1. Where are the days of my pleasure and youth,
Will they return after their departure?

2. That was an era that has passed, the furthest thing,
That time will bring back the days of my prime.

3. So reminisce about it with me, for since
I've been separated from it, I've faced great adversity,

4. Everything consoles the affectionate one except
The pastimes of my carefree youth.

5. If only I knew when I would see the meadow of Man,
With its palm trees and grapevines,

6. Where ships race
Above a river like molten silver,

7. Surrounded on its banks by brilliant palaces
That resemble domes,

8. A playground where sights roam
Among the groves and valleys of paradise,

9. Whenever the breeze blows across its soil,
It returns with a fragrance like musk.

10. That is my pasture of intimacy and my playground of amusement
And yield of my youth and refuge of my companions.

11. I shall not forget it as long as I live, and far be it
That you would see me indifferent to that era.

12. None can properly tend affection or recall
A time except the generous man.

13. So if it has gone, my longing for it
Remains like my words for generations.

14. O my boon companion from Serendib, stop
Blaming me and leave me to my sorrows,

15. How can I not mourn my youth when I have
Become an old man in hardship and estrangement?

16. Old age has wrapped my bones and clothed me
In the ragged garb of decrepitude,

17. And twisted the hair of my eyebrows over
My eyes until it hung like curtains,

18. I see nothing clearly when it appears
As if I am in a fog,

19. And when I am called I am confused as though
I hear voices from behind a veil.

20. Whenever I attempt to stand, frailty forces me back down,
My nerves cannot endure it.

21. The blows of fate have left me
Nothing but shreds of resolve in rags.

22. They have made me grieve for my parents and family,
Then break away from my clan.

23. Each day a dear one leaves me,
Oh my heart, separated from loved ones!

24. Where are Hussein and Abdallah from me?
The epitome of perfection and cultivation.

25. They have gone without memories, but the survival
Of memory is a lasting glory for generations.

26. I have found no substitute for them in myself
Other than my sorrow for them and melancholy.

27. By my life, I have recognized the days of my life and so
I have avoided matters that were not in my calculations,

28. And I have avoided the company of people until
My avoidance has been a help to my piety.

29. I do not care what is said, even if I am
Full of rebuttals to every answer.

30. My distance from people has sufficed me, for I am
Safe from the slander of the slanderers.

31. So let my envious enemies say of me as they wish,
For my hearing is veiled from defamation.

32. Nothing is hidden from me, however I pretend to be oblivious,
For composure is the habit of the composed.

33. Graying hair, the brother of composure, is guide enough
To the path of wisdom.

34. Man is but an image that will fade away,
And the end of civilization is the beginning of ruin.