1. I thank Allah and send blessings upon the prophets
The source of wisdom, shining light

2. I am grateful for the blessing of existence
And for the grace and generosity I have received

3. Worship God with reason, my son
And a heart filled with hope in God

4. Bow to Him and you will be given the keys to the heavens
And fear Him with the fear of those doomed to ruin

5. Look upon the kingdom and glorify the Greatest Creator
And delight in the bounty He has provided

6. You are the most noble in the universe
Everything is your servant or mother

7. The world of land and sea is subservient to you
As is the wind and all beneath the sky

8. Remember the verse when you were an embryo
Yearning for light amidst the darkness

9. Each day something remarkable occurs within the gloom
Perplexing every learned Hippocrates

10. Beside your ribs was a clot
Touched by the hand of God and made to pulse

11. It became sense and life after having been
Flesh and blood within the ribs

12. It rang out like a bell in the temple
Throbbing like the thrush

13. Say to whoever practices medicine or astrology:
“This is the work of God but you have gone astray”

14. Believe in God with the faith of an old woman
Nothing but God warrants such faith

15. O seeker of knowledge, listen!
The best thing about seeking knowledge has been summed up

16. It is the greatest blessing if you possess it
Do you not see the ignorant are like cattle?

17. Seek knowledge for knowledge's sake, not
For false vanity before scholars

18. Those who know, knowledge has a special taste
When you miss that, parting of ways follows

19. A deprived person's pursuit of knowledge is fruitless
The blind have no guidance toward light

20. If you miss being guided by the Knowing
Then refrain from all fruitless acquisition

21. And seek your livelihood here or there
How much ease and wealth comes with ignorance!

22. All the life lessons taught you, know
Experiences are the sciences of the mind

23. Days and life are but a book
Each day is a gateway to lessons

24. If you gain knowledge, measure it by eloquence
What good is a mind if the tongue is flawed?

25. How many scholars have fallen, whose obtuseness
Left their books without guidance

26. How many literati lacked knowledge, so
Brought no wisdom to their compositions

27. All knowledge has a philosophy
He who lacks it, knowledge escapes him

28. Read history, for in it are lessons
A people were ruined, unaware of events

29. Be loyal to your homeland until death
Whoever betrays their homeland one day will be betrayed

30. A person's homeland is their protective sanctuary
They remember the debt and hand that cared for them

31. You have come to know home and family through it
Every love stems from love of it

32. It is your unseen beloved constantly in hiding
Only an exile knows the longing for it

33. It gave you a gentle cradle in childhood
And later, an honored grave

34. How many dear ones you have entrusted to it
And covenants after you it will honor

35. How much buried nobility it contains
At the mention of whom tears flow as blood

36. Be active and hopeful, seize opportunities
Health and provisions come only through work

37. All work done with excellence is cherished
God’s secret is in a job well done

38. People are drawn to a good thing
Everything has a reward and price

39. Consider the relics and their artistry
Immortality has been granted to their perfect craftsmanship

40. These are the relics of early Egyptians
They mastered their craft, even the scarab beetle

41. O merchant, you have attained great profit
A merchant’s rising follows courtesy

42. Your shop’s door is the door of the Sustainer
Do not abandon His door or abandon Him

43. Show respect at His door to all who enter
They are His messengers and prayers, each one

44. A people’s honest and trustworthy trader
His utterance is an oath binding the people

45. Some have the nature of lions in their daring
So emulate them, for the bold succeed

46. Among them are youths who rose to eminence
Among them Alexander and ibn Ziyad

47. Brave of spirit among calamities, as in wars
Are the brave of heart when perils erupt

48. Able men are Socrates and heroes like Taliʿ
Only the champion of truth is the hero

49. They are the beauty of time, age after age
Conquerors or reformers preaching

50. They command awe among nations
As shepherds command their flock

51. Say, when addressing non-Muslims:
“You have your faith and I have mine”

52. Leave each religion its status with them
He knows best what is due them, Glory to Him

53. Every circumstance will someday change
So let destiny run its course and prepare

54. The stars in their courses bring good or ill
Never oppose the way things are

55. Say: if He wills, changes occur
If He wills, divine decree and fate

56. Do good deeds, for if you live, you will meet
Sweet praise, and if you die, it remains

57. He who dies leaving kindness to an orphan
Will be rewarded by the Merciful

58. Be generous if you see a wound gape
And care for it, applying ointment

59. Be steadfast in adversity, and in times of ease
Every noble trait falls short of generosity

60. Through it every tribulation can be turned back
You know not what tomorrow will bring

61. Be friendly with all people to win everyone
Many a bond comes from an act of goodwill

62. Treat everyone kindly to be loved
Of old, manners adorned a person

63. Avoid all traits that do not please
Straitened provision comes from a straitened nature

64. And be humble in high station to be respected
Arrogance and arrogance are opposites

65. All living things die except for God
So leave arrogance to Him alone

66. Relieve yourself of the sickness of envy
How many enviers has envy consumed!

67. If you grow angry, let it be for a great
Dignity transgressed or noble character besmirched

68. Avoid anger in petty matters
It is like fire, and sanity is the fuel

69. Seek truth gently and you will be praised
The violent truth-seeker is insolent

70. And in most matters follow not vain desire
How many obedient to their whims have gone astray!

71. Recall death, and do not panic, for who
Scants death earns the deprecation of time

72. Love the child, even if it is not yours
The child on earth is an angel

73. It is God's gentleness—if you but knew it
God have mercy on one who shows it mercy

74. A gesture of play to delight Him
Can lift the sorrowful out of anxiety

75. A conversation, when straits weigh heavy
Fills life with bliss and breadth

76. O fasting one, in the noble month
Abstain from gossip and tale-bearing

77. When you pray, be conscious of whom you worship
How many worshippers disturb the mosque!

78. Make the pilgrimage to Mother of Cities
An incomplete pilgrimage are pilgrimages to homes

79. Thus did the upright Taha and those with him
Basking in the dignity of God—do not be fooled

80. Be open-handed in your almsgiving
It is beloved to God

81. He made it a wise ordinance
So if you increase, God is Bountiful

82. I have no stake in the medicine of Galen
Except that life is an open book

83. Beware excess if you are wise
Death lingers in the throat of the glutton

84. And beware the cold—how many lives it has killed!
He who guards against it guards against half of illnesses

85. Make your dwelling in the open desert
Between sun, plants, and fresh air

86. A tent in the waste is better than palaces
Where the sun reluctantly passes

87. Tomorrow you will repair to a barren hollow
Pauper and prince equal therein

88. Leave wine to the alcoholic obsessed with it
Seeing no escape from drinking it

89. Do not share your secrets except with trusted noble friends
Some wit rests in the palm of the boon companion

90. And avoid gambling no matter how alluring
It is the slipping away of money and even the liver

91. Fall passionately in love, yet remain chaste and Godwary
None knows pleasure who does not fall in love