وناظرةٍ إليّ من النقاب

تلاحظُني بلحظٍ مستراب

And a woman peering at me from her veil

And one gazing at me from behind the veil,

Looks at me with a suspicious glance

Observing me with a glance of suspicion;

كشفتُ قناعَها فإذا عجوزٌ

مسودةُ المفارقِ بالخضابِ

I removed her mask and there was an old woman

I lifted her mask, and lo, an old crone,

Her separation was evident from the dye

Her hair-partings blackened with dye.

فما زالت تجمّشني طويلاً

وتأخذني أحاديثُ التصابي

She kept staring at me for a long time

She continued to flirt with me at length,

And the conversations of passion distracted me

Enticing me with talk of youthful passion,

تحاول أن يقومَ أبو نزارٍ

ودون قيامهِ شيبُ الغراب

She was trying to resurrect Abu Nuwas

Striving to make 'Abu Nizar' stand erect,

Without his resurrection, the crowning of old age

But closer than his rising is the graying of the crow.

أتت بجرابِها تكتالُ فيهِ

وراحت وهي فارغة الجرابِ

She came with her saddlebag to hoard in it

She came with her pouch to have it filled,

And left while her saddlebag was empty

And she departed with her pouch still empty.

متى تشفى العجوزُ إذا استناكت

بأيرٍ لا يقومُ على الشبابِ

When will the old woman recover if she seeks help

How can the old woman be healed if she seeks to rut

From a bed that cannot hold up to youth

With a member that does not rise even for the young?

تعوّجَ واستوى الطرفان منهُ

كمثال الدالِ من خط الكتاب

It twisted and both sides of it bent

It has bent until its two ends are level,

Like the shape of the letter dal in script

Resembling the letter 'Dal' in written script.