لِجامٌ لِلمَشيبِ ثَنى جِماحي

وَذَلَّلَني لِأَيّامٍ وَراضا

A bridle for my graying temples bent

And made submissive my defiant days,

أُقُرُّ بِلُبسِهِ وَلقَد أَراني

أُجاحِدُهُ إِباءً وَاِمتِعاضا

I acquiesce in wearing it though I

Reluctantly abhor and rue its ways.

تَعَوَّضتُ الوَقارَ مِنَ التَصابي

لَشُدَّ عَلى المُعَوَّضِ ما اِستَعاضا

For dignity I made this compromise

That I might tie and take the thing I hate.

لَوى عَنّي الخُدودَ مِنَ الغَواني

وَقَطَّعَ دونِيَ الحَدَقَ المِراضا

It turned my cheeks away from dimples and

Before my eyes spread out a joyless state.

فَصارَ بَياضُهُ عِندي سَواداً

وَكانَ سَوادُهُ عِندي بَياضا

Its whiteness now seems blackness to my eyes,

Its blackness changed to whiteness in my sight.