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Usama ibn Munqidh أسامة بن منقذ

c. 1185 · Shaizar, Syria · At ninety

When I rise, I feel I am carrying a mountain, and when I walk, I walk like a man in fetters.

فإذا نهضت حسبت أني حامل جبلا وأمشي إن مشيت مقيدا

The memoir Book of Contemplation (Kitab al-I'tibar)

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Zuhayr زهير بن أبي سلمى

c. 600 · pre-Islamic Arabia

I am weary of the burdens of life. Whoever lives eighty years, believe me, grows weary.

سئمت تكاليف الحياة ، ومن يعش ثمانين حولا لا أبا لك يسأم

The Muallaqa, Divan of Zuhayr

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Jeong Yakyong 丁若鏞

1832 · Joseon Korea · From a sequence of six written at seventy-one: a bald head, lost teeth, dim eyes, deaf ears, verse written as he pleases, and a game of go

One of an old man's pleasures: going deaf comes next. The world's noise has no good sound in it; nearly all of it is who is right and who is wrong.

老人一快事 耳聾又次之 世聲無好音 大都皆是非

Yeoyudang jeonseo, "An Old Man's Pleasures," fourth poem

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Jeong Yakyong 丁若鏞

1832 · Joseon Korea

One of an old man's pleasures: a game of go now and then with a guest or a friend. I always pick the weakest player and shake my head to dodge the strong.

老人一快事 時與賓朋奕 必求最拙手 掉頭避強敵

Yeoyudang jeonseo, "An Old Man's Pleasures," sixth poem

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