يا من تعجّب من مَشيبي عاجلاً

نَكدُ الزمان يُشيب كلَّ أديبِ

O you who are surprised at my premature grayness

The vicissitudes of time make every scholar gray

ما شِبْتُ من كِبَر ولا من لوعةٍ

شبَّتْ لوشْك نوًى وفقِد حبيب

I did not gray from old age or from distress

But from prolonged grief and loss of a beloved

لكن لطول أسىً وفقدِ مكارمٍ

وصروفِ أحداثٍ وجوْر خطوب

And from the decline of virtues

And the injustice of events and calamities

ولِع الزمانُ بهدم كلِّ مشيَّد

منّي وجرَّ عليّ كلَّ عجيب

And from time wantonly destroying all that was built

By me, heaping on me every strange thing

حتى كأنّ تَنّبهي وتأَدُّبي

وتكّرمي عند الزمان ذنوبي

Until it was as if my wisdom and courtesy

Were sins in the eyes of time

لا طال دهرٌ ليس يَزْرا جاهلاً

ويُصيب بالمكروه كلَّ لبيب

No era lasts that does not punish an ignorant one

And inflict harm on every sensible person