أَلا فَاسْقِني واللًّيْلُ قَدْ غابَ نورُهُ

أَلا فَاسْقِني واللًّيْلُ قَدْ غابَ نورُهُ

لِغَيْبَةِ بَدْرٍ في الغَمامِ غَريقِ

لِغَيْبَةِ بَدْرٍ في الغَمامِ غَريقِ

Lo, pour me a drink, while the night has lost its light,

Come, pour me a drink; the night's light has vanished

Quench my thirst, though the night has lost its light

For want of a full moon drowned in the clouds.

because the full moon is absent, drowned in the clouds.

For the absence of the moon amid the clouds

وقَدْ فَضَحَ الظَّلْماءَ بَرْقٌ كَأَنَّهُ

وقَدْ فَضَحَ الظَّلْماءَ بَرْقٌ كَأَنَّهُ

فُؤادُ مَشوقٌ مولَعٌ بِخَفوقِ

فُؤادُ مَشوقٌ مولَعٌ بِخَفوقِ

A flash of lightning has laid the darkness bare, as though it were

And lightning has laid bare the darkness, as though it were

And lightning has lit up the darkness as if

The heart of a yearning lover, rapt in its throbbing.

a yearning heart, given to throbbing.

It were a longing, burning heart

نُعايِنُها نوراً جَلاهُ تَجَسُّدٌ

نُعايِنُها نوراً جَلاهُ تَجَسُّدٌ

ونَشْرَبُها ناراً بِغَيْرِ حَريقِ

ونَشْرَبُها ناراً بِغَيْرِ حَريقِ

We behold it as light, revealed by taking form,

We behold it as light made visible by embodiment,

We drink it in as light embodied

And drink it as fire that does not burn.

and drink it as fire without burning.

And fire unburning

كَأَنَّ حَبابَ الكَأْسِ في جَنَباتِها

كَأَنَّ حَبابَ الكَأْسِ في جَنَباتِها

كَواكِبُ دُرٍّ في سَماءِ عَقيقِ

كَواكِبُ دُرٍّ في سَماءِ عَقيقِ

The bubbles along the sides of the cup seem

It is as though the bubbles of the cup, along its sides,

As if the bubbles in the wine glass

Pearl-bright stars in an agate sky.

were stars of pearl in a sky of agate.

Were pearls in an agate sky