1. What shame has time brought upon valor!
It does not shy from vileness.

2. I complain to God of time, whose habit
Is honoring slaves and humiliating the free.

3. Do not be surprised if their sons recount my virtues.
Each flows in the course of his father.

4. Have mercy on the envious, for their fire
Has flared up far from any fire.

5. When my name is mentioned their hearts
Almost split, or they try to harm me.

6. They hated God's gifts to me—woe to them!
For their misery they hated the deeds of the Blessed.

7. The fuel for their fire is the height of my fame
And the spreading of my deeds through all lands.

8. O Saad, help me shun them:
To forsake an evildoer is piety.

9. Beware the sons of the world, live heedlessly
Of them, avoid every harmful dog.

10. Keep your old companion in his place.
Do not abandon old love for a flitting one.

11. When he does wrong and you are tolerant, tolerate him.
Your tolerance is the greatest support.

12. Hasten to do good and cause necks
To bow in beauty, for time is twisted.

13. Acquire piety as your treasure in your home
For the other world. The world is no abode.

14. Work for that abode as its people do.
Act like workers for this abode.

15. Seek noble deeds freely.
Noble deeds have praiseworthy traces.

16. Do not regret what is past, strive
To correct what remains by accumulation.

17. The learned who do not work are like trees
Without fruit.

18. Knowledge, whenever combined with piety, is
Like the wind passing over flowers.

19. O reader of the Qurʾān, if you do not follow
What is in it, what good is reading?

20. The path of those who do not know how to do good
Is to think well of the learned without hostility.

21. Knowledge may intercede for its people
And cause their haters to dwell in desolation.

22. Are the learned and ignorant equal in merit?
Or are the enlightened like lights?

23. Seek, in wealth, to perfect your reputation.
Persist in litanies and invocations.

24. There is no life but in leisure with wealth
And fame is the end of dangers.

25. Be content. The treasure of contentment is without limit.
Contentment suffices as honor for the powerless.

26. Ask your God for protection and care
For evil deeds destroy lives.

27. If you slip into error and sin
Then regret it and hasten to ask forgiveness.

28. Beware the tyranny and injustice of people.
And beware supplications at dawn.

29. Avoid the sultan unless forced,
And if he is merciless, beware, beware!

30. Reflect on consequences and avoid
Matters that need excuses.

31. Leave the people, ask Him who gave them.
Do not seek favors from the cruel.

32. If the dew solidified from the cold of old age
The dew did not solidify from the cold of poems.

33. No resolute helper remains
To publish good and cover disgrace.

34. Where now is a benefactor
Or visitor of the burdened?

35. Beware your enemy and even more
Your truthful, sincere friend.

36. For friends know your secrets
And have means to harm you.

37. Be patient with enemies, patiently scheming.
Who shows favor may later show disfavor.

38. How much the patient schemer attains
That numbers of soldiers do not attain.

39. “The debt of religion is significant,” said our Prophet.
So beware it and be patient in poverty.

40. Struggle in God's cause against your fellow believers
Who wrong you. None triumphs but the just.

41. As for Christians and Jews, He reserved for them
Contempt openly and secretly.

42. Do they secretly harbor love for a Muslim
When they openly hate Muhammad the Chosen?

43. When you see injustice grow strong, do not
Delay, seek another land.

44. Does one live where he is wronged
Except a fool who treats good and evil alike?

45. Knowledge may intercede for its people
And make their haters dwell in desolation.

46. If you understand jurisprudence you live respected,
Revered in both worlds for your greatness.

47. Master declension’s secret.
The secret is in desinences and inferences.

48. The world's leaders are honorable in what they master
And refined in the arts and poetry.

49. Use what you teach. The learned who do not
Act are trees without fruit.

50. If you understand jurisprudence you live giving decisions.
For that is sublime in both worlds.

51. Master declension’s secret.
The secret's in desinences and inferences.

52. The world's leaders are honorable in what they do
And refined in the arts and poetry.

53. Take from every art but do not be ignorant of it.
The noble have insight into mysteries.

54. When you know jurisprudence you live respected,
Revered by both worlds for your greatness.

55. Master declension’s secret, understand it.
For the secret is in desinences and inferences.

56. If you read the Qurʾān but do not follow
What is in it, what good is reading?

57. Those who do not know should act well
Toward the learned, without hostility.

58. Knowledge may intercede for its people
And condemn their haters to desolation.

59. Are the learned and the ignorant equal?
Or are the enlightened like stars?

60. Seek in wealth a perfect reputation.
Persist in litanies and invocations.

61. Life is only in leisure with wealth.
But fame is the end of dangers.

62. Be content. The treasure of contentment is without limit.
Contentment suffices as honor for the lowly.

63. Ask your God for protection and care.
For sins diminish lifetimes.

64. If you slip into error and sin
Regret it and hasten to ask forgiveness.

65. Beware the injustice of people.
And beware of dawn prayers.

66. Avoid rulers you're not forced to see.
If cruel, beware, beware!

67. Consider outcomes, avoid what
Needs excuses. Leave people be.

68. Ask Him who gave them. Don't seek
Favors from those who deny.

69. The dew congealed from the cold of old age.
It didn't congeal from the cold of verse.

70. No bold helper remains
To publish good and pardon disgrace.

71. Where is a benefactor now
Or someone to lift burdens?

72. Beware your lifelong enemy
And lifelong friend even more.

73. For friends know your secrets
And can harm you even more.

74. Accept good deeds a short time.
Long goodness is for the elite.

75. Visit loved ones less often.
Boredom comes from excess.

76. Don't laugh much. Many laughers'
Shrouds are in the undertaker's grip.

77. So many envious, cunning, and demons!
So many ungrateful and deniers!

78. If not for my daughters, I would die
Of longing, finding rest from the wicked.

79. O Lord, I complain of having many daughters
And a father fears the garb of disgrace.

80. God gives me them. I hope
He veils them from what's indecent.

81. O Lord, a daughter remaining single
Would suffice, as You chose for the Elect.

82. O Lord provide them the nearness
Of one whose company is better than mine.

83. Would I rejoice to bury a daughter saying
“God is your company, my tears flow"?

84. A girl's bier is like stars. But for that
Seek one like it for my company.

85. I swear they did not bury girls lightly.
They buried girls hating in-laws.

86. O critic of my leaving home, you went too far
In reproach and warning!

87. I am but dust. All people
Are closer kin. Every land is my home.