يا شاعرينِ تساقيا الشعرا

وتهاديا الآراء والفكْرا

O two poets who gave each other poetry to drink,

and exchanged opinions and thoughts as gifts,

وتجادلا في الخمر واختلفا

في شربها أم تركها أحرى

and debated wine and disagreed

over whether drinking it or leaving it was more fitting:

هذا يحسنها فقام بها

يغري وذاك يقدم العذرا

This one commends it and has taken up its cause,

enticing others, while that one offers his excuse.

صيرتما القراء حائرة

أفهامهم لم يملكوا صبرا

You two have left the readers with bewildered

minds; they could muster no patience.

وتساءلوا والشك يغلبهم

النهى نتبعه أمِ الأمرا

And they asked, with doubt overcoming them:

Shall we follow the prohibition or the command?

حتى إذا اختلفت طرائقهم

بعثوا إلي بكتبهم تَتْرى

Until, when their paths diverged,

they sent me their letters in succession:

ماذا ترى فاحكم لتهدينا

فلأنت فينا الحاذق الأدرى

What do you think? Judge, so you may guide us,

for you are our expert, the one who knows best.

الخمر تمتحن الطباع بها

فتبين منها الحلو والمرّا

Wine is a test by which temperaments are tried,

revealing the sweet and the bitter in them.

تزداد أخلاق الأغر بها

لطفاً وتخزي الجاهل الغرا

Through it, the noble man's manners grow

gentler, while it disgraces the naive fool.

تُشقي وتُسعدُ فهي مشبهةٌ

في حكمها السلطان والدهرا

It brings misery and happiness, and so resembles,

in its sway, the sovereign and Time.

ما كل مشغوف بها بطل

يعصي الهوى ويغالب السكرا

Not everyone enamored of it is a hero

who defies desire and overcomes drunkenness.

هذا يبيع لها هدايته

ويبيح ذاك البيض والصفرا

This one sells his guidance for its sake,

and that one freely spends his silver and gold;

ويصون هذا عن غوائلها

شرف المقام وعرضه الحرا

while this one guards against its perils

the dignity of his station and his unsullied honor.

يا ناهياً عنها غدرتَ بها

ما كان مثلك يعرف الغدرا

O you who forbid it, you have betrayed it;

one like you had never known betrayal.

أنسيتَ ليلتنا وقد سدلت

بالرمل هندٌ دوننا السترا

Have you forgotten our night, when she let fall—

Hind, in al-Raml—the curtain to shut us out,

والشوق يجذبنا ويدفعنا

وقلوبنا بيمينه أسرى

while longing drew and drove us on,

and our hearts were captives in its right hand,

حتى استعنّا بالرحيق على

ليل أخاف ظلامُه الفجرا

until we sought the nectar's aid against

a night whose darkness terrified the dawn?

فاستنهضتنا نشوة أخذت

بين الجوارح تضرم الجمرا

Then a heady elation roused us and began

to kindle embers throughout our limbs.

وقد استهنا عند ذاك بأن

نرد الحتوف ونركب الوعرا

And at that moment we thought nothing of

meeting death and riding the rugged paths.

هجنا بلا سيف نذود به

عنا الوشاة ونأمن الشرا

We rose excitedly, with no sword by which to drive

the talebearers from us and keep us safe from harm.

فتعرض الحراس واحتدموا

لما رأونا نطرق الخدرا

Then the guards barred our way and grew furious

when they saw us coming by night to her chamber.

ماذا جرى هل أرهبوا أحداً

منا فأدبر منهمُ ذعرا

What happened? Did they frighten anyone

of us into fleeing from them in terror?

صحنا بهم فتفرقوا جزعاً

وتخيلونا عسكراً مَجْرا

We shouted at them, and they scattered in panic,

imagining us a vast army.

بتنا نطوف بقصرها شغفاً

نصف الغرام ونشتكي الهجرا

We spent the night circling her palace, lovesick,

describing our passion and lamenting estrangement,

حتى أطلَّت وهي قائلة

من في الدياجي ينشد الشعرا

until she looked out, saying:

Who is reciting poetry in the darkness?

نحن اللذان ملكتِ رقَّهما

بيد الجمالِ فقاسيا الضرّا

We are the two whose bondage you claimed

with beauty's hand, so we suffered misery.

نحن اللذان جعلت دمعهما

يجري على خديهما نهرا

We are the two whose tears you made

flow down their cheeks like a river.

فترفقت بعد الجفاء بنا

لما رأتنا نعلن السرا

Then, after coldness, she treated us gently

when she saw us revealing our secret.

ومشت إلينا في ترنحها

تسبي الغزال وتخجل البدرا

And she walked toward us, swaying,

taking the gazelle captive and shaming the full moon.

واستقبلتنا وهي باسمة

تلقي السلام نخالُهُ سحرا

And she welcomed us, smiling,

offering a greeting we took for magic.

بتنا كما يهوى العفاف فلم

نطع المدام ونرتكب وزرا

We spent the night as chastity wished, and did not

obey the wine and commit a sin.

لم نجن غير حديثها ثمراً

يروى ويشفى المهجة الحرى

We reaped no fruit but her conversation,

quenching and healing the burning heart.

واستحكمت بين القلوب عرى

للحب يبقى عهدها العمرا

And between our hearts firm bonds were forged

of love, whose covenant endures for life.

ولبثتَ مفتتناً بها كلفاً

ونظمتَ في أوصافها الدرا

And you remained entranced by her, passionately in love,

and strung pearls in describing her.

وملكتَ مجداً بالبيان زكا

بين البرية ذكره نشرا

And through eloquence you won a glory that flourished,

its renown a fragrance among humankind.

لم تبتَ عن بنت الكروم أما

أهدت إليك الرتبة الكبرى

Why have you repented of the daughter of the vines? Has she not

bestowed on you the highest rank?

لولا رياضتُها لعقلك ما

سُمِّيتَ ربَّ الشعر والشعرى

But for her training of your mind, you would not

have been named lord of poetry and Sirius.

فَاجْلُ الكؤوس وعاود السكرا

ما دام عودك ناعماً نضرا

So polish the cups and return to drunkenness,

so long as your bough is supple and fresh.

إني لأشربها وإن جمعوا

فيها العيوب وأكثروا الزجرا

I indeed drink it, even if they heap

faults upon it and multiply their rebukes.

ويسرني أني اتهمت بها

لا زلت متهماً بها مغرى

And it pleases me that I have been accused of it;

may I ever remain accused of it and enthralled.