جارَ هَذا الدَهرُ أَو آبا

وَقَراكَ الهَمُّ أَوصابا

This age has run its course or neared the end,

And worries have consumed you or overwhelmed.

وَوُفودُ النَجمِ واقِفَةٌ

لا تَرى في الغَربِ أَبوابا

Processions of stars stand still,

You see in the west no gates at all.

وَكَأَنَّ الفَجرَ حينَ رَأى

لَيلَةً قاسِيَةً هابا

And dawn seems when it saw

A harsh night, terrified and scared.

غَضَبُ الإِدلالِ مِن رَشَإٍ

لابِسٍ لِلحُسنِ جِلبابا

The anger of coddling from a lovely one

Wearing the garb of beauty a cloak.

سُحِرَت عَيني فَلَستُ أَرى

غَيرَهُ في الناسِ أَحبابا

My eyes are enchanted, and I do not see

Except him among people as loved ones.

وَلِحَيني إِذ بُليتُ بِهِ

وَأَرى لِلحَينِ أَسبابا

And when I was tested by him for a while

And I see for the moment causes.

غُصُنٌ يَهتَزُّ في قَمَرٍ

راكِضاً لِلوَشيِ سَحّابا

A branch that sways in the moonlight

Galloping to the drizzle clouds.

أَثمَرَت أَغصانُ راحَتِهِ

لِجُناةِ الحُسنِ عُنّابا

The branches of his rest have borne fruit

For the votaries of beauty, ripe dates.

لامَهُ فِيَّ الوُشاةِ وَكَم

ذامَني مِنهُم وَكَم عابا

They blamed me for the slanderers, and how much

Did they hurt me, and how much did they find fault.

عَذَّبوا صَبّاً بِعَذلِهِمُ

مُتعَباً في الحُبِّ إِتعابا

They tortured a young man with their injustice,

Weary in love, exhausted.

فَتَبَرّا مِن مَحَبَّتِنا

وَأُراهُ كانَ كَذّابا

So he shunned our love,

And I saw he was a liar.

لا تَرى عَيني لَهُ شَبَهاً

غَزِلٌ في الحُبِّ ما حابى

My eye does not see him as an equal,

A story in love he did not live up to.

وَحَديثٍ قَد جَعَلتُ لَهُ

دونَ عِلمِ الناسِ حُجّابا

And a talk I made for him

Unknown to people, veils.

لا يَمَلُّ النَثرَ لافِظُهُ

مُفتَنٌ يُعجَبُ إِعجابا

The prose of his words does not pall,

Infatuated, it amazes with admiration.

قَد أَبَحناهُ فَطابَ لَنا

وَحَوَينا مِنهُ إِنهابا

We whispered it, and it was sweet to us,

And we gained from it a plentiful share.

وَشَبابٍ كانَ يُعجِبُني

وَبِهِ قَد كُنتُ لَعّابا

And a youth who pleased me,

And with whom I used to frolic playfully.

جاهُ حُسنٍ ما رُدِدتُ بِهِ

وَشَفيعٌ قَطُّ ما خابا

The fame of beauty I was never turned down for,

And an intercessor who never failed.

ثُمَّ أَدَّينا إِلى شَمَطٍ

مُسبِلٍ في الرَأسِ أَهدابا

Then we came to a means,

With the hair on his head hanging loose.

فَأَمامي المُرُّ مِن عُمُري

وَوَرائي مِنهُ ما طابا

Before me the bitterness of my life,

And behind me from it what tasted good.

خَضَبَت رَأسي فَقُلتُ لَها

أَخضِبي قَلبي فَقَد شابا

My hair turned grey, so I said to it:

"Turn grey my heart, for it has become old."

شَرطُ دَهري كُلُّهُ غِيَرٌ

حينَ عادَيناهُ إِسحابا

The condition of my fate is all fickle,

When we made it swell with anger.

وَلَقَد غادَيتُ مُترَعَةً

لَم تَشِم في خُلُقي عابا

And I have lived sheltered,

None found in my manners blemish.

وَحَلَبتُ الدَهرَ أَشطُرَهُ

وَقَضَتهُ النَفسُ أَطرابا

And I milked fate halfway through,

And the soul spent it confused.

وَخَميسُ الأَرضِ مالِكُهُ

يَملَأُ الأَرضَ بِهِ غابا

And the owner of the fifth of the earth,

With it he fills the land crowded.

مِثلُ لُجِّ البَحرِ مُصطَخِباً

يَزجُرُ اللَيلَ إِذا غابا

Like the swelling of the sea raging,

It rebukes the night when it becomes dark.

وَلَقَد أَغزو بِسَلهَبَةٍ

تُعطِبُ الأَحقافَ إِعطابا

And I raid with a sharp sword

That causes the skulls to collapse numbly.

قَد حَذاها الدَهرُ جِلدَتَهُ

وَكَساها اللَيلُ أَثوابا

Time has clad it with its sheath,

And the night dressed it with robes.

جاسَ فيها الشَكُّ حينَ رَأَت

بِجُنوبِ الحَزنِ أَسرابا

Doubt dwelled in it when it saw

In the corner of grief flocks.

فَرَجَمناها بِغُرَّتِها

فَقَضَت لِلحِرصِ آرابا

So we stoned it for its delusion,

And it spent for greed miserly.

وَرَدَدنا الرُمحَ مُختَضِباً

لِدِماءِ الوَحشِ شَرّابا

And we repelled the spear blood stained

To the blood of beasts a drinker.