ألا سَقِّياني قهوةً ذهبيَّة

ألا سَقِّياني قهوةً ذهبيَّة

وقد أَلبْسَ الآفاقَ جُنْحَ الدجى دَعَجْ

وقد أَلبْسَ الآفاقَ جُنْحَ الدجى دَعَجْ

Come, you two, give me golden wine,

Oh serve me a golden coffee,

while blackness has clothed the horizons in night's dark wing.

As dusk has cloaked the horizons in its wings.

كأنّ الثريّا والظلامُ يَحُثُّها

كأنّ الثريّا والظلامُ يَحُثُّها

فصوصُ لُجَيْنٍ قد أحاط به سَبَجْ

فصوصُ لُجَيْنٍ قد أحاط به سَبَجْ

As though the Pleiades, with darkness urging them onward,

As if the Pleiades and darkness hasten it,

were silver gems encircled by jet.

Nocturnal birds that a forest surrounds.

كأنّ نجومَ الليل تحت سواده

كأنّ نجومَ الليل تحت سواده

إذا جَنّ زِنْجِيّ تبسَّم عن فَلجَ

إذا جَنّ زِنْجِيّ تبسَّم عن فَلجَ

As though the stars of night beneath its blackness,

As if the stars under its blackness,

when night falls, were a Black African man smiling to reveal his gapped teeth.

When a Negro grins, smile from a cleft.

كأنّ رقيق الغيم والبدرُ تحتهُ

كأنّ رقيق الغيم والبدرُ تحتهُ

زجاجٌ على كفٍّ من الصبح منْتسِج

زجاجٌ على كفٍّ من الصبح منْتسِج

As though the thin cloud, with the full moon beneath it,

As if the delicate clouds and moon beneath it

were glass upon a palm woven from dawn.

Are glass on the palm of dawn being extracted.

كأنّ عمود الصبح في غُبَّر الدُّجى

كأنّ عمود الصبح في غُبَّر الدُّجى

صفيحةُ سيف قد تَصَدَّا من المُهَج

صفيحةُ سيف قد تَصَدَّا من المُهَج

As though the pillar of dawn amid the remnants of night's darkness

As if the pillar of dawn in the dust of darkness

were a sword blade rusted by lifeblood.

Is an unsheathed sword that has collided with fires.

فقُمْ وأدِرْ أقداحَ خمرٍ كأنّها

فقُمْ وأدِرْ أقداحَ خمرٍ كأنّها

إذا برزَتْ تُذْكِي أوائلهَا سُرُجْ

إذا برزَتْ تُذْكِي أوائلهَا سُرُجْ

So rise and pass round cups of wine, as though,

So arise and turn cups of wine that are as if

when it appears, lamps were kindling its first pourings.

When they appear, their beginnings ignite lanterns.

كأنّ عليها من صفاء أديمها

كأنّ عليها من صفاء أديمها

خِلال العزيز الغُرَّ أو نَشْرها الأَرِجْ

خِلال العزيز الغُرَّ أو نَشْرها الأَرِجْ

As though, through the clarity of its surface, it bore

As if from the clarity of their leather

al-Aziz's radiant virtues, or their sweet fragrance.

Are spots of beloved partridge or scattered sandalwood.

وتَحْسبُها في الكأْس رقَّةَ فهمه

وتَحْسبُها في الكأْس رقَّةَ فهمه

وإن لم يكن في أنه غيْرها خَلجَ

وإن لم يكن في أنه غيْرها خَلجَ

And you take it in the cup for the subtlety of his understanding,

You’d reckon in the goblet the subtlety of its wisdom,

though there is no doubt that his understanding is not the wine.

Even if, when it comes to anything but it, there is no agitation.