أهوى ولات اليوم حين تصابي

وجوى وقد غمز المشيب شبابي

I love, though today is no time for my youthful dalliance

and love's anguish, now that gray hair has pinched my youth.

والأربعون بقضها وقضيضها

جثمت مزمجرة قبالة بابي

And forty, with all its might,

has crouched, growling, before my door.

يا مي أشطان الخيال أرثها

متح الوقائع من معين سر

O Mayy, imagination's long ropes have been worn thin

by drawing realities from a wellspring of mystery.

وأزاهر الشوق الملح أَحالها

لفح السموم تغضناً بإهابي

And the blossoms of insistent longing have been turned

by the desert wind's scorching blast into wrinkles on my skin.

فهواك لم يبرح يعطر نشره

مس الجنون بحسنك الخلاب

For love of you—its fragrance is still perfumed

by a touch of madness for your bewitching beauty.

وعيونك السوداء تنظر خلسة

وتشع سحراً من وراء حجاب

And your black eyes look furtively

and radiate enchantment from behind a veil.

لفظتك أَحلام الشباب وأسهبت

في خلع نيرك أيما إسهاب

Youth's dreams have cast you out and gone to great lengths

in casting off your yoke—to the utmost lengths.

فاربع على ضلع الرزانة والحجا

وانعم بمين وقارك الكذاب

So keep to the side of composure and reason,

and enjoy the falsehood of your lying dignity.

وئد الهيام وطيش أَيام الصبا

ما بين محبرة وبين كتاب

And bury alive passion and the recklessness of youthful days

between an inkwell and a book.

ضربوا بزي خيامهم وترنحت

طرباً لمنزلهم أشم هضاب

They pitched their tents in Zayy, and there swayed

with joy at their encampment the loftiest of hills.