انا المذنب الخطأ والعفو واسعٌ

ولو لم يكن ذنبٌ لما عرف العفو

I am the guilty, ever-erring one—and pardon is vast.

Had there been no sin, pardon would never have been known.

سكرت فأبدت مني الكأس بعض ما

كرهت وما ان يستوي السكر والصحو

I grew drunk, and the cup brought out of me some of what

I detested; drunkenness and sobriety are never alike.

ولا سيما اذ كنت عند خليفةٍ

وفي مجلسٍ ما أن يليق به اللغو

All the more so since I was in a caliph’s presence,

in a gathering where idle talk was utterly unfitting.

ولولا حميا الكأس كان احتمال ما

بدهت به لا شك فيه هو السرو

Were it not for the wine’s fever, the bearing of what

I suddenly assailed you with would doubtless be magnanimity itself.

تنصلت من ذنبي تنصل ضارعٍ

الى من لديه يغفر العمد والسهو

I sought to excuse myself from my sin, pleading as one abased,

before one who can forgive both willful offense and inadvertent error.

فان تعف عني تلف خطوي واسعاً

وألا يكن عفو فقد قصر الخطو

If you pardon me for that, wide will be my stride;

but if pardon is not to be, then my stride has fallen short.