يا عَذولَيَّ قَد غَضَضتُ جِماحي

فَاِذهَبا حَيثُ شِئتُما بِزِمامي

O my two companions, I have folded my wings,

So go wherever you wish, holding my reins.

بَعدَ لَوثي عِمامَةَ الشَيبِ اِختا

لُ بِبُردَي بِطالَةٍ وَعُرامِ

After soiling my turban with the whiteness of old age,

I was clothed in the garb of idleness and nakedness.

خُفِّضَت نَزوَةُ الشَبابِ وَحالَ ال

هَمُّ بَينَ الحَشا وَبَينَ الغَرامِ

The passion of youth has faded, and anxiety

Has come between companionship and love.

غالَطوني عَنِ المَشيبِ وَقالوا

لا تُرَع إِنَّهُ جَلاءُ الحُسامِ

They chide me about old age, and say,

“Do not graze, for it is the bareness of swords.”

أَيُّها الصُبحُ زُل ذَميماً فَما أَظ

لَمَ يَومي مِن بَعدِ ذاكَ الظَلامِ

O morning, stay gloomy, for after that darkness

My day has known no brighter morn.

أَرمَضَت شَمسُكَ المُنيرَةُ فَودي

يَ فَمَن لي بِظِلِّ ذاكَ الغَمامَ

Your brilliant sun has blinded me,

So who will give me the shade of that cloud?

قُلتُ ما أَمنُ مَن عَلى الرَأسِ مِنهُ

صارِمُ الجَدِّ في يَدِ الأَيّامِ

I said, no one is safe whose head is threatened

By the sharp sword in the hands of fate.

إِنَّ ذَنبي إِلى الغَواني بِشَيبي

ذَنبُ ذِئبِ الغَضا إِلى الآرامِ

My sin to the maidens for my white hair

Is like the sin of a wolf with mange toward sheep.

كُنَّ يَبكينَ قَبلَهُ مِن وَداعي

فَبُكاهُنَّ بَعدَهُ مِن سَلامي

They wept when I bade them farewell,

But their tears at my greeting were more copious.