1. شَبابي كيْفَ صِرْتَ إلى نَفَادِ

    وَبُدِّلتَ البيَاضَ مِنَ السَّوَادِ

    My youth, how have you dwindled away,

    and been given whiteness in place of blackness?

  2. وَما أَبْقَى الحَوَادِثُ مِنْكَ إلَّا

    كما أَبْقَتْ مِنَ القَمرِ الدَّآدي

    And time's vicissitudes have left of you no more

    than the month's last nights leave of the moon.

  3. فِرَاقُكَ عَرَّفَ الأَحْزَانَ قَلبي

    وَفَرَّقَ بَينَ جَفْني وَالرُّقَادِ

    Your departure acquainted my heart with sorrows,

    and parted my eyelids from sleep.

  4. فَيا لنَعيمِ عَيْشٍ قَدْ تَوَلَّى

    ويا لِغليلِ حُزْنٍ مُسْتَفادِ

    Alas for the bliss of a life now gone,

    and alas for the burning grief I have gained!

  5. كأَنّي منكَ لم أَرْبَع برَبْعٍ

    وَلم أَرْتَدْ بِهِ أَحْلى مرادِ

    As though I had never dwelt in an abode of yours,

    nor sought within it the sweetest of desires.

  6. سَقَى ذاكَ الثَّرَى وَبْلُ الثُّرَيَّا

    وغادَى نبتَهُ صَوْبُ الغَوادِي

    May the Pleiades' downpour water that earth,

    and may the morning clouds' rain greet its shoots at dawn.

  7. فَكَمْ لي مِنْ غَليلٍ فِيهِ خافٍ

    وكم لي مِنْ عَويلٍ فِيه بادِي

    For how much of my burning longing lies hidden there,

    and how much of my wailing is plain there!

  8. زَمانٌ كانَ فِيهِ الرُّشْدُ غَيّاً

    وكانَ الغَيُّ فِيهِ مِنَ الرَّشادِ

    A time when good sense was folly,

    and folly then was a form of good sense.

  9. يُقَبِّلُني بدلٍّ مِنْ قَبُولٍ

    وَيُسْعِدُنِي بِوَصْلٍ مِنْ سُعادِ

    It would kiss me with Qabul's coy charm,

    and gladden me through union with Su'ad.

  10. وَأَجْنُبُهُ فَيُعْطيني قِياداً

    وَيَجْنُبُني فَأُعْطيهِ قِيادِي

    And I would lead it, and it would yield me the reins,

    and it would lead me, and I would yield it my reins.

  11. فَكَمْ هذا التَّمَنِّي للْمَنايا

    وكم هذا التجلُّدُ للجِلادِ

    How great is this yearning for death,

    and how great this fortitude in combat!

  12. لَئِنْ عُرفَ الجهادُ بِكُلِّ عامٍ

    فإنَّكَ طُولَ دَهْرِكَ في جِهادِ

    If warfare is known year by year,

    then you are at war throughout your life.

  13. وإِنَّكَ حِينَ أُبْتَ بِكُلِّ سَعْدٍ

    كَمِثْلِ الرُّوحِ آبَ إِلى الفُؤادِ

    And you, when you returned with all good fortune,

    were like the spirit returning to the heart.

  14. رأَيْنا السَّيْفَ مُرتَدِياً بِسَيْفٍ

    وعايَنَّا الجَوادَ على الجوادِ

    We saw the sword girded with a sword,

    and beheld the generous man upon the noble steed.