Wisdom, No. 9

Iraqi style
English

Wisdom, No. 9

Don't trust the friendship of kings, or the sweet voices of children; the first turns into a fantasy, the second changes with a single night's sleep. Don't give your heart to someone loved by a thousand others; and if you do, be ready to lose that heart to separation.
Explanation: The first couplet is prose in the original, a maxim on the fickleness of powerful people and childhood charm; the second is a rhymed verse warning against loving someone everyone else loves too.

Original · Persian

حکمت شمارهٔ ۹

به دوستی پادشاهان اعتماد نتوان کرد و بر آواز خوش کودکان، که آن به خیالی مبدل شود و این به خوابی متغیر گردد.
معشوق هزار دوست را دل ندهی ور می‌دهی آن دل به جدایی بنهی