لَنِعمَ التُقى تَقوى فَتاً ضامِرِ الحَشا

لَنِعمَ التُقى تَقوى فَتاً ضامِرِ الحَشا

خَميصٍ مِنَ الدُنيا تَقِيِّ المَسالِكِ

خَميصٍ مِنَ الدُنيا تَقِيِّ المَسالِكِ

Excellent indeed is piety—the piety of a lean-bellied youth,

What excellent piety for a youth whose body is wasted,

with little of this world, righteous in his ways;

A shirt from this world that guards its roads,

فَتىً مَلَكَ اللَذاتِ أَن يَعتَبِدنَهُ

فَتىً مَلَكَ اللَذاتِ أَن يَعتَبِدنَهُ

وَما كُلُّ ذي لُبٍّ لَهُنَّ بِمالِكِ

وَما كُلُّ ذي لُبٍّ لَهُنَّ بِمالِكِ

a youth who mastered pleasures lest they enslave him;

A young man who possessed delights but chose to worship them,

and not every man of understanding is their master.

Not everyone with a mind can master them.