وذي إثرةٍ ما زال ينقص أكلهُ

وذي إثرةٍ ما زال ينقص أكلهُ

من البخل حتى عاد خلواً من الداء

من البخل حتى عاد خلواً من الداء

And a selfish man kept reducing how much he ate,

With a mark that keeps diminishing as it's eaten

Out of miserliness, until he became free of disease.

By miserliness until it became empty of disease

وفارقتهُ مقدارَ عامٍ وزرتهُ

وفارقتهُ مقدارَ عامٍ وزرتهُ

فما زاد شيئاً غير قفل على الماء

فما زاد شيئاً غير قفل على الماء

I left him for a year, then visited him;

And I left him for a year and visited him

He had added nothing but a lock on the water.

Yet nothing increased but a lock upon the water