نزل الذي هو عن سواه لفي غنى

فتلبَّسَ السر الخفيْ وتبينا

He who has no need of anything else descended;

so the hidden mystery took on form and became manifest.

نعمت به روح المحب فخاطبت

شبحاً يسمى أنت أو هو أو أنا

The lover's spirit found bliss in Him, then addressed

a form called 'you,' or 'he,' or 'I.'

نبأ عظيم كلنا ألفاظه

من ذا أبين له فلم يجد الفنا

Momentous news—we are all its words.

Who has had it made plain to him and not found self-annihilation?

نالته أقوام بصدق قلوبهم

في حبه وبه لقد بلغوا المنى

People attained it through the sincerity of their hearts

in loving Him; through Him they indeed attained their desires.

نبعت علوم الله من أفواههم

وبهم تدلى الغيب حين لهم دنا

Divine knowledge welled up from their mouths,

and through them the Unseen descended when it drew near to them.

نحن الذين تكاملت أوصافنا

وبفقرنا ثبتت لنا صفة الغنى

We are those whose attributes have reached perfection,

and through our poverty, the attribute of self-sufficiency became ours.

نعشو إلى النار التي غسق الدجى

من طور سينا القلب قد ظهرت لنا

We grope toward the fire that, in night's deep gloom,

has appeared to us from the heart's Mount Sinai.

نام الغبيْ عنها وأيقظنا لها

من لا ينام محيعلاً ومؤذِّنا

The fool slept, heedless of it; we were awakened to it

by Him who never sleeps, crying 'Come to prayer!' and giving the call.

نأتم بالهادي النبي وراثة

عن صنوه موسى الكليم تَيَقُّنا

We follow the guiding Prophet, by inheritance

from his peer Moses, whom God addressed, with certainty.

نشأت حقيقتنا كذلك تارة

وهناك أطوار كثيرات الجنى

Our reality once arose in this way,

and there are stages rich in fruit.