1. جلا في الكأسِ جاليَة الهمومِ

    وقامَ يمِيسُ بالقَدِّ القَويمِ

    He unveiled in the cup the dispeller of cares,

    and rose, swaying his well-proportioned figure.

  2. يحضُّ على مسرَّات النَّدامى

    ويأمُرُ في مُصافاة النَّديم

    He encourages the pleasures of drinking companions

    and enjoins sincere friendship with the boon companion.

  3. وقد فرش الربيعُ لنا بساطاً

    من الأزهار مختلف الرقوم

    And spring had spread for us a carpet

    of flowers with varied patterns,

  4. بحيث الأُفق مغبرّ الحواشي

    ووجه الأرض مخضر الأديم

    where the horizon's edges are dust-grey

    and the earth's face is green-skinned.

  5. هنالك تطلعُ الأقمار فيها

    شموس الراح في اللَّيل البهيم

    There rise moons bearing within them

    the suns of wine in the pitch-black night.

  6. كأنَّ حَبابها نُظِمَت نجوماً

    رَجَمتْ بها شياطين الهموم

    As though its bubbles were strung as stars,

    with which it pelted the devils of cares.

  7. وأرشفني لماه العذب ألمى

    مراشفه شفاء للسقيم

    And a dark-lipped one let me sip his sweet lips,

    his lips a cure for the sick.

  8. وأعذب ما أرى فيه عذابي

    فما أشكو الظلامة من ظلوم

    And the sweetest thing I see in him is my torment,

    so I complain of no injustice from a cruel wrongdoer.

  9. وأحبابٌ كما أهوى كرامٌ

    تنادمني على بنت الكروم

    And generous beloved friends, just as I desire,

    keep me company over the daughter of the vines.

  10. ويسعدنا على اللذات عودٌ

    يكرِّرُ نغمة الصوت الرخيم

    And a lute gladdens us in our pleasures,

    repeating the melody of a mellow voice.

  11. يخصّ بما يعمّ أخا التصابي

    فيشجي بالخصوص وبالعموم

    It singles out the devotee of youthful dalliance with what reaches all,

    and stirs sorrow, in particular and in general.

  12. فيالك لوعة في الحبّ باحت

    بما في مضمر القلب الكتوم

    So, what a pang of love you are, revealing

    what lies in the hidden depths of the secretive heart!

  13. وما أهرقت من دمع كريم

    جرى من لوعة الوجد اللئيم

    And the precious tears I have shed

    flowed from the pang of cruel longing.

  14. أُلام على هواك وليت شعري

    فما للاّئمين من الملوم

    I am blamed for loving you—would that I knew:

    what do the blamers want from the blamed?

  15. وما سالتْ دموعُ العين إلاَّ

    لما في القلب من حرّ السُّموم

    And the eye's tears flowed only

    because of the scorching wind's heat within the heart.

  16. وهل ينجو من الزفرات صبٌّ

    رَمَتْهُ بالغرام لحاظُ ريم

    And can a lovesick one escape sighs,

    when a gazelle's glances have struck him with passion?

  17. وقد حان الوداع وحانَ فيه

    رحيلُ الصَّبر عن وجدٍ مقيم

    And farewell has come, and with it the time

    for patience to depart from an abiding yearning.

  18. إلاَّ لله من زَمَنٍ قَضَيْنا

    به اللّذّات في العصر القديم

    Ah, by God, what a time we spent,

    enjoying pleasures in the days of old!

  19. وقد كانت تُدارُ عليَّ راحٌ

    تُعيدُ الرُّوح في الجَسَدِ الرَّميم

    And wine was passed around to me,

    restoring the spirit to the decayed body.

  20. أخَذْتُ بكأسها وطربت فيها

    فسَلْني كيف شئتَ عن النعيم

    I took hold of its cup and delighted in it,

    so ask me however you wish about bliss.

  21. بحيث الشمس طالعة مدامي

    وبَدْرُ التّمِّ يومئذٍ نديمي

    where the rising sun was my wine,

    and the full moon was then my drinking companion.

  22. تصَرَّمتِ الصّبابة والتصابي

    وصارَمني الهوى ظبيُ الصَّريم

    Ardent longing and youthful dalliance ended,

    and the gazelle of the sands broke with me in love.

  23. ومفريَّة الفدافد والفيافي

    لها في البيد إجفالُ الظَّليم

    And a she-camel cleaving barren wastes and deserts,

    with the startled rush of a male ostrich in the wilderness—

  24. سريت بها أقدُّ السَّيرَ قدًّا

    بضربِ الوخد منها والرَّسيم

    I journeyed by night on her, cleaving the way

    with her swift striding and trotting.

  25. إذا مرَّتْ على أرضٍ فَرَتْها

    مرور العاصفات على هشيم

    When she passed over land, she cleft it,

    like storm winds passing over brittle brush.

  26. وقفتُ على رسوم دارسات

    وما يُغني الوقوفُ على الرُّسوم

    I stopped at traces worn away,

    and what does standing at the traces avail?

  27. أُكفْكفُ عبرة الملهوف فيها

    وتحتَ أضالعي نار الجحيم

    There I hold back the tears of the anguished,

    and beneath my ribs is the fire of Hell.

  28. أُطوِّفُ في البلاد وأنتحيها

    وإنْ شَطَّتْ إلى حرٍّ كريم

    I roam the lands and make for them,

    however distant, toward a noble, generous man.

  29. لئنْ سَعِدَتْ به الكوماءُ يوماً

    حسمت نحوس أيَّام حسوم

    If the high-humped she-camel finds good fortune through him one day,

    she ends the ill luck of disastrous days.

  30. أُنيخت في رحاب بني عليٍّ

    نياقي لا بمنعرج الغميم

    They were made to kneel in the courts of the sons of Ali—

    my she-camels—not at the bend of al-Ghamim.

  31. وأغناني عن الدُّنيا جميعاً

    ندى سلمان ذي القلبِ السَّليم

    And I was spared all need of the world by

    the bounty of Salman, whose heart is sound.

  32. وما زالت مطايانا سراعاً

    إلى نادي الكريمِ ابنِ الكريم

    And our mounts have kept speeding

    toward the gathering of the generous son of a generous man.

  33. رعيت النَّدى به غضًّا نضيراً

    فما أدنو إلى المرعى الوَخيم

    Through him I grazed on bounty, tender and fresh,

    so I do not approach an unwholesome pasture.

  34. أقبِّل منه راحة أريحيٍّ

    تَصوبُ بصيّب الغيثِ العميم

    I kiss his palm, a large-hearted man's,

    pouring down showers of all-embracing rain.

  35. وإنِّي والهموم إذا اعترتني

    وجَدْتُ به النجاة من الغموم

    And I, whenever cares assail me,

    have found through him deliverance from sorrows.

  36. ويحمي المنتمين إلى عُلاه

    مُحاماة الغيورِ عن الحريم

    He protects those who attach themselves to his lofty rank

    as a jealous man defends his womenfolk.

  37. إذا ذُكِرتْ مناقبُه بنادٍ

    تَضَوَّعَ عن شذا مسكٍ شميم

    When his virtues are mentioned in a gathering,

    it breathes forth the scent of fragrant musk.

  38. يروقُ نَضارةً ويَروقُ ظرفاً

    أرقَّ إذا نَظَرْتَ من النَّسيم

    He charms with freshness and charms with refinement,

    more delicate, when you behold him, than the breeze.

  39. وما يُبديه من شَرَفٍ ومجدٍ

    يَدُلُّ به على شَرَفِ الأُروم

    And what he displays of honor and glory

    testifies to the nobility of his roots.

  40. وما برحت مكارمُه ترينا

    وُجُوه السَّعد بالزَّمن المشوم

    And his noble deeds have never ceased showing us

    the faces of good fortune in an ill-omened age.

  41. وتَطْلُعُ من مَعاليه فتزهو

    مناقبُ أَشْهَتْ زَهر النجوم

    And from his lofty qualities arise, resplendent,

    virtues that stirred desire in the stars' blossoms.

  42. ولِمْ لا يرتقي دَرَج المعالي

    بما يُعطاه من شيمٍ وخِيم

    And why should he not ascend the steps of greatness

    through the virtues and innate character bestowed on him?

  43. بوار الخصم في بأسٍ شديد

    ونيلُ البرِّ من بَرٍّ رحيم

    Ruin for the adversary through fierce might,

    and kindness won from one kind and merciful.

  44. له فينا وإنْ رَغِمَتْ أُنوف

    يدا موسى بن عمران الكليم

    He has among us, though noses be rubbed in dust,

    the two hands of Moses son of Imran, who spoke with God.

  45. أَنوءُ بشكرها وأَفوزُ منها

    بما يوفي الثراءَ إلى العديم

    I stagger under gratitude for them, and gain from them

    what brings wealth to the destitute.

  46. وذو الحظّ العظيم فتًى بَرَتْهُ

    يَدُ الباري على خلقٍ عظيم

    And he of great fortune is a young man fashioned by

    the Creator's hand with sublime character.

  47. وفيه منعة لا زالَ فيها

    امتناع الحادثات من الهجوم

    And he has strength—may it ever remain—

    that keeps calamities from their assault.

  48. ويدرك فكره من كلِّ معنى

    يدقّ على المكالم والفهوم

    And his mind grasps every meaning

    too subtle for speech and understanding.

  49. هو القرم الَّذي افتخرت وباهت

    به الأَشرافُ أشراف القروم

    He is the chieftain in whom take pride and glory

    the nobles, the noblest of chieftains.

  50. تحومُ على مناهله العطاشى

    وثمَّةَ مَنْهلٌ عَذْبٌ لِهيمِ

    The thirsty circle around his watering places,

    and there is a sweet watering place for the parched.

  51. وتصدُرُ عن موارد راحتيه

    وقد بلغ المرام من المروم

    They depart from the wells of his two palms,

    having attained the goal they sought.

  52. لعبد القادر الجيلي يُنمى

    وقطب الغوث والنبأ العظيم

    His lineage is traced to Abd al-Qadir al-Jili,

    and the Pole of Succor and the Great Tidings,

  53. إلى من تفرج الكربات فيه

    وينجي المستغيث من الهموم

    to him through whom afflictions are relieved,

    and who saves the one crying for aid from cares.

  54. إلى بيت النُّبوَّة منتماهم

    رفيع دعائم الحسب الصميم

    Their descent is to the House of Prophethood,

    lofty in its pillars of pure ancestral honor.

  55. هُداةُ العالمين ومقتداهم

    إلى نهج الصراط المستقيم

    Guides of the worlds and their exemplar,

    toward the course of the straight path.

  56. رياض محاسن وحياض فضل

    تَدفَّقُ بالمكارم والعلوم

    Gardens of virtues and pools of bounty,

    flowing with noble deeds and learning.

  57. وما أدري إذا طاشتْ رجال

    رجالٌ أمْ جبال من حلوم

    And I do not know, when men grow rash,

    whether these are men or mountains of forbearance.

  58. نظمتُ بمدحهم غُرَرَ القوافي

    فما امتازت عن الدّرّ النظيم

    I strung the brightest rhymes in their praise,

    so they were indistinguishable from pearls on a string.