لا زلتَ تَفْدي نفسَكَ الأنْفُسُ

لا زلتَ تَفْدي نفسَكَ الأنْفُسُ

وتتَّقي اسعُدَكَ الأنْحُسُ

وتتَّقي اسعُدَكَ الأنْحُسُ

May souls never cease to ransom yours,

You still sacrifice yourself, O the most precious of souls,

and may ill fortunes fear your good fortunes.

And avoid what makes you most happy, O the unluckiest.

فُصِدْتَ والأيّامُ مُبْيَضَّةٌ

فُصِدْتَ والأيّامُ مُبْيَضَّةٌ

يَبْيَضُّ من مُبْيَضِّها الحِنْدِس

يَبْيَضُّ من مُبْيَضِّها الحِنْدِس

You were bled while the days were bright,

You were turned away while the days dawned white,

whose brightness turns even pitch darkness white.

Whitened by their whiteness like Indian linen.

والأرضُ ضربانِ فذا مقمرٌ

والأرضُ ضربانِ فذا مقمرٌ

إذا اجتليناهُ وذا مُشْمِس

إذا اجتليناهُ وذا مُشْمِس

The earth is of two kinds: this is moonlit,

The land is green here, and there blossomed,

when we behold it, and that is sunlit.

Seeming like the moon when unveiled, or the sun when rising.

فلا وَنَتْ نُعماكَ مُخْضَرَّةً

فلا وَنَتْ نُعماكَ مُخْضَرَّةً

يَحْسُدُها في الخُضْرَةِ السُّندُس

يَحْسُدُها في الخُضْرَةِ السُّندُس

So may your bounty never wane, ever green,

Would that your blessings remained green,

envied for its greenness by fine silk.

Envied in their greenness by Chinese silk.

أَفديكَ من مكتسبٍ كاتبٍ

أَفديكَ من مكتسبٍ كاتبٍ

النارُ من هاجِسِهِ تُقْبَس

النارُ من هاجِسِهِ تُقْبَس

I would ransom you, a scribe who earns his living,

I ransom you from an acquiring scribe

from whose inner thought fire is kindled.

Whose obsessive thoughts are kindled by fire.

لما رآني غاب شخصي لَدُنْ

لما رآني غاب شخصي لَدُنْ

أبدَتْ له أشخاصَها الأكْؤس

أبدَتْ له أشخاصَها الأكْؤس

When he saw me, my form vanished the moment

When he saw me, my persona disappeared,

the goblets displayed their forms to him.

Revealing to him its unattractive aspects.

ما راعَني إلا مناجاتُهُ

ما راعَني إلا مناجاتُهُ

كما يُناجي المؤنِسَ المؤنِسُ

كما يُناجي المؤنِسَ المؤنِسُ

Nothing startled me but his whispered words,

What drew my attention was his whispers,

as one companion whispers to another:

As a confidant whispers to another confidant.

إِذا حضرنا غبتَ أو إِن تَغِبْ

إِذا حضرنا غبتَ أو إِن تَغِبْ

جيتَ فنحنُ الوردُ والنرجس

جيتَ فنحنُ الوردُ والنرجس

“When we are present, you are absent; or if you are absent,

Whether present or absent, when you leave, you come,

you come: we are the rose and the narcissus.

For we are the roses and the narcissi.

لم يُجْمَعا للعينِ في روضةٍ

لم يُجْمَعا للعينِ في روضةٍ

قطُّ ولم يحوِهما مَجْلِس

قطُّ ولم يحوِهما مَجْلِس

They have not been brought together before the eye in a garden,

Never were the two gathered in a garden,

ever, nor has any gathering held them both.”

Or brought together in a sitting.

فقلتُ لو أَنَّ الليالي التي

فقلتُ لو أَنَّ الليالي التي

أَصْحَبُها تُوفي كما تَبْخَس

أَصْحَبُها تُوفي كما تَبْخَس

I said, “If only the nights that

So I said, "If only the nights I spend

I keep company with gave in full as they give short measure,

Would disappear as they diminish."

إذاً لكنَّا السَّرورَ والآسَ لا

إذاً لكنَّا السَّرورَ والآسَ لا

نخلُو ولا يخلو لنا مَجْلِس

نخلُو ولا يخلو لنا مَجْلِس

then we would be joy and myrtle, never

Then we would not be without joy or sorrow,

alone, nor would any gathering of ours be empty.”

Nor would a sitting be devoid of us.