سلب الشباب رداءه

عني وأَتبعه إزاره

Youth has stripped off its cloak

And taken away its loincloth after it

وَلَقَد يحل عليَّ حلته

فيعجبني فخاره

And its garb has indeed descended upon me

So its elegance delights me

ولقد لبست جديده

حينا فلا يبعد مزاره

And I have worn something new for a while

Yet its shrine is not far away

فانظر إِلى شعري

تبين كيف قد فعلت دياره

So look at my hair

And see how its abode has fared

بيض كلون القطن لا

يخفىعلى احمد خماره

White like the color of cotton

Its turban’s color does not escape Ahmed

وأسأل شبابي هَل اهن

ت مساكه او ذل جاره

And I ask my youth, did I

Wrong it or humiliate its neighbor?

أَم هَل وقفت بموقف

او مشهد يخزيه عاره

Or did I stand at a stance

Or scene that shames it?

أَم هَل كسبت المال

الا عادَ لي وله خياره

Or did I earn money

Except it returned to me and to it spoiled?

اعطيته درعي وبيضتها

وَمَصقولا شفاره

I gave it my coat of mail and whitened it

And its blade polished

والقينة الحسناء مثل

الريم من ذهب سواره

And the beautiful scabbard like

A Rim made of its golden bracelet

وحملته يوم اللقاء

على جواد ما يعاره

And I carried it on the day of meeting

On a steed that none could blame

وَلَقَد رأَيت الشرّ بين

الحيّ يبدأه صغاره

And I have seen evil among

The living begun by its young

فَلو أَنَّهم يأسونه

لتنهنهت عنهم كباره

If only they despair it

Its elders will refrain from it