قُمْ هاتِها من كفّ ذاتِ الوِشاحْ

فقَد نَعى اللّيلَ بشيرُ الصّباح

Arise, give me this cup from the hand of she who wears a veil,

For the harbinger of dawn has announced the night's demise,

واحللْ عُرَى نومكَ عن مُقلَةٍ

تَمْقُلُ أحداقاً مِراضاً صحاح

And remove the bonds of your slumber from the eyes

That have become heavy with drowsiness and pain.

خَلِّ الكرَى عَنكَ وخُذْ قَهْوَةً

تُهدي إلى الرّوحِ نسيمَ ارتياح

Set aside your worries, take some coffee

That sends a refreshing breeze to the soul,

هذا صَبُوحٌ وَصَبَاحٌ فما

عُذْرُكَ في تَرْكِ صَبُوح الصّباح

This is morning and dawn, so what

Excuse is there for you to miss the dawn?

باكِرْ إلى اللّذّاتِ وارْكَبْ لها

سَوابقَ اللّهوِ ذواتِ المِراح

Hasten to pleasures, and race towards them

On the steeds of frivolity and delight,

من قبل أنْ ترشُفَ شمسُ الضّحى

ريقَ الغوادي من ثُغُورٍ الأقاح

Before the sun of morning drinks

The saliva of the dark hills from the springs,

أو يطويَ الظلُّ بساطاً إذا

ما بَرِحَ الطلّ له عنْ بَرَاح

Or the shadow folds its carpet when

The shining sun does not cease its brilliance.

يا حَبّذا ما تبصرُ العينُ مِنْ

أنْجُمٍ راحٍ فوقَ أفلاكِ راح

How excellent is what the eye perceives

Of stars set at ease above the heavens at rest,

في روضةٍ غنّاءَ غنّتْ بها

في قُضُبِ الأوْراقِ وُرْقٌ فِصَاح

In a verdant garden where branches sang

Songs in the thin rods and delicate leaves.

لا يعرفُ النّاظرُ أغصانَها

إذا تثنتْ من قدودِ الملاح

The onlooker knows not its boughs

When they bend with the salt's prodding,

كَأنّ مفتوتَ عبيرٍ بها

مُطَيّبٌ منه هُبوبُ الرّياح

As if its melting fragrance is perfumed

By the wafting of the winds.

من كلّ مقصورٍ على رنّةٍ

لو دمَعَتْ عَينٌ له قلتَ ناح

From each enclosed pavilion comes a tone,

At which, if an eye wept, you would say it wails,

أو ساجعٍ تحسَبُ ألحانَهُ

مِن كُلّ نَدمانٍ عَلَيهِ اقتراح

Or a lover, whose melodies you'd think

Were proposals of regret from every reproachful companion.

إنْ قيل بَدّلْ بُدّلَتْ نَغْمَةٌ

منه كأنّ الجِدّ منها مُزاح

If it were said, change! An altered melody

Would come from it, as if jesting in earnest.

يا صاحِ لا تصحُ فكمْ لذّةٍ

في السكرِ لم يَدْرِ بها عيشُ صاح

O morning cup, do not call to wakefulness, for what pleasure

Is in sobriety that life's drunkenness does not know?

وأَركبْ زماناً لا جماحٌ لهُ

من قبْلِ أنْ يحدثَ فيه الجماح

And set out a time that has no obstacles

Before obstacles arise in it.

قلتُ لحادينا وكأسُ السرى

دائِرَةٌ من كَفّ عَزْمٍ صُرَاح

I said to our guide, and the circulating cup

Of pure wine in the grip of resolute hands,

والعيسُ في شِرّةِ إرقالها

تلطِمُ بالأيدي خدودَ البطاح

As the cupbearer strikes her cheeks

With it at the drinking sessions.

لا تُطْمِعِ الأنضاءَ في راحةٍ

وإن وصلنا بغدوٍّ رواح

Do not harbor hopes of rest in the gazelles,

Even if we arrive at pastures in the early dew.

من كلّ مثل الغَرْبِ مَمْلُوءَةٍ

أيناً فما تَنْشَطُ عندَ امتِياح

For they are fully sated, even devoid

Of the little given them by a miserly hand.

فهي سخيّاتٌ وإنْ خلتها

بما أنالَتْ من ذميلٍ شحاح

They rub their eyelids against the cedars

To the rightly-guided king, the asked for sovereign,

تمتحُ بالأَرسانِ أرْماقَهَا

إِلى الرَشيدِ المَلِكِ المُستَماح

Indeed the servants of God gained might through him,

The right hand of leniency, the right hand of power,

إنّ عُبَيدَ اللَّه منه انتَضَت

يمانيَ البأسِ يمينُ السّماح

A king whose ring seals the eminent

Whenever he appears, beginning with his father,

مَلْكٌ به تُخْتَمُ أهْلُ العُلَى

إِذا بدا فَبِأَبيهِ افتِتاح

And through him humiliation spread among the lowly

And honor spread among the righteous.

وعمّ منهُ الذلُّ أهلَ الخنى

وعمَّ منْهُ العزُّ أهلَ الصّلاح

Seeking good, generous, protected in dignity

And praised in speech.

مستَهدِفُ المعروفِ سمحٌ لهُ

عِرْضٌ مَصُونٌ وثناءٌ مباح

He lowers in his rule the wing of eminence

As lowering a wing does not raise worth.

يخفضُ في المُلْكِ جنَاحَ العُلى

لم يَرْفَعِ القَدْرَ كخفضِ الجَناح

His white swords blind the enemies’ souls

Whenever they desire war and combat.

تمهرُ أرواحَ العدى بيْضُهُ

إذا أرادتْ من حروبٍ نكاح

So whenever they sing his praise in their gathering,

They leave behind, after their singing, only wailing.

فكلّما غَنّتْهُ في هامهم

أبْقَتْ على إثْرِ الغناءِ النّياح

How many nights shone at the darkness’s edge

With the green of the army at dawn’s first light,

كَمْ ليلَةٍ أشرَقَ في جُنحِها

بخضرمِ الجَيشِ إلال الصّباح

His standards’ hawks flying guided

By the stars of spears.

تسري بها عقبانُ راياتِهِ

مهتَدياتٍ بنُجومِ الرّماح

Ships you’d think were, on the horizon,

The Milky Way a water-hole,

حوائِماً تحسبُ في أُفْقِهِ

مَجَرّةَ الخَضراءِ ماءً قراح

As if the wind blew them along with

The hearts of your enemies on the day of struggle.

كأنّها والرّيحُ تَهفُو بهَا

قلوبُ أعدائِكَ يومَ الكِفاح

How many desperate straits has its lion produced

Red blood from the nostrils and lips of the foe

كَمْ مأزِقٍ أصدرتْ عن أُسْدِهِ

حُمْراً خَياشيمَ القنا والصفاح

Opening in the joining of their skulls

The violet of blades and the red of wounds.

يَفتَح في سَوْسَانِ لَبّاتِهِم

بنفسجُ الزّرْقِ شقيقَ الجراح

As if the scattered parts of their skulls

Were eggs split above the brains.

كأنّ أطرافَ الظُّبَى بينَهُمْ

تفلقُ فوقَ الهامِ بيضَ الأداح

You met them, each a dignitary

Whose lifetime is narrowed by ample steps.

أقبلتَهُمْ كلّ وجيهيَّةٍ

تضيّقُ العُمْرَ خطاها الفساح

As if their sights were streaming down

With what they had fed on from the striking of cheekbones.

كأنّما ترشَحُ أبصارُهَا

بما اغتَذَتْهُ من ضَريبِ اللّقاح

Were it not for you, son of glory unparalleled,

No hopes would attain the door of success,

لولاك يا ابن العزّ من يَعْرُبٍ

لم تَلجِ الآمالُ بابَ النّجاح

Nor would good fortune meet those who equaled you

Among the noble poets in the lofty ode.

ولا تَلَقّى الفَوزَ إذ سوهموا

بنو القوافي من مُعَلّى القداح

So enjoy a celebration that has come to you

With every tongue praising you.

فانْعمْ بعيدٍ قد أتى ناظماً

كلُّ لسانٍ لك فيه امتداح

For you have shown us in the spreading of amusements

Your hand restraining the acts of excess and profligacy.

فقد أرتنا في ابتذالِ اللّهَى

كفُّكَ أفعالَ المُدَى في الأضاح