1. في امتزاج الوجود بالعدمِ

    واختلاط الحدوث بالقدمِ

    In the mingling of existence with nonexistence

    and the blending of temporal origination with eternity

  2. حكمة جل من يشاهدها

    كامتزاج الضياء بالظلم

    lies a wisdom—exalted is whoever beholds it—

    like the mingling of light with darkness.

  3. وقياس الوجود حيث بدا

    ليس يبقى سواه فافتهم

    And the measure of existence, wherever it appears:

    nothing remains besides it; so understand.

  4. وكذاك الحدوث يذهب إن

    قِدَمٌ بَانَ ظاهرَ الهمم

    And likewise, temporal origination vanishes if

    eternity appears, manifest to aspiring wills.

  5. وكذاك الضياء يمحق ما

    كان من ظلمةٍ لمنبهم

    And likewise, light effaces whatever

    darkness there was for one bewildered.

  6. لكن الظاهر الوجود سرى

    سر أسمائه بمنعدم

    But what is manifest is existence; there has flowed

    the secret of its names through the nonexistent.

  7. فهو معنى امتزاجه وكذا

    قدم مع حدوث منكتم

    That is the meaning of its mingling; likewise,

    eternity with concealed temporal origination,

  8. وضياء مع الظلام على

    حكم أسمائه فلم يقم

    and light with darkness, according to

    the rule of its names; thus it did not subsist.

  9. إنه لا امتزاج بينهما

    خالق الخلق بارئ النسيم

    Indeed He—there is no mingling between the two—

    is the Creator of creation, the originator of the breeze,

  10. أول وهو آخر لحجى

    ظاهر وهو باطن لعمي

    First, and He is Last to the intellect,

    Manifest, and He is Hidden to the blind.

  11. أيها السائر المجدُّ إذا

    جئت سلعاً فسل عن الحرم

    O earnest traveler, when

    you come to Salʿ, ask about the sanctuary.

  12. خذ يميناً بنا إلى وطنٍ

    فيه كنا وقف على العلم

    Take us rightward toward a homeland

    where we once were, and halt at the landmark.

  13. وتأمل ربوعَ كاظمة

    بين تلك الطلول والخيم

    And contemplate the dwellings of Kāẓimah

    amid those ruins and tents.

  14. إن لي سادة هناك أرى

    نورهم مشرقاً بذي سلم

    Indeed, I have masters there; I see

    their light shining at Dhū Salam.

  15. كلما قلت ليت لي خبراً

    عندهم قيل أنت في العدم

    Whenever I say, “Would that there were word of me

    among them,” I am told, “You are in nonexistence.”

  16. وإذا قلت لو رويت بهم

    قيل لي من بهم يهيم ظمي

    And when I say, “If only my thirst were quenched by them,”

    I am told, “Whoever is enraptured by them is thirsty.”

  17. غير أني بهم ظهرتُ لهم

    ظلمةً خولطت بنورهم

    Yet through them I appeared to them

    as darkness mingled with their light,

  18. تنتفي تارة وتثبت ما

    بقيت كالخيال في الحلم

    vanishing at times, and persisting as long as

    it remains, like a phantom in a dream.