1. وَيَعلَمُ مِنّي أَنَّ شيمَتِيَ الوَفا

    بِمَجدي وَأَنَّ الدهرَ شيمَتُهُ الغَدرُ

    And he knows of me that my nature is fidelity

    to my honor, and that Time's nature is treachery.

  2. وَعِندِيَ مِن أَسرارِهِم كُلُّ مَيِّتٍ

    وَلَيسَ لَهُ حَتّى مَماتِهِمُ نَشرُ

    And every secret of theirs lies dead in my keeping,

    with no resurrection for it until their death.

  3. وَكَم لُمتُ فيهِم دَهرَهُم فَظَلَمتُهُ

    وَكُلَّ صَديقٍ لَيسَ يُنصِفُكَ الدَهرُ

    How often I blamed their Time on their account, and thus wronged it!

    And Time does not deal fairly with you in every friend.

  4. أَيَبيَضُّ رَأسي وَالأَسى بَينَ أَضلُعي

    كَأَنَّ هُمومَ المَرءِ مَسكَنُها الشِعرُ

    Does my head turn white while grief lies between my ribs,

    as though a man's worries dwell in his hair?

  5. وَأَحسَبُ أَنَّ الفِكرَ لِلهَمّ ناقِصٌ

    وَيَكثُرُ هَمّي كُلَّما كَثُرَ الفِكرُ

    And I suppose that thought diminishes worry,

    yet my worry grows whenever thought grows.