1. لَقَد أَفصحَ الشيبُ المَقُولَ ولَخَّصا

    وعَمَّ بهِ كلَّ الانامِ وخصَّصا

    Gray hair has indeed made its message plain and concise,

    and with it addressed all humankind, collectively and individually,

  2. وأَنذَرَنا إِنذارَ افضلِ ناصحٍ

    إذا مَحَضَ النُصحَ الجميلَ وأَخلَصا

    and warned us as the finest counselor warns,

    when he offers fair counsel, pure and sincere.

  3. فأَكرِم بهِ خِلاً وفياً وواعظاً

    تقياً نقياً صادقَ القولِ مُخلِصا

    So how noble it is—a loyal friend and admonisher,

    pious, pure, truthful in speech, sincere!

  4. فذا هَرَمي والشيبُ كلٌّ عن الرَدى

    غدا شارحاً علمَ البيانِ مُلخِّصا

    So this old age of mine and gray hair—each, speaking of death,

    has become a concise expositor of the art of eloquence.

  5. لَعَمرُكَ لمَّا ابيضَّ فَودي ومَفرِقي

    صَغَوتُ لمعنىً خُصَّ فيهِ ونُصِّصا

    By your life, when my temple and my hair's parting turned white,

    I heeded a meaning singled out in it and plainly stated.

  6. وما اعتاضَ من مَعنى الغَوايةِ بانَ لي

    وقد كانَ عني قبلَ معناهُ أَعوَصا

    And what was taken in exchange for error's meaning became clear to me,

    though its meaning had previously been more obscure to me.

  7. أَنُوَّامُ هُبُّوا إنما العُمرُ ذاهبٌ

    ولا تأمنَوا من سارقٍ قد تلصَّصا

    O sleepers, awake! Life is slipping away,

    and do not feel safe from a thief who has prowled by stealth.

  8. أَتبغُونَ من هذا الزمانِ تطاوُلاً

    وها إِن ظِلَّ العُمرِ منكم تقلَّصا

    Do you seek a longer span from this age?

    And behold, life's shadow has shrunk away from you.

  9. ابانَ لكم صَرفُ الزمانِ خفيَّهُ

    وأَبدى اكتِتامِ الحقّ جهراً وحصحصا

    The turning of time has revealed its hidden side to you,

    and openly unveiled the concealed truth, making it plain.

  10. فطُوبى لمَرءٍ قد أطاعَ عِظاتِهِ

    وأُفٍّ لغرٍّ جاهلٍ امرَهُ عَصى

    So blessed is the person who has heeded its admonitions,

    and fie on the ignorant fool who has defied its command!

  11. لَقَد شِيبَ صفوُ العيشِ بالهَمِّ والقَذى

    فما طابَ عيشُ المرءِ حتَّى تَنغَّصا

    Indeed, life's purity is mingled with sorrow and dregs;

    no sooner does a person's life grow sweet than it is embittered.

  12. ولا ساغَ وِردُ الزَهوِ يوماً لواردٍ

    منَ الناسِ الا إِثرَ ذاكَ تغصَّصا

    Nor has pride's draught ever gone down easily for a drinker

    among humankind without his choking immediately afterward.

  13. أَترقُصُ مذبوحاً بمُديةِ شهوةٍ

    فيا لَكَ من طيرٍ لهُ الذَبحُ أَرقَصا

    Do you dance, slaughtered by the knife of desire?

    So what a bird you are, set dancing by slaughter!

  14. فيا جاهلاً قَدرَ الذي انتَ باذلٌ

    لقد جِئتَ بالقَدرِ الثمينِ مُرخَّصا

    So, you who are ignorant of the value of what you give away,

    you have indeed cheapened something of precious worth.

  15. أَتَعلمُ أَثمانَ الذي أَنتَ بائعٌ

    لتُغليَ عن عِلمٍ اكيدٍ وتُرخِّصا

    Do you know the prices of what you are selling,

    so you may raise and lower them with certain knowledge?

  16. أَبَعتَ الرَجا باليأسِ والنُورَ بالدُجى

    وقِضتَ السَما بالأرضِ والدُرَّ بالحَصى

    Have you sold hope for despair, and light for darkness,

    and bartered heaven for earth, and pearls for pebbles?

  17. لقد زِدتَ حتى لا مَزِيدَ على الذي

    تناقصتَ في وزنٍ ولا كانَ أَنقَصا

    You have indeed increased until nothing can exceed the degree

    to which you have diminished in weight; nothing was ever less.

  18. تَمُدُّ لك الدنيا شِباكَ خِداعِها

    بلَذَّاتها اللاتي غدت لك مَقنِصا

    The world spreads out for you the nets of its deceit,

    with its pleasures, which have become a trap for you.

  19. لَعَمرُكَ ما زالَ الطَماعُ محرِّضاً

    على حُبِّ ذي الدنيا الغَرُور محَرِّصا

    By your life, greed has never ceased to goad,

    inciting love of this deceptive world.

  20. ولا بُدَّ للإِنسان أَن يَنزِلَ الثَرَى

    ولو أَن عَلا فوقَ الكواكبِ أَخمَصا

    And a human being must descend into the earth,

    even if the arch of his foot rises above the stars.

  21. ومن طَلَّقَ الدُنيا بَتاتاً فلا يَذَر

    بهِ حُبُّها الممقوتُ أَن يَتَربَّصا

    And whoever divorces the world irrevocably must not let

    the detested love of it lie in wait within him.

  22. ومَن لم تروبصهُ إِرَاثُ بليَّةٍ

    يصابرُها لم يُلفَ ممَّن تروبصا

    And whoever has not been refined by the fires of an affliction

    he patiently endures is not numbered among the refined.

  23. ومَن لم يَلِج نارَ التجارِبِ لم يَكُن

    خِلاصاً ومن أوضارِهِ ما تخلَّصا

    And whoever has not entered the fire of trials cannot be

    pure, nor has he freed himself of his stains.

  24. إذا ما تنَّقى المرءُ من بَرَصِ الخطا

    فذاكَ هُوَ الأَنقى وان كانَ أَبرَصا

    When a person cleanses himself of the leprosy of sin,

    then he is the purest, even if he is leprous.

  25. لقد فازَ مَن انضى ثِيابَ خَطائِهِ

    وفي ثوبِ ثوبٍ يلمقيٍّ تقمَّصا

    Indeed, he has triumphed who has shed the garments of his sin,

    and clothed himself in a white garment of repentance.

  26. رايتُ من الايام ما قد أراعني

    وأَعشى لَحاظَ العقلِ مني وشوَّصا

    I have seen in the days things that have terrified me,

    and dimmed my reason's gaze and made it squint.

  27. تخاوصتُ عن تخويصِ دهرٍ اصارَني

    بخَوصائِهِ والحمدُ لِلّهِ أَخوَصا

    I turned a squinting eye away from time's eye-narrowing, which made me

    narrow-eyed through its calamity—praise be to God.

  28. قضيتُ بهِ خمساً وخمسينَ حِجَّةً

    بإِكثارِ ذنبٍ زادَ عَدّاً فما انحَصَى

    I spent in it fifty-five years,

    multiplying sin, whose count grew beyond all reckoning.

  29. أَنِفتُ حياتي بعدَ ما ابتزَّ قُوَّتي

    مشيبي وفيهِ احتجتُ في المشي للعَصا

    I disdained my life after my strength was stolen

    by my gray hair; then I needed a staff to walk.

  30. فعن كَثَبٍ القى الاله مُحاكَماً

    باحكم عدلٍ مُهلَكاً او مُخلَّصا

    So soon I shall meet God, brought to judgment,

    under the most exact justice, either destroyed or saved.

  31. فلا غَوذ الا بالذي هُوَ غايتي

    فلستُ أَرى في غيرهِ ليَ مَخلَصا

    So there is no escape except through Him who is my goal,

    for I see no deliverance for myself in any other.