قد كان لِي غَلَسٌ لا فجرَ يمزِجُهُ

فالآن فجري بلا شيء من الغَلَسِ

I once had a youth no dawn would mix with,

But now my dawn is without any youth.

قالوا تَسلَّ فشيباتُ الفتى قَبَسٌ

فقلت ذاك ولكنْ شرُّ ما قبسِ

They said gray hair makes a young man wise,

I said it does, but it's the worst of wise.

وزارنِي لم أردْ منه زيارتَهُ

شيبٌ ولم يُغنِ أعواني ولا حرسي

Old age visited me - I did not want its visit.

Gray hair that did not aid my helpers or guards.

يضيءُ بعد سوادٍ في مطالعِهِ

لفاغرٍ من ردَى الأيّامِ مفترسِ

It shines after the darkness at its rising,

For one left open by the days, a vicious predator.

طَوى قَناتيَ وَاِغتالَت أَظافرهُ

نَحضي وَردّ إِلى تَقويمِهِ شوسي

It bent my firmness and its claws ambushed me,

Pushing me back to straightening my bent frame.

وَصدّ عَنّي قُلوبَ البيضِ نافرةً

وَساقَني اليومَ مِن نُطقٍ إِلى خرسِ

It repelled from me the hearts of the white ones,

And today it has led me from speech to muteness.

إِن كانَ شَيبي نقاءً قبلهُ دنسٌ

فَقَد رَضيت بذاكَ المَلبسِ الدنسِ

If my grayness was a purity after impurity,

Then I would accept that impure attire.

فَغالَطوني وَقالوا الشيبُ مَطهرةٌ

وَما السوادُ بِهِ شَيءٌ مِنَ النجسِ

But they erred and said grayness is purity,

And blackness has nothing of impurity.

وَالعمرُ في الشيبِ مُمتدٌّ كَما زَعَموا

لَكنّه لَم يَدَع شَيئاً سِوى النفسِ

And life in grayness extends, or so they claimed,

But it left nothing save the soul.