1. Spare me from the shame of nudity
That white hair has turned black

2. A hawk perched atop its prey
Until the branch withered and the curled hair straightened

3. He exhausts me with his relentless wooing
As if to ward him off would avail

4. And an annoying little bird bending its twig
Known since the day it was hatched to be shut off

5. He dyes her black though without taking her
The white appears at times and at others is hidden

6. My nature made me among the wine-drinkers since
A fervent wine-server has always pulled me along

7. The girls said after I had complained in pacts
Made and then broken without guilt or pact

8. Old age denied you the vigor of youth
The night is jest and the day earnest

9. So I said a sword whose scabbard is not blamed
They said so where is the water and the whetstone?

10. It used to be a canal but is now a reservoir
Your back, nothing makes it erect but the rod

11. I asked the clan of Saʿd and what wrong
Did Saʿd not unjustly take from you?

12. Hind said you've wearied me and swore
Relax, sworn one, O Hind

13. Your compact in my ribs is a crime
A marvel hidden by burning embers

14. Why was your promise on Babylon's day
Broken? Nay it was sorcery and only seemed a promise to me

15. Your waist is too weak and the tongue too loose
Knocking upon you that the knot be tied tight

16. Passion is lost, lost like one who would preserve it
And died with the people of loyalty and love

17. Flee from the shame of debt and sit alone
With drawn sword if the swords are sheathed

18. How many rest in the shade of blessings
While you struggle to gain them

19. Wealth was long with you, had you but preserved it
He would have seen you hoarding it

20. I controlled myself when I abandoned greed
Despair is free while hope is a slave

21. Had I known any desires that would bring
Me benefit, I would have feared abstinence would harm

22. I've tasted the morals of men, so
With asking, they were lenient, with me they grew harsh

23. I extended to them every charm
They softened while their hands with me grew firm

24. No bounty wearied me turning them toward me
Rather, struggle wearied me

25. Whose mirage dazzled me, I thought it water many
My mouth was tricked and I said fresh waters abound

26. Among the people are those whose bounty is around my neck
A burden, and those whose friendship is a necklace

27. The like of al-Husayn – if I seek the summit
It escapes me, does he have a match or peer?

28. The men missed attaining his glory
Girding his loins for glory, prepared

29. He dived into the trail of ascension while they
Fell behind as he advanced the stars

30. And among the clan of ʿAbd al-Rahim a moon
Each of its nights a perfect, auspicious one

31. The Banu Murra's seed was not mixed purely
Sweeter than what the cloak embraced

32. Do not, friend, wrap the rod in resignation
And rise up, for the heavy rhinoceros challenges you

33. Among the jurists according to their accounting
Through their wealth, though poverty in them is glory

34. They do not wish, if they fail to find
A world, that they live without striving their utmost

35. They were generous without hypocrisy raised in them
Articulate without Najd giving them birth

36. They were the elect – and were you to increase
The fire rises up and its father is tinder

37. O my companion, ask my longing in your absence
What adversities distance from you has inflicted!

38. Does the day intentionally torment me with parting from you
Or is that unintentional, without aim?

39. When will I see you again until
My companionship with you is bounty and struggle?

40. And why not, when you are in my assaults
A hand, a backbone, a mouth, and a shoulder

41. The feathers of my wing with you are abundant
And the rope of my bucket extended through you

42. How much heavy gear you carry for me
As if carrying my load were inevitable

43. Smiling while the ground is frowning
Bright of face while serious of circumstance

44. Your kind acts have exceeded me, so for everything
I consider yours the sufficient measure

45. Keep me, for keeping me is a store
For the day of my need, prepared

46. Your graying, your womenfolk, the tender
Among your youths and the bearded ones

47. In pleasant company, the hands of time are unable
To sever them; the eyelids of nights are blinking

48. Each day I see you wearing
A robe of ermine that renews itself

49. Poetry visits you in its bloom
The melody intoxicating, the ode rousing

50. And I remember what makes you forget me
By chance, which saddened me, no intent

51. Why have you left your sword bare of enemies
With no scabbard encasing it?

52. How can you bear to see a soul made prey
While the days of winter are lions?

53. The sun buries its face from it rising
While the festival requires you