إذا مزجت الحق بالباطل

جوزت ما شئت على الغافل

When truth is mixed with falsehood

If you blend the truth with falsehood,

You may justify anything to the heedless one

You can pass off whatever you wish upon the heedless.

وفيهما فرق صحيح له

علامة تبدو إلى العاقل

Yet between them lies a clear distinction

Yet between the two lies a true distinction,

Known to the wise though hidden from the fool

Marked by a sign apparent to the wise.

كالتبر إن تمزج به فضة

جازت على كل فتى جاهل

Like dust mixed into silver

Just like pure gold, if you mix it with silver,

May seem the same to the ignorant

It passes easily upon any ignorant youth;

وإن تصادف صائغاً ماهراً

ميز بين المحض والحائل

But to the skilled metalworker

Yet if it encounters a master goldsmith,

The difference is plain, the false made separate from the true

He discerns the pure from the alloyed.