1. أَلَم تَنهَ نَفسَكَ عَمّا بِها

    بَلى عادَها بَعضُ أَطرابِها

    Have you not restrained your soul from what ails it?

    Yes, but some of its yearnings have returned,

  2. لِجارَتِنا إِذ رَأَت لِمَّتي

    تَقولُ لَكَ الوَيلُ أَنّى بِها

    for our neighbor, who, when she saw my locks,

    said, "Woe to you! What has become of them?"

  3. فَإِن تَعهَديني وَلي لِمَّةٌ

    فَإِنَّ الحَوادِثَ أَلوى بِها

    So if you remember me when I had long locks,

    then calamities have ravaged them.

  4. وَقَبلَكِ ساعَيتُ في رَبرَبٍ

    إِذا نامَ سامِرُ رُقّابِها

    And before you I wooed among a herd of gazelles,

    when her guardians' night company slept;

  5. تُنازِعُني إِذ خَلَت بُردَها

    مُفَضَّلَةً غَيرَ جِلبابِها

    she tussled with me over her mantle when alone,

    clad in a single garment, without her outer cloak.

  6. فَلَمّا اِلتَقَينا عَلى بابِها

    وَمَدَّت إِلَيَّ بِأَسبابِها

    Then, when we met at her doorway,

    and she stretched her cords toward me,

  7. بَذَلنا لَها حُكمَها عِندَنا

    وَجادَت بِحُكمي لِأُلهى بِها

    we let her have her way with us,

    and she freely granted my wish, that I might delight in her.

  8. فَطَوراً تَكونُ مِهاداً لَنا

    وَطَوراً أَكونُ فَيُعلى بِها

    At times she is a bed for us,

    and at times I am, with her lifted high.

  9. عَلى كُلِّ حالٍ لَها حالَةٌ

    وَكُلُّ الأَجارِيِّ يُجرى بِها

    In every posture she has her own way,

    and every course is run with her.

  10. فَكَيفَ بِدَهرٍ خَلا ذِكرُهُ

    وَكَيفَ لِنَفسٍ بِإِعجابِها

    Then what of a time whose tale is past,

    and what of a soul with its self-admiration?

  11. وَإِذ لِمَّتي كَجَناحِ الغُدافِ

    تَرنو الكَعابُ لَإِعجابِها

    And when my locks were like a raven's wing,

    the nubile maiden would gaze in admiration.

  12. أَكَلتُ السَنامَ فَأَفنَيتُهُ

    وَشُدَّ النُسوعُ بِأَصلابِها

    I consumed the hump till I wore it away,

    and the saddle-straps were tightened about their backbones.

  13. تَراهُنَّ مِن بَعدِ إِسآدِهِن

    وَسَيرِ النَهارِ وَتَدآبِها

    You see them after their night-long travel,

    and the day's march and their ceaseless toil,

  14. طِوالَ الأَخادِعِ خوصَ العُيونِ

    خِماصاً مَواضِعُ أَحقابِها

    long-necked and hollow-eyed,

    gaunt where their belly-girths lie.

  15. وَكَأسٍ شَرِبتُ عَلى لَذَّةٍ

    وَأُخرى تَداوَيتُ مِنها بِها

    And many a cup I drank for pleasure,

    and another with which I cured the first cup's harm,

  16. لِكَي يَعلَمَ الناسُ أَنّي اِمرُؤٌ

    أَتَيتُ المَعيشَةَ مِن بابِها

    so people would know that I am a man

    who has entered life by its proper door.

  17. كُمَيتٍ يُرى دونَ قَعرِ الإِنى

    كَمِثلِ قَذى العَينِ يُقذى بِها

    Dark-red wine: above the vessel's bottom is seen

    something like a mote that troubles the eye.

  18. وَشاهِدُنا الوَردُ وَالياسَمي

    نُ وَالمُسمِعاتُ بِقُصّابِها

    And our witnesses are roses and jasmine,

    and songstresses with their pipers,

  19. وَمِزهَرُنا مُعمَلٌ دائِمٌ

    فَأَيُّ الثَلاثَةِ أُزرى بِها

    and our lute is kept constantly at work.

    For which of the three should I be scorned?

  20. تَرى الصَنجَ يَبكي لَهُ شَجوَهُ

    مَخافَةَ أَن سَوءَ يَدعى بِها

    You see the harp weep its sorrow to it,

    for fear of being spoken ill of.

  21. مَضى لي ثَمانونَ مِن مَولِدي

    كَذَلِكَ تَفصيلُ حُسّابِها

    Eighty years have passed since my birth;

    such is the tally of those who reckon them.

  22. فَأَصبَحتُ وَدَّعتُ لَهوَ الشَبا

    بِ وَالخَندَريسَ لِأَصحابِها

    So now I have bidden farewell to youth's pleasures,

    and left aged wine to its companions.

  23. أُحِبُّ أَثافِتَ وَقتَ القِطافِ

    وَوَقتَ عُصارَةِ أَعنابِها

    I love Athafit at grape-harvest time,

    and at the pressing of its grapes.

  24. وَكَعبَةُ نَجرانَ حَتمٌ عَلَي

    كِ حَتّى تُناخي بِأَبوابِها

    And Najran's Kaaba is a binding charge upon

    you, until you kneel at its gates.

  25. نَزورُ يَزيدَ وَعَبدَ المَسيحِ

    وَقَيساً هُمُ خَيرُ أَربابِها

    We visit Yazid and Abd al-Masih,

    and Qays: they are the best of its lords,

  26. إِذا الحَبَراتُ تَلَوَّت بِهِم

    وَجَرّوا أَسافِلَ هُدّابِها

    when striped mantles wind around them

    and they trail the lower ends of their fringes.

  27. لَهُم مَشرَباتٌ لَها بَهجَةٌ

    تَروقُ العُيونَ بِتِعجابِها

    They have drinking halls full of splendor,

    delighting the eyes with their wondrous beauty.