يالَيتَما رَجَعَ الزَمانُ الأَوَّلُ

زَمَنُ الشَبابِ الضاحِكُ المُتَهَلِّلُ

Oh, how I wish the old days would come back,

Oh, if only the former days would return,

The days of joyous, carefree youth.

The time of youth, laughing and jubilant;

عَهدٌ تَرَحَّلَتِ البَشاشَةُ إِذ مَضى

وَأَتى الأَسى فَآقامَ لا يَتَرَحَّلُ

When cheerfulness departed as time passed by

An era whose passing took cheerfulness away,

And sorrow came to stay, not to leave.

And sorrow arrived to dwell, never to depart.

وَلّى الصِبا وَتَبَدَّدَت أَحلاُهُ

أَودى بِهِ وَبِها قَضاءٌ حَوَّلُ

Childhood bid farewell, its dreams all scattered,

Youth has turned its back, and its dreams have scattered,

Carried off by a destiny that alters all.

Both it and they destroyed by a shifting fate.

حَصَدَت أَنامُلُهُ المُنى فَتَساقَطَت

صَرعى كَما حَصَدَ السَنابِلَ مِنجَلُ

The fingers of fate reaped its wishes and they fell

Its fingertips harvested hopes, so they fell,

Like ears of wheat harvested by a sickle.

Slain like ears of grain harvested by a sickle.

فَالروحُ قيثارٌ وَهَت وَتَقَطَّعَت

أَوتارُهُ وَالقَلبُ قَفرٌ مُمحِلُ

So the soul is a lute gone mute, its strings all severed,

The spirit is a lyre whose strings have frayed,

And the heart a barren wasteland.

And snapped, and the heart is a barren wasteland.

وَالشيبُ يَضحَكُ بَرقُهُ في لِمَتي

هَذي الضَواحِكُ يا فُؤادي أَنصَلُ

While the white of old age laughs in my temples -

Gray hair—its lightning flashes mockingly in my locks;

This laughing, oh my heart, is but tears.

These laughing flashes, O my heart, are but spearheads.

أَشتاقُ عَصرُكِ يا شَبيبَةُ مِثلَما

يَشتاقُ لِلماءِ النُمَيرِ الأَيِّلُ

I yearn for your era, oh youth, like a deer

I long for your era, O Youth, just as

Thirsts for water in the desert.

The stag longs for pure, fresh water.

إِذا كانَتِ الدُنيا بَِعَيني هَيكَلاً

فيهِ الإِهاتُ الجَمالِ تَرتُلُ

When life seems to me a temple

When the world appeared to my eyes as a temple,

Where beauty's sighs chant on.

Wherein the goddesses of beauty chant hymns.

مِن كُلِّ حَسناءَ كَأَنَّ حَديثَها

السَلوى أَوِ الوَحيُ الطَهورُ المُنزَلُ

The words of every lovely lady I meet

From every beautiful maiden whose speech seemed like

Are like solace itself or holy revelation.

Divine solace, or pure revelation sent from above.

وَأَنا وَصَحبِيَ لا نُفَكِّرُ في غَدٍ

فَكَأَنَّ لَيسَ غَدٌ وَلا مُستَقبَلُ

My friends and I never worry about tomorrow,

My companions and I, giving no thought to tomorrow,

As if there is no tomorrow or future.

As if there were no tomorrow and no future to come.

نَلهو وَنَلعَبُ لا نُبالي ضَمَّنا

كوخٌ حَقيرٌ أَم حَوانا مَنزِلُ

We play and fool around, not caring where

Frolicking and playing, indifferent whether we were housed

A humble hut or a mansion will shelter us.

In a wretched hut or sheltered within a mansion.

نَتَوَهَّمُ الدُنيا لِفَرطِغُرورِنا

كَمُلَت بِنا وَلِغَيرِنا لا تَكمُلُ

Our pride makes us imagine life is fulfilled by us,

In our excessive vanity, we imagined the world

As if it's complete for us and incomplete for others.

Was made complete by us, and for others remained incomplete.

وَنَخالُ أَنَّ البَدرَ يَطلِعُ في الدُجى

كَيما يُسامِرُنا فَلا نَتَمَلمَلُ

We imagine the moon rises in the gloom

We fancied that the full moon rose in the darkness

Just to chat with us, so we're not bored.

Solely to keep us company, that we might not grow restless;

وَنَظُنُّ أَنَّ الرَوضَ يَنشُرُ عِطرَهُ

مِن أَجلِنا وَلَنا يُغَنّي البُلبُلُ

We believe the meadow spreads its scent

And we believed the garden diffused its fragrance

For us, and just for us the nightingale sings.

For our sake alone, and for us the nightingale sang;

فَكَأَنَّما الأَزهارُ سِربَ كَواعِبٍ

وَكَأَنَّما هُوَ شاعِرٌ يَتَغَزَّلُ

We fancy the flowers are maidens

As though the flowers were a troupe of young maidens,

And the meadow a poet composing verse.

And the bird a poet reciting verses of love.

في كُلِّ مَنظورٍ نَراهُ مَلاحَةً

وَسَعادَةً في كُلِّ ما نَتَخَيَّلُ

In everything we see only joy and happiness

In every sight we beheld, there was grace,

In all we imagine.

And happiness in all that we imagined.

لا شَيءَ يُزعِجُ في الحَياةِ نُفوسَنا

لا طارِئٌ لا عارِضٌ لا مُشكِلُ

Nothing disturbs our souls in life,

Nothing in life troubled our souls,

No mishap or trouble or dilemma.

No sudden calamity, no obstacle, no dilemma.

فَكَأَنَّنا في عالَمٍ غَيرِ الَّذي

تَتَزاحَمُ الأَيدي بِهِ وَالأَرجُلُ

As if we live in a world unlike the one

As if we dwelt in a world unlike this one,

Where crowds push and feet trample.

Where hands and feet crowd and clash.

وَكَأَنَّنا رَهَطُ الكَواكِبِ في الفَضا

مَهما جَرى في الأَرضِ لا تَتَزَلزَلُ

As if we are a band of stars in space,

As if we were a band of stars in the firmament;

No matter what happens on earth, we are unshaken.

Whatever occurs on earth, we remain unshaken.

الناسُ في طَلَبِ المَعاشِ وَهَمُّنا

كَأسٌ مُشَعشَعَةٌ وَطَرفٌ أَكحَلُ

People struggle to survive, while our concern

While people strove for livelihood, our only concern

Is a brimming cup and kohl around the eyes.

Was a brimming cup and a kohl-rimmed eye.

كَم عَنَّفونا في الهَوى وَاِستَرسَلوا

لَو أَنَّهُم عَزَفوا الهَوى لَم يَعذِلوا

How they scolded us for passion and went too far!

How often they scolded us for our passion, rambling on,

Had they tasted passion's joy they'd not blame.

Yet had they known love's ways, they would not have cast blame.

وَلَوَ اِنَّهُم ذاقوا كَما ذُقن الرُأى

شَبِعَت نُفوسُهُم وَإِن لَم يَأكُلوا

Had they, like us, sampled the fruits of love,

And had they tasted the visions as we have tasted,

Their souls would be sated, even unfed.

Their souls would be satiated, even without food.

زَعَموا تَبَذَّلنا وَلَم يَتَبذَّلوا

إِنَّ الحَقيقَةَ كُلُّنا مُتَبَذِّلُ

They accused us of loose ways, yet were not so themselves.

They claimed we were debased, while they remained pure,

The truth is we are all unrestrained.

Yet the truth is that every one of us is debased.

حُرِموا لَذاذاتِ الهُيامِ وَفاتَنا

دَرَكُ الحُطامِ فَأَيُّنا هُوَ أَجهَلُ

Deprived of love's bliss, they missed out, while we attained

They were denied the delights of passion, while we missed

Shattered dreams - so who is more foolish now?

The gathering of worldly debris—so which of us is the more foolish?

إِنّي تَأَمَّلتُ الأَنامَ فَراعَني

كَيفَ الحَياةُ بِهِم تَجُدُّ وَتَهزُلُ

Observing people, I'm struck by how

I contemplated mankind, and I was appalled

Life treats them, rising and falling each day.

By how life treats them—now serious, now mocking.

لا يَضبُطونَ مَعَ الصُروفِ قَيادَهُم

إِلّا كَما ضَبَطَ المِياهَ المِنخَلُ

They don't steer their course through changing events

They cannot hold their reins against fate's turning,

Except as the sieve guides the water.

Any more than a sieve can hold back water.

بَينا الفَتى مِلءَ النَواظِرِ وَالنُهى

فَإِذا بِهِ رَقمٌ خَفِيٌّ مُهمَلُ

A lad with shining eyes and features

One moment a youth fills the eyes and the mind,

Becomes, in a flash, faded and neglected.

The next, he is but a hidden, neglected number.

يا صاحِبي وَالعُمرُ ظَلَّ زائِلٌ

إِن كُنتَ تَأمَلُ فيهِ أَو لا تَأمَلُ

My friend, as our days fade away

O my friend, since life is a fleeting shadow,

Regardless of whether you heed this or not:

Whether you place your hopes in it or not,

الذِكرُ أَثمَنُ ما اِقتَنَيتَ وَتَقتَني

وَالحُبُّ أَنفَسُ ما بَذَلتَ وَتَبذُلُ

Remembrance is the most precious thing you possess or will possess,

A good memory is the most precious wealth you have gained,

And love is the noblest you've given or will ever give.

And love is the rarest treasure you have given.

قيلَ اِغتَنى زَيدٌ فَلَيتَكَ مِثلَهُ

أَنا مِثلُهُ إِن لَم أَقُل أَنا أَفضَلُ

It's said that Zayd grew rich, and you should be like him.

They said, "Zayd has grown rich, if only you were like him!"

I'm just like him, if not better!

I am like him—nay, I might say I am better.

الشَمسُ لي وَلَهُ وَلَألاءُ الضُحى

وَالنَيِّراتُ وَمِثلُنا المُتَسَوِّلُ

The sun shines on both him and me,

The sun belongs to me as to him, and the morning's shimmer,

As does the radiance of morn, the stars and beggars.

And the stars—shared by us and the beggar alike.

أَمّا النُضارُ فَإِنَّهُ يا صاحِبي

عَرَضٌ يَزولُ وَسِعَةٌ تَتَنَقَّلُ

But vitality, my friend,

As for gold, O my companion, it is surely

Is a fleeting thing, expansive yet roaming.

A fleeting vanity and a shifting abundance.

ما دُمتُ في صَحبي وَدامَ وَفائُهُم

فَأَنا الغَنِيُّ الحَقُّ لا المُتَمَوِّلُ

As long as you're with me, loyal and true,

So long as I am with my friends, and their loyalty endures,

Then I am the wealthy one, not the begging one.

I am the truly wealthy one, not the man of money.

أَنا لَستُ أَعدَلُ بِالمَناجِمِ واحِداً

وَأَبيعُ مَن عَقَلوا بِما لا يُعقَلُ

I do not consider one speck of gold equal to a mind,

I would not trade a single one of them for all the mines,

Nor sell minds for what is mindless.

Nor sell those with souls for soulless things.