1. Do not seek far-off goals and stay up late
What is decreed will come, though the seeker grows weary

2. Generation after generation passes away and is folded up
News becomes outdated and forgotten like writings on parchment

3. Man is beset by harm from where he least expects it
So be astonished at the twists and turns of fate!

4. Even Muhammad, though he was the Prophet, complained
Of the loss of his teeth as old age advanced

5. Do not congratulate others on their gifts, for they
Are flowers that fade with the brilliant season

6. Though the plants disappear for a year, when they reappear
It is as if they never went away

7. With the advent of each year, the rain clouds
Herald the nuptial gladiolus or sweet basil

8. Among the devout are imagined wantons
And among the debauched, seeming ascetics

9. The sweet charms of this world are only
Apparitions whose time is limited to a few months

10. If you wish honor for your sons
The best is to leave them obscure

11. My view is that you should mobilize all the swords
In the border towns and the lances in Samhar