لَو صِيغَ مِن فِضَّةٍ نَفسٌ عَلى قَدرِ

لَعادَ مِن فَضلِهِ لَمّا صَفا ذَهَبا

If a soul were cast in silver according to merit

If a soul were fashioned from silver to match its worth,

It would, when most refined, turn to purest gold

It would turn, by its sheer virtue when purified, into gold.

ما لِفَتىً حَسَبٌ إِلّا إِذا كَمُلَت

أَخلاقُهُ وَحَوى الآدابَ وَالحَسَبا

A man has no pedigree worth noting

A youth possesses no true standing unless his character is whole,

Save by perfection of his qualities and manners true

And he encompasses both refinement and merit.

فَاِطلُب فَدَيتُكَ عِلماً وَاِكتَسِب أَدَباً

تَظفَر يَداكَ بِهِ وَاِستَعجِلِ الطَّلَبا

Seek then, my son, knowledge and gentility

So seek knowledge—may I be your ransom—and acquire culture,

That fortune's hands may reach thee - grasp and ask them bold

That your hands may triumph through it, and hasten in the quest.

لِلّهِ دَرُّ فَتىً أَنسابُهُ كَرَمٌ

يا حَبَّذا كَرَمٌ أَضحى لَهُ نَسَبا

God's grace on him, a man whose noble line

How excellent is the youth whose lineage is generosity,

Is the flower of nobleness in very deed

How splendid is a generosity that has become his very kin!

هَلِ المُروءَةُ إِلّا ما تَقومُ بِهِ

مِنَ الذِمامِ وَحِفظِ الجارِ إِن عَتَبا

What but thy deeds defines a gentleman

Is chivalry anything other than the duties you uphold,

Thy constancy, thy kindness to thy neighbor, though he chide

Of honoring pacts, and protecting the neighbor even when he casts blame?

مَن لَم يُؤَدِّبهُ دينُ المُصطَفى أَدَباً

مَحضاً تَحَيَّرَ في الأَحوالِ وَاِضطَرَبا

He whom our Prophet's faith refined not, made him pure,

He whom the religion of the Chosen One does not refine with true discipline,

Will wander perplexed amid events, distraught.

Will remain bewildered in his affairs, purely lost and unsettled.