1. أقولُ لذي قامَةٍ كالقَضيبِ

    وَخَصرٍ تَبارَكَ من خَصَّرَه

    I say to one whose stature is like a slender branch,

    and whose waist—blessed be He who fashioned it—

  2. وَوَجه يُباري سَنَاهُ المُدامُ

    يُصَبُّ من الكوبِ في القُبَّرَة

    and whose face has a radiance rivaled by wine,

    poured from the cup into the lark:

  3. ألا فاغضُضِ الطرفَ يا ذا الفتى

    فلِلَّهِ طرفُكَ ما أسحَرَه

    Come now, lower your gaze, O young man,

    for, by God, how bewitching your gaze is!

  4. لقد لعبت بي صُرُوفُ الزَّمان

    كلعبِ الفتى والفتى بالكُرَة

    Indeed, time's vicissitudes have toyed with me,

    as one youth and another play with a ball.

  5. وَطُيِّرتُ شَرقاً إلى غَربِها

    كَطَيرِ العَواصِفِ بالزُنبُرَة

    And I was sent flying from east to west,

    as tempests carry a wasp away.

  6. ويُعجبني أنني شاعرٌ

    وقولُ البريَّةِ ما أشعرَهُ

    And it pleases me that I am a poet,

    and that people say, "What a poet he is!"

  7. ولو رَهنُوني وكتبي معاً

    مع الشِّعرِ والظَّرفِ والمحبرَة

    And were they to pledge me and my books together,

    along with poetry, wit, and the inkwell,

  8. على قوتِ يومٍ لَرَدُّوا الرهانَ

    وأرمَوا إلى فضةٍ محضَرَة

    for one day's sustenance, they would return the pledge,

    and turn toward silver ready at hand.

  9. حَرامٌ حرامٌ زَمانُ الفقيرِ

    حَرامٌ حرامُهُ ما أقذَرَه

    Forbidden, forbidden is the poor man's time;

    forbidden are its forbidden things—how foul it is!

  10. إذا كان عيشُ الفتى ضيِّقاً

    فخيرٌ من العيشَةِ المقبَرَة

    If a young man's living is straitened,

    then the graveyard is better than life.