1. The blessed creator comes,
An example derived from him,
١. تعالى المبدعُ القدُسُ
مثالٌ عنه مقتبسُ
2. And a mirror on which a light
Of God's face is reflected.
٢. ومرآةٌ عليها نو
رُ وجهِ اللهِ ينعكسُ
3. So I don't know if it's God's shade
Or a spark of his light,
٣. فما أَدري أَظلّ الل
هِ أَمْ من نورِه قبسُ
4. He appeared like the sun but the mystery
Of him is shrouded in obscurity.
٤. بدا كالشمسِ لكنْ سرُّ
ه عيَّت به النُطُسُ
5. In visions he's well known,
To minds he's ambiguous,
٥. ففي الأَبصارِ معروفٌ
عَلَى الأَفهام ملتبس
6. So many faces looked to him
And souls bowed down.
٦. فكمْ عَنَتِ الوجوهُ له
وربضتْ أَنفسٌ شُمُسُ
7. And how many heads hung low
And proud noses sneezed,
٧. وكم ذا طأْطأَتْ هامٌ
وذَلَّتْ آنفٌ عطس
8. For him our souls are soldiers
And our eyes guards,
٨. له من روحِنا جندٌ
ومن أَنظارِنا حرس
9. And they said he's a relative
Whose wonders make minds steal.
٩. وقالوا: إِنه نسبٌ
بها الأَلبابُ تختلس
10. It saddened me that he's fleeting,
His features will fade away,
١٠. شجاني أَنه عَرَضٌ
معالمُهُ ستندرس
11. A plant that if it blooms one day
Its matter will end in misery,
١١. ونبتٌ إِنْ يهج يوماً
فغايةُ أَمرِهِ البيس
12. An error to limit him by
What they saw of him or touched,
١٢. ضلالٌ أَن يحدَّ بما
رأَوه منه أَو لمسوا
13. Above their limits there's a spirit
Unrestrained, unconfined,
١٣. وفوقَ حدودِهم روحٌ
طليقٌ ليس يحتبسُ
14. And a journey in which there are signs
Of creativity to seek,
١٤. وسفرٌ فيه آياتٌ
من الإِبداعِ تلتمس
15. Beauty pours into me and in my
Heart his love took root,
١٥. تصبّاني الجمال وفي الْ
فؤادِ هواه منغرسُ
16. His love so grasped me that
I fancied he's obsession,
١٦. ولجَّ هواه بي حتى
وهمتُ بأَنه هوس
17. He looks upon me from the eye of
The beloved and his gaze is furtive,
١٧. يطلُّ عليَّ من عينِ الْ
حبيبِ ولَحْظُهُ خُلَسُ
18. Banishing sleep from my eyes
While he's drowsy in hers,
١٨. فينفي النومَ عن عينيَّ
وهو بعينها نعسُ
19. His water flows in her cheeks
Nearly gushing out,
١٩. ويجري ماؤه في وجْ
هِها فيكادُ ينبجس
20. His fragrance wafts from her neck
However much she chided and snapped,
٢٠. ويذكو عرْفُهُ في ثغْ
رِها ما رُدّد والقعس
21. He blooms between her shoulders
Where the kiss and snap sound,
٢١. ويزهو بين عطفيها
هناك النيهُ والقعس
22. And I perceive him in the lightning of
Dawn, did the darkness mutter?
٢٢. وأَلمحُهُ بومضِ البر
قِ إِمّا عَسْعَسَ الغَلَسُ
23. And I hear him in the birds
And rivers murmuring,
٢٣. وأَسمعه من الأَطيا
رِ والأَنهار ترتجس
24. And I grasp him with my soul though
He's a meaning shrouded in ambiguity.
٢٤. وأَدركه بنفسي وهْ
و معنى ما به لبس