1. نَمَّ الصَّبَا وَانْتَبَهَ الطَّائِرُ

    وَاسْتَحَرَ الصَّاهِلُ وَالْهَادِرُ

    The east wind whispered, and the bird awoke.

    And the neighing horse and bellowing camel stirred before dawn.

  2. وَأَضْحَتِ الأَرْضُ لِفَيْضِ الْحَيَا

    مَصْقُولَةً يَلْهُو بِهَا النَّاظِرُ

    And the earth, through the abundance of rain, became

    polished, delighting the beholder.

  3. تَبْدُو بِهَا أَنْجُمُ زَهْرٍ لَهَا

    مَنَازِلٌ يَجْهَلُهَا الْخَابِرُ

    Flower-stars appear upon it; they have

    stations unknown to the expert.

  4. كَأَنَّمَا أَلْبَسَهَا نَثْرَةً

    مِنَ النُّجُومِ الْفَلَكُ الدَّائِرِ

    As though it had been clothed in a coat of mail

    of stars by the revolving firmament.

  5. فَقُمْ بِنَا نَلْهُ بِلَذَّاتِنَا

    فَإِنَّمَا الْعَيْشُ لَهُ آخِرُ

    So rise with us; let us revel in our pleasures,

    for life, after all, has an end.

  6. وَلا تَقُلْ نَنْظُرُ مَا فِي غَدٍ

    رُبَّ غَدٍ آمِلُهُ خَاسِرُ

    And do not say, "We shall see what tomorrow holds."

    Many a tomorrow finds the one who hopes for it a loser.

  7. فَإِنَّمَا الْعَيْشُ وَلَذَّاتُهُ

    فِي سَاعَةٍ أَنْتَ بِهَا سَادِرُ

    For life and its pleasures lie only

    in an hour when you are carefree.

  8. لا يَغْنَمُ اللَّذَّةَ غَيْرُ امْرِئٍ

    لَيْسَ لَهُ عَنْ لَهْوِهِ زَاجِرُ

    None wins pleasure save a man

    with no one to restrain him from his revelry.

  9. قَدْ خَبَرَ الدَّهْرَ فَمَا غَائِبٌ

    يَجْهَلُهُ مِنْهُ وَلا حَاضِرُ

    He has experienced time, so nothing absent

    in it is unknown to him, nor anything present.

  10. يَا سَاقِيَيَّ اعْتَوِرَا كَأْسَهَا

    فَلِي بِهَا عَنْ غَيْرِهَا عَاذِرُ

    O my two cupbearers, take turns serving its cup;

    for in it I find an excuse to turn from all else.

  11. حَمْرَاءُ تُلْقِي بِلَحَاظِ الْفَتَى

    صِبْغَاً بِهِ يَعْتَرِفُ النَّاكِرُ

    Red, it casts into the young man's eyes

    a tint that makes even the denier confess.

  12. تَفْعَلُ بِالشَّارِبِ أَضْعَافَ مَا

    جَرَّ عَلَى عُنْقُودِهَا الْعَاصِرُ

    It does to the drinker many times what

    the presser inflicted upon its grape-cluster.

  13. عَتَّقَهَا الدُّهْقَانُ فِي دَيْرِهِ

    حِيناً وَلَمْ يَشْعُرْ بِهَا شَاعِرُ

    The landowner aged it in his monastery

    for a while, with no one aware of it.

  14. شَجٍ بِهَا يَكْتُمُهَا نَفْسَهُ

    وَهْوَ لِيَرْضَاهَا غَدَاً صَابِرُ

    Lovesick for it, he hides it even from himself,

    and is patient, to be pleased with it tomorrow.

  15. حَتَّى إِذَا تَمَّتْ مَوَاقِيتُهَا

    وَزَالَ عَنْهَا الزَّبَدُ الْمَائِرُ

    Until, when its appointed periods were complete

    and the churning foam had cleared from it,

  16. جَاءَتْ وَقَدْ شَاكَلَهَا كَأْسُهَا

    فَاشْتَبَهَ الْبَاطِنُ وَالظَّاهِرُ

    it came forth, its cup resembling it,

    so the inner and outer became indistinguishable.

  17. بِمِثْلِهَا تُعْجِبُنِي صَبْوَتِي

    وَيَزْدَهِينِي اللَّيْلُ وَالسَّامِرُ

    With wine like this, my youthful passion delights me,

    and the night and the evening company enchant me.

  18. فَمَا لِهَذِي النَّاسِ فِي غَفْلَةٍ

    عَمَّا إِلَيْهِ يَنْتَهِي السَّائِرُ

    Why, then, are these people heedless

    of the end toward which the traveler goes?

  19. أَلَمْ يَرَوْا كَيْفَ مَضَتْ قَبْلَهُمْ

    مِنْ أُمَمٍ لَيْسَ لَهَا ذَاكِرُ

    Have they not seen how there passed before them

    nations with no one to remember them?

  20. إِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ فِي الأَمْرِ مِنْ حِكْمَةٍ

    فَفِيمَ هَذَا الشَّغَبُ الثَّائِرُ

    If there is no wisdom in the matter,

    then why this raging tumult?

  21. كُلُّ امْرِئٍ أَسْلَمَهُ عَقْلُهُ

    فَمَا لَهُ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ نَاصِرُ

    Any man whose reason has deserted him

    has no helper once it is gone.