أفي هذا الشباب تعف نفس

أفي هذا الشباب تعف نفس

ولا يلهى الفتى هذا النعيم

ولا يلهى الفتى هذا النعيم

Can a soul remain chaste in such youth,

Does one's soul grow weary in this youth,

and a young man not be distracted by such bliss?

And the young man fails to enjoy this bliss?

ألا يدعوك للذات صفو

ألا يدعوك للذات صفو

وأكثرنا على كدر يحوم

وأكثرنا على كدر يحوم

Does not serenity beckon you to pleasures,

Does not this wholesome being call you

while most of us hover over trouble?

While most of us hover in turmoil?

كأن مكارم الأخلاق روض

كأن مكارم الأخلاق روض

وأنت الزهر فيه والنسيم

وأنت الزهر فيه والنسيم

Noble virtues are like a garden,

It is as if noble manners are a garden,

and you are its blossoms and its breeze.

And you are its flower and its breeze.

فهلا أختار هذا النهج قوم

فهلا أختار هذا النهج قوم

خلالُ الدين بينهم رسوم

خلالُ الدين بينهم رسوم

Then why have people not chosen this path,

Why don't a people take this path,

among whom the virtues of religion are mere traces?

With religion threading through their customs?

وما جهلوا فوائد ما أضاعوا

وما جهلوا فوائد ما أضاعوا

ولكن ربما نسى العليم

ولكن ربما نسى العليم

And they were not ignorant of the benefits of what they squandered,

They know not the benefits they have squandered,

yet sometimes even the learned forget.

Though perhaps the All-Knowing has forgotten.

تَغَيَّرنا فلا ظن جميل

تَغَيَّرنا فلا ظن جميل

بخالقنا ولا قلب سليم

بخالقنا ولا قلب سليم

We have changed: we have neither a good opinion

We have changed, so do not expect good,

of our Creator nor a sound heart.

Neither for our Creator nor for an uncorrupted heart.

كأنا في التلون قوم موسى

كأنا في التلون قوم موسى

وأنت بنا كما شقى الكليم

وأنت بنا كما شقى الكليم

As though, in our fickleness, we were the people of Moses,

It is as if we are the people of Moses,

and through us you suffer as he who spoke with God suffered.

And you are with us as the persecuted were with the Sublime.

فإن لم نرض أخلاقا فعذرا

فإن لم نرض أخلاقا فعذرا

لعل ضلالنا هذا قديم

لعل ضلالنا هذا قديم

So if we have not disciplined our character, pardon us;

If we do not accept good manners, then pardon us,

perhaps this waywardness of ours is long-standing.

Perhaps this misguidance of ours is longstanding.