أَتُقبِلُ نَحوي يا مَشيبُ مُخاطِباً

أَتُقبِلُ نَحوي يا مَشيبُ مُخاطِباً

وَتَذهَبُ عَنّي يا شَبابُ مُغاضِبَا

وَتَذهَبُ عَنّي يا شَبابُ مُغاضِبَا

Do you draw near me, Gray Hair, addressing me,

Do you come toward me, O gray hair, addressing me,

while you, Youth, depart from me in anger?

and do you depart from me, O youth, in anger?

كَفانِيَ ما مُنِّعتُ قَبلُ بِصاحِبٍ

كَفانِيَ ما مُنِّعتُ قَبلُ بِصاحِبٍ

سِوى صاحِبٍ لَم يُسمِهِ القَلبُ صاحِبا

سِوى صاحِبٍ لَم يُسمِهِ القَلبُ صاحِبا

Enough for me: never before was I kept away through a companion,

It was enough for me that I had been deprived of a companion before,

except one whom the heart did not call a companion.

save a companion the heart did not call a companion,

وَبَيضاءَ لا يَصفو ضَميرٌ لِأَبيَضٍ

وَبَيضاءَ لا يَصفو ضَميرٌ لِأَبيَضٍ

إِذا ما عَنى العاني بِأَبيَضَ شائِبا

إِذا ما عَنى العاني بِأَبيَضَ شائِبا

And as for a fair-skinned beauty, my inner heart is not at ease with a “white” man,

and a white hair—no heart feels kindly toward a 'white' man,

when by “white” the speaker means one gray with age.

when the speaker means by 'white' a gray-haired man.

أَفي أَسوَدٍ مِنّي كَتَبتَ بِأَبيَضٍ

أَفي أَسوَدٍ مِنّي كَتَبتَ بِأَبيَضٍ

فَيا زَمَني الأُمِّيُّ لا كُنتَ كاتِبا

فَيا زَمَني الأُمِّيُّ لا كُنتَ كاتِبا

Have you written in white upon anyone blacker than I?

Have you written in white upon my black hair?

Then, O my illiterate Time, may you never be a writer!

So, O my illiterate Time, would that you had never been a writer!