بَلَوتُ الناسَ قَرناً بَعدَ قَرنٍ

فَلَم أَرَ غَيرَ خَلّابٍ وَقالِ

I have tested people, generation after generation,

And found none but deceivers and haters.

وَذُقتُ مَرارَةَ الأَشياءِ جَمعاً

فَما طَعمٌ أَمَرُّ مِنَ السُؤالِ

I have tasted the bitterness of all things,

But no taste is more bitter than having to ask.

وَلَم أَرَ في الخُطوبِ أَشَدَّ هَولاً

وَأَصعَبَ مِن مُعاداةِ الرِجالِ

Among calamities, I have seen nothing more terrifying,

And nothing harder than enmity with men.