هَذا زَمانٌ لَيسَ إِخوانُهُ

يا أَيُّها المَرءُ بِاِخوانِ

This is an age whose people are not brothers

This is an age whose brethren are not,

O man, don't trust in brothers

O man, brethren in truth.

إِخوانُهُ كُلُّهُمُ ظالِمٌ

لَهُم لِسانانِ وَوَجهانِ

All his brothers are oppressors

Its brethren are all oppressors,

With two tongues and two faces

Possessing two tongues and two faces.

يَلقاكَ بِالبِشرِ وَفي قَلبِهِ

داءٌ يَواريهِ بِكِتمانِ

They meet you with cheer, while disease lies

He meets you with a smile, while within his heart

Hidden in their hearts

Is a sickness he masks with secrecy.

حَتّى إِذا ما غِبتَ عَن عَينِهِ

رَماكَ بِالزورِ وَالبُهتانِ

When you're gone from their sight

Yet once you are absent from his eye,

They slander and falsely accuse you

He casts falsehood and calumny upon you.

هَذا زَمانٌ هَكَذا أَهلُهُ

بِالوُدِّ لا يُصدُقكَ إِثنانِ

This is an age whose people are thus

This is an era—such are its folk—

No two trust you in friendship

Wherein no two are sincere to you in affection.

يا أَيُّها المَرءُ فَكُن مُفرَداً

دَهرَكَ لا تَأَنَس بِإِنسانِ

O man, so be alone

So, O man, remain solitary,

Don't make friends in your time

For all your days; seek no intimacy with any human.

وَجانِبِ الناسَ وَكُن حافِظاً

نَفسَكَ في بَيتٍ وَحيطانِ

Shun people, and be a keeper

Keep away from people, and preserve

Of yourself, at home within walls

Yourself within a dwelling and its walls.