1. ذكروا الصبوح فهزني التذكارُ

    فتوهموا أني شربت فحاروا

    They mentioned morning wine, and remembrance stirred me;

    They thought I had been drinking, and were bewildered.

  2. هيهات ما بين الصبوح وبين من

    لبس المسوح قطيعةٌ ونفار

    Far indeed! Between morning wine and one

    Who wears haircloth lie estrangement and aversion.

  3. أتطيب للصب الكئيب عقاره

    ولها إذا غاب الحبيب يُسار

    Can his wine delight the sorrowful lover,

    And be sought when the beloved is away?

  4. ويسر سر فتى جفاه هزاره

    وجنى عليه عذوله المهذار

    Can a youth's heart rejoice when his nightingale has forsaken him,

    And his garrulous reprover has wronged him?

  5. واحسرتاه على لويلات الصفا

    لا عينها دامت ولا الآثار

    Alas for those brief nights of bliss!

    Neither they themselves lasted, nor their traces.

  6. قصرت وأوقات السرور قصيرة

    ما ضر لو طالت لها الأعمار

    They were brief, and times of joy are short;

    What harm if their lifetimes had been longer?

  7. إني لأذكرها ونار جوانحي

    مشبوبةٌ ومن الدموع بحار

    Indeed I remember them, while the fire within my breast

    Is ablaze, and there are seas of tears.

  8. فإخالها بين الكؤوس تدرعت

    شفقاً عليه من الحباب نثار

    So I fancy it amid the cups, armored

    In sunset glow, with bubbles strewn upon it.

  9. يا ليلةً باتت تسامرني المهى

    فيها وما علمت بنا السمار

    O night, when oryx-like beauties kept me company,

    While the night-talkers knew nothing of us!

  10. وتبلجت في الربوتين بكورها

    والخندريس تديرها الأبكار

    And its dawn broke bright upon the two hills,

    While maidens passed the aged wine around.

  11. هل عودةٌ والعود فيه نضارةٌ

    والكف فيها فضةٌ ونضار

    Is there a return, while the bough is still green,

    And the hand still holds silver and gold?

  12. ما كان أملح ليلنا ونهارنا

    والفرع ليلٌ والجبين نهار

    How lovely were our night and day,

    The tresses night, the forehead day!

  13. والراح تزبد في الكؤوس كأنها

    نارٌ علاها الزئبق الفرّار

    And the wine foamed in the cups as though it were

    Fire topped with darting quicksilver.

  14. حيا الحيا القوم الذين ترحلوا

    عنا وبالغيد الكواعب ساروا

    May the rain greet the people who departed

    From us, traveling with graceful, full-breasted maidens.

  15. فلطالما طلّت علي بدورهم

    وبدورهم دارت علي عقار

    For often their full moons looked down upon me,

    And in their homes wine came round to me.

  16. ونديمتي منهن خودٌ كفها

    عنمٌ عليه من العقار بهار

    And my drinking companion among them was a maiden whose hand

    Was an ʿanam sprig, bearing wine's yellow bloom.

  17. في صدرها الدرر الصغار ويالها

    درراً لها مننٌ علي كبار

    On her breast were little pearls—oh, what

    Pearls, whose favors to me were great!

  18. لو يعبد الصابي نجوم نهودها

    قبلت وما دحرت له أعذار

    Were the Sabian to worship the stars of her breasts,

    His excuses would be accepted, not rejected.

  19. لم أنسها بين الرياض كأنها

    غصن الندى وكأنهن عرار

    I have not forgotten her among the gardens, as though she were

    A dew-laden bough, and they were fragrant ʿarār blooms.

  20. ورضابها المأثور مطمح ناظري

    وعيونها تختار ما أختار

    And her famed lip-dew was the goal of my gaze,

    And her eyes chose what I chose.

  21. واللَه لا حل الرحيق براحتي

    حتى تحل بسحاتي الأقمار

    By God, no pure wine shall rest in my palm

    Until the full moons settle in my courtyards,

  22. وتزول أيام الجفا وتبش أو

    قات الصفا ويمدني الإيسار

    And the days of estrangement pass, and the times

    Of bliss smile, and prosperity supplies me

  23. بثلاثة ما للمسرة غيرها

    دارٌ تقر بها ولا ديار

    With three things, apart from which delight has

    No home to rest in, nor any dweller:

  24. خودٌ مهفهفة وساقٍ مطربٌ

    وحديقةٌ تجري بها الأنهار

    A slender-waisted maiden, a delightful cupbearer,

    And a garden through which rivers flow.