1. بيني وبين غد عهدٌ سأذكرهُ

    والموج يصخب والمحبوب يختالُ

    Between me and tomorrow is a pledge I shall remember,

    While the waves roar and the beloved walks proudly.

  2. نُساور الراح والأقداح ثائرةٌ

    كأنها الخد يهوى حسنه الخال

    We grapple with wine, while the goblets rage,

    As though they were a cheek whose loveliness the beauty mark adores.

  3. إلفٌ ألوفٌ له روحٌ معطرةٌ

    بها من الشوق أخطارٌ وأهوال

    An affectionate companion, with a perfumed soul,

    Within it are the perils and terrors of longing.

  4. إذا التقينا وكان الليل موعدنا

    كانت لنا في ضمير الليل أحوال

    When we met, and night was our appointed time,

    We knew many moods in the heart of the night.

  5. يحلو التناجى وعين الليل في سنةٍ

    عن عاشقٍ وامقٍ للحسن يغتال

    Whispered confidences grow sweet, while the night's eye dozes,

    Unaware of an ardent lover of beauty who is being slain.

  6. لن يسكت الدهر يوما إن سكتّ له

    أسكتهُ يسكت فضرب العبد إفصال

    Time will never fall silent if you remain silent before it.

    Silence it and it will be silent, for striking the slave settles matters.

  7. ما الدهرُ ما شأنه ما خطب أدهرهِ

    جرت على الدهر ألوانٌ وأشكال

    What is Time? What is its importance? What is the significance of its ages?

    Colors and forms have passed over Time.

  8. إن الخرافة دهر نحن نخلقه

    بوهمنا وهو دجالٌ ومحتال

    Indeed, Time is a myth that we ourselves create,

    Through our delusion—and it is an impostor and a trickster.

  9. وهمٌ خلقناه لم ندرك عواقبه

    وأكثر الناس أغفال وجهّال

    An illusion we created, not grasping its consequences;

    And most people are heedless and ignorant.

  10. الحظّ في يدكم والدهر في يدكم

    إن الفتى الشهم للأدهار قتّال

    Fortune is in your hands, and Time is in your hands.

    Indeed, the gallant youth is a relentless slayer of ages.

  11. هذا قصيدٌ سترويه وتحفظه

    من الخلائق أجيالٌ وأجيال

    This is a poem that will be recited and learned by heart

    By generations and generations of humankind.