فَلا تَصحَب أَخا الجَهلِ

وَإياكَ وَاِيّاهُ

Do not befriend the ignorant one,

Do not keep company with the brother of ignorance,

And beware of him.

And beware, oh beware of him.

فَكَم مِن جاهِلٍ أَردى

حَليماً حينَ آخاهُ

For how many wise men has an ignorant one led astray,

For how many an ignorant man has brought ruin

When he befriended him.

To a prudent one when he befriended him.

يُقاسُ المَرءُ بِالمَرءِ

إِذا ما هُوَ ما شاهُ

A man is judged by the company he keeps,

A man is measured by the man

When he is with one like himself.

With whom he walks and associates,

كَحَذو النَعلِ بِالنَعلِ

إِذا ما النَعلُ حاذاهُ

Like the matching of sandal to sandal,

Like the alignment of a sandal with a sandal

When one sandal matches the other.

When the footwear matches its mate.

وَلِلقَلبِ عَلى القَلبِ

دَليلٌ حينَ يَلقاهُ

And heart to heart is a guide,

And the heart possesses, regarding the other heart,

When they meet each other.

A guide revealing truth when it meets it.

وَلِلشَيءِ مِن الشَيءِ

مَقاييسٌ وَأَشباهُ

And things have standards and similarities with each other.

And for everything, in relation to another thing,

And the eye has richness for the eye,

There are measures and resemblances.

وَفي العَينِ غِنىً لِلعَي

نِ إِن تَنطِق وَأَفواهُ

If they speak though they have no mouths.

And in the eye is sufficiency for the eye,

Wealth lies in souls while poverty lies in them too.

Should it speak, serving in the place of mouths.

الغِنى في النُفوسِ وَالفَقرُ فيها

اِن تَجَزَّت فَقَلَّ ما يُجزيها

If souls are stingy, how little satisfies them!

True wealth lies in souls, and poverty is therein;

Teach the soul to be content, or else

If they are covetous, little can satisfy them.

عَلِّلِ النَفسَ بِالقَنوعِ وَاِلّا

طَلَبَت مِنكَ فَوقَ ما يَكفيها

It will ask more of you than suffices it.

Soothe the soul with contentment, for otherwise

In what is past and what has yet to come,

It will demand of you more than it needs.

لَيسَ فيما مَضى وَلا في الَّذي لَم

يَأتِ مِن لِذَةٍ لُمستَحلّيها

There is no pleasure for one who demands it.

There is nothing in the past, nor in what has not

You are but the shadow of your lifetime. Whatever

Yet come, of pleasure for the one who seeks it.

إِنَّما أَنتَ ظلّ عُمركَ ما عَم

مَرتَ بِالساعَةِ الَّتي أَنتَ فيها

Hour you are in, that's all there is.

You are but the shadow of your life, for as long as

You live, defined by the very hour you are in.