يا صاح فك الناس والزم الدار

ولا تعاديهم ودارهم دار

O friend, leave people alone and stay at home.

Do not antagonize them; be tactful with them, be tactful.

ولا تخالطهم تنالك أكدار

ولا تحصل غير اثم وأوزار

Do not mingle with them, lest troubles befall you,

And you will gain nothing but sin and burdens.

ما تسمع الا غيبة أو نميمة

وكل كلمة فاحشة عظيمه

You hear nothing but backbiting or tale-bearing,

And every grievously obscene word.

فالبعد منهم يا فتى غنيمه

وتركهم جنه وقر بهم نار

So keeping away from them, young man, is a gain.

Leaving them is paradise; being near them is fire.

ما همهم غير القيل والقال

وذكر أشيامو بقه وأهوال

They care for nothing but gossip and idle talk,

And talk of ruinous things and terrors,

ذي توحش الخاطر وتكسف البال

وكل من تلقاه قال أخبار

That fill the mind with dread and darken one's thoughts.

And everyone you meet has news to tell.

فالاعتزال اليوم فرض لازم

إلا جلوسك عند شخص عالم

So withdrawal today is a binding duty,

Except for sitting with a learned person.

لمجلس التعليم كن ملازم

مع التحفظ من شرور وأشرار

Keep attending the gathering of instruction,

While guarding against evils and evildoers.

كذلك الجمعه مع الجماعات

فإن فيها للإله نفحات

Likewise, Friday prayer and congregational prayers,

For in them are divine breaths of grace.

ينالها من جالها بنيات

مع الأدب في ظاهره والإسرار

Whoever comes to them with intent receives them,

With reverence in his outward conduct and in private.

واعلم هداك الله أن أربع

خصال فيها الشرقد تجمع

And know—may God guide you—that four

Traits have evil gathered within them.

قد قالها الحداد فانصت اسمع

واترك لها تدعى منيب صبار

Al-Haddad has stated them; be silent and listen.

Abandon them, to be called penitent and steadfast.

أولهن الجهل لا تريده

ولا تجالس من هم عبيده

The first is ignorance: do not desire it.

And do not sit with those who are its slaves.

قرينة الشيطان هو مريده

قد خسر الأخرى وهذه الدار

Satan is his companion, and he is Satan's disciple;

He has lost the hereafter and this abode.

والثانية ضعف اليقين في الدين

فإن هذى بغية الشياطين

The second is weak certainty in religion,

For this is what the devils seek,

وسلم الكفار والملاعين

وهي التي تنشى الزلل والأضرار

And the ladder of unbelievers and the accursed.

It is what breeds missteps and harm.

والثالثة طول الأمل ونسيان

الموت ذي يسقاه كل إنسان

The third is far-reaching hopes and forgetting

Death, which every human is made to drink.

فيشتغل بالعاجله وبالفان

ويترك التقوى سبيل الأبرار

So he busies himself with the present and the passing,

And forsakes piety, the path of the righteous,

حتى يجيه الموت وهو لاهى

تارك فرائض مرتكب مناهي

Until death comes to him while he is distracted,

Neglecting duties and committing forbidden deeds,

قاسي وناسي غافل وساهي

وإن وعظته جاب جملة أعذار

Hard-hearted and forgetful, heedless and inattentive.

If you admonish him, he brings a host of excuses,

أعذارذى توجب له الملامه

وليس هي تنجيه في القيامه

Excuses that make him deserving of blame,

And do not save him at the Resurrection.

فياله حسره وياندامه

لا تنقضي أو تحتصي بمقدار

Alas for him—such regret, such remorse!

That never ends and cannot be measured.

والرابعه أكل الشبه وأموال

حرام سحت كيف حال ذي الحال

The fourth is consuming doubtful things and wealth

Unlawful and ill-gotten—how fares one in such a state?

من أين يزكو له صلاح أعمال

أو يجتني قلبه حكم وأسرار

How can righteous deeds flourish for him,

Or his heart reap wisdom and secrets?

واعلم أخي أن الزمان قد خان

والخير ولي وأهله والأعوان

And know, my brother, that the age has proved treacherous.

Goodness has departed, with its people and supporters,

وصار ذو الفطنه وحيد حيران

ودار في الغفلة كمثل من دار

And the discerning man has become lonely and bewildered,

And wanders in heedlessness like any other wanderer.

فافزع إلى المولى وتب واقلع

ولا تعدى ساير ومسرع

So seek refuge with the Lord, repent, and desist.

Do not overstep as you journey and hasten;

إليه في كل الأمور ترجع

شاكر وصابر للقضا والأقدار

To Him you return in all affairs,

Grateful and patient with decree and destiny.

واذكر الهك في جميع الأوقات

وكل أنفاسك وكل حالات

And remember your God at all times,

With every breath and in every state.

إن شيت تظفر منه بالكرامات

فاجعل جميع العمر كله أذكار

If you wish to gain gracious gifts from Him,

Then make your entire life acts of remembrance.

الذكر يجلي كل قلب صادي

الذكر قوت القلب والفؤاد

Remembrance polishes every rusted heart.

Remembrance is nourishment for the heart and the inner heart.

الذكر ديدن كل ذي رشاد

الذكر كم وردت بفضله أخبار

Remembrance is the constant practice of everyone rightly guided.

Remembrance—how many reports tell of its merit!

الذكر غرس لك في الجنان

الذكر قوت القلب والجنان

Remembrance is a planting for you in Paradise's gardens.

Remembrance is nourishment for the heart and the inner heart.

الذكر يأتي لك بالأمان

الذكر يقضي لك جميع الأوطار

Remembrance brings you safety.

Remembrance fulfills all your needs.

الله يذكر كل ذاكر الله

ومن نسي ذكر الإله ينساه

God remembers everyone who remembers God.

And whoever forgets to remember God, He forgets.

لقد خسر في دينه ودنياه

وسوف يندم عند ختم الأعمار

He has indeed lost in his religion and worldly life,

And will regret it when lifetimes come to their end.

واحذر من الدنيا عدوة الله

تلهى الفتى عن ربه وعقباه

Beware of the world, the enemy of God:

It distracts a man from his Lord and his hereafter,

وتشغله عن دينه وتقواه

وعن سبيل الصالحين الأخيار

And keeps him from his religion and piety,

And from the path of the righteous and virtuous.

هذا ولا تصفو له بحال

وتوعده بالكذب والمحال

Yet it is never free of trouble for him,

And promises him lies and impossibilities,

وتمنحه في الحال بالنكال

فلا تكن يا ذالها بمختار

And grants him punishment at once.

So do not, O you, choose it.

واسلك سبيل المتقين الأسياد

أهل العبادة والتقى والأوراد

Follow the path of the God-fearing masters,

People of worship, piety, and regular devotions,

الخائفين الخاشعين الأجواد

أهل الصفا وأهل الوفا والأنوار

The fearful, the reverently humble, the generous,

People of purity, people of fidelity and light.

في ذكر سيرتهم نزول رحمه

وتنتعش للخير كل همه

In recounting their lives, mercy descends,

And every aspiration for goodness is revived,

وتندفع كم قسوة وظلمه

وتنقشع عنا غيوم الأغيار

And so much hardness and darkness is driven away,

And clouds of all that is other than God clear away from us.

عسى بهم ربي يفك وسرى

فلا أرى بأسا ولا أرى ضار

May my Lord, through them, loose my bonds [reading uncertain],

So I see no distress and nothing harmful.

عسى عسى نفحة تص من الغيب

تزيل عنا ما بنا من العيب

Perhaps, perhaps, a breath of grace [comes?] from the unseen,

Removing from us the faults within us,

وتنتفي كل الشكوك والريب

ففضل ربي واسع ومدرار

And all doubts and misgivings disappear.

For my Lord's bounty is vast and ever-pouring.

إني لأرجوالله خير غافر

والظن في ربي حسن ووافر

I surely place my hope in God, the best forgiver,

And my expectation of my Lord is good and abundant.

هذا وإن كنت مسىء وقاصر

قلت آيس كريم غفار

All this, though I do wrong and fall short.

I said, despairing: “Generous, ever-forgiving” [wording unclear].

يا رب يا معطي جواد منان

اختم بتوبة صادقة وإيمان

O Lord, O Giver, Generous and Bountiful One,

Seal my life with sincere repentance and faith,

ومغفرة ورحمة ورضوان

فندخل الجنة ولا نرى النار

And forgiveness, mercy, and Your good pleasure,

So we enter Paradise and never see the Fire.

ثم الصلاة والسلام ما لاح

نجم وما غرد حمام أوناح

Then blessings and peace, as long as there shines

A star, and as long as doves sing or mourn,

على النبي الهادي لكل اصلاح

والآل والأصحاب نعم الأطهار

Upon the Prophet, who guides to all that sets things right,

And his family and companions—how excellent these pure ones!