1. For fifty years I had wished for them,
They were before me, then I left them behind.
١. خَمسينَ عاماً كنتُ أمَّلْتُها
كانت أمامي ثمَّ خلَّفتُها
2. A treasure of life that I spent,
On its different purposes that I managed.
٢. كنزُ حياةٍ لي أنفقْتُهُ
على تصاريفَ تصرَّفْتُها
3. If my age was a hundred, it would have guided me,
To remember that I was fair to it.
٣. لو كانَ عمري مائةً هدَّني
تَذَكُّري أنِّي تَنَصَّفْتُها
4. The wise person cannot be safe from an ignorant one,
Who aggressively and stubbornly mistreats him.
٤. ذو العَقلِ لا يسلَمُ مِن جاهِلٍ
يسومُه عَسْفاً وإعناتا
5. So let him choose justice when he is oppressed,
And let him adhere to listening if he is talked about.
٥. فَلْيخْتَرِ العَدلَ إذا ما كنَى
ولْيَلزَمِ الإنصاتَ إنْ صاتا