أَبي القَلبُ إِلّا أُمَّ عَوفٍ وَحُبَّها
عَجوزاً وَمَن يَحبِب عَجوزاً يُفَنَّدِ
The heart would have none but Umm ʿAwf and the love of her,
The heart refused all but Umm ʿAwf and love for her,
though she is old—and whoever loves an old woman is deemed a fool.
An old woman—and whoever loves an old woman is deemed foolish.
كَسَحقِ اليَماني قَد تَقادَمَ عَهدُهُ
وَجِدَّتُهُ ما شِئتَ في العَينِ واليَدِ
Like a worn Yemeni cloth whose age is long past,
Like a threadbare Yemeni garment, long grown old,
yet whose freshness is all one could wish for, to eye and hand.
Yet its freshness is all you could wish, to the eye and hand.
Sol 6.1