1. I sought youth when old age advanced,
And the sorrows grew, never falling short,

2. And youth appeared with its pleasures,
But one like you will not be excused for ignorance,

3. The censurers said “Will he ever stop,
Or will old age maim him or shorten him?”

4. At forty I bid it farewell,
And ten years have passed with me as one who sees clearly,

5. A lesson for a sensible man,
If he can hear or see,

6. So do not grieve over what is past,
Nor let what comes later sadden you,

7. For events try the young man,
And time makes him stumble,

8. One day he is hurt with what afflicted him,
Another day he is gladdened and cheers up,

9. From all that the young man encounters,
And he is granted from it what is decreed,

10. As if I had not traveled from encampment to encampment,
And did not abandon it after it lay fallow,

11. I roam it all the time,
And the abandoned land knows me,

12. I did not witness war on the day of battle,
Overflowing upon me, forgiving,

13. I did not penetrate the battle line until it ended,
For me the protection of the people and the pulpit,

14. Under me a swift Cao Cao,
Of horses, or a swimming camel,

15. I thrust with the spear until the

16. Flashing red blood flows from it,
And you were not in war when it raged

17. Like one who melts away and dissolves,
But I was one of courage

18. When the stones were hurled,
I answer the scream when it calls

19. And when passions are inflamed I am the one who ignites,
For yesterday when I walked

20. The gait of the mother of the boys reminded me,
Of an easy life we had

21. When fate left us undisturbed,
And when I was in the prime of youth

22. Play and night talk pleased me,
I hunt beautiful women and they hunt me

23. And I am pleased by the pressed wine,
And a white one like the small wine skin,

24. No blemish in her, for one who looks,
As if her necklace when it appeared

25. Was of pearls, and hailstones, and jewels,
A necklace of Najdi carnelians

26. Watched over by a cross-eyed one,
As if the syrup of bees and raisins

27. And Farsi, when we press it,
Is poured over the coolness of her teeth,

28. Mixed with musk and ambergris,
When she turns, and sways with

29. The slenderness of limbs and waist wrapper,
And her bracelet is crowded, and her shawl bunches

30. Over a delicate waist that is bent,
And her anklet is too tight for her leg

31. So that its pair of clasps almost burst,
Weak in standing, gentle in speech,

32. Frightened by sound when chided,
And she aspires to noble lineage,

33. So she is not accused when she boasts,
She is the one whose love healed me

34. And burdened me beyond what I can bear,
So do not blame me for loving her,

35. For indeed I am more deserving of excuse,
And say to one suffering from passion, a lover,

36. Whose thoughts are disordered by one remembered:
With a Kufan, originally from Furat,

37. Who appears there or is present,
While you are heading to Mujarran

38. For the roses and apples have withered,
You had no need from me of Mujarran

39. Nor an expedition there, nor trading,
And I was told news of her but did not go to her

40. So I have not ceased being confused by the mention of her,
That many are hungry for her

41. And few are satisfied with her,
And that the beards of the people are long from her heat

42. Stretching down or braided,
And he who reached her before us claims

43. That we will lose or be slaughtered,
I seek refuge in my Lord from disgraces

44. In what I reveal and what I conceal,
And I was told that our property will return

45. In years, and after them months,
Until then our sons grew up

46. And friends and companions perished,
And I had no energy for it

47. Though I am one with ample means,
But I was roused for it unwillingly

48. And told “Set out like one who is pushed,”
So there was salvation but I did not turn

49. To them though the worst of them denies,
It is the sword, unsheathed from its scabbard,

50. For the sword cannot be postponed,
And how many a brother of mine, intimate,

51. With whom tears flow that weep,
Bids me farewell and tears flow

52. Like streams or more copious,
For I will not meet him again after it

53. What the hand of fate has tossed will not return,
And it was said “You are only passing

54. Through a sea none before you crossed,”
To Sind and India in their lands

55. They are jinn but they are stranger,
And none before us attempted to raid it

56. Not the great of ‘Aad nor Sheba,
Neither did Sapor attempt to raid it

57. Nor the Shaykh Kisra nor Caesar,
And besides it is a vast crossing place