1. في كُلِّ يَومٍ مَوَدّاتٌ مُطَلَّقَةٌ

    قَد كانَ أَنكَحِنيها الدَهرُ مَغرورا

    Every day, friendships are divorced,

    Time had wed me to them while I was beguiled.

  2. يُطَيِّبُ النَفسَ عَن قَطعي عَلائِقَها

    أَنّي أُفارِقُ مَن فارَقتُ مَعذورَا

    What consoles my soul for severing its ties

    is that I am justified in leaving those I have left.

  3. كُن في الأَنامِ بِلا عَينٍ وَلا أُذُنٍ

    أَو لا فَعِش أَبَدَ الأَيّامِ مَصدورا

    Live among people with neither eye nor ear,

    or else live all your days sick at heart.

  4. غَيبُ الرِجالِ ظُنونٌ قَبلَ مَبحَثِهِ

    فَما طِلابُكَ أَن تَلقاهُ مَوفورا

    Men's hidden nature is a matter of conjecture until probed;

    so why seek to find it unblemished?

  5. فَما نُلائِمُ إِلّا عادَ مُنصَدِعاً

    وَلا نُثَقِّفُ إِلّا عادَ مَأطورا

    For we mend nothing that does not split apart again,

    nor straighten anything that does not bend again.

  6. مَحلُ البِلادِ وَلا جارٌ تَغَصُّ بِهِ

    يَضوي الفَتى وَيَكونُ العامُ مَمطورا

    Better drought in the land than a neighbor you choke on—

    he makes a young man waste away, though the year is rainy.

  7. وَالناسُ أُسدٌ تُحامي عَن فَرائِسِها

    إِمّا عَقَرتَ وَإِمّا كُنتَ مَعقورا

    And people are lions defending their prey:

    either you maim, or you are maimed.

  8. كَم وَحدَةٍ هِيَ خَيرٌ مِن مُصاحَبَةٍ

    يُنسى الجَميعُ وَيَغدو الفَذُّ مَذكورا

    How often solitude is better than companionship:

    the company is forgotten, while the lone one is remembered.

  9. مَن كَشَّفَ الناسَ لَم يَسلَم لَهُ أَحَدٌ

    الناسُ داءٌ فَخَلِّ الداءَ مَستورا

    Whoever lays people bare finds no one unblemished;

    people are a disease, so leave the disease concealed.