كل شيء هو خيط أسودُ

كل شيء هو خيط أسودُ

طوله في العلم منه يمددُ

طوله في العلم منه يمددُ

Everything is a black thread;

Everything is a black thread

its length is extended from Him in knowledge.

Its length in knowledge is stretched

بان عندي هو خيط أبيضٌ

بان عندي هو خيط أبيضٌ

هو أمر الله فجر يقد

هو أمر الله فجر يقد

It became clear to me: it is a white thread;

It appears to me a white thread

it is God's command—a dawn that blazes,

It is the command of God, dawn leads

قدراً مازال مقدوراً كما

قدراً مازال مقدوراً كما

قال في القرآن ربي أحد

قال في القرآن ربي أحد

a decree that has ever been decreed, as

A predetermined fate still ordained as

my Lord, the One, said in the Qur'an.

My Lord said in the Quran, the One

فتركت الأكل والشرب له

فتركت الأكل والشرب له

فصيامي أبداً لا يفقد

فصيامي أبداً لا يفقد

So I abandoned eating and drinking for Him;

So I left eating and drinking for Him

thus my fasting is never lost.

Thus my fast forever does not lack

إنما يطعمني الله كما

إنما يطعمني الله كما

هو يسقيني ومنه المدد

هو يسقيني ومنه المدد

God alone feeds me, just as

Rather God feeds me as

He gives me drink, and from Him comes sustenance.

He quenches my thirst, from Him help comes

ويبات الآن كلي عنده

ويبات الآن كلي عنده

حيث لا عندَ لكلي يوجد

حيث لا عندَ لكلي يوجد

And now my whole being spends the night with Him,

And now my whole self stays with Him

where no 'with' exists for my whole being.

Where my whole self cannot be found

فاعرف القول وحققه تفز

فاعرف القول وحققه تفز

بالذي عنه أشار الصمد

بالذي عنه أشار الصمد

So understand the saying and realize its truth; you will gain

So understand the saying and realize it, succeed

what the Self-Sufficient One alluded to.

With what the Eternal pointed to