قالوا نهته الأربَعون عن الصِّبا

وأخو المشيبِ يجورُ ثُمَّتَ يَهتدي

They said that forty had diverted him from his youth

And the brother of old age oppresses, then finds guidance

كم ضلَّ في ليلِ الشَّبابِ فدَلَّهُ

وَضَحُ المشيبِ على الطَّريقِ الأقْصَدِ

How much he strayed in the night of youth and it led him astray

The clarity of old age upon the most direct path

وإذا عَددْتُ سنيّ ثم نقصتُها

زَمَنَ الهُمومِ فتلك ساعةُ مَولِدي

And when I counted my years and subtracted

The time of worries, that is the hour of my birth