إن الوجود الحق شيء واحدُ

إن الوجود الحق شيء واحدُ

يا سعد من يجلى له فيشاهدُ

يا سعد من يجلى له فيشاهدُ

Truly, real existence is one.

Indeed, true existence is one thing.

Blessed is the one to whom it is unveiled, that he may behold it!

How blessed is the one to whom it is unveiled and who beholds!

وجمال علوة واضح متكتم

وجمال علوة واضح متكتم

وعليه من حسن الملاح شواهد

وعليه من حسن الملاح شواهد

And the beauty of the Cause is manifest, yet concealed;

And ʿAlwa's beauty is manifest yet concealed,

the beauty of fair faces bears witness to it.

And the beauty of the fair ones bears witness to it.

قف ساعة حتى أعلمك الهوى

قف ساعة حتى أعلمك الهوى

يا من يبيت وللهوى هو عابد

يا من يبيت وللهوى هو عابد

Pause awhile, that I may teach you what love is—

Pause a moment, so that I may teach you love,

O you who spend the night—diversion is what you worship!

O you who spend the night worshipping love.

إن المحبة فيك كدَّر صفوها

إن المحبة فيك كدَّر صفوها

جهل بمن تهوى لأنك جاحد

جهل بمن تهوى لأنك جاحد

Indeed, love within you has had its purity muddied

Indeed, the purity of love within you has been clouded

by ignorance of the one you love, for you deny Him.

By ignorance of whom you love, for you are a denier.

فلو انمحى عن عين ناظرك السوى

فلو انمحى عن عين ناظرك السوى

لعرفت من لهواه أنت القاصد

لعرفت من لهواه أنت القاصد

For if all else were erased from your gazing eye,

So if otherness were effaced from your seeing eye,

you would know the One whose love you seek.

You would surely know the one whose love you seek.

لكن عيونك عن مرادك في عمى

لكن عيونك عن مرادك في عمى

وتظل تنكر ذاته وتعاند

وتظل تنكر ذاته وتعاند

But your eyes are blind to the very One you desire,

But your eyes are blind to the object of your desire,

and still you deny His Essence and stubbornly resist.

And you keep denying his essence and stubbornly resisting.

هو ظاهر في كل شيء باطن

هو ظاهر في كل شيء باطن

أبداً إليه كل شيء ساجد

أبداً إليه كل شيء ساجد

He is manifest in everything, yet hidden;

He is manifest in everything, yet hidden;

forever, everything bows before Him.

Forever, everything is prostrate before him.

عود العلا ضربت به يده على

عود العلا ضربت به يده على

طبل الملا فالعالمون قصائد

طبل الملا فالعالمون قصائد

With the rod of exaltation His hand beat upon

With the rod of sublimity, his hand struck upon

the drum of the assembled host—so all beings are odes.

The drum of the multitude; thus the worlds are poems.