اجعل لعقلكَ مرآةً تَراهُ بِها

اجعل لعقلكَ مرآةً تَراهُ بِها

وانظر اليهِ بعين الفكر تُصلحُهُ

وانظر اليهِ بعين الفكر تُصلحُهُ

Make for your mind a mirror in which you may see it;

Make a mirror for your mind through which you may see it.

And gaze upon it with the eye of thought, that you may set it right.

And look at it with the eye of thought, so that you may set it right.

وان يكن سطحها قد شابهُ كدرٌ

وان يكن سطحها قد شابهُ كدرٌ

فالعلم انفعُ شيءٍ اذ تنفّحِهُ

فالعلم انفعُ شيءٍ اذ تنفّحِهُ

And if murk has marred its surface,

And if its surface has been marred by cloudiness,

For knowledge is the most beneficial thing when you bestow it upon the mind.

then knowledge is the most useful thing when you perfume it.