سكر الدهر فقل لي كيف أَصحو

والندى يبخل والجود يشح

The days of joy have passed, tell me how shall I awake,

When bounty is scarce and generosity recoils.

وأنا يا سيدي الشيخ كما

قلت عني حيث ينحو الحب أنحو

As you said of me, my lord the Sheikh,

Wherever love beckons, there I go.

وحياتي لا تسل عن كنهها

إنها حان وألحان وصدح

Ask not about the essence of my life,

It is cups of wine and song and mirth.

وأَماني شباب فاتها

مثلما فات بني الأردن نجح

The hopes of youth that escaped me

Are like the Battle of Mu'tah lost by the Jordan's sons.

وعثار الجد قد صيرها

عبرة خرساء هيهات تسح

And the shame of defeat has made them

A mute lesson - never shall they be erased!

فهي أحياناً بشعري آهة

وهي أَحياناً جوى يشجي وبرح

At times, in my poetry, they are a sigh,

At times, they are a burning yearning and compassion.

وهي طوراً في مغاني قصفهم

عربدات تضحك الثكلى وردح

At times, in the drinking parties, their reproaches

Are ravings that make the bereaved laugh and sing.

وهي أحياناً هوى طرد الهوى

يتبناه فيشفى ويصح

At times, they are a passion that disavows passion,

Adopting it, thus healing and recovering.

وهي أحقاد تلظى تارة

فإذا بي وبها عفو وصفح

At times, they are grudges that smolder,

Then, behold me and them in pardon and reconciliation.

وهي أحياناً ظلام دامس

لا أرى أَنى له يطلع صبح

At times, they are darkness, pitch-black,

I see not how dawn shall rise for it.

فافتني يا شيخ هل لي بعدما

جاءكم عني عما بي ندح

So question me, O Sheikh, after what has reached you about me,

Is there any hope for me after my fervent love?

ودع الساقي يدر كأس الطلا

حسبة للّه فالسكر أصح

Let the cup-bearer continue pouring the cups,

God suffices me, and drunkenness brings recovery.

في زمان ليس للحق به

أي صوت إن أسف الدهر يلحو

In an age where truth has no voice,

If the days have darkened and insist.

سكر الدهر ولم يفطن إلى

كسهر حر أبي النفس قح

The days have darkened and are not aware

Of the vigil of a soul burning hot as embers.

فانتفى الإنصاف والعدل عفا

وأسف الحكم فاستجبل سفح

Justice and equity are gone, time has dismissed them,

Judgment is confused, its glory faded.

وأَنا ما ذقت إلا كاسة

عند قعوار وأخرى إذ ألحو

I have tasted only a goblet

At bumping into each other, and another when they reconciled.

ضربوا الأَمثال بي عربدة

فلسكري عندهم متن وشرح

They made me a proverb of drunken ravings,

So my intoxication to them is text and interpretation.

هيه يا رمز الأماني والمنى

إنهم حيات رقطاء تفح

Alas, O symbol of my hopes and wishes,

They are despicable villains, may they be shamed!

لا يغرنك تقبيلهم

يدك اليوم وتقريظ ومدح

Let not their kissing your hand today

And praise and eulogy deceive you.

فغداً سوف ترى موقفهم

منك يا مولاي إن أبرم صلح

For tomorrow you shall see their stance towards you,

My lord, if genuine peace is struck.

فثرى الأردن إن لم يرو من

مائه الفياض لن يرويه ميح

The Jordan's soil, if it sees not

Its copious water, mere dew shall not water it.

أيها الشيخ الذي دستوره

إنما الإفتاء توجيه ونصح

O Sheikh whose creed is but

To guide and advise, not issue edicts.

بعضهم يسكر للسكر وفي النا

س من يسكر يا شيخ ليصحو

Some get drunk on wine, while among people

Are those, O Sheikh, who get drunk to recover!

كتب اللّه علينا شربها

ليس خطاً كتب اللّه فنمحو

God has decreed that we drink it,

Not an error, God decreed it, so we erase it!

قد قلوت القيل والقال وما

ليس لي عنه غنى أو منه ربح

I have done with saying and telling, and have no

Need or profit from it.

ونذرت الصمت لما قيل لي

من يقول الحق يؤذى ويدح

And I have devoted myself to silence, for I was told:

"He who speaks the truth is hurt and abused."

أَنا إن أَصمت فصمتي حسبه

إنه صوت الأَرقاء الأَبح

If I am silent, my silence suffices me,

It is the voice of the sleepless distressed.

أيها الباكي على أوطانه

لا يرد الروح للميت نوح

O you who weep over your homelands,

Crying shall not restore the dead to life.

بارك الظلم وصفق للأذى

فهما نصر من اللّه وفتح

Bless oppression and clap for harm,

For they are a victory from God and an opening!