لو كانَ صدَّ مغاضِباً ومُعَاتِبَا

أعتبتُه ووضعتُ خَدّيَ تَائِبَا

Had he been angry and reproachful

I would have apologized and turned repentant

لكِنْ رأى تلكَ النَّضارَةَ قد ذَوَتْ

لَمَّا غَدا ماءُ الشَّبيبةِ نَاضِبَا

But he saw that liveliness had faded

When the water of youth was depleted

وتعاقُبُ الأيّامِ أعقَب لِمَّتي

من حالِكٍ جَثْلٍ شَكِيراً شَائِبَا

And the succession of days followed for me

From your condition, bowed and white-haired

ورأى النُّهى بعد الغَوايةِ صَاحبي

فثَنى العِنَانَ يُريغُ غَيري صَاحِبَا

And he saw after being led astray, my companion

Pulls the reins, roaming with others as friends

وأبيهِ ما ظَلَم المشيبُ وإِنَّهُ

أمَلي فقلتُ عَساه عنِّيَ راغِبَا

And I wished that he would be gracious to me

So I said, perhaps he will be willing to return to me

أنا كالدُّجَى لما انتهَى نَشَرَتْ لَهُ

أيدي الصّباحِ من الضّياءِ ذوائِبَا

I am like the darkness when the dawn has spread

The hands of morning, with beams of light probing

خمسونَ من عُمري مضتْ لم أَتَّعِظْ

فيها كأنِي كُنتُ عنها غَائِبَا

Fifty years of my life have passed, without gaining wisdom

As if I had been absent from them

لم أنْتَفعْ بتجَارِبِي فيها عَلى

أنّي لقيتُ من الزّمانِ عَجائِبَا

I did not benefit from my experiences in them

Despite having met the wonders of time

وأتَتْ عليَّ بمصرَ عَشْرٌ بعدَها

كانت عِظَاتٍ كلُّها وتَجارِبَا

And there came upon me in Egypt ten years after them

Which were all lessons and experiences

شاهدتُ من لَعِبِ الزمانِ بأهلِهِ

وتَقلُّبِ الدُّنيا الرّقُوبِ عَجائِبَا

I witnessed the wonders

Of how time plays with people and turns the world upside down