1. يا خبراً عني إذا

    قلت أنا أنت الأبرْ

    O predicate of me, when

    I say, “I am You, the Most Beneficent.”

  2. لا شك إني مبتدا

    والمبتدا عين الخبرْ

    No doubt, I am a subject,

    and the subject is the very predicate.

  3. فإنك ابتدأتني

    خلقاً لهذه العبر

    For You gave me my beginning,

    creating me for these lessons.

  4. وقائم وقاعد

    أنت إذا المرء اختبر

    And “standing” and “sitting”

    are You, when someone examines

  5. وقال أنت فاعل

    بالوصف قولاً فيه بر

    and says, “You are the grammatical subject

    governed by the descriptive word”—a truthful statement.

  6. واختلف النحاة في

    شرط اعتماد يعتبر

    And grammarians differed over

    whether a supporting condition is required,

  7. كحرف الاِستفهام أو

    نفيٍ وبعض ما اعتبر

    such as an interrogative particle or

    negation; some did not require it.

  8. واعلم بأن النحو تو

    حيد به الله جبر

    And know that grammar is the affirmation of

    oneness, through which God has made whole;

  9. ولغة للعَرَب ال

    عَرْبا لسانُ من غبر

    and a language for the Arabs, the

    pure Arabs—the tongue of those long past.

  10. والواضع الله على ال

    قول الصحيح المعتبر

    And its originator is God, according to the

    correct, accepted view.

  11. وأنزل الله به ال

    قرآن كلُّه عبر

    And God revealed in it the

    Qur’an, all of it lessons.

  12. فكيف لا يكون لل

    عرفان بحراً وهو بر

    How, then, could it not be, for

    mystical knowledge, a sea—though it is dry land?

  13. فافهم كلامي إنه

    أدق من خرم الإبر

    So understand my speech; it is

    finer than the eyes of needles.

  14. واصبر عليه واصطبر

    نال المنى من اصطبر

    And be patient with it, and persevere;

    whoever perseveres attains his wishes.

  15. وإن تكن جهلتَه

    فإنها إحدى الكُبَر

    And if you have failed to understand it,

    that is one of the gravest calamities.