وزهَّدني في الناس معرفتي بهم

وزهَّدني في الناس معرفتي بهم

وطُول اختياري صاحباً بعد صاحبِ

وطُول اختياري صاحباً بعد صاحبِ

My knowledge of people turned me away from them,

And my knowledge of people has turned me away from them,

And my long testing of companion after companion.

and my prolonged choosing of one companion after another.

فلم تُرِني الأيامُ خِلّاً يسرُّني

فلم تُرِني الأيامُ خِلّاً يسرُّني

بَواديه إلا ساءني في العواقبِ

بَواديه إلا ساءني في العواقبِ

The days have never shown me a friend who pleased me

For the days have shown me no close friend who pleases me

In his first appearances, only to pain me in the end.

at first without distressing me in the end.

ولا صِرتُ أدعوهُ لدفعِ ملمّةٍ

ولا صِرتُ أدعوهُ لدفعِ ملمّةٍ

من الدهر إلا كان إحدى النوائبِ

من الدهر إلا كان إحدى النوائبِ

Nor did I ever call upon him to ward off an affliction

Nor have I ever come to call on him to ward off a calamity

Of Time, but he himself was one of its calamities.

brought by time, without his being one of the calamities.