If Time Must Be Spent

In your whole lifetime,
the number of true friends
you can count on one hand.
Perhaps four, or even fewer—
what a single finger can tally!

Those you need to keep in life,
apart from them alone,
never trouble your mind with the rest.

Pointless people always
create pointless suffering.

Better to pray in solitude
than stay with those who serve no purpose.

If time must be spent,
rather than waste it with just anyone,
better to spend it in prayer, with your own soul.