حضرنا إلى نهرنا نستقيه

ففي مائه عسل ذائب

We have come to our river to draw water from it;

for honey lies dissolved in its water.

وننشده كل ما يشتهيه

فشعر بصهبائه لاعب

And we recite to it all it desires,

for poetry plays with its golden wine.

جزائر مخضرة عاليات

بأذكى الأزاهير في عطرها

Islands, green and rising high,

with flowers of the sweetest fragrance.

ومن حولها أعين ناعسات

تعلم هاروت من سحرها

And around them are languorous eyes,

from whose magic Harut learned.

وهذي حمائم صيادة

إذا نظرت سمكا تخطف

And here are doves that hunt:

when they spy fish, they snatch them up.

بسحر الأغاريد فتانة

ففي حلقها وتر يعزف

Bewitching with the magic of song,

for in their throats a string plays music.

وهذه فلائك مبثوثة

على النهر تسأل من يركب

And here are little boats scattered

upon the river, asking who will board.

بأحنائها الحور موقوفة

على من له درهم طيب

In their recesses, dark-eyed beauties are reserved

for anyone who has a good dirham.

أراني من الفقر في محنة

متى أغتنى آه لا أعرف

I find myself in distress through poverty;

when shall I grow rich? Ah, I do not know.

وحب المحب بلا ثروة

خيال من العقل لا يوصف

And a lover's love without wealth

is a fancy of the mind, beyond description.

من السابحون على لنشهم

وأجسادهم فضة تلمع

Who are those afloat on their launch,

their bodies gleaming silver?

تكاد المقاذيف من بطشهم

بسحر الصبا جهرة تخضع

The oars, beneath their powerful strokes, almost

yield openly to the magic of youth.

ظباء من الإنس لا يغرقون

فما لي بوجدى بهم أغرق

Gazelles among humans, they do not drown—

so why do I drown in my passion for them?

وإن نطقوا لحظة يبغمون

فيا ظبى قل لي متى تنطق

And if they speak for a moment, they bleat;

so, O gazelle, tell me: when will you speak?

ودين ثقيل يهون يهون

سأقضيه مما جنته العيون

And a heavy debt grows light, grows light;

I shall repay it from what the eyes have reaped.

وأصفح عن محنتي بالفتون

ورمى فؤادي بسهم الجنون

And I forgive my ordeal of enchantment

and my heart's being struck by the arrow of madness.

وإنسانة من بنات الشطوط

بألحاظها خمرة قرقف

And a woman, one of the daughters of the riverbanks—

in her glances is heady wine.

على الرمل سطرت تلك الخطوط

فما لي إلا وصلها مسعف

Upon the sand she traced those lines,

so nothing brings me relief but union with her.

تخاطب باللمح من لا يفيق

ففي كل حسن له مسكر

With glances she addresses one who never sobers,

for every beauty holds an intoxicant for him.

بطعم المحاسن في ثغره

وفي قلبه يعرف السكر

With the taste of beauty in his mouth

and in his heart, he knows intoxication.

ولا يعرف الرفق بالغانيات

فذلك في رأيه منكر

And he knows no gentleness toward lovely women;

for that, in his view, is reprehensible.

ويسقى الخرائد من كأسه

فتنقاد طوعا لما يأمر

And he gives shy maidens drink from his cup,

so they willingly yield to his commands.

أقمنا على الحب أيامنا

لنهصر في الحسن ما نهصر

We have lived our days devoted to love,

to embrace all the beauty we may embrace.

على العاذلين نؤدى السلام

ففيهم لأحقادهم مقبر

To those who reproach us, we offer greetings,

for within them is a tomb for their grudges.

ذوى عصرهم وزها عصرنا

لنا في حياة الهوى أعصر

Their age has withered, and ours has blossomed;

in the life of love, ages are ours.

شدا قبلنا شعراء الجمال

وإني وإن أبدعوا أشعر

Before us, poets of beauty sang,

and I, though they excelled, am a greater poet.