1. جُدْ لي بها للشَّرخِ من نُشَّابِها

    لم تَشْرَبِ السِّنُّ قُوى شَرابِها

    Give it freely to me—for youth, from its arrows.

    Age has not drunk away the strength of its drink.

  2. فهيَ خِلافُ الرّاحِ وانتسابُها

    في قِدَمِ العُمرِ إلى أحقابِها

    For it is unlike wine, and its lineage

    Reaches back in antiquity to wine's own epochs.

  3. دَخِينةٌ والثلجُ من تُرابِها

    خضرٌ جرَى الإفرندُ في أثوابِها

    Dusky, and snow is part of its dust.

    They are green; a watered-steel pattern flows through their robes.

  4. فاسودَّتِ الأطواقُ في رِقابِها

    تفوحُ ريَّا المِسكِ في قِرابِها

    So the collars on their necks have turned black.

    The fragrance of musk wafts within their sheaths,

  5. ومِسكُها الفائحُ من شَرَابِها

    إذا السيوفُ انحَزْنَ عن أثوابِها

    And their fragrant musk comes from their drink,

    When swords draw away from their robes.

  6. حيثُ صريعُ الرَّاحِ أو يَحيا بها

    وأعقَبَته البِرَّ من عِقابِها

    Where one is laid low by wine—or lives through it.

    And it gave him kindness in place of its punishment.

  7. فهي شِفاءُ النفسِ من أوصابِها

    وَكَرْبةِ المخمورِ والتهابِها

    For it is the soul's cure for its ailments,

    And for the hungover man's distress and its burning.

  8. يغنَي بها الساقي الذي يُعْنى بها

    حُجْبُها في الظِّلِّ من حِجابها

    The cupbearer who tends it grows rich through it.

    Its veils in the shade are part of its concealment.

  9. وعَقَدَ الآسَ على قِبابها

    وصانَها عن ذامِها وعابِها

    And he fastened myrtle over its domes,

    And protected it from censure and blemish,

  10. وقامَ يجلوها على خُطَّابها

    كأنما في الرَّحْبِ من رِحابها

    And rose to unveil it before its suitors.

    As though, in the open expanse of its courtyards,

  11. لطائماً تنفَحُ في عِيابِها

    فالصائمُ القائمُ من أصحابِها

    Perfume-laden caravans were wafting scent within their baggage.

    So the fasting man who stands in prayer is among its companions,

  12. وشاربُ الخمرةِ من شُرّابِها

    And the wine-drinker is among its drinkers.