وَلَعْتُ بِبَيْضاءَ شابَتْ أسْوَدَ الشَّعَرِ

وَلَعْتُ بِبَيْضاءَ شابَتْ أسْوَدَ الشَّعَرِ

أَشَيْبَةٌ أَمْ خَيالٌ خالَهُ نَظَرِي

أَشَيْبَةٌ أَمْ خَيالٌ خالَهُ نَظَرِي

I became enamored of a fair one who turned the black of my hair gray.

I fell in love with a fair-skinned woman who turned my black hair gray.

Was it she who made it gray—or was it a phantom my sight imagined?

Is it a gray hair, or an illusion my eyes imagined?

فَقُلْتُ هذَا اعْتِداءُ الدَّهْر عَاجَلَنِي

فَقُلْتُ هذَا اعْتِداءُ الدَّهْر عَاجَلَنِي

لِطُولِ مَطْلِكَ لِي فِي أَقْصَرِ الْعُمُرِ

لِطُولِ مَطْلِكَ لِي فِي أَقْصَرِ الْعُمُرِ

I said, “This is Time’s assault; it has overtaken me too soon,

So I said, “This is Time's assault, striking me too soon,

because you have put me off so long within life’s brief span.

Because you have put me off so long in life's briefest span.

لا تَأَمَنِي فِي زَمانِ السُّوءِ غَدْرَتَهُ

لا تَأَمَنِي فِي زَمانِ السُّوءِ غَدْرَتَهُ

فَإِنَّهُ مُولَعٌ بالْغَدْرِ وَالْغِيَرِ

فَإِنَّهُ مُولَعٌ بالْغَدْرِ وَالْغِيَرِ

Do not feel secure, in an evil age, against its treachery;

Do not feel safe from its treachery in this evil age;

for it is infatuated with betrayal and reversals.

For it is enamored of treachery and reversals of fortune.

كَونِي ولاَ تَثقِي مِنْهُ عَلَى حَذَرِ

كَونِي ولاَ تَثقِي مِنْهُ عَلَى حَذَرِ

وَمَنْ يَفُوتُ صُرُوفَ الدَّهْرِ بِالحَذَرِ

وَمَنْ يَفُوتُ صُرُوفَ الدَّهْرِ بِالحَذَرِ

Be on your guard against it, and put no trust in it;

Be on your guard against it, and do not trust it;

and who, through caution, escapes the turns of Time?”

And who escapes Time's vicissitudes through caution?”

فاسْتَعْبَرَتْ ثُمَّ قالْت جَدَّ هَزْلُكَ بِي

فاسْتَعْبَرَتْ ثُمَّ قالْت جَدَّ هَزْلُكَ بِي

إِذْ تَدَعِي غَلَبَ الأَحْزانِ وَالْفِكَرِ

إِذْ تَدَعِي غَلَبَ الأَحْزانِ وَالْفِكَرِ

She burst into tears, then said, “Your jesting with me has turned earnest,

So she wept, then said, “Your jesting with me has turned serious,

now that you claim sorrows and anxious thoughts have overcome you.”

Since you claim that sorrows and thoughts have overcome you.”

وَلَمْ يَزَلْ حُبُّها صَعْباً عَلَى أَرَبِي

وَلَمْ يَزَلْ حُبُّها صَعْباً عَلَى أَرَبِي

فِيهِ المَنِيَّةُ إيراداً بِلا صَدَرِ

فِيهِ المَنِيَّةُ إيراداً بِلا صَدَرِ

Her love—my heart’s desire—has never ceased to be difficult for me;

And her love has remained unyielding to my desire;

within it lies death: arrival at the watering place with no departure.

In it lies death—being led to water, with no return.

وكَيْفَ أَعْطِفُ بِالشَّكْوَى وَرِقَّتِها

وكَيْفَ أَعْطِفُ بِالشَّكْوَى وَرِقَّتِها

قَلْباً أَشَدُّ لَدَى الشَّكْوَى مِنَ الْحَجَرِ

قَلْباً أَشَدُّ لَدَى الشَّكْوَى مِنَ الْحَجَرِ

How can I sway her tenderness with my complaint,

And how can I soften, with lament and its tenderness,

when her heart, faced with complaint, is harder than stone?

A heart harder, in the face of lament, than stone?