1. نحن الجفون نحفظ العيونا

    ونحن أهل الذكر فاسألونا

    We are the eyelids; we guard the eyes.

    And we are the people of remembrance, so ask us.

  2. ونحن ذات من بدت صفاته

    تكشف من صبغتنا فنونا

    And we are the essence of Him whose attributes have appeared,

    revealing diverse forms from our coloring.

  3. جنوننا في حبكم عقلاً يُرى

    وعقلنا في ديننا جنونا

    Our madness in loving you is seen as reason,

    and our reason in our faith is seen as madness.

  4. وجودنا الحق ونحن باطل

    نذوق في حياته المنونا

    Our existence is the Real, and we are unreal;

    we taste death within His life.

  5. وهو الذي له الصفات كلها

    والغافلون عنه يدَّعونا

    And He is the One to whom all attributes belong,

    and those heedless of Him lay claim to them.

  6. الله وحده هو الموجود لا

    سواه والجميع معدومونا

    Allah alone is the One who exists—none

    besides Him; all else is nonexistent.

  7. لإنهم هم التقادير التي

    قدَّرها لنا بأن تكونا

    For they themselves are the determinations that

    He decreed should come into being for us.

  8. ويظهر الوجود منه في الذي

    يظهر عنه واضحاً مكنونا

    And existence appears from Him in that which

    appears from Him, manifest yet concealed.

  9. والنور نور الذات في ظلامنا

    ولم نزل نحنُ له الشئونا

    And the light is the light of the Essence in our darkness,

    and we have never ceased to be His modes.

  10. نلوح كالبرق له ونختفي

    فنعرف الظهور والبطونا

    We flash like lightning for Him and disappear,

    so we know manifestation and concealment.

  11. ونحن في كلامه حروفه

    نحمل معناه لنا المصونا

    And we are His letters within His speech,

    bearing its meaning, safeguarded for us.

  12. وأمره الواحد ينجلي لنا

    فيرسم الكاف بنا والنونا

    And His single command becomes clear to us,

    so it traces through us the kaf and the nun.

  13. كاف كفاية ونون نعمة

    روحاً وجسماً سَلِساً موزونا

    Kaf is sufficiency, and nun is blessing,

    a spirit and a body, supple and well-balanced.

  14. وفعله نحن على مراده

    فنقتضي التحريك والسكونا

    And we are His action, according to His will,

    so we require movement and stillness.

  15. عز وجل عن مشابه له

    قد أعجز الأفكار والظنونا

    He is mighty and exalted beyond anyone like Him;

    He has baffled thoughts and conjectures.

  16. وهو الغنيُّ والورى جميعهم

    يرجون غيث فضله الهتونا

    And He is the Self-Sufficient, while all creatures

    hope for the copious rain of His bounty.

  17. أضلَّ في آدمَ عن طلعته

    عدوَّه إبليساً الملعونا

    He led astray, in Adam, from His countenance

    His enemy Iblis, the accursed.

  18. وقد هدى فيه إليه أمةً

    بأمره قد جاء يعملونا

    And in him He guided a community to Himself,

    who came to act by His command.

  19. تبارك الله الذي بوجهه

    في كل شيء هيج الشجونا

    Blessed is Allah, who, through His face

    in everything, has stirred sorrows,

  20. وأتعب العاشق المسبي به

    وحيَّر المتيم المفتونا

    and wearied the lover taken captive by Him,

    and bewildered the lovesick, enchanted one.

  21. وإن يشأ بالبعد يحرق الذي

    أراد غيراً أو أحب دونا

    And if He wills, He burns through separation whoever

    desired another or loved something lesser.

  22. وإن يشأ يكشف عن الوجه لمن

    يحبه ويخرج المسجونا

    And if He wills, He unveils His face for whoever

    loves Him, and He releases the prisoner.

  23. مطروده بغيره مفتتن

    ولم يزل مقبوله المحصونا

    His outcast is infatuated with what is other than Him,

    and the one He accepts has always been protected.

  24. وحكمه ليس له من علة

    فإن بدا لا تمنع الماعونا

    And His decree has no cause;

    so if it appears, do not withhold aid.

  25. وكن به له خفياً ظاهراً

    ولا تكن بجهله مغبونا

    And be through Him, for Him, hidden and manifest,

    and do not be cheated through ignorance of Him.