1. بالله يا من رماني بالصد والهجرانْ

    جدْ بالوصالْ فإني متيمٌ ولهانْ

    By God, O you who struck me with rejection and estrangement,

    Be generous with union, for I am love-enslaved and distraught with longing.

  2. وليس عندي صبر عن اللقا يا حبيبي

    والقلب في كل وقت يذوب بالأشجانْ

    Nor can I endure being without meeting you, my beloved;

    and the heart melts with sorrows at every moment.

  3. خاطب بروق الروابي تكف عني وميضاً

    فإنها خطفتني بذلك اللمعانْ

    Tell the lightning over the hills to cease its flashing at me,

    for it has snatched me away with that radiance.

  4. وقل لنسمة ذاك الحمى تجود علينا

    بطيب ورد وإلا بنفحة الريحانْ

    And bid the breeze of that sanctuary bestow upon us

    the fragrance of roses, or else a waft of basil.

  5. يا من تنكر حتى عداه قد جهلوه

    وعن محبيه لم يخف كيفما قد كانْ

    O you who concealed yourself until even your enemies failed to recognize you,

    yet were not hidden from your lovers, whatever your state.

  6. ظهرت في كل شيء والشيء غيرك عندي

    وأنت أنت يقيناً وكل شيء فانْ

    You appeared in everything, yet to me each thing is other than you;

    and you are you, beyond doubt, while everything passes away.

  7. إن قلت أنك أني جهلت ذاتك إذ لا

    وجود مع نور حق لظلمة الأكوانْ

    If I say that you are I, I am ignorant of your essence, for there is no

    existence for the darkness of created worlds beside the light of the Real.

  8. وإن أقل أنت غيرى فقد زعمت شريكاً

    لأن ذاتك تأبى يكون معها ثانْ

    And if I say you are other than me, I have posited a partner,

    because your essence will not admit a second beside it.

  9. وكيف والحق حق وما سواه محال

    وأين محض كمالٍ من خالص النقصانْ

    And how could that be, when the Real is real and all else is impossible?

    And how far pure perfection is from sheer imperfection!

  10. هذا الوجود خيال وكلنا في منام

    وليس يوجد إلا حقيقة الإنسانْ

    This existence is an illusion, and we are all in a dream;

    and nothing exists but the reality of the human being.

  11. فاكشف قناع التعامي عن وجه قلبك وانظر

    تجد حبيبك أدنى إليك منك الآنْ

    So lift the veil of willful blindness from your heart's face, and look:

    you will find your beloved nearer to you than your own self, now.

  12. واحذر تشبه بشيءٍ ما قد وصلت إليه

    ونزه العقل عما للعقل منه بانْ

    And beware of likening him to anything you have come to know,

    and free the intellect from what it has discerned of him.

  13. وخذ كؤوس التصابي واخدم لأرباب صدق

    وقف بحضرة جودي وادخل معي للحانْ

    And take the cups of youthful dalliance, and serve the masters of sincerity;

    and stand in the presence of my bounty, and enter the tavern with me.

  14. واهجر عصابة جهل مرادهم لك سوء

    وسوا سهم منه فاحذر في سائر الأزمانْ

    And forsake the band of ignorance; they intend you harm.

    Their whispering—beware of it at all times.

  15. يزخرفون كلاماً ما يحذرونك من أن

    تروم معرفة اللهْ فكل ذا بهتانْ

    They embellish some talk, warning you not to

    seek knowledge of God; for all this is falsehood.

  16. وهل لنفسك قل لي على إلهك فضل

    حتى تخاف عليها وتأمن الرحمانْ

    And does your self—tell me—have any superiority over your God,

    that you fear for it, yet feel safe from the All-Merciful?

  17. يا بارق الغور رفرف فقد خطفت فؤادي

    وفي الأضالع رعدٌ ومدمعي هتانْ

    O lightning of al-Ghawr, flutter, for you have snatched away my heart;

    and within my ribs is thunder, and my eye streams with tears.

  18. والجسم زاد نحولاً من القلى والتنائي

    والصبر قد زال عني في مدة الهجرانْ

    And my body has grown thinner from aversion and separation,

    and patience has left me during the time of estrangement.

  19. يا سائق الظعن رفقاً فإن قلبي عليل

    راكب جواد التصابي سائر مع الركبانْ

    O driver of the departing caravan, be gentle, for my heart is ailing,

    riding the steed of youthful dalliance, traveling with the riders.

  20. بالله إن جئت نجداً ورامة والمصلَّى

    فاقرأ سلامي عليهم وقل هنا ولهان

    By God, if you come to Najd, Rama, and al-Musalla,

    then convey my greeting to them and say, 'Here is one distraught with longing.'