ذهب الشباب فما له مردود

ذهب الشباب فما له مردود

وتقطعت حطم به وقيود

وتقطعت حطم به وقيود

Youth has gone, and there is no bringing it back.

Youth has departed, never to return,

And shattering and fetters broke apart with it [wording unclear].

And the ties that bound me were severed.

وعلاك من سمة المشيب ملاءةً

وعلاك من سمة المشيب ملاءةً

شهباء لون سوادها مفقود

شهباء لون سوادها مفقود

And a mantle bearing the mark of gray hair has covered you,

Your hair took on a silvery sheen

Gray-white, its black color gone.

Whose raven hue was lost.

ودعتك أخت بني ضبيبة عمها

ودعتك أخت بني ضبيبة عمها

نسبٌ لعمرك ملء حسان بعيد

نسبٌ لعمرك ملء حسان بعيد

And a sister of the sons of Ḍubayba called you her uncle:

The daughter of Banu Dhubaybah called you “uncle”—

A distant kinship, by your life—the full measure of Ḥassān [wording unclear].

A kinship to your age of splendor long ago.