إذا آنَسَ الناسَ ما يجمعونَ

إذا آنَسَ الناسَ ما يجمعونَ

أنِستُ بما يجمعُ الدفترُ

أنِستُ بما يجمعُ الدفترُ

When people take pleasure in what they amass,

When what people gather delights them,

I take pleasure in what the notebook holds.

I delight in what the notebook gathers.

له وطري وله لذَّتي

له وطري وله لذَّتي

على الكأس والكأسُ لا تحضُرُ

على الكأس والكأسُ لا تحضُرُ

In it lie my desire and my delight,

In it lie my desire and my pleasure,

preferred to the winecup—and the winecup is absent.

In preference to the cup, though the cup is absent.

تدورُ على الشرب محمودةً

تدورُ على الشرب محمودةً

لها الموردُ الخرقُ والمَصدَرُ

لها الموردُ الخرقُ والمَصدَرُ

It passes among the drinkers, praised,

It circles among the drinkers, praised;

though folly is both its source and its outcome.

Its way in and its way out are wide open.

يُغَنّيهِمُ ساحرُ المقلتينِ

يُغَنّيهِمُ ساحرُ المقلتينِ

كشمس الضحى طرفُهُ أحورُ

كشمس الضحى طرفُهُ أحورُ

An enchanting-eyed beauty sings to them,

One with bewitching eyes sings to them,

his dark, lustrous gaze like the morning sun.

Like the midmorning sun, with dark, lustrous eyes.

وريحانُهُم طيبُ أخلاقهم

وريحانُهُم طيبُ أخلاقهم

وعندَهُم الوردُ والعَبهَرُ

وعندَهُم الوردُ والعَبهَرُ

Their sweet basil is their gracious character,

And their basil is the sweetness of their character,

and they have roses and fragrant ʿabhar blossoms.

And with them are roses and narcissus.

على أنَّ هِمَّتَنا في الحروفِ

على أنَّ هِمَّتَنا في الحروفِ

فتلكَ الصناعةُ والمتَجَرُ

فتلكَ الصناعةُ والمتَجَرُ

Yet our own ambition lies in letters:

Yet our aspiration lies in letters,

that is our craft and our commerce.

For that is our craft and our trade.