مَن لي بِوَجهِكَ وَالشَبابِ وَثَروَةٍ

وَالأَمنِ مِن دَهري وَمِن أَبنائِهِ

Who will give me your face and youth and wealth

And safety from my fate and from its sons

وَيحَ المُحِبِّ وَقلبُهُ وَحَبيبُهُ

وَرَقيبُهُ وَالدَهرُ مِن أَعدائِهِ

Alas for the lover and his heart and his beloved

And his watcher and time against his enemies

وَيَموتُ بِالداءِ الَّذي في قَلبِهِ

وَيَخافُ مِن عِلمِ الطَبيبِ بَدائِهِ

And he dies of the sickness that is in his heart

And fears the physician's knowledge of his illness

وَعَذولِهِ وَكَفاهُ هَمُّ عَذولِهِ

وَالمَوتُ مِنهُ وَمِن تَفَلسُفِ رائِهِ

And his disdain, and his disdain's grief suffices him

And death from it and from the sophistry of his opinions

وَتَكَلُّمٍ مِن تَحتِ نَثرِ دُموعِهِ

لِمُكَلَّمٍ مِن تَحتِ نارِ بَلائِهِ

And talking from beneath the prose of his tears

To one who talks from beneath the fire of his tribulation

تَبدو نُجومُ الشَيبِ فَوقَ صَباحِها

وَالنَجمُ لا يَبدو بِلا ظَلمائِهِ

The stars of grey hair appear over its morning

And a star does not appear without its darkness

وَمُضيءِ شَمسِ الوَجهِ لم يَهدِ الهَوى

في خاطِري إِلّا سِراجُ ضِيائِهِ

The shining sun of the face did not guide love

In my thoughts but by the lantern of its light