1. هو الشيب لا بدّ من وخطه

    فقرّضه إن شئت أوغطه

    It is gray hair—there is no escaping its streaks.

    So trim it, if you wish, or cover it.

  2. أقلقك الطلّ من وبله

    جزعت من البحر في شطه

    The drizzle has troubled you with fear of its downpour;

    you recoiled from the sea while on its shore.

  3. وكم منك سرّك غصن الشبا

    ب وريقا فلا بدّ من خبطه

    And how often your branch of youth delighted you,

    leafy—yet its leaves must be beaten down.

  4. فلا تجزعن لطريق سلك

    ت انبّ غيرك في وسطه

    Do not lose heart over a path you have traveled,

    where another faltered midway.

  5. ولا تجشعن فما إن ينا

    ل من الرزق كل سوى قسطه

    And do not be greedy: no one receives

    of sustenance anything but his allotted share.

  6. وكم حاجة بذلت نفسها

    ففوّتها الحرص من فرطه

    And how many a wish has offered itself,

    only for greed, through its excess, to let it slip away.

  7. إذا أخصب المرء من غفلة

    يسانى الزّمان على قطحه

    When a man prospers through heedlessness,

    he courts Time for his own drought [reading uncertain].

  8. ومن عاجل الحزم في عزمه

    فإنّ الندامة من شرطه

    And whoever rushes past prudence in his resolve,

    finds regret among its conditions.

  9. وكم راحة نالها جازم

    على ما تألم من سعطه

    How often a resolute man has won relief,

    despite the pain he suffered from his nasal remedy.

  10. وكم غرّ من متخم ممعص

    وفور اللذاذة في سرطه

    And how many a glutted, colic-stricken man was deceived

    by the abundant pleasure of his gulping.

  11. وكم ملق تحته غيلة

    كما يمرط الشعر في مشطه

    How much flattery has treachery beneath it,

    as hair is plucked out in the combing.

  12. إذا ما أحال أخو زلة

    على العذر فاعجل إِلى بسطه

    If one guilty of a lapse appeals

    to an excuse, hasten to accept it generously.

  13. وما يتعب النفس تمييزه

    فلا تعجلن إِلى خلطه

    And whatever tires the soul to separate,

    do not hasten to mix it.

  14. ووقر أخا الشيب والح الشبا

    ب إذا ما تعسف في خبطه

    Honor the gray-haired man, and rebuke youth,

    when it acts recklessly in its blundering.

  15. ولا تبغ في العذل واقصد فكم

    كتبت قديماً على خطه

    Do not overstep in reproach; be moderate, for how often

    you wrote long ago along his line.

  16. وكم عاند النصح ذو شيبة

    عناد القتاد لدى خرطه

    And how often a gray-haired man has resisted counsel,

    like the qatad thornbush resisting the stripping of its thorns.

  17. تراه سريعا إِلى مطمع

    كما انشط البكر عن نشطه

    You see him swift toward a tempting gain,

    like a young camel freed from its tether-knot.

  18. وكم رام ذو ملل حاشم

    ليغضب حلمى فلم أعطه

    How often a bored, provocative man has tried

    to anger my forbearance, but I did not oblige him.

  19. وذى حسدٍ لي أسقطته

    لقى يأنف الدهر عن لقطه

    And a man who envied me—I cast him down,

    a castoff whom Time disdains to pick up.

  20. يحاول حطى عن رتبتي

    قد ارتفع النجم عن حطه

    He tries to lower me from my rank;

    the star has risen too high for him to bring it down.

  21. يظل على دهره ساخطا

    وكم يضحك الدهر من سخطه

    He remains resentful of his time,

    and how often Time laughs at his resentment!