إِذا ما خَلَوتَ الدَهرَ يَوماً فَلا تَقُل

إِذا ما خَلَوتَ الدَهرَ يَوماً فَلا تَقُل

خَلَوتُ وَلَكِن قُل عَلَيَّ رَقيبُ

خَلَوتُ وَلَكِن قُل عَلَيَّ رَقيبُ

If ever, one day in your life, you are alone, do not say,

If ever in solitude you spend an hour, do not say

If ever you are secluded in the course of time, do not say,

'I am alone'; rather, say, 'A watcher is over me.'

"I am alone, for nobody sees me."

"I am alone," but rather say, "Over me there is a Watcher."

وَلا تَحسَبَنَّ اللَهَ يَغفَلُ ساعَةً

وَلا تَحسَبَنَّ اللَهَ يَغفَلُ ساعَةً

وَلا أَنَّ ما يَخفى عَلَيكَ يَغيبُ

وَلا أَنَّ ما يَخفى عَلَيكَ يَغيبُ

And never suppose that God is heedless for a moment,

Think not God fails to see you at any time,

And never reckon that Allah is unmindful for a single moment,

Nor that what is hidden from you escapes Him.

or that which hides you shall conceal you from Him.

Nor that what is veiled from you is absent from His view.

لَهَونا بِعُمرٍ طالَ حَتّى تَرادَفَت

لَهَونا بِعُمرٍ طالَ حَتّى تَرادَفَت

ذُنوبٌ عَلى آثارِهِنَّ ذُنوبُ

ذُنوبٌ عَلى آثارِهِنَّ ذُنوبُ

We spent a long life in idle play, until there followed

We have sinned enough in a life long and vile

We trifled with a life that lasted long, until there piled up

Sins, and more sins in their footsteps.

until sins on their traces have left sins' marks and stains.

Sins, and following upon their traces, yet more sins.