1. Do not do good to the wicked seeking
His affection, for kindness angers him.

2. Approach him with what he knows not,
And the opposite rejects its opposite unaccustomed to it.

3. Treat him with evil and see what his position is:
Evil improves him and good corrupts him.

4. The more you increase kindness to him, the more you find
Ingratitude from him. Try it, the best words are the most just.

5. Have you not seen embers and sulphur,
How fire inflames them by nature, and water extinguishes and quenches them?

6. The good people, when you treat them with kindness,
They are grateful, and the best righteous deed singles them out.

7. As for the despicable man, your effort to reform him is wasted,
You approach him while the nature of evil distances him.