مِنْ حُسْنِ جِسْمِي وَالشَبابِ العُسْنُقِ

مِنْ حُسْنِ جِسْمِي وَالشَبابِ العُسْنُقِ

إِذْ لِمَّتِي سَوْداءُ لَمْ تَمَرَّقِ

إِذْ لِمَّتِي سَوْداءُ لَمْ تَمَرَّقِ

From the beauty of my body and splendid youth,

From my body's beauty and youthful bloom

when my locks were black and had not thinned,

When my black hair showed no hint of gloom

حَتَّى انْتَهَى شَيْطانُ كُلِّي مُفْرِقِ

حَتَّى انْتَهَى شَيْطانُ كُلِّي مُفْرِقِ

حَتَّى رَأَيْنَ الشَيْبَ ذا التَلَهْوُقِ

حَتَّى رَأَيْنَ الشَيْبَ ذا التَلَهْوُقِ

until the demon of every hair-parting had run its course,

Until the devil in me was fully spent

until they saw the gray hair flaunting itself,

Until I saw the grey that comes and went

يَغْشَى عِذارِي لِحْيَتِي وَيَرْتَقِي

يَغْشَى عِذارِي لِحْيَتِي وَيَرْتَقِي

وَمَخْفِق أَطْرافُهُ فِي مَخْفِقِ

وَمَخْفِق أَطْرافُهُ فِي مَخْفِقِ

covering the two sides of my beard and creeping upward.

To cover my temples, in my beard entwine

And a windswept waste whose edges lie in another waste,

And flutter at its edges line by line

أَخْوَقَ مِنْ ذاكَ البَعِيد الأَخْوَقِ

أَخْوَقَ مِنْ ذاكَ البَعِيد الأَخْوَقِ

إِذا أَنْفَأَت أَجْوافُهُ عَنْ سَمْلَقِ

إِذا أَنْفَأَت أَجْوافُهُ عَنْ سَمْلَقِ

broader than that distant, wide-open waste:

More fearful than the distant owl’s bleak tones

when its hollows reveal a bare, level plain,

When from its hollow breast low hooting moans

مَرَّتْ كَجِلْدِ الصَرْصَران الأَمْهَقِ

مَرَّتْ كَجِلْدِ الصَرْصَران الأَمْهَقِ

مِنْ بُعْدِ مَغزايَ وَبُعْدِ المُغْفِقِ

مِنْ بُعْدِ مَغزايَ وَبُعْدِ المُغْفِقِ

it lies smooth as the hide of a large, pallid camel,

It passed as quickly as the lizard’s skin

from the remoteness of my goal and of the place of return.

From distant dreams and long forgot sin