وخِلٍّ كخِلْم السوء أنكرتُ ودَّه

وخِلٍّ كخِلْم السوء أنكرتُ ودَّه

وخُلَّته أن نَكّر الدهر منظري

وخُلَّته أن نَكّر الدهر منظري

And a friend, like a faithless mistress—I no longer recognized his affection,

I spurned the love of an ignoble friend,

or his friendship, because time had altered my appearance.

And he denied our friendship when fortune turned against me.

يظل يُراعيني بعينَي شناءةٍ

يظل يُراعيني بعينَي شناءةٍ

ويُعرِضُ عن ودي بخدٍ مُصعّر

ويُعرِضُ عن ودي بخدٍ مُصعّر

He keeps watching me with hateful eyes,

He watches me with hostile eyes,

and turns from my affection, his cheek averted in scorn.

And turns his cheek away from my affection.

كأنا تعاقدنا الخلالة بيننا

كأنا تعاقدنا الخلالة بيننا

لوجهٍ طرير أو لخلْقٍ مصوَّر

لوجهٍ طرير أو لخلْقٍ مصوَّر

As though we had pledged friendship between us

It's as if we had agreed to feign affection

for a handsome face or a well-formed body.

For a comely face or cultured mind.

رأى الدهر قد أودى بماء شبيبتي

رأى الدهر قد أودى بماء شبيبتي

فأنكر من أحداثهِ غيرَ منكر

فأنكر من أحداثهِ غيرَ منكر

He saw that time had drained away the freshness of my youth,

Fate has washed away my youth,

so he found strange among its changes what was nothing strange.

And so he denies all but what he disavows.

ولم تر خلم السوء تمنح وصلها

ولم تر خلم السوء تمنح وصلها

خليلاً فترعاهُ على حين مَكبر

خليلاً فترعاهُ على حين مَكبر

And you have never seen a faithless mistress grant her intimacy

You never saw an ignoble friend offer loyalty

to a lover, then care for him in his old age.

To a companion, tending to him in his dotage.

ومن لم يزلْ بالحادثات معيِّراً

ومن لم يزلْ بالحادثات معيِّراً

فَوشكان ما يُلْحقْنَه بالمعيَّر

فَوشكان ما يُلْحقْنَه بالمعيَّر

And whoever keeps taunting others for their misfortunes—

One who continually derides misfortunes

how soon they will bring him alongside the one he taunts!

Will soon suffer the derision of others.

ومهما شكا الشاكون من جور دهرهم

ومهما شكا الشاكون من جور دهرهم

فليس مُريباً معشراً دون معشر

فليس مُريباً معشراً دون معشر

And however much complainers lament the injustice of their time,

However much the discontented protest the tyranny of fate,

it does not afflict one people while sparing another.

No tribe is more unjust than another.

وإني وإنْ جفني تقادم عهده

وإني وإنْ جفني تقادم عهده

لأمضي مضاءَ المَشرفيِّ المذكَّر

لأمضي مضاءَ المَشرفيِّ المذكَّر

And I, though my scabbard has grown old,

And though the passage of time has estranged me,

still cut with the keenness of a hard-steel Mashrafi sword.

I will persevere with the pride of the noble-born.