1. My longing for you fills my soul,
Will my innermost hopes reach you?

2. Will my eyelids touch the ground you stepped on
In any place your feet tread?

3. Will I ever look upon a land your eyes beheld
Or your feet once walked upon?

4. After being pleased with you, my hopes go beyond
For one upon whom wishes were bestowed

5. Some hopes bring me closer to you
While my stinted lifetime holds me back

6. When you rise in the west with companions
My heart longed to fly toward you

7. And I glanced upward, though unable to match
The gaze of one with wings in flight

8. If I were able, I would only embrace you
In the courtyard of Al-Masjid Al-Haram

9. I would talk to you in my uncouth accent
And you would listen, unperturbed by my audacity

10. You would spend the night at every stop
Shortening your strides out of kindness

11. And hasten farewells before the next inn
Only to dismount afterward in prayer

12. When you see the villagers’ castle shining
Celebration continues late into the night

13. And if a caravan passes, it draws near
Tripoli, moving unfettered

14. To wind through Egypt from one town to the next
Though the distances stretch far between

15. You say: ‘There is no blessing now in al-Birkah
Though my heart longs for Buwaib

16. Neither will my resolve hold firm in al-Rub‘ al-Khudra’
Nor settle calmly in the domes

17. I long for Bir al-Nakhla near ‘Ayla
And to be near Qurayyazah heightens my fervor

18. It’s as though when I come to the cave bereft
The trail and the stony ground meet

19. Why then do my tears and the houri’s tears flow
For the same fleeting moments?

20. I yearn to see Hunain and hurry toward it
Heading to Badr without delay

21. Perhaps after Bazwah I will see
The resolve of ‘Ali at al-Bi’r

22. Freeing myself of al-Sawa’iq’s deceit
To the gatherings of the sincere at ‘Asfan

23. From the belly of Murr, though the mosques are near
Are homes leading to the Ancient House

24. Dwellings of joy, nothing else
We are done with the two checkpoints and the police

25. We have reached our goal not by the coasts
Where revelation and messengers meet

26. A sanctuary where pilgrims come and go
With their solemn pacts and security

27. When they pour out and stroke
The Black Stone and Yemeni corner

28. A seasoned camel calls them to depart
Handpicked by the soothsayer without blemish

29. It competes with the wind when praised as ‘Good luck!’
And scatters beads upon the necks

30. Does it cry out of joy? And has the right to
More so than beasts of burden

31. Hence you see reverent riders toward it
Plunging into a sea of tumult

32. Intoxicated but with the Beloved and remembrance of Him
Raptures coursed in their veins

33. So imagine when they stand before His tomb
When the divine decree unties its knots

34. There, speak as you wish of what you see
For I have not sanctioned my speech

35. Nor blame if you confound the likes of me
For these are meanings beyond thoughts

36. When the Qur’an praises Him ahead of me
How can my heart grasp or my tongue speak?

37. Defend Allah’s Messenger who welcomes refugees
Though time has raised its spears against him

38. Where can we flee if you bar your door?
Far be it from you to shame your petitioner!

39. You were sent as mercy unto the worlds
So am I disgraced when you show me kindness?

40. Your splendid way instructs us to pray sincerely
For the ruler, in love and hate

41. Preoccupied with your remembrance at all times
Treating your nation whom you entrust

42. With utmost care and affection
And relating narratives relying on you

43. To reward him well for so and so
Worldly affairs do not distract him

44. From spreading your authentic traditions far and wide
But he has a special love for Ja‘far

45. Saving him from distress and disgrace
Just as when he built the dome whose

46. Charity he perfected in the best place
He protected its sanctity with his seal

47. Sincerely, with excellent intentions
So he began sealing it when it was completed

48. And on Layla al-Qadr in Ramadan
You, Most Generous of Creation, were present

49. Witnessing what the two races brought
I hope an outpouring of your boundless grace will envelop

50. This assembly coursing through it
Until each listener and relater returns

51. And builder, healed and mended
May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you

52. Continuously, as the colors ebb and flow