1. O rose of ancient beauty,
And thorn of new ugliness,

2. We were, and you were, yet you did not act fairly,
Nor did you oppress me by turning away.

3. I had loved to see you,
And smell you like roses,

4. But the thorns of your veil pricked me,
Keeping me from your cheeks.

5. Unjustly, like the murder of Hayyan
By the army of Yazid on my thirsty abode.

6. Now that beauty has departed,
And the blessed days have faded,

7. And passion in my heart is stilled, no yearning,
No weeping or laments,

8. My gaze has turned from you,
And distant hope has shortened,

9. I call upon al-‘Aziz al-Mazini,
No regrets for this poem.

10. Passion has gone with beauty,
Despite my saying it will not perish,

11. Immortality is not for the living,
Rather destruction is eternity,

12. Woe to you of peerless beauty,
From time and its machinations,

13. Either you increased in beauty and found,
More ugliness added,

14. Time schemed against you as
You schemed against the stalwart heart,

15. So congratulate the hair on your cheeks,
Like a sure arrow,

16. O denier of God’s grace upon you, cursed is he of malice,
I thank Him that I have become a lion,

17. Dwelling in the absent cheeks.