Much have I labored, much read o'er
Of Arabic and Persian lore,
Collecting tales unknown and known;
Now two and sixty years are flown.
Regret, and deeper woe of sin,
'Tis all that youth has ended in,
And I with mournful thoughts rehearse
Bu Tá hir Khusrawá ni's verse:
"I mind me of my youth and sigh,
Alas for youth, for youth gone by!"
- Ferdowsi