1. لا يُبعِدَنَّ اللَهُ بُردَ شَبيبَةٍ

    أَلقَيتُهُ بِمِنىً وَرُحتُ سليباً

    May God never banish the cloak of my youth,

    Which I cast off at Mina and went away stripped.

  2. شَعرٌ صَحِبتُ بِهِ الشَبابَ غُرانَقاً

    وَالعَيشَ مُخضَرَّ الجَنابِ رَطيبا

    With my hair I kept youth company, a graceful young man,

    While life was lush around its edges and fresh.

  3. بَعدَ الثَلاثينَ اِنقِراضُ شَبيبَةٍ

    عَجَباً أُمَيمَ لَقَد رَأَيتُ عَجيبا

    Beyond thirty comes the passing of my youth—

    What a wonder, Umaymah! I have indeed seen a wondrous thing.

  4. قَد كانَ لي قَطَطاً يُزَيِّنُ لِمَّتي

    شَروى السِنانِ يُزَيِّنُ الأُنبوبا

    My hair was tightly curled, adorning my locks,

    As a spearhead adorns its shaft.

  5. فَاليَومَ أَطَّلِبُ الهَوى مُتَكَلِّفاً

    حَصِراً وَأَلقى الغانِياتِ مُريبا

    But today I pursue love with strained effort,

    Tongue-tied, meeting beautiful women as a figure of suspicion.

  6. إِمّا بَكَيتُ عَلى الشَبابِ فَإِنَّهُ

    قَد كانَ عَهدي بِالشَبابِ قَريبا

    I have wept for youth, for indeed

    My time with youth was still so recent.

  7. لَو كانَ يَرجِعُ مَيَّتٌ بِتفَجُّعٍ

    وَجَوىً شَقَقتُ عَلى الشَبابِ جُيوبا

    If anything dead could return through lamentation

    And anguish, I would tear open my shirt-fronts for youth.

  8. وَلَئِن حَنَنتُ إِلى مِنىً مِن بَعدِها

    فَلَقَد دَفَنتُ بِها الغَداةَ حَبيباً

    And if thereafter I yearn for Mina,

    It is because there, that morning, I buried a beloved.