1. Make provision for yourself in life, for you will certainly bid it farewell.
Pay heed to the imminent journey, for it is nearer than the distant one.

2. Let your provision be fear and piety, as if your shroud will hastily enwrap you.
Be content with your livelihood, for contentment is riches, while poverty accompanies the discontent.

3. Beware the company of ignoble men, for they withheld sincere affection and feigned friendship.
The pretentious have never attained satisfaction, and when you withhold, they slander you.

4. Do not divulge a secret you are able to conceal, to one who divulges entrusted secrets to you.
Just as you see him dealing with others’ secrets, so too will he inevitably deal with your secrets.

5. Do not initiate a discourse in a gathering before inquiry, for that is improper.
Silence enhances every notion about a youth, perhaps he is an ignorant fool who mended his tear.

6. Abandon jesting, for many a jester’s phrase has brought undeserved harm upon you.
Do not neglect guarding your neighbor, for the sublime dignity is never attained by the neglectful.

7. And if one who wronged you apologizes for a slip, accept it, for the reward of that is greater.
When entrusted with secrets, conceal them, and veil your brother’s flaws when you chance upon them.

8. Do not despair at misfortunes, for it is misfortunes that cause men to despair.
And obey your father in all he enjoined, for the obedient son is never shaken.