لا تلوموا خليفةَ الغرب في اللَهْ

لا تلوموا خليفةَ الغرب في اللَهْ

وِ فما غيره عزاء لنفسِهْ

وِ فما غيره عزاء لنفسِهْ

For God’s sake, do not blame the Caliph of the West;

Do not blame the caliph of the West for his amusement;

for his soul has no solace but Him.

for nothing else consoles his soul.

نظر الخطب وهو لا بد منه

نظر الخطب وهو لا بد منه

فتحاشاه في مجالس أنسِهْ

فتحاشاه في مجالس أنسِهْ

He looked upon the calamity—and it could not be escaped—

He saw the calamity, and there was no escaping it;

so he shunned it amid his convivial gatherings.

so he shunned it in his gatherings of merriment.

ربما مثلت له الحببَ الكأ

ربما مثلت له الحببَ الكأ

سُ شهاباً فظنه بعض بأسِهْ

سُ شهاباً فظنه بعض بأسِهْ

Perhaps the goblet showed him its bubbles as a shooting—

Perhaps the cup made its bubbles appear to him

—star, and he took it for a flash of his own might.

as a shooting star, so he thought it part of his own might.