سكر الدهر فقل لي كيف أَصحو

والندى يبخل والجود يشح

Time has grown drunk—so tell me how I can sober up,

while generosity turns miserly and bounty grows stingy.

وأنا يا سيدي الشيخ كما

قلت عني حيث ينحو الحب أنحو

And I, my master the Sheikh, as

you said of me, go wherever love goes.

وحياتي لا تسل عن كنهها

إنها حان وألحان وصدح

And my life—do not ask about its essence:

it is a tavern, melodies, and singing,

وأَماني شباب فاتها

مثلما فات بني الأردن نجح

and hopes of youth that has passed it by,

just as success has eluded the sons of Jordan.

وعثار الجد قد صيرها

عبرة خرساء هيهات تسح

And fortune's stumble has turned it

into a mute tear that will never flow.

فهي أحياناً بشعري آهة

وهي أَحياناً جوى يشجي وبرح

So at times it is a sigh in my verse,

and at times, heartache that saddens, and torment.

وهي طوراً في مغاني قصفهم

عربدات تضحك الثكلى وردح

And sometimes, in the haunts of their revelry,

drunken antics that make a bereaved mother laugh, and coarse abuse.

وهي أحياناً هوى طرد الهوى

يتبناه فيشفى ويصح

And at times it is a passion that love has cast out,

then adopts, so it heals and grows whole.

وهي أحقاد تلظى تارة

فإذا بي وبها عفو وصفح

And sometimes it is grudges that blaze;

then suddenly, in me and in it, are pardon and forgiveness.

وهي أحياناً ظلام دامس

لا أرى أَنى له يطلع صبح

And at times it is pitch-black darkness;

I cannot see how a dawn could rise for it.

فافتني يا شيخ هل لي بعدما

جاءكم عني عما بي ندح

So give me your ruling, Sheikh: is there for me, after what

has reached you about me, any escape from what afflicts me?

ودع الساقي يدر كأس الطلا

حسبة للّه فالسكر أصح

And let the cupbearer pass round the cup of wine

for God's sake, for drunkenness is saner,

في زمان ليس للحق به

أي صوت إن أسف الدهر يلحو

in an age in which truth has no

voice at all; if Time sinks low, it censures.

سكر الدهر ولم يفطن إلى

كسهر حر أبي النفس قح

Time has grown drunk and paid no heed

to a vigil like that of a true free man, proud of soul.

فانتفى الإنصاف والعدل عفا

وأسف الحكم فاستجبل سفح

So fairness vanished, and justice faded away;

and rule sank low, and a foothill posed as a mountain.

وأَنا ما ذقت إلا كاسة

عند قعوار وأخرى إذ ألحو

And I have tasted only one cup

at Qa‘war's, and another as I rail.

ضربوا الأَمثال بي عربدة

فلسكري عندهم متن وشرح

They made me a byword for drunken rowdiness;

so, in their view, my drunkenness has a text and commentary.

هيه يا رمز الأماني والمنى

إنهم حيات رقطاء تفح

Hey, symbol of hopes and wishes,

they are speckled snakes that hiss.

لا يغرنك تقبيلهم

يدك اليوم وتقريظ ومدح

Do not be deceived by their kissing

your hand today, their tributes and praise.

فغداً سوف ترى موقفهم

منك يا مولاي إن أبرم صلح

For tomorrow you will see their stance

toward you, my lord, if peace is concluded.

فثرى الأردن إن لم يرو من

مائه الفياض لن يرويه ميح

For Jordan's soil, if it is not watered from

its overflowing waters, no water scooped from a well will quench it.

أيها الشيخ الذي دستوره

إنما الإفتاء توجيه ونصح

O Sheikh, whose code is:

giving religious rulings is only guidance and counsel.

بعضهم يسكر للسكر وفي النا

س من يسكر يا شيخ ليصحو

Some get drunk for drunkenness itself; and among the people

are those who get drunk, Sheikh, to sober up.

كتب اللّه علينا شربها

ليس خطاً كتب اللّه فنمحو

God has ordained that we drink it;

what God has written is no line for us to erase.

قد قلوت القيل والقال وما

ليس لي عنه غنى أو منه ربح

I have come to loathe hearsay and gossip, and whatever

I can neither do without nor profit from.

ونذرت الصمت لما قيل لي

من يقول الحق يؤذى ويدح

And I vowed silence when I was told:

whoever speaks the truth is harmed and shoved aside.

أَنا إن أَصمت فصمتي حسبه

إنه صوت الأَرقاء الأَبح

If I fall silent, this is enough to say of my silence:

it is the hoarse voice of slaves.

أيها الباكي على أوطانه

لا يرد الروح للميت نوح

O you who weep over your homelands,

no lament restores the soul to the dead.

بارك الظلم وصفق للأذى

فهما نصر من اللّه وفتح

Bless oppression, and applaud harm,

for both are victory from God and conquest.