51 – Zakariyyā ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Tamīmī told us that an elder from Quraysh, of the Umayyad clan, related to him, saying:

“I once met a Bedouin of the Qays tribes who had reached—indeed, almost exceeded—one hundred years of age. I asked him, ‘Describe old age for me.’ He replied, ‘Much of what I used to wish were scant in me has grown abundant; I have left off women—though they were once the cure; my intake of food has dwindled, even though eating is the sweetest pleasure.’ Then he recited:

(Metre: ṭawīl)
Time has worn me down, yet I have not worn it;
Time has transformed me, though it never changes.
Time has bound me fast with a tightly-twisted rope;
I move within its coils—and each new day is shorter.