The days will show you what you did not know…
Quote
The days will show you what you did not know, and news will come from one you did not provision for the journey.
Arabic original
ستبدي لك الأيام ما كنت جاهلا، ويأتيك بالأخبار من لم تزود.
What it means
Time brings discoveries, sometimes through people from whom we expected nothing. The unprovided traveller shows that knowledge does not always arrive through the plans or enquiries we have deliberately arranged.
The story behind this quote
The verse occurs near the end of Tarafah’s Mu‘allaqa. In the poem’s setting, giving a traveller provisions could enable him to return with news.
The final movement introduces an unexpected person. The reader sees that news does not arrive only through those deliberately sent to obtain it. The image retains a world of journeys and encounters, in which time and travellers extend what a person can know.
The source
معلقة طرفة بن العبد, من أبيات الحكمة في المعلقة
The text appears in the indicated source. A traditional attribution remains distinct from proof of authorship: see the context.