أَنت وَالكَأسُ في يَدي

فَلِمَن أَنتِ في غَدِ

You and the cup are in my hand,

You and the cup are in my hand,

So to whom will you belong tomorrow?

But to whom will you belong tomorrow?

فَاِستَشاطَت لِقَولَتي

غَضَباً في تَمَرُّدِ

She was enraged at my words,

She flared up at my words

In rebellion and defiance.

With anger and rebellion,

وَأَشاحَت بِوَجهِها

وَاِدَّعَت أَنَّني رَدي

She turned her face away,

And she turned her face away,

Claiming I was insincere in my passion,

Claiming that I was wretched,

كاذِبٌ في صَبابَتي

ماذِقٌ في تَوَدُّدي

A liar in my youth,

A liar in my passion,

And a fraud in my overtures.

Deceitful in my affection.

قُلتُ عَفواً فَإِنَّها

سَورَةٌ مِن مُعَربِدِ

I said, "Forgive me, it was

I said, "Forgive me, for it was"

Just a flight of poetic fancy."

"Merely a drunkard's outburst."

وَجَرى الصُلح وَاِلتَقى

ثَغرَها ثَغرِيَ الصَدي

Peace was made, and

So peace was restored, and there met

My lips met her sweet mouth.

Her lips with my thirsty mouth.

أَذعَنَ القَلبُ طائِعاً

بَعدَ ذاكَ التَمَرُّدِ

My heart submitted willingly

The heart submitted obediently

After that rebellion.

After that rebellion,

فَنَعِمنا هُنَيهَةً

بِالوَلاءِ المُجَدَّدِ

So we enjoyed a moment

And we basked in bliss for a moment

Of renewed loyalty,

In our renewed devotion,

بَينَ ماءٍ مُصَفِّقٍ

وَهَزارٍ مُغَرِّدِ

Between the sound of splashing water

Beside the rippling waters

And the songs of birds.

And the warbling nightingale.

ثُمَّ عادَت وَساوِسي

فَأَنا في تَرَدُّدِ

Then my doubts returned,

But then my dark whispers returned,

And I was left confused.

And I fell back into hesitation.

راعَها مِنِّيَ الحُبُّ السُكو

تُ فَذَمَّت تَبَلُّدي

My silent love alarmed her,

My silence alarmed her,

So she rebuked my apathy.

So she chided my aloofness.

قالَتِ الحُبُّ سَرمَدٌ

قُلتُ لا شَيءَ سَرمَدي

She said, "Love is eternal."

She said, "Love is eternal."

I said, "Nothing is eternal."

I replied, "Nothing is eternal."

أَتُحِبّينَني إِذا

زالَ مَجدي وَسُؤدُدي

"Will you still love me

"Would you love me still if"

When my glory and power fade?"

"My glory and prestige were gone?"

فَأَجابَت لِفَورِها

أَنتَ لا المَجَدَ مَقصَدي

She immediately replied,

She answered at once:

"It's you I want, not your glory."

"You, not glory, are my desire."

قُلتُ هَل تَحفَظينَ عَه

دي إِذا صاغَ عَسجَدي

I said, "Will you keep your promise

I said, "Would you keep our covenant"

If fortune fails me?"

"If my gold were to vanish?"

فَأَجابَت بِرِقَّةٍ

أَنتَ ما عِشتُ سَيِّدي

She tenderly answered,

She answered with tenderness:

"You are forever my master."

"You are my lord as long as I live,"

كُنتَ كَالشَمسِ في الغِنى

أَم فَقيراً كَجَدجَدِ

Once I shone like the sun, rich,

"Whether you were rich as the sun"

Now I am poor as a beggar.

"Or poor as a field cricket."

حَسَناً قُلتُ ضاحِكاً

يا مَلاكي وَفَرقَدي

"Good," I said laughing,

"Very well," I said, laughing,

"My angel and my joy."

"O my angel and my guiding star,"

إِنَّما هَل يَدومُ لي

حُبُّكِ المُشرِقُ النَدي

But will your love for me endure,

"But will it truly last for me,"

Radiant and fresh?

"Your radiant, dewy love,"

إِن حَنى الدَهرُ قامَتي

وَمَحا الشَيبُ أَسوَدي

If time should bend me,

"If time bends my stature"

And grey tinge my black hair,

"And gray hair erases my youth?"

وَاِنطَوى رَونَقُ الصِبا

مِثلَ بَرقٍ بِفَدفَدِ

And the bloom of youth fade

"When the luster of youth fades away"

Like lightning in clouds.

"Like lightning in a barren desert?"

قالَتِ الشَكُّ آفَةُ الحُب

بِ فَاِنبُذهُ تَسعَدِ

She said, "Doubt is the bane of love,

She said, "Doubt is the blight of love,"

So cast it away and be happy.

"So cast it aside and find happiness."

لَيسَ حُبّيكَ لِلصِبا

لَستَ فيهِ بِأَوحَدِ

My love is not just for your youth,

"My love for you is not for youth,"

You are peerless to me.

"For in that, you are not unique,"

بَل لِما فيكَ مِن صِفا

ت وَمِن طيبِ مُحتَدِ

But for your noble character

"But for the virtues within you"

And pure intentions."

"And for your noble spirit."

قُلت وَالشَكُّ رائِحٌ

في ضَميري وَمُغتَدِ

I said, "Yet doubt gnaws

I said, while doubt still paced

At my heart and mind.

Back and forth within my mind:

وَإِذا غالَني الحَما

م وَأَصبَحتُ في غَدِ

And when grim death takes me

"And what if death should seize me,"

And I am gone tomorrow,

"And tomorrow I became"

جَنَّةً لَفَّها الثَرى

بَِلظَلامِ المُؤَبَّدِ

My body rots in a grave

"A corpse enveloped by the soil"

In that endless darkness,

"In eternal darkness,"

لَيسَ فيها لِصاحِبٍ

أَرَبٌ أَو لِحُسَّدِ

With no loved one or enemy,

"Where neither friend has need,"

While worms feed on my flesh,

"Nor envier has interest,"

وَسَرى الدودُ حَولَها

يَتَغَذّى وَيَعتَدي

And you walk by at dawn

"And the worms crawl around it,"

And see only barren bones,

"Feeding and feasting,"

وَمَرَرتِ الغَداةَ بي

فَمَرَرتِ بِجامِدِ

Scattered by decay

"And you passed by me one morning,"

Like logs burnt away.

"Passing by a lifeless thing,"

وَنَظَرتِ فَلَم تَرَي

غَيرَ عَظمٍ مُجَرَّدِ

Will you still love me then,

"And you looked but saw nothing"

For my spirit and passion?"

"Save for a naked bone,"

بَعثَرَتهُ يَدُ البِلى

كَنافِياتِ مَوقِدِ

At that she cried, her tears

"Scattered by the hand of decay"

Flowing like a shattered vessel.

"Like the ashes of a hearth—"

هَل تُحِبّينَني إِذَن

لِخِلالي وَمَحتَدي

"How wrongly you think of me!

"Will you love me even then,"

O misguided one, come to your senses!

"For my virtues and my lineage?"

وَيكَ صاحَت وَدَمعُها

كَجُمانٍ مُبَدَّدِ

I call the dawn as witness,

"Woe to you!" she cried, her tears

Gushing on meadows of daisies,

Falling like scattered pearls,

كَم تَظُنُّ الظُنونَ بي

أَيُّها الزائِغُ اِهتَدِ

I call the night that clothes me

"How often you doubt me!"

In the gown of infinity,

"O straying soul, find the path!"

أَشهِدُ الصُبحَ فائِضاً

في مُروجِ الزَبَرجَدِ

I call the rain that nourishes,

"I call the overflowing morning to witness"

The field that flourishes,

"In the emerald meadows,"

أَشهِدُ اللَيلَ لابِساً

طَيلَسانَ التَمَرُّدِ

The winged creatures,

"I call the night to witness,"

Singing or on the nest,

"Cloaked in the shawl of rebellion,"

أُشهِدُ الغَيثَ مُعطِياً

أُشهِدُ الحَقلَ يَجتَدي

The flowers and their fragrance

"I witness the giving rain,"

On the slopes and in the valleys.

"And the field that begs for it,"

وَذَواتِ الجَناحِ مِن

باغِمٍ أَو مُغَرِّدِ

I call the earth and the sky,

"And the winged creatures,"

I call God, my Creator as witness:

"Those that murmur and those that sing,"

وَالأَزاهير وَالشَذى

في وِهاد وَأَنجُدِ

I will love you as you see,

"And the blossoms and the fragrance"

For passion and tenderness.

"In the valleys and the hills,"

أُشهِدُ الأَرض وَالسَما

أُشهِدُ اللَهَ موجِدي

I will whisper to you at dawn,

"I call earth and sky to witness,"

The gentle time of rest.

"I call God, my Creator, to witness,"

سَوفَ أَحيا كَما تَرى

لِلهَوى وَالتَوَجُّدِ

And whisper at dusk

"That I shall live, as you see,"

And the twilight motorcade.

"For love and for passion."

فَأُناجيكَ في الضُحى

وَهوَ أَمراسُ عَسجَدِ

Doffing her mantle in the countryside,

"I will whisper to you in the morning light,"

The night comes in, chilled.

"When it spins ropes of gold,"

وَأُناجيكَ في المَسا

وَالأَصيلِ المُوَرَّدِ

The streams sing to her

"And I will whisper to you in the evening"

Like hymns in a temple.

"And in the rosy twilight."

في الرُبى تَخلَعُ الجَما

لَ بُرودا وَتَرتَدي

And the birds come to her

"On the hills that strip off beauty"

To warm their feathers.

"Like cloaks, only to don them again,"

وَالسَواقي لَها غِنا

ءٌ كَأَلحانِ مَعبَدِ

I stay up, keeping the night company

"Where the rivulets sing songs"

With troubled heart.

"Sweet as the melodies of Ma'bad,"

وَالعَصافيرِ أَقبَلَت

نَحوَها لِلتَبَرُّدِ

And when I sleep, your phantom

"And the birds approach,"

Creeps up on my bed.

"Coming to the water to cool themselves."

أَسهَرُ اللَيلَ وَحشَةً

بِفُؤادٍ مُشَدَّدِ

Desire for you fills me

"I will stay awake the night in loneliness,"

Without end.

"With a heavy, bound heart,"

وَإِذا نُمتُ كَي

يَطرُقَ الطَيفُ مَرقَدي

And I moan heavily in sorrow,

"And if I sleep, it is only so"

My sighing distressed.

"Your phantom might visit my bed,"

فَيَظَلَّ الهِيامُ بي

يَنتَهي حَيثُ يَبتَدي

We embraced for a moment

"So that my passion continues,"

Like both my eyelids shut.

"Ending where it began."

وَبِحُزنٍ تَنَهَّدتُ

فَاِستَجاشَت تَنَهُّدي

Yesterday escaped fleetingly.

Sadly she sighed,

Today is not forever.

And her sigh stirred my own.

فَاِعتَنَقنا سُوَيعَةً

مِثلَ جَفنِيَ مُسَهَّدِ

Now I am alone with no beloved

We embraced for a fleeting moment,

In this solitude.

Like the closing of a sleepless eye.

أَفلَتَ الأَمسَ هارِباً

وَغدٌ لَيسَ مِن غَدِ

My friend, pass the wine,

Yesterday fled away, escaping,

And sing your melodies!

And tomorrow is no more.

وَصُرتُ وَحدي وَلَيسَ لي

أَرَبٌ في التَوَحُّدِ

Whenever I say "my friend, replenish,"

I became alone, with no

Fill my cup again and again!

Desire for solitude.

يا نَديمي إِلى الكُؤو

س وَيا مِنشِدَ اِنشُدِ

Do not ask what season it is,

O cupbearer, to the cups!

Or when my birthday falls.

And O singer, sing on!

زِد لِيَ الشَمرَ كُلَّما

قُلتُ يا صاحِبي زِدِ

I still have my youth,

Fill my cup again whenever

My glory, my power,

I say: "O my friend, give me more!"

لا تَقُل أَيُّ مَوسِمٍ

ذا فَذا يَومُ مَولِدي

My rashness, my passion.

Do not ask what occasion this is,

Only she left me

For today is my birthday.

أَنا ما زِلتُ في الحَيا

ةِ لي شَبابي وَسُؤدُدي

Two nights before our tryst.

I am still alive,

She did not die, but went

Possessing my youth and my pride,

وَلُجَيني وَعَسجَدي

وَخِلالي وَمَحتَدي

Beyond my reach.

My silver and my gold,

The plague of love is

My virtues and my lineage.

إِنَّما تِلكُ أَخلَفَت

قَبلَ لَيلَينِ مَوعِدي

It dwells in hearts and livers

But she broke the promise

So it is like an unlasting fire,

Of our meeting two nights ago.

لَم تَمُت لا وَإِنَّما

أَصبَحَت في سِوى يَدي

In flimsy kindling.

She did not die, no,

But she has fallen into other hands.

آفَةُ الحُبِّ أَنَّهُ

في قُلوب وَأَكبُدِ

The tragedy of love is that

It dwells in hearts and souls,

فَهوَ كَالنارِ لَم تَدُم

في هَشيمٍ لِمَوقِدِ

Like a fire that cannot last

When fed only with dry straw.