The word arásh means perceived or imaginary. It does not necessarily mean that the thing perceived does not exist, but rather that its existence is unknown to the speaker and possibly irrelevant to the discussion.

In this case, arásh illenim are friends that may or may not be true friends. The speaker perceives them as being friends, but the use of arásh as a modifies leaves open the possibility that they are not.

Use of seni (tangible possession) instead of mleni (intangible possession) further suggests that we are talking about the perception of friends as they are in the narrator's mind. Perceptions of friends are controllable; the friends themselves are (hopefully!) not.

Compare the parallel structure of the first two lines. Meter is /´˘´˘´˘´˘´˘/, at ten syllables each line. Both begin with a form of vep. The forms of saea and sóte mirror each other. Llasháv and dasharíd have both been contracted for purposes of meter and syllable count.

Meter is /´˘´˘´˘´˘/, at eight syllable each line. Both lines begin with interjections, match on dida, and end with a form of semantically empty e

Meter is /´˘´˘´˘˘´˘´˘/, at eleven syllable each line. Adverbs vek and vik parallel one another, ne and illenim match directly. Surrounding by these perfectly matching words are di'ath of the first line and arásh of the second, making the contrast between them quite strong.