أَقُولُ لِمَنْ يُصِيخُ إِلىَ اصْطِرَاخِي

فخَيْرُ القَوْلِ يَرْسَخُ فِي الصِّمَاخِ

I say to those who cry out at my suffering:

I speak to him who hearkens to my cry,

The best word lodges firmly in the ear.

For the best of speech takes root in the ear.

لأَِمْرِ اللهِ رَبِّكَ جَلَّ فَاقْصِدْ

أَجَلَّ النَّاسِ مَنْ لِلأَمْرِ وَاخِ

Obey the command of Allah, your Lord! Aim straight!

Seek the command of God, your Lord, the Exalted,

The most excellent of people is he who obeys commands.

The noblest of people is the one who brothers His command.

وَأَصْلِحْ بَيْنَ نَفْسِكَ وَالسَّجَايَا الْ

تِي تُرْجَى النَّجَاةَ بِهَا وَآخِ

Reconcile your soul with trials; through them

And reconcile between your soul and the character traits

Salvation is hoped for. Live long!

By which salvation is hoped for, and befriend them.

تَوَقَّ الشَّرَّ لاَ تَضْرِمْ لَظَاهُ

فَشَرُّ النَّاسِ مَنْ لِلشَّرِّ سَاخِ

Avoid evil! Do not kindle its flame!

Beware of evil, do not kindle its blazing fire,

The worst of people is he who fosters evil.

For the worst of people is the one who sinks into evil.

وَعِرْضَكَ كُنْ بِهِ أَبَداً ضَنِيناً

أَخَسُّ الْخَلْقِ مَنْ بِالْعِرْضِ سَاخِ

Keep your honor always jealously guarded,

And of your honor, be forever protective,

The lowest of creatures is he who guards his honor.

The basest of creation is the one who squanders his honor.

سَخَاءَكَ إِنَّ عِرْضَكَ لَيْسَ يُنْقِي

وَبِذَلِكَ لاَ يُجِيبُ أَخَا اصْطِرَاخِ

Your generosity - though your honor is not made pure by it,

Your generosity will not cleanse your honor,

And by that, one afflicted does not answer a brother's cry.

Nor will it answer the brother crying for help.

وَبِالتَّقْوَى على الأَزَماتِ تَقْوى

فَأَهْوِنْ بِالرِّجالِ بِلاَ طَبَاخِ

Through piety, gain strength in times of crisis,

And by piety, you shall be strong against crises,

The meanest of men is he who cannot do without a cook.

So how contemptible are men without firmness.

وَلاَ تَشْمَخْ بِأَنْفِكَ يَا ابْنَ طِينٍ

فَبِيسَ الْمَرْءُ شَخْصٌ ذُو جِفَاخِ

Do not turn up your nose arrogantly, Oh son of clay!

And do not turn up your nose in arrogance, O son of clay,

How despicable is a man, ill-natured and scowling!

For wretched is the man who is full of boastful pride.

وَأَنْضِجْ مَا رَأَيْتَ بِنَارِ فِكْرٍ

فَإِنَّ الأَكْلَ مِنْ بَعْدِ اطِّبَاخِ

Cook what you have observed in the fire of thought,

And cook thoroughly what you consider with the fire of thought,

For food is most delicious after cooking.

For eating comes only after cooking.

وَفَكِّرْ فيِ انْتِهَاءٍ فيِ ابْتِدَاءٍ

وَشَاوِرْ ذَا الدَّهَاءِ لَدَى الْتِخَاخِ

Think of endings at beginnings, seek counsel

And think about the end at the very beginning,

From the wise at times of error and confusion.

And consult the possessor of cunning when matters are tangled.

فَإِنْ أَبْدَى السَّدَادَ سِرَاجُ ذِهْنٍ

فَأَخْوَفُ مَا تَكونُ مِنَ التَّراخِي

If the lamp of a sound mind sheds its light,

And if the lamp of a mind reveals the right course,

Slackening is what should most be feared.

Then the most fearful thing for you should be procrastination.

وَدِينَكَ لَنْ يَزِينَكَ غَيْرُ دِينٍ

فَرَاعِ تَكُنْ لأَِنْفِ الْخُسْرِ لَاخِ

Your religion cannot adorn you without faith,

And your religion—nothing will adorn you other than religion,

So beware of being disgraced through loss!

So observe it, that you may smash the nose of loss.

وَذَيْلَ مُرُوءَةٍ فَاسْحَبْ وَجَانِبْ

تَعِشْ بَرّاً مَوَدَّةَ ذِي انْتِفَاخِ

Drag the tail of your glory! Shun

Drag the hem of chivalry, and avoid,

And live virtuously, loved by the vainglorious.

To live a pious life, the affection of the arrogant.

وَبِالإِغْضَاءِ فَاقْتَنِصِ الْمَزَايَا

عَنِ الْعَوْرَاءِ فَهْوَ مِنَ الْفِخَاخِ

Pluck virtues by overlooking flaws

And by overlooking faults, capture virtues,

In the blemished - that is a clever ruse!

Turning a blind eye to the foul word, for it is among the traps.

وَبِالْعِلْمِ انْتَهِجْ سُبْلَ الْمَعَالِي

فَإِنَّ ظَلامَ لَيْلِ الْجَهْلِ طَاخِ

Follow the paths of high ideals through knowledge,

And through knowledge, tread the paths to the heights,

For the darkness of ignorance spreads like mist.

For the darkness of the night of ignorance is pitch-black.

تَعَفَّفْ فَالْعَفَافُ أَجَلُّ حِلْيٍ

إذَا مَا الفَقْرُ عَمَّكَ بِالنِّضاخِ

Be modest, modesty is the best jewelry

Be chaste, for restraint is the most majestic ornament,

When poverty has clothed you in rags.

Even when poverty showers you with its affliction.

وَوَفِّرْ ماءَ وَجْهِكَ لاَ تُرِقْهُ

تَرِدْ ماءَ الْمَحَامِدِ ذَا انْتِضَاخِ

Do not deny your face water - let it flow -

And preserve the water of your face, do not spill it,

So you are showered with praise for your flowing munificence.

So you may arrive at the water of praiseworthy deeds, abundantly splashing.

لَعُرْقًوبٌ يَجِيءُ الشَّرُّ يَوْماً

لِمُخَّتِهِ فَيُمْرَى بِامْتِخَاخِ

Misfortune will come one day to the spiteful

For indeed, the tendon to which evil comes one day,

And he will be made to taste bitter anguish.

Reaching its marrow, to be brutally extracted,

أَخَفُّ عَلَى الْفَتَى مِنْ عًرْفِ فَدْمٍ

يَمُنُّ عَلَى الوَضُوخِ مِنَ النُّقَاخِ

Lighter for the youth than the perfume of musk

Is lighter upon a noble youth than the favor of a dullard,

Is the stench of a rotting corpse served by flies.

Who boasts of giving a mere sip of sweet water.

وَرَبُّ الْكُوخِ وَالْقَصْرِ الْمُعَلَّى

سَوَاءٌ وَالزَّمَانُ إِلَى انْسِلاخِ

The Lord of the cottage and the lofty palace

And the lord of the hut and the towering palace,

Is the same, and time leads to decay.

Are equal, as time sheds its skin.

وَبَيْضُ السِّرِّ لاَ تُفْرِخْهُ يَوْماً

فَشَرُّ الشَّرِّ سِرٌّ ذُو فِرَاخِ

Do not one day hatch the egg of a secret,

And the egg of a secret, do not ever hatch it,

For disclosing secrets is the epitome of evil.

For the worst of evils is a secret that has chicks.

وَلاَ تَخْضَمْ لِخَلْقٍ قَطُّ عِرْضاً

فَيَبْقَى الْعِرْضُ مِنْكَ بِلاَ اتِّسَاخِ

Do not slander anyone and so preserve intact

And never chew on the honor of any creature,

Your honor, free from the filth of vices.

So that your own honor remains without stain.

وسِمْ أَفْرَاسَ صَبْرِكَ بِارْتِيَاضٍ

وسُمْ أَضْرَاسَ غَدْرِكَ بِامْتِلاخِ

Spur on the steed of your patience,

And brand the steeds of your patience with discipline,

And blunt the fangs of your treachery!

And subject the molars of your treachery to extraction.

وَأَعْدِدْ لِلزَّمانِ لِباسَ بَأْسٍ

وَكُنْ في الناسِ صَقْراً فيِ الإِراخِ

Prepare for time the garment of ferocity

And prepare for time a garment of courage,

And be a falcon, free in the air!

And be among people like a falcon among fledgling birds.

وَوافِقْهُمْ وَرافِقْهُمْ وَلَكِنْ

مُرافَقَةَ الْبَيادِقِ لِلرِّخَاخِ

Agree with them, keep pace with them, but

Agree with them and accompany them, but

Only as the wide plain bears with the drizzle.

Like the companionship of pawns to rooks.

وَبِاللهِ اسْتَعِنْ وَاسْتَغْنِ عَنْهُمْ

يَحِنْ رَأْسُ المَذَلَّةِ بِانْشِداخِ

Seek help from God alone, free yourself of need for them,

And seek help from God, and dispense with them,

When the head of humiliation bows down.

Then the head of humiliation will be near to being smashed.

وَحُكْمَهُمُ اُنْبُذَنَّ فَكُلُّ حُكْمٍ

لَهُمْ يجْرِي على أَيْدي انْفْسَاخِ

Reject their judgments! Every judgment of theirs

And cast away their judgment, for every judgment

Undergoes erosion and disintegration.

Of theirs runs through the hands of annulment.

يَذُمُّونَ الْفَقِيرَ فَإِنْ أَتَاهُ

غِنىً أطْرَوْهُ بِالقَوْلِ الجُلاخِ

They disparage the destitute, but if he acquires wealth,

They disparage the poor man, but if there comes to him

They honor him with soothing words.

Wealth, they praise him with grandiose words.

وَيُطْرًونَ الغَنِيَّ فَإِنْ تَرَدَّى

بِفَقْرِ فَهْوَ مَهْجورُ الْمُنَاخِ

They fawn on the wealthy, but if he becomes impoverished,

And they praise the rich man, but if he falls

He is then shunned and abandoned.

Into poverty, he is an abandoned resting-place.

وَيُضْحِي مِثْلَ لَحْمٍ مِنْ حُوَارٍ

مُسيخاً لا يُطَيَّبُ بِانْطِباخِ

One like a piece of rotten donkey meat

And he becomes like the meat of a newborn camel,

Is sacrificed by them - it cannot be made palatable.

Tasteless, unimproved by any cooking.

بِهِ تَقَعُ الْمَصَائِبُ لاَ بِظَبْيٍ

لَدَيْهِمْ فَاقِدِ العَيْشِ الرَّخاخِِ

Because of it, disasters befall, not because of a gazelle

Upon him misfortunes fall, not upon a gazelle

Who has lost the comforts of life in their eyes.

Among them, bereft of comfortable living.

فَكُنْ بِاللهِ رَبِّ النَّاسِ طُرّاً

فَغَيْرُ اللهِ ظِلٌّ ذُو انْتِسَاخِ

So take shelter in God, Lord of mankind!

So be with God, the Lord of all people,

Other than God is a vanishing shadow.

For other than God is but a shadow doomed to fade.

وَأَقْدَامُ افْتِقارِ الْخَلْقِ فِيهِ

لِبارِئِهِمْ عَلاَ ذَاتُ ارْتِسَاخِ

And all feet seeking aid point to

And the feet of creation's poverty in Him,

Their Creator, exalted be His being!

To their Creator, are deeply rooted.

فَلاَ تُسْنِدْ لِغَيْرِ اللهِ نَفْعاً

تَصُنْ رَأْسَ الْيَقِينِ مِنَ افْتِضَاخِ

So do not attribute good to other than God

So do not attribute benefit to any but God,

And protect the head of certainty from doubt!

That you may protect the head of certainty from being crushed.

وَطَلِّقْ بِنْتَ ضَيْرِكَ أُمَّ دَفْرٍ

يُطَلِّقْكَ الْهَوَانُ بِلا تَرَاخِ

Divorce the daughter of your adversity, mother of animosity,

And divorce the daughter of your harm, Umm Dafr (the worldly life),

So you are freed from disgrace without delay.

And humiliation will divorce you without delay.

وَلاَ تَحْلُلْ مَحَلاًّ فِيهِ لُؤْمٌ

فَعَذْبُ الْمَاءِ يَأْجَنُ فِي السِّبَاخِ

Do not stay where there is deadly sin,

And do not settle in a place where baseness dwells,

For sweet water turns brackish in the saline earth.

For sweet water becomes stagnant in barren marshes.

وَصَلِّ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ تُرْفَدْ

بِأَنْوَارِ الْيَقِينِ لَدَى ابْتِلاخِ

Send blessings on the Messenger of God and you will be

And send blessings upon the Messenger of God, and you shall be aided

Flooded with the lights of certainty at the point of death.

With the lights of certainty at the moment of haughtiness.

وَتُمْنَحْ بَعْدَ ضَيْقِكَ بِاتِّسَاعٍ

وَتُنْقَلْ مِنْ حُزُونِكَ لِلسَّخاخِ

And after your distress, you will be given ease

And you shall be granted expansiveness after your distress,

And be transported from your grief to joy.

And transferred from your rugged terrain to soft, open ground.

فَدُونَكَ فَاقْتَبِسْ مِنْهَا عُلُوماً

وَدَعْ شِعْراً يُضَافُ إِلَى قُلاخِ

So take from these words a lesson

So take this, and acquire from it knowledge,

And leave poetry attributed to simple raving.

And leave aside poetry attributed to Qulakh.

وَزِنْهَا بِالْمُنَظَّمِ مِنْ كَلاَمٍ

تَجِدْهَا كَالْغِنَاءِ مِنَ الصُّرَاخِ

Measure them by the standards of rhymed prose

And weigh it against any organized speech,

And you will find them like songs without melody.

You will find it like a song compared to screaming.