كَم مَرَّ بي فيكِ عَيشٌ لَستُ أَذكُرُهُ

وَمَرَّ بي فيكِ عَيشٌ لَستُ أَنساهُ

How much life passed me by that I don't recall

And how much life passed me by that I don't forget

وَدَّعتُ فيكِ بَقايا ما عَلِقتُ بِهِ

مِنَ الشَبابِ وَما وَدَّعتُ ذِكراهُ

I bid farewell in you to remnants I was attached to

Of my youth and farewells I didn't commemorate

أَهفو إِلَيهِ عَلى ما أَقرَحَت كَبِدي

مِنَ التَباريحِ أولاهُ وَأُخراهُ

I yearn for it over how my liver was ulcerated

From the wounds of dawn and dusk combined

لَبِستُهُ وَدُموعُ العَينِ طَيِّعَةٌ

وَالنَفسُ جَيّاشَةٌ وَالقَلبُ أَوّاهُ

I wore it while the tears of my eyes compliant

And my soul fervent and my heart lent

فَكانَ عَوني عَلى وَجدٍ أُكابِدُهُ

وَمُرِّ عَيشٍ عَلى العِلّاتِ أَلقاهُ

So it was my aide over anguish I endure

And the bitterness of life it cast upon me

إِن خانَ وُدّي صَديقٌ كُنتُ أَصحَبُهُ

أَو خانَ عَهدي حَبيبٌ كُنتُ أَهواهُ

If a friend I befriended betrayed my affection

Or a lover I loved broke their vow to me

قَد أَرخَصَ الدَمعَ يَنبوعُ الغَناءِ بِهِ

وا لَهفَتي وَنُضوبُ الشَيبِ أَغلاهُ

My tears were made cheap by the wellspring of song through it

Oh my fervor and the drying up of old age made it precious

كَم رَوَّحَ الدَمعُ عَن قَلبي وَكَم غَسَلَت

مِنهُ السَوابِقُ حُزناً في حَناياهُ

How much my tears vented my heart and how much

Past sorrows in its folds washed it clean

لَم أَدرِ ما يَدُهُ حَتّى تَرَشَّفَهُ

فَمُ المَشيبِ عَلى رَغمي فَأَفناهُ

I didn't know its extent until gray hair

Overpowered me against my will and ended it

قالوا تَحَرَّرتَ مِن قَيدِ المِلاحِ فَعِش

حُرّاً فَفي الأَسرِ ذُلٌّ كُنتَ تَأباهُ

They said you're free of the shackle of infatuation so live

Freely for in captivity is humiliation you used to refuse

فَقُلتُ يا لَيتَهُ دامَت صَرامَتُهُ

ما كانَ أَرفَقُهُ عِندي وَأَحناهُ

So I said oh if only its harshness endured

It was never gentler and more tender to me

بُدِّلتُ مِنهُ بِقَيدٍ لَستُ أُفلَتُهُ

وَكَيفَ أُفلَتُ قَيداً صاغَهُ اللَهُ

I was replaced from it with a shackle I can't escape

And how can I escape a shackle God forged?

أَسرى الصَبابَةِ أَحياءٌ وَإِن جَهِدوا

أَمّا المَشيبُ فَفي الأَمواتِ أَسراهُ

The youth are prisoners while alive even if they struggle

As for old age, it is the dead's captivity to it