1. Nights that have turned my worries and sorrows white,
This matter is beyond my power to change,

2. Having reached forty, I have no more hope,
A life ends where it began.

3. Silent in a silence, that does not reveal its extent,
My thoughts are no more, nor is poetry my solace,

4. Nothing of the spirit of youth remains in me,
I am neither longing, nor finding.

5. I was misguided to grieve the past, he who lives,
As I have lived, does not grieve, nor resort to patience,

6. I have no thought of it except that I,
Was fair, I did not sin or worship.

7. May God water the homes of al-Qarafa continuously,
So it remains verdant for those buried there,

8. All their misery and bliss return to them,
While we live in misery without becoming accustomed.

9. I yearn for those graves in the ground,
If I could today, I would choose my burial place,

10. Settle my body in a place it would not dislike,
To be far from enemies and envy.

11. What the free desire in the shadow of life,
Passes to the free and is sweet for the enslaved,

12. You have wearied me, and troubles abound,
My days flow between night and tomorrow.

13. A pain that laments to find rest, O warrior!
A pain that laments to reach the echoing spring,

14. I became ascetic towards attaining any glory,
And whoever seeks it like me becomes ascetic.

15. To my heart, paths became equal,
Leading downwards or upwards.

16. Though I am in a small ruined house,
I feel as though in a large well-built palace.

17. May God forgive a people whose betrayal I faced,
Many a wrongdoer did not intend wrong.

18. How many souls go astray for so long!
But when they see the light, they are guided.

19. I returned from hopes, weary with despair,
If sweet scents draw me to them, I shy away.

20. So do not tremble towards me with a tortured heart,
Nor glance at me with a tearful eye.

21. O wind, if passion stirs me, calm me!
O rain, if fervor kindles me, quench me!

22. O birds nesting in the land of nightfall,
It seems the dawn has called you not to sing.

23. I have complaints and you have sorrows,
If you find them palatable for your grief, I will recite.

24. Do not think conventions diminish their beauty,
For many beauties come from imitation.

25. I left wealth, not unable to seek it,
But lowered myself from the ranks of the ambitious.

26. By God’s grace this is my innocence,
O horizon, record it! O stars bear witness!