لَعَمري لَقَد أَدلَجتُ وَالرَكبُ خائِفٌ

وَأَحيَيتُ لَيلي وَالنُجومُ شُهودُ

By my life, I have surely journeyed whilst the caravan is fearful,

And I have revived my night whilst the stars bear witness,

وَجُبتُ سَرابِيّاً كَأَنَّ إِكامَهُ

جِوارٍ وَلَكِن ما لَهُنَّ نُهودُ

And I have satiated my mirage as if its gathering

Is a neighborhood, but they have no young fawns.

تَمَجَّسَ حِرباءُ الهَجيرِ وَحَولَهُ

رَواهِبُ خَيطٍ وَالنَعامُ يَهودُ

The warbler of the thicket has been purified and around it

Are roaming gazelles and ostriches wandering aimlessly.

وَقَد طالَ عَهدي بِالشَبابِ وَغَيَّرَتُ

عُهودَ الصِبا لِلحادِثاتِ عُهودُ

And my youth has been prolonged, yet I have changed

The epochs of childhood into new epochs.

وَزَهَّدَني في هَضبَةِ المَجدِ خَبرَتي

بِأَنَّ قَراراتِ الرِجالِ وُهودُ

And my experience has made me indifferent to the plateau of glory,

For the resolutions of men are prone to vanishing.

كَأَنَّ كُهولَ القَومِ أَطفالُ أَشهُرٍ

تَناغَت وَأَكوارَ القِلاصِ مُهودُ

As if the elders of the people are infants of months

Babbling, and the nests of doves abandoned.

إِذا حُدِّثوا لَم يَفهَموا وَإِذا دُعوا

أَجابوا وَفيهُمُ رَقدَةٌ وَسُهودُ

When they are told, they do not understand, and when called,

They answer while amongst them there is slumber and prostration.

لَهُم مَنصِبُ الإِنسِ المُبينِ وَإِنَّما

على العيسِ مِنهُم بِالنُعاسِ فُهودُ

They have the position of honorable humanity, but truly

Among them there is only drowsiness in liveliness.