1. عَصَيتُ في السُكرِ مَن لَحاني

    وَخانَني حادِثُ الزَمانِ

    In drunkenness, I defied whoever reproached me,

    And the turn of time betrayed me.

  2. لَمّا تَمادَيتُ في مُجونٍ

    أَلقى عَلى غارِبي عِناني

    When I went ever further in debauchery,

    It cast my reins upon my withers.

  3. أَبتَدِعُ الكَسبَ لِلمَعاني

    بِأَوجُهٍ عَفَّةٍ حِسانِ

    I devise ways of acquiring meanings

    Through chaste and lovely faces.

  4. ما مَرَّ يَومٌ وَلَيسَ عِندي

    مِن طُرَفِ اللَهوِ فَصلَتانِ

    No day passed without my having

    Two choice kinds of diversion:

  5. كَأسُ رَحيقٍ وَوَجهُ ظَبيٍ

    تَضِلُّ في حُسنِهِ المَعاني

    A cup of pure wine and a gazelle’s face—

    Meanings lose their way in his beauty.

  6. نِلتُ لَذيذَ الحَرامِ مِنهُ

    وَنالَهُ الناسُ بِالأَماني

    From him I gained the sweetness of the forbidden,

    And others gained it through wishes.

  7. كَم لَذَّةٍ قُلتُ قَد وَعاها

    في وَسَطِ اللَوحِ حافِظانِ

    Many a pleasure, I said, had been recorded

    In the middle of the tablet by two guardians.