1. وعليك نفسكَ لا تعبْ أحداً ولا

    ترضى الجَفَا لو فنَّدوك وعنَّفوا

    Attend to yourself; fault no one, nor

    accept harshness, even if they call you foolish and rebuke you.

  2. والق الخلائِق بالبشاشةِ لا تكن

    متجهِّماً لا خابَ مَن يتلطَّفُ

    Meet people with cheerfulness; do not be

    sullen: no one who acts gently has failed.

  3. وتغَاضَ عنهم لا تعدَّ ذنوبهم

    لو أنهم في سيئاتك أَسْرَفُوا

    Turn a blind eye to them; do not count their sins,

    even if they dwell excessively on your misdeeds.

  4. إنْ تحِص أَفعالا لهم وتجازهم

    مَقترك واستولوا عليك وأَرْجَفُوا

    If you count their deeds and repay them,

    they will hate you, overpower you, and spread alarming rumors.

  5. حَيّ العدوّ تحيةً بتلطفٍ

    لا شك ينجو من أذى متلطفُ

    Greet the enemy with a courteous greeting;

    without doubt, a courteous person escapes harm.

  6. وذرِ الريا والعجبَ والخيلاء والأضغ

    انَ والشحناءَ يا متعفّفُ

    Abandon ostentation, vanity, arrogance, and grudges,

    and enmity, O self-restrained one.

  7. تَسْلَم من العاهاتِ والإيذاءِ من

    كلِّ البريةِ واتَّبعْ ما ألقّوا

    You will be safe from afflictions and injury from

    all creation, and follow what they convey.

  8. وَدَع الفضولَ من الكلام وغيره

    مِن مطعم أو مبلس يتصرَّفُ

    Leave aside excess in speech and other things,

    in food or clothing, whatever form it takes.

  9. إن الفضولَ يميت أفئدةَ الورى

    وبتركه تحيي الحياةَ وتشرُفُ

    Excess deadens the hearts of humankind,

    and by abandoning it, you enliven life and gain honor.

  10. وإذا اتخذت خليلَ صدقٍ صالحاً

    وعلمتَ مه الخير أنت الأعرفُ

    When you take a righteous, true-hearted friend,

    and know his goodness—you know him best—

  11. لا تسمعن فيه مقالةَ مدَّعٍ

    لو طوّفَ السّاعونَ فيه وأَسْرَفُوا

    do not listen to an accuser's statement about him,

    even if tale-bearers go about speaking of him and go to excess.

  12. لا تبعدنْه بِلا دليلٍ واضحٍ

    إن كنت ذا حلمٍ وممن يعرفُ

    Do not drive him away without clear evidence,

    if you possess forbearance and are among those who understand.

  13. فلربما حَسدوك أو حسدوكهُ

    فتقوَّلوا كذباً عليه وحرّدُوا

    For perhaps they envied you, or envied you for having him,

    and so fabricated lies against him and stirred up anger.

  14. ولربما عابُوا تقيّاً صالحاً

    وهو المكرَّم بالعلوم مُشرَّفُ

    Perhaps they maligned a pious, righteous man,

    though he is revered for his learning and held in honor.

  15. لولا السعادةُ وقولُ واشٍ حاقد

    مِن كيدهن لما تنكُل يوسفُ

    But for good fortune and a spiteful informer's words,

    arising from their scheming, Joseph would not have been maltreated.

  16. في السجن سبعُ سنين قامَ به وفي

    الجبِّ المهولِ أَمِثلُ ذلك يُقْذَفُ

    In prison he remained seven years, and in

    the dreadful well: is one such as he to be hurled there?

  17. وهو النبيّ المخلصُ الداعِى إلى

    الخيراتِ نجّاهُ الرحيمُ الأرأفُ

    He is the devoted prophet, calling to

    good deeds; the Merciful, the Most Compassionate, saved him.

  18. وكذاكَ أم المؤمنين وإفْكُهم

    رميتْ بداهيةٍ ولم يَتعفَّفُوا

    Likewise the Mother of the Believers, through their slander,

    was assailed by a grievous accusation; they showed no restraint.

  19. وكذا ابنُ مقلةَ قد قطعن بنانَه

    بِبَليّةٍ وهو البرىءُ الأعْرفُ

    Likewise Ibn Muqla: they cut off his fingers

    in an ordeal, though he was innocent and most knowledgeable.

  20. كَمْ كَمْ وكَمْ من عالمٍ ومعلمٍ

    كنِجار موسى سَفّهُوه وسَفْسَفُوا

    How many, how many, and how many a scholar and teacher,

    like Moses' carpenter, they have called foolish and belittled!

  21. فبأىِّ شىءٍ أهبَطوه من العُلى

    والفوز فيها واحتواهُ الصفْصَفُ

    By what means did they cast him down from the heights,

    where triumph lies, so that the level plain engulfed him?

  22. وإذا افترى خبراً لثيمٌ سجَّلوا

    هذا يدحرجه وهذا بَنْدفُ

    When a base man fabricates a report, they record it:

    this one rolls it along, and that one cards it,

  23. حتى استوَى غُزلاً وحاك مفوّقاً

    فاستحسنوه وقيل هذا المطرفُ

    until it becomes yarn and he weaves it expertly.

    Then they admire it, and it is said: 'This is the bordered cloak!'

  24. من ذا الذي ينجو ويخرجُ سالماً

    من عيبهمْ حتى الحكيمُ الأشْرَفُ

    Who is there who escapes and emerges unscathed

    from their faultfinding—even the noblest sage?

  25. فحذارِ لا تقبلْ مقلةَ حاسدٍ

    في العارفينَ ومن أبوه المصحفُ

    Beware, then: do not accept an envious eye's judgment

    concerning the learned and one whose father is the Qur'an.

  26. فانظرْ وفكّر واعتبرْ واسمعْ وسلْ

    واحلُم ودمْ واسلمْ عَداك تخلّفُ

    Look, think, take heed, listen, and ask;

    be forbearing, endure, and stay safe—may failure pass you by.

  27. ليسَ الذي قال إني مؤمنٌ

    هو مؤمنٌ حقّاً وفيه تعسُّفُ

    He who says, 'I am a believer,' is not

    truly a believer while harshness remains in him,

  28. حتى يكونَ به خصالٌ أربعُ

    طبعاً به أخلاقه تتكشَّفُ

    until four qualities are found in him,

    innate in him, revealing his character—

  29. لا ناله سوءٌ وليس ينالهُ

    وبرخصةٍ لو أنه يتكلّفُ

    may no evil befall him, nor ever reach him—

    and, as a concession, even if he must work at them:

  30. صلةُ المقاطع عفوهُ عن ظالمٍ

    وتجاوزٌ عن شتمِ مَنْ هو يقذِفُ

    maintaining ties with one who cuts them, his pardon of a wrongdoer,

    and overlooking the insults of one who slanders him;

  31. وعطاؤُه جَزلاً لمن هو حازِمٌ

    قلاّ وفيه لمِنْ رآه تَلطفُ

    and his lavish giving to one who is firm

    in hatred; within him is gentleness for whoever sees him.

  32. هذِى الخصالُ هديةٌ من ربنا

    لنبيّنا الهادِي هو المُتَعفِّفُ

    These qualities are a gift from our Lord

    to our guiding Prophet, the self-restrained one.