يَبكي لِما قَلَبَ الزَمانُ جَديدَهُ

خَلقاً وَلَيسَ عَلى الزَمانِ مُعَوَّلُ

He weeps for what time has changed anew

In people, though time cannot be blamed

وَالرَأسُ شامِلُهُ البَياضُ كَأَنَّهُ

بَعدَ السوادِ بِهِ الثَغامُ المُحوِلُ

His head's white hair makes it seem

After black hair, like transformed wool

وَسَفيهَةٍ هَبَّت عَلَيَّ بِسُحرَةٍ

جَهلاً تَلُومُ عَلى الثَواءِ وَتَعذِلُ

And a foolish woman assailed me with magic

Ignorantly blaming me and impudently complaining

فَأَجَبتُها أَن قُلتُ لَستِ مُطاعَةً

فَذَري تَنَصُّحَكِ الَّذي لا يُقبَلُ

So I answered her saying I cannot be coerced

Leave your preaching, it will not be accepted

إِنّي كَفاني أَن أُعالِجَ رِحلَةً

عُمَرٌ وَنَبوَةَ مَن يَضنُّ وَيَبخَلُ

It is enough that I endure a journey

Of a lifetime and the prophecy of a miserly jealous one

بنوالِ ذي فَجرٍ تَكونُ سِجالُهُ

عَمَماً إِذا نَزَلَ الزَمانُ المُمحِلُ

Whose dawn boasts will be, when time changes,

Generalities, though he descends polished and angry

ماضٍ عَلى حَدَثِ الأُمورِ كَأَنَّهُ

ذو رَونَقٍ عَضبٌ جَلاهُ الصَيقَلُ

Men show reverence when his greatness appears

Fearing disaster, the slender ones are his lovers

تُبدي الرِجالُ إِذا بَدا إِعظامَهُ

حَذَرَ البُغاثِ هَوى لَهُنَّ الأَجدَلُ

So they see he has a chapter over them

And a virtue preceding him, not unknown

فَيَرَونَ أَنَّ لَهُ عَلَيهِم سورَةً

وَفَضيلَةً سَبَقَت لَهُ لا تُجهَلُ

Bearing the weight of affairs, preceded in nobility

By a deliberate pioneer, poised and patient

مُتَحَمِّلٌ ثِقَلَ الأُمورِ حَوى لَهُ

سَبقَ المَكارِمِ سَابِقٌ مُتَمَهِّلُ

And when Quraysh are mentioned, he has

The glory of leadership and the finest deeds

وَلَهُ إِذا نُسِبَت قُرَيشٌ مِنهُمُ

مَجدُ الأَرومَةِ والفَعالُ الأَفضَلُ

In Mecca, when Umayyah are its people

An inheritance, if the old is enumerated

وَلَهُ بِمَكَّةَ إِذ أُمَيَّةُ أَهلُها

إِرثٌ إِذا عُدَّ القَديمُ مُؤَثَّلُ

His kinship enriched him, and his adherence

Was wise, as the reasonable person knows

أَغنَت قَرابَتُهُ وَكانَ لزومُهُ

أَمراً أَبانَ رَشادَهُ مَن يَعقِلُ

I transcended their morals, so I left them

To your blame, for the judicious one changes

وَسَمَوتُ عَن أَخلاقِهِم فَتَرَكتُهُم

لِنَداكَ إِنَّ الحازِمَ المُتَحَوِّلُ

And indeed I began wanting the love of friends

And the keeping of appointments that were not kept when fulfilled

وَلَقَد بَدَأتُ أُريدُ وُدَّ مَعاشِرٍ

وَعَدوا مَواعِدَ أُخلِفَت إِذ حُصِّلوا

Until certainty returned my hopes to despair

And those I hoped for disappointed me

حَتّى إِذا رَجَعَ اليَقينُ مَطامِعي

يَأساً وَأَخلَفَني الَّذينَ أُؤَمِّلُ