1. Poverty has weakened me and made me gaunt,
And destitution is an illness with no comfort,

2. Except dirhams which are unresponsive,
While my destitution responds to what I never called for.

3. So if my strength fails, that is no surprise,
Time weakens even the firmest foundations.

4. And from losing companions I have become thinner,
Though the quality of one's companions enhances the person.

5. I have lost the brothers whom I loved,
And after them I wore the shroud of bereavement.

6. But harder than all that and bitterer
Is my striving to seek what people possess.