1. Indeed, fearing God is the best refuge,
And hope in people is evil news.

2. Rarely does one overwhelmed with sorrow
Be cured of it by his blindness and ignorance.

3. The army of death is ever wakeful,
And cares not for one's ignorance of it.

4. He who delays repentance, deluded
By the hope of reprieve—will he be granted it?

5. Wondrous is one who forgets his own wondrousness,
And whom passions have carried to excess.

6. He occupies himself with nothing
But devotion, for calamity admits no jesting.

7. And sufficient is a rousing sign
From slumber which immerses him.

8. Why does one who loves the world
Become embroiled in it, ensnared?

9. Mockingly he retires at night and rises cheerfully—
How can one fading away jest or mock?

10. Seize the respite, O servant of wishes,
And beware of sudden calamity.

11. And recall the fate of past peoples
Whose footsteps you now follow.