1. لا صبحتُ نهب الأسى والحزن

    لجسمٍ أقام وقلبٍ ظَعَن

    May I not awaken prey to anguish and sorrow,

    For a body that stayed and a heart that departed.

  2. فيا ويحهم يزمعون الرحيل

    وما زوّدوني سواء الشجن

    And oh, woe to them! They intend to depart,

    And they provisioned me with nothing but sorrow:

  3. دموع تحدّر فوق الخدود

    كصوب الغمام إذا ما هتن

    Tears streaming down over the cheeks,

    Like rain from the clouds when they pour down;

  4. وقلب يقلّب بين الضلوع

    بعيد القرار فقيد السكن

    And a heart tossed about between the ribs,

    Far from repose, bereft of peace.

  5. وأصبحت والراس مرعى المشيب

    قليلَ السرور كثير الحزن

    And I have become—with my head a pasture for gray hair—

    Poor in joy, rich in sorrow.

  6. لعمرى لئن شبت قبل الأوان

    لقد شاب حظى وشاب الزمن

    By my life, if I have turned gray before my time,

    Indeed, my fortune has turned gray, and time has turned gray.

  7. كأن الشعور عراها البياض

    سهام الردى أو خيوط الكفن

    As though the hairs, overtaken by whiteness,

    Were arrows of death or threads of the shroud.

  8. وأنكى عدوك في النائبات

    عدو تقاصر عنه الجنن

    And your most wounding enemy amid calamities

    Is an enemy against whom shields fall short.

  9. وإن الشباب إذا ما انقضى

    لكالحلم أقلع عنه الوسن

    And indeed, youth, once it has passed,

    Is surely like a dream from which slumber has withdrawn.