1. When the shade and comfort of ardour evade me,
It suffices me that its gentle breeze still blows.

2. It satisfies me that I conform myself to it,
Its spring is my tears and my body its wreckage.

3. The memory of she who dwelt in absence returns my heart,
Seating it atop the absence and erecting it.

4. I have seen nothing like the breeze when it blows softly,
Healing the sickness of the enamoured heart with its breath.

5. With the recollection we justify a beloved long absent,
Circling his goblet about her and prolonging it.

6. Neither has hoary untrodden ground provoked me,
Nor the desolation of frightful wastes and their vast expanse.

7. Nor has my eye been sleepless due to a lightning flash
Emerging feeble from the horizon and vanishing.

8. Longing for the Prophet Muḥammad has afflicted me,
Roving perpetually in my breast whatever roves it.

9. O Messenger of God! A beseecher calls you from afar
His devotion preserved despite the distance untainted.

10. A longing one when night spreads its corridor
His worries secretly assail him beneath the darkness.

11. When the morning breeze carries any talk of you
A chronic yearning since old is revived in him,

12. And though hopes bring him close to you as pretext
Destiny distances him from what he aspires.

13. Only resorting to “perhaps” consoles his grief
Wholehearted in passion, his inner self ailing.

14. Relieve him, O succourer of servants, with mercy
That acquits his debt of pardon, redeeming his crime!

15. Shall I proclaim my complaint while You hear it?
Shall I confide in a whisper while You know it?

16. Do You neglect while being his aid?
Do You torment while being Compassionate to him?

17. God made mercy flow through you to existence
So deliver those who call out and enrich the destitute!

18. With Your light − God’s light − guidance shone radiant
Its lucid moons gleaming and its stars glowing.

19. The favour of God has through you rained on Earth
Its springs clustered, its clouds abundantly pouring.

20. And above the celestial spheres he conformed to You −
The Friend who trod them and Spoke to Him intimately.

21. Among beings of clay is Yours the most splendid merit
And majestic in glorious mention is Your magnificence.

22. Miracles dazzle with an effulgent light
When the darkness of calamities intensifies ominously.

23. A palm tree sufficed You, speaking eloquently
Even when on the day of parting its foliage withered.

24. A full moon appeared cleft in half so one part stood
Fixed, inhabited, while its counterpart plunged toward You.

25. And the Burāq knelt before Your Noble Ascension deferentially
Offering its thigh and back as Your mount.

26. And above the spheres of heaven did he model himself after You −
The Friend who threaded them and Spoke to Him intimately.

27. Preeminent among them too is the miracle of Qur’ān
For endless are its marvels and sciences.

28. You have been distinguished since before all time
With the most exalted traits while Adam knew no permanence.

29. When the universe had not yet unfolded at command’s hand
Nor its spirits been made distinct and bodies formed.

30. And he who guided himself by Your splendid light
Became righteous after his truthful, judicious friend.

31. God’s blessings upon You, O Best of Messengers!
Through him the path of right guidance grew firm.

32. Would that I be buried in Your tomb laid down
Recurring pacts from the soul’s depth earnestly!

33. My bone will neighbour the earth of Your fragrant soil
Thereby perfuming me from the water of [eternal] life.

34. I spent my precious life wastefully to no avail
As one who squanders abundant wealth generously.

35. Deep sighs do I repeat in regret at myself
For a tattoo marking the night of my heart with its stars.

36. If verdure on Earth is moribund in decay
Then withered and luxuriant are not alike for it.

37. My days were harsh to me and slighted my dignity
So my age developed into one of base repute.

38. And it separated me from those I love
Thus I nearly collapse under its worries.

39. If censure were of benefit I would censure it,
If blame were useful I would blame it.

40. And if I had seen You glance upon me a moment
Its stars would not have spited me at nightfall.

41. So shelter a refugee, Imploring You are his refuge,
And Your praise finitely flows refined from me.

42. May God maintain a pact in Your satisfaction and friendship
The sovereigns on high vindicating and enacting it.

43. And the throng hailing of a frequented house in blissful abode
The early morning dew perpetuating its freshness!

44. One which deputies of compassion embrace when they arrive
Enveloped in copious favour universally dispensing,

45. One the righteous successors have pillowed with its soil,
Through them Your terrestrial law upheld its pillars.

46. Imāms of justice who elucidated the ways of truth
With clouds of favour that withhold nothing when they pour,

47. And lions unrelenting when the foreign borders’
Raiders of calamity clash with their swords.

48. For had it not been for them, O Best of Residents,
Its sanctuary would have collapsed and its harem desecrated.

49. On a day when warranted dues shall be requited,
The mantle of Divine satisfaction shall enshroud them −

50. A mantle that will give them comfort though terror horrifies others,
And safety though the Crowding terrifies with its Flame.

51. Abū Yūsuf − vanquisher of transgression, champion of guidance −
And Yūsuf, piercing rebellion’s tumult, overmastering it.

52. ‘Uthmān − rain of munificence, most generous benefactor −
When clouds, however laden, are miserly with their downpour.

53. And ‘Alī − how can his due be denied ? −
Shall we belie dawn’s radiance when it gleams beautifully?

54. He is the elevated standard whose glory peaked,
The sovereign before whom the encampment thrived pleasantly.

55. Indeed through him God’s shade encompassed the land
So which substitute can match it or orphan resemble it?

56. And were it not for him its sound principles
Would not have gained clarity nor its laws discernibility.

57. And he bequeathed to Ibrāhῑm the legacy of successorship
A legacy nurtured for him from splendid glory at its source.

58. When hope seeks rain from a cloud of mercy
It is from Ibrāhῑm’s palm that its pouring gushes.

59. And how many aspirations failed the system they envisaged
While through him unfruitful ones bore fruit copiously!

60. My friends! Regard from afar services to his successor,
The choicest ones, culled for him by his aide.

61. My mind selected them though their order was imperfect
Like the threading of the elegant pearl necklace undone.

62. To them I deputed my concerns and roused my resolve
With support from the “h” and “m” consonants.

63. I gained access through it beseeching his Side,
And vowed to myself never to fail it.

64. Before his luminous tomb I halted my pursuits −
So whoever harms me, it is You who contends against him!