لا تودِعَنَّ وَلا الجَمادَ سَريرَةً

فَمِنَ الصَوامِتِ مايُشيرُ فَيَنطِقُ

Do not entrust your secret even to the inert,

For even the dumb at times reveal a hidden thing.

وَإِذا المِحَكُّ أَذاعَ سِرَّ أَخٍ لَهُ

فَاِنظُر فَدَيتُكَ مَن تُراهُ يوثَقُ

And when the testing furnace made a friend's fault public,

Consider well, my son, who of them all proved true.