من استعان بغير الله لم يعن

من استعان بغير الله لم يعن

ومن تعزز بالرحمن لم يهن

ومن تعزز بالرحمن لم يهن

Whoever seeks help from other than God receives no help,

Whoever seeks help from other than Allah will not be helped

And whoever draws strength from the All-Merciful is not abased.

And whoever prides himself on the Most Merciful will not be disgraced

وأروح الناس من باتت سريرته

وأروح الناس من باتت سريرته

نقية من دخيل الحقد والضغن

نقية من دخيل الحقد والضغن

And the most at ease of people is he whose inner self spends the night

The most free of people is he whose inner thoughts

Pure, free from the intrusion of hatred and rancor.

Are pure of the intrusion of hatred and resentment

حاسب ضميرك تأمن من بوائقه

حاسب ضميرك تأمن من بوائقه

وازجره من خطرات العين والأذن

وازجره من خطرات العين والأذن

Hold your conscience to account, and you will be safe from its evils,

Reckon your conscience and you'll be safe from its obstacles

And restrain it from the impulses of the eye and ear.

And restrain it from the perils of eyes and ears

وقم إذا رنقت في مقلة سنة

وقم إذا رنقت في مقلة سنة

قيام منتبه من غفلة الوسن

قيام منتبه من غفلة الوسن

And rise when drowsiness hovers in an eye,

And arise when you falter in the decline of years

As one awakened rises from the heedlessness of slumber,

Arise alert from the heedlessness of old age

متشفعاً برسول الله وابنته

متشفعاً برسول الله وابنته

وبعلها والحسين الطهر والحسن

وبعلها والحسين الطهر والحسن

Seeking intercession through God's Messenger and his daughter,

Appealing through the Messenger of Allah and his daughter

And her husband, and al-Husayn the pure, and al-Hasan.

Her husband, and al-Husayn the pure, and al-Hasan

ولا يغرنك عمر سر أوله

ولا يغرنك عمر سر أوله

فإن آخره للهم والحزن

فإن آخره للهم والحزن

And let no lifetime whose beginning brought joy deceive you,

And don't let the secret of a happy life deceive you

For its end belongs to worry and sorrow.

For its end is anxiety and grief

ينساك بالموت من قد كنت تذكره

ينساك بالموت من قد كنت تذكره

حتى كأنك قبل الموت لم تكن

حتى كأنك قبل الموت لم تكن

At your death, the one you used to remember forgets you,

He whom you used to remember will make you forget death

So that it is as though you had not existed before death.

As if before death, you never were

وينثني عنك بعد الدفن كل أخ

وينثني عنك بعد الدفن كل أخ

ويدخل العمل المبرور في الكفن

ويدخل العمل المبرور في الكفن

And after burial every brother turns away from you,

And every brother will turn away from you after burial

And righteous deeds enter the shroud.

And only righteous deeds will enter the shroud

واعلم فديتك أن الصدق أفضل

واعلم فديتك أن الصدق أفضل

ما ألزمت نفسك في سر وفي علن

ما ألزمت نفسك في سر وفي علن

And know—may I be your ransom—that truthfulness is the best

And know, my sacrifice, that truthfulness is best

Of all you require of yourself, in private and in public.

Whether you commit yourself in secret or openly

هذا أبو العز لولا صدق نيته

هذا أبو العز لولا صدق نيته

في القول والفعل لم يخلص من المحن

في القول والفعل لم يخلص من المحن

This is Abu al-Izz: had it not been for the sincerity of his intent

Without Abu al-'Izz's truthful intention

In word and deed, he would not have escaped the ordeals.

In word and deed, he would not have escaped ordeals

وأظهر الله فيها من براءته

وأظهر الله فيها من براءته

ما لم يجل قط في الأوهام والظنن

ما لم يجل قط في الأوهام والظنن

And in them God revealed such innocence in him

And God revealed in them his innocence

As had never entered imaginings or conjectures.

What was never imagined or supposed before

ما ضره أن صرف الدهر عانده

ما ضره أن صرف الدهر عانده

وأن أيامه خانت ولم يخن

وأن أيامه خانت ولم يخن

It did him no harm that the vicissitudes of time opposed him,

It did not harm him that fate opposed him

And that his days betrayed him, while he did not betray.

And that his days betrayed him and he did not betray