هذِّب وليدكَ وهو طفلٌ راضعٌ

هذِّب وليدكَ وهو طفلٌ راضعٌ

واغرس بهِ حبَّ المعارف عن صِغَر

واغرس بهِ حبَّ المعارف عن صِغَر

Discipline your child while he is still a nursing infant,

Teach your child good manners while he is a suckling infant,

and plant in him, from earliest childhood, a love of knowledge.

And plant in him a love of knowledge from an early age.

فالغصن يسهلُ وهو لَدنٌ فتلهُ

فالغصن يسهلُ وهو لَدنٌ فتلهُ

ومتى قسا ان شئتَ تُعدِلهُ انكسر

ومتى قسا ان شئتَ تُعدِلهُ انكسر

For a branch is easy to twist while it is supple;

For a branch is easy to twist while it is supple,

but once it hardens, if you try to straighten it, it breaks.

And once it hardens, it breaks if you try to straighten it.

هو ذا غلامٌ بالمعارف هائمٌ

هو ذا غلامٌ بالمعارف هائمٌ

منذ الحداثة عاشقٌ غُرَر الفكر

منذ الحداثة عاشقٌ غُرَر الفكر

Here is a boy, enthralled by knowledge,

Here is a boy enamored of knowledge,

since early youth a lover of thought’s choicest treasures.

Since childhood, a lover of the brightest gems of thought.

يصغي ليقتبسَ الفوائد ان رأى

يصغي ليقتبسَ الفوائد ان رأى

خلاًّ يطارح اهله حلو السَمر

خلاًّ يطارح اهله حلو السَمر

He listens, eager to glean useful lessons, whenever he sees

He listens to glean useful knowledge whenever he sees

a close friend engaging his family in sweet evening talk.

A friend exchanging sweet evening talk with his family.

يتلو الكتاب محللاً اشكالهُ

يتلو الكتاب محللاً اشكالهُ

كأَبي حنيفة عندما يتلو السوَر

كأَبي حنيفة عندما يتلو السوَر

He reads the book, unraveling its difficult passages,

He reads the book, unraveling its difficulties,

as Abu Hanifa does when he recites the surahs.

Like Abu Hanifa when he recites the surahs.

متأدبٌ بحديثهِ متهذّبٌ

متأدبٌ بحديثهِ متهذّبٌ

بجلوسه متجنّبٌ ما يحتقر

بجلوسه متجنّبٌ ما يحتقر

Courteous in his speech and refined

Courteous in his speech, refined

in his bearing, shunning all that is held contemptible.

In the way he sits, avoiding whatever is despised.

لا غروَ فهو ابن الذي اعترفت لهُ

لا غروَ فهو ابن الذي اعترفت لهُ

أهلُ الحصافة أنه أذكى البشر

أهلُ الحصافة أنه أذكى البشر

No wonder: he is the son of one whom

No wonder, for he is the son of one acknowledged

people of discernment acknowledged as the keenest-minded of men.

By people of sound judgment as the cleverest of humankind.

فالشد إذا عاينتهُ متمثّلاً

فالشد إذا عاينتهُ متمثّلاً

لا بدع هذا الغصن من هذا الشجر

لا بدع هذا الغصن من هذا الشجر

For when you behold vigor itself embodied before you—

[So recite], when you behold him, quoting a verse:

no wonder: this branch springs from this tree.

No wonder—this branch is from this tree.