Live by what you will. Weakness does not preclude success.
A man of expertise can still be duped.
A man who cannot learn from fate cannot be taught by people,
not even if they take him by the scruff.
What are hearts but inborn tempers?
How many hate their former friends?
Lend a hand in any land while you sojourn there.
Never say: "But I am alien to this place."
In favor of alliance with a stranger from afar,
nearby relations are sometimes severed.
And as long as a man may live, he is in denial.
Long life is his punishment.
From the Mu‘allaqa of ‘Abīd ibn al-Abraṣ
