أَعاذِلُ دَع لَومي وَهاكَ وَهاتِ

هَلِ العَيشُ فَاِصدُق غَيرَ ذا بِحَياتي

My beauty, leave blaming me, cease your complaints

Is life for truthfulness? Be sincere without pretense

تَصَدَّق عَلى المِسكينِ مِنكَ بِقُبلَةٍ

فَإِنّي أَراها أَصدَقَ الحَسَناتِ

Bestow a kiss upon this beggar, it is charity

For I see it as the most virtuous of good deeds

يُعاطيكَ خَمراً مِن فَمٍ قَد شَرِبتَها

هِيَ الخَمرُ حَقّاً لا اِبنَةُ الكَرَماتِ

He offers you a wine from a mouth you've sipped

This wine in truth, not daughters of the vines

أَعاذِلُ إِنّي لا أُعاجِلُ تَوبَةً

وَلَستُ أُلاقي تَوبَةً بِأَناتي

My beauty, I shall not rush to repent

Nor will I find repentance in my sighs

وَراحٍ تَلَقَّيتُ الصَبيحَ بِكَأسِها

وَقَد سارَ جَيشُ الصُبحِ في الظُلُماتِ

At dawn I met a wanderer and her cup

As the dawn army marched forth in the dark

وَنادَيتُ يَحيى فَاِستَجابَ وَطالَما

كَسا جِسمَها مِن فَضَّةٍ حَلَقاتِ

I called out to Zainab who answered while

Bracelets of silver adorned her ankles

سُلافَةُ كَرمٍ فُجِّرَت في عُروشِها

جَداوِلُ ماءٍ مِن خَليجِ فُراتِ

Waters sprung from the valley's generous vines

Rivulets flowing from the Euphrates' stream

فَلَمّا تَدَلَّت كَالثُدَيِّ وَأَصبَحَت

عَلى القَصَبِ المَعروشِ مُنبَعِثاتِ

When they dangled like breasts and awoke

Draped on canes, newly emitted

أُضيفَت إِلى قارِيَّةٍ خَزَفِيَّةٍ

مُصَبَّغَةٍ بِالطينِ مُعتَجِراتِ

They were poured into an earthenware flask

Glazed with clay, steeped to darkness