1. وليلةٍ قصّرتُ مِن طُولِها

    بقهوةٍ حيريَّةِ العُنصُرِ

    And many a night I shortened

    with wine originating in al-Hira.

  2. قد عُتِّقت في دنها فاغتدَت

    تُخبرُنا عن سالفِ الأعصرِ

    It had been aged in its jar and came to

    tell us of bygone ages.

  3. تُخبرُ عن كسرى وايقاعهِ

    بعدَ اختصاصٍ ببني المنذرِ

    It tells of Kisra and his onslaught,

    after close ties with the sons of al-Mundhir.

  4. نمّت على كاتمِ انوارها

    بفائحٍ من نشرِها الأعطرِ

    It betrayed the one concealing its radiance

    with a waft of its sweetest perfume.

  5. شرِبتُها مِن كفِّ ريمٍ رنا

    بسحرِ طرفٍ فاترٍ أحورِ

    I drank it from the hand of a gazelle who gazed

    with the magic of a languid, dark-pupilled eye.

  6. أسكرني اذكَرَّ نحوي بها

    بالسِّحرِ لا بالمائعِ المُسكرِ

    He intoxicated me when he turned toward me with it,

    by magic, not by the intoxicating liquid.

  7. فاهتزَّ اذ كرَّ بها قَدُّهُ

    كما تثنَّت قامةُ السّمهري

    And his figure swayed as he turned with it,

    as the shaft of a Samhari spear bends.

  8. أبدى نِفاراً حينَ آنستُهُ

    وذاكَ شأنُ الرّشأِ الأعفرِ

    He shied away when I befriended him,

    and that is the way of the tawny gazelle fawn.

  9. سقيتُهُ كأساً فأهدت له

    وَرداً بدا في خدِّهِ الأزهرِ

    I gave him a cup to drink, and it bestowed upon him

    roses that appeared on his radiant cheek.

  10. كأنَّهُ اذ عبَّ في كأسهِ

    بدرُ الدُّجى قد قارنَ المُشتري

    He seemed, as he drank deeply from his cup,

    the full moon of night in conjunction with Jupiter.