1. The best proverbs composed
Praise God, who has no equal

2. So praise be to God for His grace
That the tongue falls short of enumerating

3. Then blessings upon the esteemed Prophet
The source of wisdom and knowledge

4. And his family and noble companions
Who understood the essence of speech

5. You have composed virtues in eloquent words
That delighted the ears of scholars

6. And here are pages I present
Of wisdom for those who comprehend their meaning

7. I named it Relaxation of Souls
Bringing joy and delight

8. The proverbs told it you won the race
For you will remain in the memory of the intelligent

9. The intelligent recognize virtues
And how many subtleties of melody hide in corners

10. Many an ignorant man has learned
Let no sleeping one despair of gaining

11. Who seizes opportunity reaches purpose
None attains generosity but those who reap

12. People are brethren, varied in nature
Yet the house of Adam gathers them all

13. Some among them like beneficial food
Others like penetrating lethal poison

14. Just so some souls are spirit
While others are wounds in the mud

15. Many a fair person in appearance
Is harshest in the throat

16. Time is an assayer with its changes
Circulating therein money and fraud

17. Thus the sincerity of the free was lost
Like the loss of a lamp in daylight

18. It equated the virtuous and the futile
Laid bare the merit from the superfluous

19. Moderation in affairs is most just
The middle path in them most ideal

20. It is the wished for, attracting contentment
How many a lover was ruined by passion

21. Hopes may be deprived where desire lies
And the bird falls for the sake of the bait

22. Man yearns for what he never obtained
All things elude the outstretched hand

23. Who loves a sight devoid of experience
Nothing suits him better than moongazing

24. Youth has departed where is its vigor
Alas, alas the green youth

25. The time of my tears is remembering my youth
And most of my sorrow is at the breeze of youth

26. My vigor passed when companionship shifted
Death knows not whom I love

27. Patience over worries and sorrows
For this is the nature of time

28. Trust in God, how much unseen grace He has
When calamity comes, He is gently hidden

29. Seize the opportunity in its time
And bow to evil in its age

30. If you miss the stream then head for the puddle
He is pleased to tie the knot who found the bracelet

31. The limit of chastity is being content with sufficiency
No living was straitened while God suffices

32. One who was no kin to you
Do not expect a share from him

33. If you ask people the favor of kinship
You seek to pluck grapes from thorns

34. This is a time of stinginess and want
The time of generosity and preferring others has passed

35. Who tasks souls against their nature
Wearies with what will not benefit them

36. He who favors an ignoble one with intimacy
Is like one who nurtured a lion to kill him

37. They may reach ranks in worldly life
But cannot reach the sublime

38. Sublimities have steep paths
Without them the soul roams confused

39. Not all fingers are equal in comfort
And many a hopeful was raised up by his hope

40. Fate may bring and issue forth
The moon waxes and wanes

41. With generosity man ascends to heights of praise
Charity is a ladder to glory

42. Protect blessing from fading
With abundant benevolence and gift

43. Familiar custom is lost to the noble
But lost to the uncouth

44. Only its people know favor and good deed
The best opinion is to avoid affectation

45. As the predecessors have passed
Whose mind is clouded by health

46. Is served by the tongues of regret
Who makes peace safe from war

47. While one who desires only the ego's passions regrets
The breeze of dissipation flutters

48. And the goblet is origin of holes in the flasks
Every heart in its desires has a passion

49. Diagnose it and give medicine for the disease
One who seeks pearls in the sea depth

50. Will not avoid drinking bitter deadly water
Leave guesses and assumptions in affairs

51. What is destined must happen
What worth have hopes to the archers

52. While death lies in ambush for man
If the body retains some vigor

53. Do not grieve over what is past
Many efforts fall short of striving

54. So at ease is one with no purpose
Planning and plotting are useless

55. His bow slackens without tautness
Clattering noises under which

56. Only life's vanishing and incidents
Manners of character have gone

57. Save what remains in proverbs and papers
Friends have changed and time has shifted

58. No friend but healthy body
Do not conceal your disease from the doctor

59. Nor your secret from a trusted friend
If they are hopefully compassionate

60. Though I doubt time is generous with them
Enough of one's complexion gives news

61. Blushing suffices without shyness
The outlook of each hero is his gauge

62. The generous his fleeing eye
Who raced his donkey against the steed

63. His hands reaped fruits of stumbling
Fate may grant good fortune

64. Joining the limited with the eternal
How many hopes I have aimed

65. Launching arrows of me toward them
But in them I had no share

66. Not every archer's aim hits true
If fortune seemed to miss at times

67. Say not that it has erred
Fate's ordainments may have diverted it

68. All things have a measure with Him
In your hands is sorrow, take joy when you wish

69. Seize delight, leaving is toil
Not every time obliges what you love

70. If a crescent wanes then milk it
Who seeks salvation meets only grief

71. In people's affairs there is grief for people
Love of praise human nature

72. Gratitude tied to benevolence
Generosity in what is at hand marks nobility

73. Who hosts cares not for excess
Who meets generosity with ingratitude

74. Risks losing his blessing through neglect
Love has a bond not to be slighted

75. Hope has a sanctity not to be ignored
Past courtesies

76. Call for pardoning mistakes
Inquiring after loved ones' thoughts

77. Weaves the cloak of affection and love
Censorship prevents intimacy

78. As a quarrel though the judge may pardon
How long do I dream though my hair is white

79. I reckon death mistakes my name
No regret over loss of life

80. Existence and nonexistence equal herein
Every delight leads to evanescence

81. Every living leads to expiration
You, O youth, repent

82. Save yourself thereby before the chance is past