دَعَانِيَ مِنْ نَجْدٍ؛ فَإِنَّ سِنِينَهُ         لَعِبْنَ بِنَا شِيباً وَشَيَّبْنَنَا مُرْدَا

اَلْمَعْنَى: اُتْرُكَانِي يَا خَلِيلَيَّ مِنْ ذِكْرِ هَذِهِ ٱلْبِلَادِ؛ فَإِنَّ مَا حَدَثَ فِيهَا مِنَ ٱلْجَدْبِ وَٱلْقَحْطِ هَزَّ ٱلشُّيُوخَ وَأَزْعَجَهُمْ، وَشَيَّبَتْ أَحْوَالُهَا ٱلشَبَابَ وَٱلْمُرْدَ.

Leave me (both of you) in relation to Najd[1]; for as grey-haired [elderly people] its years undoubtedly made sport of us and as beardless [youth] it made us grey-haired.

Commentary: Leave me, my (two) bosom friends in relation to mentioning this land [of Najd], for certainly whatever aridness [there was] and drought that has happened has shaken and disturbed the old men and its conditions gave grey hair to the youth and the beardless.

[1] A region in Saudi Arabia. [Translator]

لَعَمْرُكَ مَا أَدْرِي وَإِنِّي لَأَوْجَلُ عَلَى أَيِّنَا تَعْدُو ٱلْمَنِيَّةُ أَوَّلُ
اَلْمَعْنَى: يَقُولُ لِصَاحِبِهِ: أُقْسِمُ لَكَ بِحَيَاتِكَ إِنِّي لَا أَعْلَمُ – مَعَ أَنَّنِي خَائِفٌ – مَنِ ٱلَّذِي يَنْزِلُ بِهِ ٱلْمَوْتُ مِنَّا قَبْلَ أَنْ يَنْزِلَ بِصَاحِبِهِ. يُرِيدُ أَنَّ هَذِهِ ٱلْحَيَاةَ قَصِيرَةٌ، وَٱلْمَرْءُ فِي كُلِّ لَحْظَةٍ عُرْضَةٌ لِلْمَوْتِ، فَلَا يَحْسُنُ أَنْ نَقْضِيَ حَيَاتَنَا فِي ٱلْهَجْرَانِ وَٱلْقَطِيعَةِ.

By your life, I do not know – though certainly I assuredly dread – on which of us will the fate [of death] strike first
Commentary: He is saying to his companion: I swear to you by your life I certainly do not know – though I am afraid – whom amongst us will death befall before it befalls his companion. What the poet means is that this life is short and a person is prone to death at every moment, so it is unbefitting that we spend our lives in abandonment and severance.