثُ أَو يَجري

And cheer so let us cheer with the nightingale and the moon

And to sing, so let us sing with the nightingale and the dove,

For who henceforth knows what happens or flows?

For who knows, after today, what will happen or come to pass?

تَعالَي قَبلَما تَسكُتُ في الرَوضِ الشَحاريرُ

وَيَذوي الحَورُ وَالصَفصافُ وَالنرجِسُ وَالآسِ

Come before the nightingales in the garden fall silent

Come, before the blackbirds in the garden fall silent,

And the nymphs and the willows and the narcissi and myrtle wither

And the poplar, the willow, the narcissus, and the myrtle wither away.

تَعالَي قَبلَما تَطمُرُ أَحلامي الأَعاصيرُ

فَنَستَيقِظُ لا فَجرٌ وَلا خَمرٌ وَلا كاسُ

Come before my dreams are buried by storms

Come, before the hurricanes bury my dreams,

And we wake to no dawn or wine or cup

And we awaken to find no dawn, no wine, and no cup.