وَعِظْتَ بلمّتك الشائبه

وَعِظْتَ بلمّتك الشائبه

وفقد شبيبتك الذاهبَهْ

وفقد شبيبتك الذاهبَهْ

Your graying locks have admonished you,

You have been admonished by your graying locks,

and so has the loss of your vanished youth.

and by the loss of your departed youth,

وسبعينَ عاماً ترى شمسَها

وسبعينَ عاماً ترى شمسَها

بعينك طالعةً غاربه

بعينك طالعةً غاربه

For seventy years you have watched the sun

and by seventy years whose sun you see

with your own eyes, rising and setting.

with your own eyes, rising and setting.

فوَيحك هل عَبَرَتْ ساعةٌ

فوَيحك هل عَبَرَتْ ساعةٌ

ونفسُك عن زلّةٍ راغبه

ونفسُك عن زلّةٍ راغبه

Woe to you! Have you passed a single hour

Woe to you! Has an hour ever passed

with your soul averse to a lapse?

with your soul turning away from a misstep?

فرغت لصنعك ما لا يقيك

فرغت لصنعك ما لا يقيك

كأنّك عاملة ناصبه

كأنّك عاملة ناصبه

You have devoted yourself to making what cannot protect you,

You devoted yourself to making what cannot protect you,

as though you were a toiling, weary soul.

as though you were laboring, exhausted.

وغَرّتك دنياك إذ فوّضت

وغَرّتك دنياك إذ فوّضت

إليك أمانيّها الكاذبه

إليك أمانيّها الكاذبه

Your worldly life deceived you when she handed

And your world deceived you when it entrusted

to you her false hopes.

to you its false hopes.

أصاحبةٌ خلتها إنها

أصاحبةٌ خلتها إنها

بأحداثها بئست الصّاحبه

بأحداثها بئست الصّاحبه

Did you suppose her a companion? Indeed she,

Did you think it a companion? Indeed,

with all her calamities, is a wretched companion.

with its calamities, what a wretched companion it is!

أما سلبتْ منك بُرْدَ الشباب

أما سلبتْ منك بُرْدَ الشباب

فهل يُسْتَرَدّ من السالبه

فهل يُسْتَرَدّ من السالبه

Has she not stripped from you youth's mantle?

Has it not stripped from you the cloak of youth?

Can anything be reclaimed from the despoiler?

Then can it be reclaimed from the thief?

وإنّ دقائقَ ساعاتها

وإنّ دقائقَ ساعاتها

لِعُمْرِكَ آكلةٌ شاربه

لِعُمْرِكَ آكلةٌ شاربه

Indeed, the minutes of her hours,

And indeed, the minutes of its hours

by your life, are eating and drinking.

are devouring and drinking up your life.

وإنّ المنية من نحوها

وإنّ المنية من نحوها

عليك بأظفارها واثبه

عليك بأظفارها واثبه

And death, advancing from her quarter,

And death, from its quarter,

is springing upon you with its claws.

is springing at you with its claws.

ألمْ تَرَها بحصاةِ الردى

ألمْ تَرَها بحصاةِ الردى

لِكلّ حميم لها حاصبه

لِكلّ حميم لها حاصبه

Have you not seen her, with death's pebble,

Have you not seen it, with death's pebble,

pelting every dear friend of hers?

pelting every close friend of its own?

كأنّ لنفسك مغنيطساً

كأنّ لنفسك مغنيطساً

غَدَتْ للذنوب به جاذبه

غَدَتْ للذنوب به جاذبه

It is as though your soul possessed a magnet

As though your soul possessed a magnet,

with which it has taken to drawing sins.

with which it has come to draw in sins.

فيا حاضراً أبداً ذنبُهُ

فيا حاضراً أبداً ذنبُهُ

وتوبتُهُ أبداً غائبه

وتوبتُهُ أبداً غائبه

O you whose sin is forever present,

So, O you whose sin is always present,

while whose repentance is forever absent!

and whose repentance is always absent,

أذِبْ منك قلباً تُجاري به

أذِبْ منك قلباً تُجاري به

سوابقَ عبرتك الساكبه

سوابقَ عبرتك الساكبه

Melt from within yourself a heart, and with it rival

Melt the heart within you, that with it you may keep pace

your streaming tears as they race,

with the first drops of your streaming tears,

على كلّ ذنبٍ مضى في الصبا

على كلّ ذنبٍ مضى في الصبا

وأتعبَ إثباتُه كاتبه

وأتعبَ إثباتُه كاتبه

over every sin committed in youth,

over every sin committed in youth,

whose recording exhausted its scribe.

and whose recording wearied its scribe.

عسى اللّه يدرأ عنك العقابَ

عسى اللّه يدرأ عنك العقابَ

وإلّا فقد ذُمّت العاقبه

وإلّا فقد ذُمّت العاقبه

Perhaps God will ward punishment away from you;

Perhaps God will ward off punishment from you;

otherwise, condemned indeed is the end.

otherwise, the outcome is indeed deplorable.