اِسقِياني على اِقتراحِ العَذارى

وَاِعذراني فَقَد خَلعتُ العِذارا

Give me to drink at the virgins' suggestion,

And pardon me, for chastity I've discarded.

شمسَ راحٍ من كَفِّ خودٍ رَداحٍ

شَخصَت فيهما العُيونُ حَيارى

A sun of rest from a tender, delicate hand,

In it the eyes were confused and bewildered.

أَشرقَت في الكؤوس ناراً وَقِدماً

عبَدَتها المجوسُ في الدَنِّ نارا

In the cups it rose as fire and embers,

Worshipped by Magi in avarice a flame.

واِجلواها وَالدَهرُ طلقُ المحيّا

وَالقَماري تنادمُ الأَقمارا

Make it last, though time's a fickle lover,

While the gambler makes merry with the moon's peers.

في عَذارى كأَنَّهُنَّ رياضٌ

وَرياضٍ كأَنَّهُنَّ عَذارى

Among virgins as though they were gardens,

And gardens as though they were virgins.

لا تَلوما فَما التَصابي بعارٍ

قبل يَسترجع الصِبا ما أَعارا

Reproach me not, for revelry's no disgrace

Before youth reclaims what it loaned in its prime.

وَدَعاني مُجاهِداً في غَرامي

إِنَّ داعي الهَوى دَعاني جِهارا

And it called me, ardent in my passion,

For the lover's call summoned me outright.

أَمعيرَ الظُبى شباً وَغِرارا

لحظُهُ والظِبا رَناً واِحوِرارا

Does a deer blame its vigor and innocence?

Its glance and the gazelle's, rapture and fever?

ما لِقَلبي يَزيدُ فيك غَراماً

كلَّما زِدتَ عن هواه نِفارا

Why does my heart grow more in love with you

Whenever you show it greater disdain?

أَيُّ قَلبٍ ما هامَ فيك ولكن

زادَ قَلبي بحبِّك اِستِهتارا

What heart has not pined for you, yet my heart

Increased in your love and grew more defiant.

خاطرَت في هَواكَ مهجةُ صَبٍّ

هَويَت منك ذابِلاً خَطّارا

The core of a youth pined in love for you,

Swooning for you, bewildered and addled.

من يُباريكَ يا مُنى النَفس حُسناً

لا وَعينيكَ لست مِمَّن يُبارى

Who can compete with you in beauty, my soul's desire?

No, and your eyes I'm not one to compete with.

ربَّ لَيلٍ قصَّرتُهُ بلقاهُ

وَليالي الهَنا تَكونُ قصارا

Lord of the nights I shortened in seeing you,

While nights of bliss should ever be fleeting.

رُضتُه بالمُدام حتّى إِذا ما

تركتهُ لا يَستبِدُّ اِختيارا

I tamed it with wine until when I

Abandoned it, it had no will remaining.

نِلتُ ما شئتُ من هواه وَلَولا

عفَّة الحبِّ لاِرتكبت العارا

I got my fill of its love, and had it not been

For love's virtue, dishonor I'd have courted.

يا خَليلي عُج بالنَقا لنُقضّي

للهوى في ربوعِه أَوطارا

My friend, come, let's go reveling, to spend

Passion's days and nights deep in its deserts.

إِنَّ بَينَ النَقا وَبَينَ المصلّى

ظبياتٍ لها الأسودُ غيارى

For between the tavern and mosque lie

Gazelles the wolves fiercely contest.

نَتَمارى إِن لُحنَ هَل هُنَّ غيدٌ

أَم ظِباءٌ في حُسنها لا يُمارى

We vie - are their voices a chorus

Or gazelles whose beauty has no rival?

هيَ لَو لَم تَكُن ظِباً وَبُدوراً

ما صدَعنَ الدُجى وَجُبنَ القِفارا

If not gazelles, wandering in the night,

They'd not rouse the gloom or the ruins howl.

لُحنَ للرَكبِ وَالعقولُ حَيارى

فاِختطفنَ العقولَ والأَبصارا

They sang to the caravan and left minds confused,

Snatching minds and sights beyond resistance.

وأَرقنَ الدماءَ طَعناً وَقَتلاً

وَأَمِنَّ الجزا قِصاصاً وَثارا

They stirred the blood with their blows and murders,

Secured from equal vengeance or blood price.

يا لقَومي أَيذهبُ في الحُب

بِ دَمي باطِلاً وَجرحي جُبارا

Oh my people! Does passion make me spill

My blood vainly while my wounds spread chaos?