خُذْ من شبابِكَ صفوَ العيش مبتدِراً

فقد أتاكَ نذيرُ الشَّيْبِ يبتَدِرُ

Take in your youth the finest living has to offer,

For the harbinger of gray hair comes to warn you.

واستوفِ حظَّكَ منهُ قبل فُرقَتِه

بحيثُ لا أثَرٌ يبقَى ولا خَبَرُ

Receive your share of joy before parting comes,

So that no trace or story remains thereafter.

بقيَّةٌ من شَبابٍ بانَ أكثرُهُ

كأنَّهُ ليلُ وَصْلٍ كادَ ينحَسِرُ

What remains of one's youth soon disappears,

As if it were a night of union about to end.

فاعرِفْ لها حقَّها واشدَدْ يديكَ بها

فإنّهُ الصفْوُ يأتي بعدَهُ الكَدَرُ

Know its rights and hold fast to it tightly,

For purity comes next and then bitterness.