لَيت أنّا لا نعرف القومَ فيهمْ

حَيَدٌ عن ودادنا واِزوِرارُ

If only we did not know these people, in whom

There is estrangement from our affection and deception,

وَلَبِئس الصّديقُ هبّ نسيماً

بمقالٍ وبالحُشاشةِ نارُ

And how wretched is the friend who blows like a gentle breeze

With words, while in his heart there is a burning flame,

وإذا سمتُهُ نهوضاً بثِقْلٍ

خاننِي منه عودُهُ الخَوّارُ

And when I called him to rise with effort,

His promise to me was soon broken,

فعفاءٌ على وداد أُناسٍ

هو ما بينهمْ غبارٌ مُثارُ

So the friendship of some people is dust

That is stirred up between them,

إنَّ قوماً كانوا الكرامَ لدينا

أوحشتْ منهمُ علينا الدّيارُ

Indeed, there were people who were generous with us

But their homes became desolate to us,

لم يَبِتْ بينهمْ قبيحٌ ولا عر

رَجَ فيهم فيما يُعرّجُ عارُ

No shame or fault dwelled among them

Or twisted into them like a twisted horn,

هم ليوثٌ إذا اِستحرَّت وَفي يو

مِ عطاءٍ هُمُ عطاءً بحارُ

They are lions, and on a day of heated war

They spend generously, oceans of generosity,

خلّفونا وعرّسوا في محلٍّ

هَجَرتْهُ الخُطا فليس يُزارُ

They left us and settled in a place

Abandoned by caravans, so it is not visited,

ما لهمْ مؤنِسٌ سوى عَرفجِ الدو

وِ سقاهمِ كما سقاه القُطارُ

They have no companion but the knowledge of time

And what time has portioned to them like fixed shares,

فتراهمْ في القاع صرعى كَرَكْبٍ

هجّروا عندنا قليلاً وساروا

You see them strewn in the wasteland like statues

They parted from us for a little while, then left