1. لا اللّهو شابَ ولا عهدُ الصّبا دَرسا

    ففيم يُضْمر قلبي لوعةً وأسى

    Revelry has not grown gray, nor has the season of youth faded.

    Then why does my heart harbor burning grief and sorrow?

  2. ما عَرَّسَ الهَمُّ في قلبٍ يزفّ لهُ

    في كلِّ يومٍ لأَبكار المُنى عُرسَا

    Care never lodges in a heart for which

    a wedding for virgin hopes is celebrated every day.

  3. ولن يُصيبَ سروراً غير مجتلَبٍ

    باللّهو من لم ينعّم جسمُه بِئسا

    And no joy will be attained except what is won

    through revelry, by one whose body has not eased misery [wording unclear].

  4. فاغْنَمْ زمانك إنَّ العيشَ أرْغدُه

    ما كان من غفلات الدّهر مخْتَلسَا

    So seize your time: life's sweetest ease

    is what is snatched from Time's heedless moments.

  5. يسْلو الحزين إذا ما نشْوَةٌ حدثت

    حتى إذا ما صحا من سكرة نكسَا

    The sorrowful man finds solace when intoxication comes,

    until he sobers from drunkenness and relapses.

  6. يا حبّذا بهجة الرّيعان جاعلةٌ

    من الأنيس لغزلان الفلا أنسا

    How lovely the delight of youth's prime, making

    a companion a friend to the gazelles of the wilderness.

  7. ودرَّ درُّ نديم هبٌ يحسب أن

    قد ضاع من عمره في الليل ما نغسا

    And blessed be the alert drinking companion who thinks that

    whatever he dozed away at night was lost from his lifetime.

  8. واللّيل قد مُزّقت منه جلاببُه

    واستشعر الأفقُ عند السُّحرة الغلسَا

    And night has had its robes torn away,

    and at the predawn hour the horizon donned the twilight gloom.

  9. ترشفَ التربُ من طَلَّ النَّدى بللاً

    واستنشق الرّوض من ريح الصّبا نَفَسا

    The soil sipped moisture from the fine drops of dew,

    and the garden inhaled a breath of the east wind.

  10. وأعينُ الزَّهر والنُّوار شاخصةٌ

    فيهن لؤلؤ دمعِ العَين قد قَرَسا

    And the eyes of flowers and blossoms stared wide open;

    within them, pearls of the eye's tears had frozen.

  11. وذو ذوائبَ تجني من عوارضهِ

    عَلا ومن شفتيه الظَّلم واللَّعَسا

    And one with long locks, from whose teeth you gather

    [honey?], and from his lips moisture and a dusky tint,

  12. يسعى بصفراء في الإبريق تحسبهُ

    من لونها في دَم الجريال قد غُمَسا

    goes about with golden wine in a ewer you would think,

    from its hue, had been dipped in the blood of crimson dye.

  13. إذا النّديم من السّاقي تناولها

    أهدى إلى فمه من كفه قبَسا

    When the drinking companion takes it from the cupbearer,

    he offers his mouth a flame from his palm.

  14. ما ينصف الكاس مرتاحاً ليشربها

    حتّى إذا ضحكت في وجهه عَبَسا

    He does the cup no justice, though eager to drink it:

    even when it laughs in his face, he frowns.

  15. يا حبذا الرَّاح تنفي حقدَ شاربها

    برقة القلب إن بعض القلب قَسَا

    How lovely is wine, banishing its drinker's rancor

    through tenderness of heart, if any part of it has hardened.

  16. وربما أحدثت في نفسه طرباً

    وربما أورثته سَلوة وأسَى

    And sometimes it stirs rapture in his soul,

    and sometimes it bequeaths him solace and sorrow.

  17. كأنَّ فيها سَجايا من بني عمرٍ

    غُرُّ طواهِرُ لما تعرف الدُّنَسَا

    As though it held qualities of the sons of Umar,

    radiant and pure, as yet untouched by stain.

  18. أنظر إلى القمرين الزَّاهرين إذا

    ذهلٌ ويعربُ ما بين الملا جَلَسَا

    Look at the two radiant moons when

    Dhuhl and Ya'rub sit amid the gathering.

  19. كلاهما سيدٌ صَلتُ الجبين له

    وجهُ كريمٌ بيُمن الله قدْ غَرَسا

    Each is a lord, broad and smooth of brow, with

    a noble face, planted by God's blessing.

  20. سهلُ الخليقة في ناديّه جَذَلٌ

    يوم الكريهة يُلفى بأسلاشَهِسَا

    Gentle in disposition, cheerful in his assembly,

    on the day of battle he is found [valiant and fierce?].

  21. ماضي الجنان غُداة الرَّوع تبصره

    لشاً يغادر ليثَ الغاب مُفْترسَا

    Resolute of heart, on the morning of terror you see him

    [a lion?], leaving the forest's lion devoured.

  22. أنطقتُمُ الشّعْر قدماً يا بني عُمَرٍ

    يُثْني عليكم ولولا جودكم خَرسَا

    You made poetry speak long ago, O sons of Umar,

    praising you; but for your generosity, it would have been mute.

  23. جادت غمائمُ جَدواكم فما تركت

    في مطْلَب وسؤال موضعاً لَبسَا

    The clouds of your bounty rained generously, leaving no

    room for uncertainty in quest or petition.

  24. وأنتم كرماً أظهرتم عَلماً

    للْمَجد والجود لولا سعيكم طُمسَا

    And in your munificence you have raised a standard

    for glory and generosity, which but for your efforts would have been effaced.

  25. يُرجَى حباكم ويخشى من صواعقكم

    يوماً إذا عارض من أفقكم حَبسَا

    Your bounty is hoped for, and your thunderbolts feared

    on a day when a rain cloud from your horizon holds back.

  26. يهديكم للمعالي نورُ فضلكم

    وفي الحضيض لئام تخبط الدَّلسَا

    The light of your excellence guides you to noble heights,

    while in the depths base men grope through darkness.

  27. تسعى الجوارح في مرسوم أمركم

    كأن في كل عضوٍ حُبّكم غُرَسا

    The limbs hasten within the prescribed bounds of your command,

    as though love for you were planted in every limb.

  28. يا أيّها السيّدان الماجدان لقَد

    أولتُماني براً واسعاً سَلِسا

    O you two illustrious lords, indeed

    you have bestowed on me abundant, freely flowing kindness.

  29. قد عاد عُود يساري من نوالكم

    ريَّان غَضًّا ولولا ذاكما يبسا

    Through your gifts, the bough of my prosperity has again become

    well watered and tender; but for that, it would have dried up.

  30. ألبستماهُ بميسُور الغنى ورقاً

    فظلّ يهتَزُ في مخضَرّ ما لبسَا

    You two have clothed it in foliage with readily available wealth,

    so it kept swaying in the green of what it wore.