1. My grey hair repelled Asmaa, so I said to her:
"Do not shy away, for greyness of hair is familiar.

2. The age of youth is short, it has no permanence,
While age in grey hair, O Asmaa, is extended.

3. She said: "You are barred from all pleasures,"
So I said: "I am barred from vulgarity."

4. My grey hair did not bar me from piety and excellence,
But I am barred from the filth of morals.

5. Without the whiteness of dawn, nothing sought is attained,
No goal remains, and no purpose is fulfilled.

6. No night equals the dawn, it has no illumination,
Nor are the whites and blacks of nights alike."