1. حتى متى أَنا حي بين أَموات

    منها دفنت ومنها نقل لماتي

    How long shall I live among the dead?

    Some I buried; others—my locks—were carried away.

  2. مذ مات شعريَ ماتت قوتي معه

    وأَدبرت عند أَضراسي ملذاتي

    Since my hair died, my strength has died with it.

    And along with my molars, my pleasures departed.

  3. أمست تعاورها في الترب راحاتي

    ففارقتني لفرقاهن راحاتي

    They came to be handled in turn by my palms in the dust.

    So, at parting from them, my comforts parted from me.

  4. كن الجنود التي ذل العزيز بها

    ولي أَطاع بها المستصعب العاتي

    They were the troops through which the mighty were humbled,

    And through them the stubborn, defiant one obeyed me.

  5. قد كان ثغري به سمطان من درر

    سلكان عادا خليات عريات

    Once my mouth held two strands of pearls:

    Two strings that have become empty and bare.

  6. لا سلوة بعد أَضراسي ولا فرح

    ولا لذاذة عيشات أَو اجارات

    After the loss of my molars, no solace and no joy,

    Nor pleasure in living or in rentals [sense unclear].

  7. مذ كن كنت فصيحاً غير ذي لثغ

    مذ بنَّ بانت غرانيق الفصاحات

    When they were there, I was eloquent, without a lisp;

    Since they departed, the cranes of eloquence have departed.

  8. فالطاء والضاد والراءات قد سلبت

    مني فرعياً لطاءاتي وراءاتي

    So ṭāʾ, ḍād, and the rāʾ sounds have been taken

    From me, in derivative form, for my ṭāʾs and rāʾs [wording unclear].

  9. وأَحرف الحلق قد أَعطيتها عوضا

    في طي قاف وكافات وميمات

    And I have given the throat letters in exchange,

    Within the folds of qāf, kāfs, and mīms.

  10. بعضي مضى وبقى بعضي فوا أَسفا

    بمن مضى ليت شعري بالبقيات

    Part of me has gone, and part remains—alas, my sorrow

    For those that have gone! Would that I knew about what remains.

  11. ولا عجيباً من الأَيام إِن فعلت

    بي هكذا فهي أَمات العجيبات

    And it is no wonder if the days have dealt

    With me thus, for they are the mothers of marvels.

  12. أَما العجائب مني بعد ذا فإِذا

    أَمنت من بعدها وقع المنيات

    But what would be strange in me after this is if

    I felt safe thereafter from the blows of death.

  13. حتى متى أَنا لا حرب ولا سلم

    مغلث الفعل عصيانا بطاعاتي

    How long shall I be neither at war nor at peace,

    Mixing, in my deeds, disobedience with my acts of obedience?

  14. قد راح زند المعاصي غير مرتد

    عنها أسوف بالآمال توباتي

    The fire-stick of sins has gone on, never turning back

    From them; with hopes I keep postponing my acts of repentance.

  15. نفسي وإبليس والدنيا العداة فيا

    رباه عفوك والتةفيق عداتي

    My own self, Iblis, and the world are the enemies; so, O

    My Lord, Your pardon and divine aid are my defenses.

  16. وفقني اللَه اعمالا رضيت بها

    مرضاتك اللهم يا مولاي مرضاتي

    Enable me, Allah, to perform deeds that please You.

    Your pleasure, O Allah, O my Master, is my pleasure.

  17. فاجعل عيونك عن إبليس تحرسني

    واكفني شر نفسي والدنيات

    So let Your eyes guard me against Iblis,

    And protect me from the evil of my own self and worldly things.