اِعرفْ زمانَكَ واقبَلْ ما يجودُ به

فَمنْ يناكِدْهُ يلقَ العُسْرَ والنَّكَدا

Know your time and accept what it offers generously

For he who contends with it will meet hardship and misery

وإنْ أردْت أماناً من غوائِله

فلا تُعَرِّفْه من أبنائهِ أحدا

And if you want safety from its unpredictability

Then make none of its people known to him, not one

لأنّ جُلَّ بنيهِ يقتدُونَ بِهِ

في حَلِّ ما حَلَّلهُ أو عَقْدِ ما عَقَدا

For most of its people follow its example

In permitting what it permits or forbidding what it forbids

فَمنْ يَعِبْهُ يَعِبْهُمْ في خَلائِقِهِمْ

وعائبُ النَّاسِ يخشى شَرَّهُمْ أبَدا

So he who denounces it, denounces them for their nature

And people's critic fears their evil evermore