Original content

English translation

Friendship with a gambler and a scoundrel: Either do not make it, or if you do, stand by it.

A friendship made for the sake of a cup (of wine): If you do not give your skin, they will strip you of your goods.

If you wish a friend to remain a friend: Seek from him only what is in his nature and disposition.

Deem him a bad person who has few friends, And worse than him is the one who, having found them, abandons them.

Though two hundred friends are but two companions, An enemy, though only one, is like a thousand.

To you, a wise adversary and enemy Is better than all ignorant friends.

Seek religion from the pious, and boasting from the vain; Seek pearls from the oyster, and musk from the deer.

If you wish to fill your sleeve with nothing: Seek musk from the oyster and pearls from the deer.

That which belongs to the senses of sight, smell, and hearing: See with the first, smell with the second, and listen with the third.

World-viewing does not come from the ears; The eye does not taste, and the nose does not hear.

If you seek all this harmony from the senses, You will not find one performing the function of another.

For indeed, it is manifest in the world: The work of every man, and the man for every work.

If you do not wish your heart to be filled with regret, Do not break away from a good companion over an evil turn.

Even if your friend turns away a hundred times, Return to him like a scroll.

If you turn your face from this one to that one, Wait until you know the true value of each.

Friends are the treasury of secrets; They bear the pain and bestow the treasure.

With the worthless and the pure in your social dealings: Neither mingle too closely, nor flee completely.

Deem neither the seeking of them praised, nor fleeing them, For thus it came from the Sage of the Arabs (Ali).

Hear the true description of a friend From Ali, unless you are a heretic.

If a friend is ignorant, one must not burn (destroy oneself); This wisdom must be learned from Ali.

People become enemies if you flee from them, And you become a bad companion if you mingle too much.

When a friendship appears to you, Intellect must not praise it too quickly.

At the time of pleasure, seeing less of him And hearing less is better than approval.

Do not seek, even if it is a firm command, A messenger from among those sitting in prison.

Seek one who knows and possesses, So that you do not hurt him, and he does not hurt you.

Friendship with a foolish temperament: Keep far, far away, and yet here is your selfhood.

Lest you be a companion of the foolish, For the good-doer becomes evil from the wicked.

The wind, by whose grace life is sustained, Becomes poison in the company of a serpent.

An evil companion is like a patch of thorns at the door, Which catches your skirt quickly.

The pale face of gold is due to a bad companion (alloy); Otherwise, it is red as long as it is with itself.

The companionship of gardens in the spring season Makes the wind fragrant at all times.

Sesame oil, which was common, Became precious and of good repute because of flowers.

When it yielded its soul and breath to the flowers, No one called it sesame oil anymore.

This was freed from the jar and that from humiliation; The flower became well-reputed from it, and it from the flower.

Sit little with the wicked, lest you remain wicked; For the human soul is prone to adopting habits.

The good-natured becomes fierce from the bad companion; The sheep, when it eats with the wolf, becomes a wolf.

Do not let go of the company of the good, For you will become great and better through the company of the great.

A wild horse, from a calm-natured horse, Adopts the same temperament, even if it does not run at the same pace.

Even if your appearance becomes deformed, A wise bad person is better than an ignorant good one.

May you have no companionship with the common folk, For they will make your name insignificant like themselves.

The company of the common is fire and cotton; It is ill-reputed, ruinous, and weak.

The company of the common in populated paradise Is death—may the death of the commoner be so.

Passion does not mingle with two wise men; A single passion flees from two intellects.

The body knows how to live with the bad and the good; It is the soul that recognizes who is friend and who is enemy.

A friend who has no opportunity with you To say what is forbidden and what is allowed,

As long as he sees a morsel with you, he is your heart and soul; But when the morsel is gone, he is sharp, a sword, and a spear.

See his belly like the heart of a cup, And see his heart like a tulip from his mouth.

How can there be pure brotherhood with worldly honors? For they said: 'Your brother is he who consoles you.'

The garment of blood and flesh is the skin; The container of a friend's faults is the friend.

There is no sincerity and purity in any companion; There is no love and loyalty in any friend.

When he greets you for a motive, His view of your good and bad changes based on his interest.

Friend and enemy are needed for the soul; It is the body that requires the nourishment of bread.

Even if you pair your eyes with sleeplessness, You will rarely find sincere friendship.

He will not ask loyalty of you, For he is like an oven straight with the scales.

So now, be monthly with the bad, Hold your own skirt, and be yourself.

For the covenant and love of those who seek morsels Is without support, like the lamp of widows.

The peace of an enemy is like the war of a friend, For the brain of the former is like the skin of the latter.

Do not bind your heart to them, for in the world All are breath of Adam, but coral of life.

What rank has the good person among the wicked? For the Moon falls in the sign of Scorpio.