إِذا المَرء لَم يَحتل وَقَد جَدّ جَدّه

إِذا المَرء لَم يَحتل وَقَد جَدّ جَدّه

أَضاعَ وَقاسى أَمره وَهوَ مدبرُ

أَضاعَ وَقاسى أَمره وَهوَ مدبرُ

If a man devises no stratagem when his fortune has risen,

If a man does not seize the moment when it comes his way,

He lets things slip and struggles with his affairs as he declines.

He wastes his life and fate maltreats him while he ponders.

وَلَكِن أَخو الحَزم الَّذي لَيسَ نازلا

وَلَكِن أَخو الحَزم الَّذي لَيسَ نازلا

بِهِ الأَمرُ إِلا وَهوَ لِلقَصد مبصرُ

بِهِ الأَمرُ إِلا وَهوَ لِلقَصد مبصرُ

And yet a man of prudence is one never overtaken

But the man of resolution acts while others sleep,

By a matter without clearly discerning the right course.

Events do not deter him nor find him unready.

فَذاكَ قَريعُ الدَّهرِ ما عاشَ حَولَهُ

فَذاكَ قَريعُ الدَّهرِ ما عاشَ حَولَهُ

إِذا سدّ مِنهُ منخرٌ جاشَ منخرُ

إِذا سدّ مِنهُ منخرٌ جاشَ منخرُ

So that man is Time’s match while his resourcefulness endures:

Throughout his life he hustles while others are idle;

If one nostril of his is blocked, another gushes forth.

If nostrils sleep, he wakes up their nostrils!