أيها الطلعة التي أخذتنا

بسناها عنا وقد أعدمتنا

O countenance that took us

away from ourselves by her radiance, and annihilated us!

ثم لما معارج القرب فتنا

قبضة النور من قديم أرتنا

Then, when we passed beyond the ascents of nearness,

the handful of light, from of old, showed us

في جميع الشئون قبضاً وبسطا

قد ورثنا الكمال جداً فجدا

contraction and expansion in every affair.

We have inherited perfection, forefather after forefather,

وبنا الشوق للأحبة جدا

إن من أسفرت هي الفرع حدا

and longing for the beloved has grown intense within us.

Indeed, she who unveiled herself is, by definition, the branch,

وهي أصلٌ لكل أصلٍ تبدى

بسطت فضلها على الكون بسطا

yet she is the root of every root that has appeared.

She spread her bounty far across existence.

من رآها فعن سواها لقد عف

وبها جسمه غداة الهوى خف

Whoever has seen her has indeed abstained from all besides her,

and through her his body grew light on the morning of love.

فهو عنها بلطفه في الورى شف

وهي وترٌ قد أظهرت عدد الشف

Thus, in his subtlety, he reveals her among humankind.

And she is the unpaired, who disclosed the number of the paired—

ع بعلم فجلّ حصراً وضبطا

هي روح قريرة العين شكلا

through knowledge; it defies counting and reckoning.

She is a spirit, serene of eye in her form.

نحن صرنا لها شراباً وأكلا

سرها بالغذا لنا هوَ يكلا

We have become her drink and food.

Her secret, through nourishment, keeps watch over us.

ولدت شكلها فأنتج شكلا

بشرياً أقام للعدل قسطا

She bore her likeness, which brought forth a form—

human, establishing a fair measure of justice.

نحن في الغيب لم نزل في يديها

ونراها إذ أظهرتنا عليها

In the unseen we have always been in her hands,

and we see her when she manifests us upon her.

كل قلب لها يشاق إليها

وهو عبد قد حررته لديها

Every heart that is hers yearns toward her,

and it is a servant she has set free in her presence,

بيديها وكم أفاض وأعطى

إنني للمنى لها مستحق

with her own hands—and how much he has lavished and given!

Indeed, I deserve the hopes I set on her,

وفؤادي فيما ادعاه محق

أي عبد حواه سحق ومحق

and my heart is justified in what it has claimed.

Any servant engulfed by crushing and effacement,

حققته بحقها فهو حق

جاء بالحق ينظم الخلق سمطا

she has made real through her reality, and so he is real.

He came with truth, stringing creation into a necklace.

كل شيء له من الغيب سر

بتجليه للقلوب مسر

Everything has a secret from the unseen,

which, through its manifestation, gladdens hearts.

والذي يدريك الحقائق حر

لنقوش النفوس حقق والرو

And the one who teaches you the realities is free;

he has verified the inscriptions of souls, and the spirit—

ح أرته في اللوح شكلاً ونقطا

أيها القلب في بيوت الهدى قر

showed him a form and dots upon the Tablet.

O heart, dwell in the houses of guidance,

وإلى الله من سواه به فر

حضرة الروح ليس يعرفها الغر

and flee to God, through Him, from all besides Him.

The inexperienced do not know the spirit's presence—

عالمٌ منه آدمٌ علِمَ السر

ر وعلْمَ الأشياء رسماً وخطا

a realm from which Adam learned the secret—

and knowledge of things, in image and script.

هي أضحى بها العليم جهولا

حين وافت تجر فينا الذيولا

Through her, the learned one became ignorant,

when she arrived, trailing her skirts among us.

وهي إن رمت منصفاً أن تقولا

هي ناسوت أنسنا والهيولا

And she—if you wish to speak impartially—

is the human nature of our intimacy, and primal matter,

شمس سر العروس بكرٍ وشمطا

سر أمر يعزى الجميع إليه

the sun of the bride's secret, virgin and gray-haired alike.

The mystery of a command to which all is ascribed,

وقلوب الأنام طوع يديه

كلنا كالجفون من عينه

and the hearts of humankind obey his hands.

We all are like the eyelids of his eye:

طلسم حارت العقول عليه

كنزُ بحرٍ قد شط في الدرك شطا

a talisman over which minds are bewildered,

a sea's treasure, far, far beyond attainment.

نحن قوم إلى مجاليه هدنا

ومعانيه ساعة ما فقدنا

We are a people turned toward his manifestations,

and not for an hour have we lost his meanings.

نتملى به متى ما أردنا

إن شهدناه في الجمال شهدنا

We gaze our fill upon him whenever we wish.

If we behold him in beauty, we bear witness

لجميل غدا له الحسن مرطا

جل وجه به تجلى علينا

to a beautiful one for whom beauty has become a mantle.

Exalted is the face through which he revealed himself to us;

ففقدنا بنوره ما لدينا

إن شهدناه بالجمال اكتفينا

and in his light we lost all that was ours.

If we behold him in beauty, we are content;

أو نظرناه في الجلال رأينا

أسداً فاتكاً من الأُسْدِ أسطى

or, if we gaze upon him in majesty, we see

a deadly lion, fiercest of lions.

طلعة للذي تريد أعانت

ولأهل السوى بجهل أهانت

A countenance that has aided whomever she wills,

and has abased the people of otherness for their ignorance.

ولها فوق كل شيء أبانت

تاج فضل له الجحاجح دانت

Above all things she has displayed for herself

a crown of bounty to which the mighty chiefs bowed,

وإليه رأس المفاخر وطَّى

يا وحيد الوجود لا زال عنه

and before it the head of glories bent low.

O sole one of existence! From him, unceasingly,

يظهر الكون ما له فيه كنه

والهدى والظلال قل من لدنه

the cosmos appears, yet has no essence within him.

Guidance and shadows—say—come from his presence.

كل شيء معناه والكل منه

وعليه مبناه ماختلَّ شرطا

Everything is his meaning, and all is from him,

and upon him it is founded, with no condition breached.

جهله في القيود للعقل مسجن

وتجليه للأحبة مشجن

Ignorance of him, amid fetters, is a prison for the mind;

and his manifestation stirs sorrowful longing in the beloved.

ليس في الإنس علمه لا ولا الجن

واحد الشخص وهو مختلف الجن

Neither humans nor jinn possess knowledge of him.

One in person, yet diverse in kind—

س يقينا من أنكر الحال أخطا

إن ترده فكن عن الكون زاهد

assuredly; whoever denies this state has erred.

If you desire him, be detached from the cosmos;

ولكم مات في هواه مجاهد

وإذا رمت أن ترى منه شاهد

how many a striver has died in love of him!

And if you wish to see a sign of him,

فتفهم تعلم وجاهد تشاهد

يا مريدي ومن مزيديَ تُعطى

then understand and you will know; strive and you will behold.

O my seeker, you are given from my abundance.

إن هذا النظام ألطف جسم

والذي قد سما بذات ورسم

Indeed, this verse is the subtlest body,

and by the one exalted in essence and form,

حيث كنَّى فقال في حسن وسم

وأنا عاجز محمد إسمي

where he spoke allusively, saying with a fair designation:

“And I am helpless; Muhammad is my name;

لأجل الأنام قد صرت سبطا

وأنا العبد للغني بقربي

for humankind's sake I have become open-handed.”

And I am the servant of the All-Sufficient through my nearness,

من سليل الصديق فقت بشربي

واثقا بالنبي أفضل عرْب

from al-Siddiq's line, excelling through my draught,

trusting in the Prophet, the best of Arabs.

فعليه صلى وسلم ربي

مع صحب والآل من جل رهطا

May my Lord bless him and grant him peace,

along with his companions and family—he of exalted kin.