يَفديه من نُوَبِ الزمانِ مَعاشِرٌ

يَفديه من نُوَبِ الزمانِ مَعاشِرٌ

أحرارُهم لا يلحقون بعبده

أحرارُهم لا يلحقون بعبده

Groups of men ransom him from time's calamities;

He has been rescued from the vicissitudes of time by companions

Their free men cannot match his slave.

Whose freedom cannot be equated to that of a slave

أبدَت مقابحَهم محاسنُ فعلهِ

أبدَت مقابحَهم محاسنُ فعلهِ

والضِدُّ يُعرَفُ فضلُه في ضدِّه

والضِدُّ يُعرَفُ فضلُه في ضدِّه

The beauty of his conduct has exposed their ugliness;

The ugliness of their deeds has revealed the beauty of his actions

And a thing's excellence is known by its opposite.

And the merit of a thing is known by contrasting it with its opposite

ما كنتُ أعرفُ قدرَ ما خُوِّلتُه

ما كنتُ أعرفُ قدرَ ما خُوِّلتُه

من قُربه حتّى رُمِيتُ ببعده

من قُربه حتّى رُمِيتُ ببعده

I did not know the value of what I had been granted

I did not know the value of what I was granted

Of closeness to him, until I was struck by separation from him.

In his proximity until I was cast far from him