وَصَفراءُ كَالشَّمسِ تَبدو لَنا

مِنَ الكأسِ في هالَةٍ مُستَديرَه

Golden like the sun she appears to us

In her round goblet with a halo

يُلاعِبُها الماءُ في مَزْجِهَا

فَيُضحِكَها عن نُجُومٍ مُنيرَه

The water plays with her blend

And makes her laugh with bright stars

إِذا جارَ هَمُّ الفَتى وَاعتَدى

رَأَيتَ بِها نَفْسَهُ مُستَجيرَه

When the young man's worries attack him

You will see in her his place of refuge

فَتُرْوي صَداهُ وَتُدني مُنَاه

وتُرْدي أساه وَتُحْيي سُرورَه

She quenches his thirst and draws him near

And chases away his pain and delights his joy

زُجاجٌ وخَمرٌ وماءٌ كَما

تَقولُ هَيُولى وَنَفْسٌ وصُورَه

Glass and wine and water as

The philosophers say, spirit and form

أَطِرْ عَنكَ نَوْمَكَ وانظُرْ إِلى

نَهارٍ أَفاضَ على اللَّيل نُورَه

Cast off your sleep and look

At a day that poured its light on the night

كَأَنَّ دُجَى اللَّيلِ لمَّا استَرق

نَمومٌ مِنَ الصُّبحِ يُفْشي سَريرَه

As if the darkness of night when it faded

Dawn stole away unveiling its bed

شَرِبْنَا على وَجْهِ بَدرِ السّماءِ

وَنُسْقى على وجه شَمْسِ الظَهيرَه

We drank in the face of the full moon in the sky

And we were given to drink in the face of the blazing sun

بفوّاحةِ النَّوْر مُكّاؤها

يُرَجّعُ في كلّ غُصْنٍ صَفيرَه

With the fragrance of light, its resting place

Returns song to every branch

مَرَت فَوقَها حَلَبَ المُعْصِرات

رِياحٌ لِكُلِّ سَحابٍ مُثيرَه

The pressing winds blew over it

Stirring each cloud

كَأَنَّ الفَرَزدَقَ في طَيرها

يُجيبُ عَلى كُلِّ شِعرٍ جَريرَه

As if al-Farazdaq in his flight

Responding to every poem of Jarir's

قَصَرْنا بها طولَ ليلِ التّمامِ

بِعَيشٍ هَنيءٍ عَدِمْنَا نَظيرَه

We shortened by it the long night of perfection

With a delightful life, we had no equal to it

كَأنَّ الكؤُوسَ بِأَيدي السَّقاةِ

خُيولٌ عَلى الهَمِّ مِنَّا مُغيرَه

As if the cups in the hands of the cupbearers

Horses attacking our worries

وَطِيبُ النَّعيمِ لَهُ ساعَةٌ

تُعَدُّ وإِن هِيَ طالتْ قَصيرَه

And the pleasures of bliss for it there is an hour

That counts even if it is short