مَشَيتُ البَراحَ لِلرِجالِ شَبيبَتي

إِلى أَن عَلَتني كَبرَةٌ بِمَشيبِ

I walked the wilds in the vigor of youth,

I trod the open lands confronting men in my youth, until old age surmounted me with gray.

Until old age overtook me with its gray.

So do not gape your mouths, for I am a choking obstruction to the throat and molars, far from beloved.

فَلا تَفغَروا أَفواهكُم إِنَّني شَجّاً

إِلى الحَلقِ والأضراسِ غَيرُ حَبيبِ

So gape not your mouths, for I'm rough

By my life, my abuse of you, should I abuse, is no secret, nor is my walk toward you a creeping crawl.

To the throat and molars, no more a darling.

Your friendship is no precious catch I hoard, nor is your malice a truly fearsome threat to me.

لَعَمريَ ما شَتمي لَكُم إِن شَتَمتُكُم

بِسِرٍّ وَلا مَشيي لَكُم بِدَبيبِ

By my life! Not in secret did I revile you

For too long you rushed to tame an untamed stallion, proud, stiff-backed, and never to be ridden.

If I reviled you, nor walked for you with coyness.

You struggled against a torrent stretching its rein, like the Euphrates' flood surging in a southern wind.

وَلا وُدُّكُم عِندي بِعِلقِ مَضَنَّةٍ

وَلا شَرُّكُم عِندي بِجِدِّ مَهيبِ

Neither do I like you with clinging affection,

Nor do I dislike you with awesome gravity.

فَمِلآنَ عاجَلتُم رياضَةَ مُصعَبٍ

مُدِلٍّ عَسيرِ الصُلبِ غَيرِ رَكوب

You have filled to the full the hard riding of Mus'ab,

Supple of frame when not riding a mount.

وَقاسَيتُم غَرباً يَمُدُّ عِنانَهُ

كَغَربِ الفُراتِ جاشَ يَومَ جَنوبِ

And you endured a west that stretches its leading rope

Like the Euphrates' west, swirling in south wind.