1. قل لعُبَّاد الخيالِ

    كم قيام في الخبالِ

    Say to the worshippers of imagination:

    How long will you stand in delusion?

  2. تعبدون الله معقو

    لاً عليه العقل والي

    You worship God as a mental

    conception over which reason holds sway.

  3. وهو معقول بمعنى

    خاطر فيكم ببال

    And it is conceived as an idea

    that crosses your minds.

  4. عندكم حصلتموه

    ببراهينَ طوال

    In your view, you have established it

    through lengthy demonstrations.

  5. هي في علم كلام

    عمدة بين الرجال

    These, in scholastic theology,

    are a mainstay among men.

  6. جادل الماضون فيه

    مع أهل الإعتزال

    Those of old debated within it

    with the Muʿtazilites.

  7. صنفوه بخصام

    في المعاني وجدال

    They compiled it with disputation

    over meanings, and with argument,

  8. وخيالاتِ فهمومٍ

    وتماثيلِ المثال

    and imaginings, then anxieties,

    and likenesses of the model,

  9. وتصاويرٍ وفكرٍ

    وبقيلٍ وبقال

    and pictures and thoughts,

    and with ‘it was said’ and ‘he said.’

  10. وهو لولا فيه سمعي

    ياتُهُ محضُ ضلال

    And were it not for the revealed

    teachings within it, it would be pure error.

  11. أصله العقل ومعقو

    لاته مثل العقال

    Its foundation is reason, and its rational

    conceptions are like a hobbling cord.

  12. أيها الأقوام كفوا

    عقلكم عن رب عالي

    O peoples, restrain

    your reason from the exalted Lord.

  13. وبحكم كم قد عبدتم

    ولد العقل المزال

    And by your judgment you have worshipped

    the offspring of displaced reason,

  14. وشهدتم أنه الل

    ه بزور وتغالي

    and testified that it is God,

    falsely and with exaggeration.

  15. ويحكم ما ولد العق

    ل لرب متعالي

    Woe to you! The offspring of reason

    is no transcendent Lord.

  16. وهو لم يولد كما قا

    ل بنص متلالي

    And He was not begotten, as He said

    in a radiant text.

  17. كيفما شئتم عرفتم

    ربكم مولى الموالي

    You have known, however you pleased,

    your Lord, the Master of masters.

  18. ويح إنسان يناجي

    صورة ذات انفعال

    Woe to a person who communes with

    a form subject to influence.

  19. يعبد الله الذي في

    عقله ولا يبالي

    He worships the God within

    his mind, and pays no heed.

  20. وإذا قيل له رب

    بك باد في الجبال

    And if he is told, “Your Lord

    is manifest in the mountains,

  21. وبأرض وسماء

    ورياض وظلال

    and in earth and sky,

    and in gardens and shades,

  22. وبناس وبجنٍّ

    وبأملاك عجال

    and in humans and jinn,

    and in swift angels,

  23. وبأطيارٍ ونملٍ

    وبخيل وبغال

    and in birds and ants,

    and in horses and mules,

  24. وبكل الخلق في الأي

    يام طراً والليالي

    and in all creation throughout the

    days and nights, without exception—

  25. كل هذا فعل رب

    قد تجلى ذي جلال

    all this is the action of a Lord

    who has manifested Himself, possessed of majesty,

  26. ظاهر بالفعل منه

    وهو أنواع الفعال

    manifest through action issuing from Him,

    which comprises many kinds of deeds.

  27. يتجلّى بالذي يُب

    ديه في أهل ابتهال

    He manifests Himself through what He brings

    to light among those who supplicate,

  28. وهو في التنزيه عن مخ

    لوقه في كل حال

    while remaining transcendent beyond His

    creation in every state.”

  29. قال مع إنكاره ما

    قلته يبغي جدالي

    He said, denying what

    I had said, seeking to argue with me:

  30. يتعالى الله عما

    قلته يا ابن الحلال

    “God is exalted above what

    you have said, my good man.

  31. كل هذا هو خلقٌ

    قلته لي باحتفال

    All this is creation,

    which you have told me of with such flourish.

  32. جل ربي وتعالى

    عنه مع كل مجال

    My Lord is glorious and exalted

    above it and every locus of manifestation.

  33. إنما الله بعقلي

    ظاهر وبخيالي

    Only in my reason is God

    manifest, and in my imagination.

  34. وأنا أعرفه من

    قبل أيامٍ خوالي

    And I have known Him

    since days long past.”

  35. ما درى المسكين أن ال

    لَه يُجْلَى بالمجالي

    The poor man did not know that God

    is unveiled in loci of manifestation:

  36. ظاهر في كل شيء

    ليس يخفى بانعزال

    manifest in everything,

    not hidden away in isolation.

  37. وهو حق وسواه

    باطل لمعة آل

    He is the Real, and all besides Him

    is unreal—a mirage’s glimmer.

  38. قال إبراهيم قد وج

    جهتُ وجهي في سؤالي

    Abraham said, “I have turned

    my face, in my supplication,

  39. للذي قد فَطَر الأر

    ضَ بأنواعِ الفعال

    toward Him who originated the

    earth through all manner of acts.”

  40. وكذا أصحابُ كهفٍ

    قولُهم أقوى المقال

    Likewise, the Companions of the Cave—

    theirs is the strongest utterance:

  41. ربنا رب السموا

    ت العلى السبع الثقال

    “Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens—

    the seven lofty, weighty heavens.”

  42. وكذاك الأنبيا وال

    أوليا أهل الكمال

    So too the prophets and

    the saints, the people of perfection:

  43. كلهم لم يعبدوا بال

    عقل ربّاً ذا اتصال

    none of them worshipped through

    reason a Lord subject to connection.

  44. إنما هم عبدوا رب

    ب الدراري والهلال

    Rather, they worshipped the Lord

    of the bright stars and the crescent.

  45. وله شمس الضحى مخ

    لوقة ذات انفعال

    His is the forenoon sun,

    created and subject to influence;

  46. خالق كل البرايا

    عن يمين وشمال

    Creator of all creatures

    on the right and the left;

  47. خالق الفوق مع التح

    ت وما في ذالك صالي

    Creator of the above and the

    below, and whatever burns there;

  48. خالق القُدَّام والخل

    فَ وما في كل كالي

    Creator of what is ahead and

    behind, and whatever keeps watch in either;

  49. والهوا خالقه كال

    ترب والماء الزلال

    and He is the air’s Creator, as of

    dust and limpid water;

  50. خالق النار وما تح

    رقه بالإشتعال

    Creator of fire and what it

    burns with its blaze.

  51. ظاهر في كل شيء

    ليس شيء عنه خالي

    Manifest in everything,

    nothing is devoid of Him.

  52. ثم عنه كل شيء

    هالك فيه وبالي

    Then everything apart from Him

    perishes in Him and decays.

  53. واقرأ القرآنَ وافهم

    لا تكن عنه بقالي

    And read the Qur’an and understand;

    do not be averse to it.

  54. واترك العقل لأصحا

    بِ عذابٍ ونكال

    And leave reason to the people

    of torment and chastisement:

  55. يفهمون الدين منه

    بشباكٍ وحبال

    they understand religion through it,

    with nets and ropes.

  56. ليس هذا دين ربي

    هو من قبح الخصال

    This is not my Lord’s religion;

    it comes from ugly traits.

  57. دينه الحق تعالى

    ذو جمال وجلال

    His true religion—exalted is He—

    possesses beauty and majesty.

  58. وله الأحكام فينا

    بحرام وحلال

    His are the rulings over us

    concerning the forbidden and the lawful.

  59. والذي يعرض عن أق

    والنا بالإشتغال

    And whoever turns away from our

    words through preoccupation

  60. فهو مشغول بدنيا

    ه بجاه أو بمال

    is engrossed in his worldly

    life, in status or wealth,

  61. أو بعشق الهُيَّفِ المر

    د وربات الحجال

    or in love of slender, beardless

    youths and ladies of curtained chambers—

  62. فهو مفتون وممقو

    ت ومحروم النوال

    he is beguiled and detested,

    and deprived of bounty.

  63. ما له حظ من الل

    ه ومن طيب الوصال

    He has no share in God

    or in the sweetness of union.

  64. إنما الطرد له وال

    بعد تعداد الرمال

    His lot is only banishment and

    estrangement, numbered like the sands,

  65. كل وقت ما تغنَّى

    طائر فوق التلال

    whenever there sings

    a bird above the hills.