1. لا فرق عندي بين الوتر والوترِ

    وليلة القدر عندي ليلة القدرِ

    For me there is no difference between the Witr prayer and the string.

    And the Night of Power, to me, is the night of destiny.

  2. قد قال يفرق فيها قول خالقنا

    من كل أمر حكيم حكم مقتدر

    Our Creator's word has said: in it is set apart

    From every wise affair a decree of the All-Powerful.

  3. فانهض بذوقك للطنبور تسمعه

    والنايِ فالخُبْرُ يُستوفَىمن الخبر

    So rise with your inward taste to the tanbur and hear it,

    And the ney—for knowledge is drawn in full from the report.

  4. وإنها حركات من يد وفم

    ومن يراع ومن رق ومن وتر

    And indeed these are movements from a hand and a mouth,

    And from a reed, and from a tambourine, and from a string.

  5. وما المحرك إلا واحد هو في

    غيب الغيوب تعالى مظهر الأثر

    And the mover is none but One, who is in

    The unseen of all unseen realms—exalted is He, who manifests the effect.

  6. وأنت تعرف هذا لست تنكره

    لكن بفهمك مفتون وبالفكر

    And you know this; you do not deny it,

    But you are beguiled by your understanding and by thought.

  7. ليس المغنى وليس الدف في يده

    غير المصور فينا سائر الصور

    Neither the singer nor the frame drum in his hand is

    Other than the Fashioner of all forms within us.

  8. وكلها عدم يبدو الوجود بها

    ويختفي عند مغرور ومعتبر

    And all of them are nothingness; Being appears through them,

    And is hidden from the deluded and the reflective.

  9. هي التصاوير شاءتها الإرادة من

    خير وشر ومن نفع من ضرر

    They are the images willed by the Will, consisting of

    Good and evil, benefit and harm.

  10. فافطن لها واسمها الأشياء عندك في

    حكم الكتاب كتاب الله فاعتبر

    So discern them; to you their name is 'things,' in

    The judgment of the Book—God's Book—so take heed.

  11. وخذ إشارة إلا وجهه لتفز

    بما به فاز أهل الجانب الخطر

    And take the hint in 'except His Face,' so you may win

    What those of the exalted realm have won.