1. After greetings and all courtesy
I give advice, and advice is most incumbent

2. Justice, if the enthroned one seeks his troops
An invincible army of mightiest power

3. And gentleness, for the gallant youth
Is best equipment amidst affairs ridden or driven

4. So if you extend your strength through its means
It will attract mountains to you, attracting

5. And if you seek the souls' approval through other means
Obstinacy overwhelms them, and the goal is unattainable

6. Judge by what the Book has legislated, and fear not
An opponent who blames, nor a friend who reproaches

7. And establish for us the neglected right, and be steadfast
If the crooked leans in governance and stumbles

8. Truth is a fortress, those with intuition seek it out and take refuge
In it, the noblest of fortresses, the most awe-inspiring

9. The country surely has total rights
That no person owns, for you there is no escape

10. Rule is days passing swiftly
And history spreads and the chronicler writes

11. So remember your path if its era expires
And time, ever-changing, runs its course

12. And I see the scales of men are numerous
And the most exalted scale by which to weigh men is rank

13. So choose for yourself which direction you will incline
And with which confusion will you walk and wander

14. No rule elevates the land by its foundation
Like rule that destroys its pillar and ruins it

15. God looks from all sides of His Throne
At what you will do while He closely watches

16. That advice a poet has crafted for you
Free in utterance, honest, no liar

17. Truth his creed and pursuit of his soul
He accepts for it among writers and is angered

18. He does not fear the tyrants' oppression, inclining to it
Tossing about in their wanderings, leaping

19. A man is not scorned in life and tested
Like a people scorned by governors and abused