1. My friend, grief and sadness have descended
Upon my heart despite me, so what is your opinion of them?

2. They want not to leave me any solace
And to leave me with a frail, sickly body

3. If they overpower me, prepare yourself and advance
And if you cannot make me happy, then refrain

4. They have agreed on their matter and disagreed
And they have mobilized against us a vast army

5. Shall we face them with humiliation and belittlement by force
Or is war more appropriate, though we fear regret?

6. My cowardice counselled me, saying: “Be gentle”
For we are not people of might to confront an aggressor

7. Nor are we capable against calamities
Nor are we the sons of kings to advance

8. But my heart said to me: “Prepare yourself, for I
See myself as steadfast in your affairs

9. Did you not see me a strong brother in adversities
Ardent and resolute in calamities?”

10. And I do not complain to people about an affliction
I was afflicted with, even if my body was shattered

11. Say to the people and time, I am steadfast
Even if they were pleased to see me collapse

12. It is the same to me, war with time or its peace
As long as I have patience I will not suffer

13. And I do not care if its circumstances make me drink
Cups of pleasure or those of bitterness

14. I am the man whose heart is not moved by any news
Nor any noisy voice when it rumbles

15. Neither does the beautiful trilling of a singer gladden me
Nor the voice of a reveler in the branches as it hums

16. Nor does longing for the separation of loved ones sadden me
Unless they taste from my separation, regret

17. I am content with the easiest livelihood from my fate
If I find no day except dates as food

18. I will divert myself from coveting much
Even if I do not find in my palm a single coin

19. Whatever the Merciful decreed for me of a decree
I willingly accept it and do not complain

20. For I know that I own not a single coin
And complaining does not benefit, so I repel it with

21. I will bow my back to it and carry its burden
Even if it shattered a canal from me or something greater

22. I will have patience the like of which patience falls short
Until patience screams from me in pain

23. Otherwise, I am not the courageous hero
Who clothes himself in rags and wears a turban

24. And if fate cut off my preceding feathers
I will not complain to the enemy, making him smile

25. Nor complain to a friend, confiding in him
And leaving him sad, unable to speak

26. I will conceal my secret from near and far
Even if my heart is poisoned with toxins

27. For each has a lifespan and for lifespan an end
When it finishes, chanting incantations will not benefit

28. I have become accustomed to afflictions until I befriended them
So when they visited me, they did not increase me in determination

29. So here I am, whatever my Lord willed, for I
Am content with what I was given, little or much

30. They say: “Do not cry for the death of relatives -
Do you think crying has become prohibited for you?”

31. So I said to them: “No, but if it is beneficial
We cried for the loss of our loved ones shedding tears”

32. I cry for others while knowing for certain
That I will follow those who passed

33. So if I have intellect, I weep with insight
For a lifetime I wasted until it scattered

34. And if I cry at times out of necessity
For how many Muslims before cried out of submission?

35. And if I cry for a beloved, Jacob before us
Cried for Joseph until it harmed him

36. And when I saw the mind and heart unite
Against the enemies of steadfastness and to God I submitted

37. I discarded weakness and inability as a man, and I
Made good patience and success a ladder

38. I determined and we mobilized armies of sorrow
We defeated with them the army of worries being stubborn

39. So whoever is with God, God is with him
And succeeded in what he hopes, a great success

40. We won and emerged safe by His help
With mighty victory we hoped for before

41. And whoever fears the Merciful, He will make for him
An impenetrable refuge and provide him piety and bliss

42. With the wide-eyed maidens in the Garden of Paradise
Dwelling therein, given to drink sealed nectar

43. But if he disobeys Him intentionally and openly and does not repent
And dies insisting, he will reach the fire of Hell

44. Wherein he is tormented forever and ever and finds not
A patron to whom he can flee and be safe

45. So whoever prefers disobedience, this is his recompense
And every person is recompensed for what he forwarded

46. I seek refuge in You, O God, from the evil of an obstinate demon
Misguided, who sees harm as gain if it touches us

47. And from the evil of delusional whisperings that come to my mind
And from the promptations of devils whenever

48. And pardon for a servant who admitted his sin
For You are Forgiver of sins, Most Generous

49. You are of great pardon and forbearance towards one
Who confessed openly after having sinned

50. And after you, who of loving companionship
Wrote in the margins of parchment a strung pearl

51. It is honey, nay sweeter to every listener
And more delicious than fresh water to the thirsty

52. It comforts the hearts of those who lost loved ones
And makes the newborn forget the honourable elder

53. For it cleanses all filth
And removes resentment and delusions from the heart

54. I named it the heart’s and eye’s solace
And empowerment during afflictions when they come

55. I did not say of it power and encouragement
And purification of the self except with understanding

56. My intention is only the pleasure of God alone
And the solace of a servant who endured worries

57. Say: study it at all times, for it
Becomes incantations and a remedy for the heart

58. It bequeaths in the coward’s heart courage
And the person’s heart increases from it learning

59. Whoever has intellect, even if ignorant
Will become, when he masters it, learned

60. It has preceded everything virtuous
When present, it surpassed all hidden and apparent

61. If you miss it one day, you would think it
The radiance of light arrived in unison from the sky

62. Or the wide-eyed maidens from the Gardens of Eden descended
Your reward for deeds of good you forwarded

63. And send prayers upon the God of the Throne as long as
The morning breeze blew upon Ahmad, best of people, and peace.