1. Were it not for propriety, I would have said
None but you gave birth to the boy

2. If you wish, he becomes docile
If you wish, he becomes a lion

3. And if you want him to stray, he strays
Or if you want him to be rightly-guided, he is rightly-guided

4. And the house is you - the voice in it
While it is but an echo to the voice

5. Like a parrot in a cage
That is told to imitate

6. And like soft clay that
Conforms to the shape of the hand

7. He takes what you accustomed him to
And man becomes what he is accustomed to