متى ما يرى الناسُ الغنيّ وجارُه

متى ما يرى الناسُ الغنيّ وجارُه

فقير يقولوا عاجز وجَليد

فقير يقولوا عاجز وجَليد

Whenever people see a rich man whose neighbor

When people see a wealthy man beside his poor neighbor,

is poor, they call one helpless and the other capable.

They say he's helpless and cowardly.

وليس الغنى والفقرُ من حيلةِ الفتى

وليس الغنى والفقرُ من حيلةِ الفتى

ولكن أحاظٍ قُسِّمت وجدود

ولكن أحاظٍ قُسِّمت وجدود

Neither wealth nor poverty comes from a young man’s resourcefulness;

But wealth and poverty are not the result of a young man's cunning -

rather, they are allotted shares and turns of fortune.

Rather, they are fortunes divinely ordained.

وأن امرأً يُمسي ويصبح سالماً

وأن امرأً يُمسي ويصبح سالماً

من الناس الا ما جنى لسعيد

من الناس الا ما جنى لسعيد

And surely, a man who reaches evening and morning unharmed

That a man should retire and rise up safe

by others—save for what he himself has incurred—is fortunate.

From other men, except for what he has sown for himself.