1. واظبْ تَنَلْ كلَّ صعبٍ مُعْوِزٍ عَسِرِ

    فالماءُ أَثَّر بالإدمانِ في الحَجَرِ

    Persevere, and you will attain every difficult, elusive, arduous thing.

    For water has left its mark on stone through persistence.

  2. فمانعُ النفسِ من إدراكِ ما طَلَبَتْ

    ميلٌ إلى سَوْفَ أو ميلٌ إلى ضَجَرِ

    For what keeps the soul from attaining what it seeks

    is an inclination toward 'later,' or an inclination toward impatience.

  3. وبالغُ الجهدِ معذورٌ إذا عَرَضتْ

    موانعٌ ليس منه بل من القَدَر

    And one who exerts his utmost effort is excused when there arise

    obstacles not of his making, but from fate.

  4. وربما وقعتْ أشياءُ خارجةٌ

    عن القياس فدَقَّت عن نُهَى البشر

    And sometimes things occur that depart

    from rational reckoning, eluding human understanding.

  5. من ذاك أحمقُ مرزوقٌ له جِدَةٌ

    وعاقلٌ دونَ كسبِ القوتِ في ضرر

    Among such things is a well-provided fool who has wealth,

    while a wise man is in distress, unable to earn his sustenance.

  6. وأكرَمُ الناسِ في ذلٍّ ومَخْمصةٍ

    وألأمُ الناسِ في عزٍّ وفي بَطَر

    And the noblest of people lives in humiliation and hunger,

    while the basest of people lives in honor and insolent pride.

  7. ما ذاك إلا لتدبيرٍ يُصرِّفُه

    بين الورى غيرُهم تصريفَ مقتدِر

    That is only through a design administered

    among humankind by one other than them, with the mastery of one endowed with power.