يُذمُّ من الشَّعَر الأبيضُ

فمنظرُه أبداً يُبْغَضُ

The whiteness of hair is blamed,

Its sight is always hated.

ويُحمَد أسودُه فهْو لا

يُملُّ بحالٍ ولا يرفض

While its blackness is praised, it does not

Bore at any time or get rejected.

وما ذاك إلا لأن الشباب

بدا مقبل وغدا مُرِض

That is just because youth

Arrived coming and left sick.

ولو صاحَب الشيبُ عصرَ الشباب

لكانت محبتُه تُمحَض

Had old age accompanied the time of youth

Its love would have been pure.

وزيُّ السوادِ لباسُ الحزين

على ما يُمِضُّ وما يُرْمِض

The adornment of black is the dress of the grieved

Over what passes and decays.

وزي البياض لباس السرور

كذا العُرْفُ لكنْ هنا يُنْقَض

And the adornment of white is the dress of joy

That’s the custom but it is refuted here.

إذا قبض الدهرُ عنك الشبابَ

فروحُك ذاك الذي يقبض

When time takes your youth away from you

Then it is your soul that it seizes.