أيّ نعيمٍ في الصِّبَا والمُقْتَرَحْ
وشغلُ كفّيّ بكوبٍ وقَدَحْ
What bliss is there in youth and its offerings,
My hands busy with a cup and a flask.
فَلا تَلُمني إنّني مُغْتَنِمٌ
مِنَ السّرورِ في زَمَاني ما مَنَحْ
So do not blame me if I make the most
Of the joys my time grants in its stretch.
فإنّهُ مُسْتَرْجِعٌ هِبَاتِهِ
وباخلٌ مِن الصِّبا بما سَمَح
For it takes back its gifts,
And youth bids farewell with what it gave.
وَسَقِّني من قهوَةٍ كاساتُها
تُسْرِجُ في الأيدي مصابيحَ الصّبح
Serve me coffee whose cups
Light lanterns for the dawns to wave,
لو شمَّها صاحٍ عَسيرٌ سُكْرُهُ
تحتَ لثامٍ في فدامٍ لَطَفَحْ
That if smelled by one drunk with woe
His inebriation would slip beneath the veil.
ولا تسوّفْني إلى ترويقها
لا يَشْتَوي اللّيثُ إذا اللّيثُ ذَبَحْ
And do not delay in serving it to me,
The lion is not sated when the lion is slain.
حتى أقولَ زاحفاً من نشوَتي
يَحْسُنُ بالتزحيفِ بيتُ المنسرح
Until I say, crawling with joy:
It is fine to embellish with rhythm the unconfined verse,
ومالئٍ زقّاً وكاهُ مردياً
سمَّ الأسَى منهُ بدُرْياقِ الفَرَح
One filling his jug to the brim and he whose mouth overflows,
Grief drinks its pure draught from him and is sated.
وجاثمٍ بين النّدامَى تَرْتَوي
أشباحُهُمْ منه بما يَرْوَى شَبَح
And one sitting among the remorseful whose specters
Are revived by what revives specters.
كأنّما رَدّتْ عليه روحَهُ
سُلافَةُ الرّاح فإن مُسّ رمح
As if his soul returned to him
By the healing of the gentle wind, for if touched by a lance,
غضّ الصّبا كأنّما حديثهُ
يمازجُ النّفسَ بأنفاسِ الملح
Youth sheds its bloom as if its talk
Mingled with the soul's breaths and salt.
حلّ وكاءً شدّهُ عن مُدْمَجٍ
طَلّ دم العنقودِ منه وسفح
It fermented turbid froth, drawing it from sediment,
The blood of grapes dripped from it and poured.
حتى إذا ما صبّ منه رَيّقاً
سدّ على ذَوْبِ العَقيقِ مَا فتح
When it poured clear wine from it,
It sealed the flaws of carnelian with what it opened.
ترَى نجيعَ الزقّ منهُ راشحاً
كأنّهُ من وَدَجِ اللّيلِ رَشَح
You see the sediment's lees pouring from it
As if it dripped from the darkness of night.
مُدامَةٌ للرّوحِ أُخْتٌ بَرّةٌ
يَنْأى بها سُرورُنا عنِ التَرَح
An inebriating drink, a pure sister
With which our joy avoids disquiet.
قد عَلِمَتْ مزاجَهُ فَشُرْبُها
يَجْرَحُهُ ثُمّتَ يَأسُو ما جَرَح
It knew its composition, so drinking it
Wounds, then its bitterness heals the wound.
وتجعلُ القارَ الذي باشَرَها
في الدنّ مسكاً للعرانينِ نفح
It makes the nectar it touched
In the vessels like musk to the maidens wafting.
يحجب جسمُ الكاسِ من سعيرِها
نفحاً عن الكاسِ ولولاه نفح
The body of the cup conceals its blaze
A waft from the cup, without it a waft.
والشّمْسُ منها في نقابِ غَيمِها
مخافةً من نورها أن تُفْتَضَحْ
The sun in its clouds' veil
Hides for fear its light will be exposed.
يومٌ كأنّ القَطْرَ فيهِ لؤلؤٌ
يَنْظِمُ للرّوضِ عُقُوداً وَوُشَح
A day as if its drops were pearls
Stringing necklaces and bracelets for the garden.
يَقدحُ ناراً من زنادِ بَرْقِهِ
ويطفئُ الغيثُ سريعاً ما قَدَح
Kindling fire from the flint of its lightning
While the rain quickly douses what it lit.
لمّا جَرَتْ فيهِ الصَّبا عَليلةً
رقّ الهواءُ فيهِ للنّفسِ وصَح
When the zephyr blew sickly in it
The air softened in it for the soul and cleared.
كأنّما الكافورُ نَثْرُ ثَلْجِناْ
أو نَدَفَ البُرْسَ لنا قوسُ قزح
As if our camphor were a scattering of snow
Or Iris let down her bow for us.
حتى علا الجوَّ دجىً لم يَغْتَبِقْ
فيه الثّرَى من الحيا كما اصطَبَح
Until the sky darkened with a gloom in which
The ground did not distinguish between serpent and rope.
غرابُ ليل فوقنا مُحَلّقٌ
يَقْبِضُ عنّا ظلّه إذا جنح
A raven of night hovering over us
Withdrawing its shade when it flew.
وقد محا صبغَ الدّياجي قَمَرٌ
دينارُهُ في كَفّةِ الغَرْبِ رَجَح
And a shining moon erased the dyer's color
Its dinar weighed down the scale of sunset.
حتى إذا ردّ حُدا عدوّهِمْ
من كان في وادي الرّقادِ قد سرَح
Until when the limit turned back their enemy
Those in the valley of slumber were set loose.
نَبّهَ ذا هَذا وكلٌّ طَرْفُهُ
يلمحُ طرْفَ الشكرِ من حيثُ لمح
This one awoke that, each
Catching sight of the dawn's rim from where it glanced.
يسألُ في تقويمِ جيدٍ مائلٍ
لو لم يسامحْ في الحميّا لسَمَح
Asking in a tilting fine script
If it did not forgive in zeal it would erase.
أضاربٌ كفّيه يَشدو سَحَراً
أم نافضٌ سقطيه فيه قد صَدَح
Those clapping hands singing the dawn
Or shaking off sleep in which he was sunk?
نبّهَ للقهوَةِ كلّ طافح
في مصرَعِ السكر قتيلاً مُطّرَح
It alerted each brimming Cupbearer
To the coffee a slain victim tossed about.
من كلّ جذلان كأنّ رُوحَهُ
عن جسمه من شدّةِ السكرِ نَزَح
From every runt as if his soul
Had leaked from his body from the intensity of syrup.
إنّ الّذي شَحَّ على إيقاظِهِ
سامَحَ في الشُّهْبِ نداماهُ فشَح
He who was stingy in rousing him
Forgave in the gray hairs his regret overflowed.
وجاءنا السّاقي بصَحنٍ مُفْعَمٍ
لو شاءَ أنْ يَسْبَحَ فيه لسَبَح
And the Cupbearer came to us with a overflowing saucer
If he wished he could swim in it.
يا لائمي في الراح كم سيئةٍ
تجاوَزَ الغَفّارُ عنها وصَفَح
Oh you who blame me for pleasure, how many sins
The Forgiving One has overlooked and pardoned.
ماذا تُريدُ من سَبُوقٍ كُلّما
رُمْتَ وقوفاً منه باللّومِ جَمَح
What do you want from one who, whenever
You stand to blame him, is compliant?
أغشُّ خلقِ اللَّه عند ذي هوى
من عَرَضَ الرشدَ عليه ونصح
The most foolish of God's creations in love
Is one who presents him reason and advice.
حتى إذا فكّرَ عَنْ بَصيرَةٍ
ذمّ من الأفعالِ ما كان مَدَح
Until when he reflects with insight
He blames what he had praised of deeds.
