1. غلب الهوى واستحوذ استحواذا

    فمن الذي نلجا إليه عياذا

    Love has prevailed and taken utter possession.

    So to whom can we turn for refuge?

  2. في طلعة شمسية قمرية

    بجمالها صار الجميع جذاذا

    In a countenance both sunlike and moonlike,

    by whose beauty all were reduced to fragments.

  3. يا هيكلاً ظهرت غيوب شؤونه

    فينا فكان لكلنا أخّاذا

    O temple, whose hidden workings were revealed

    within us, enthralling us all.

  4. وجه تبرقع بالمحاسن والبها

    فعنت له كل الوجوه لذاذا

    A face veiled itself in beauties and splendor,

    so all faces bowed before it in delight.

  5. وتمتعت أرواحنا بهلاكها

    فيه ولاذت بالفناء لياذا

    And our spirits delighted in their own destruction

    in him, and sought refuge in annihilation.

  6. ونراه أقرب من نراه ولا نرى

    شيئاً سواه ومن سواه أعاذا

    And we see him as the nearest of all we see, and see

    nothing but him; he has sheltered us from all else.

  7. فهو الذي لجمال طلعته يرى

    وقلوبنا وعيوننا تتحاذى

    He is the one beheld for the beauty of his countenance,

    and our hearts and eyes align with one another.

  8. إن الوجود يرى الوجود كما به

    عدم يرى عدماً له جبّاذا

    Indeed, being sees being, just as through it

    nonbeing sees a nonbeing that powerfully draws it.

  9. وممنَّعٍ بالعزِّ عنه عقولُنا

    معقولةٌ لا تقتضيه نفاذا

    And he is shielded by majesty; our minds, held back from him,

    are fettered, claiming no access to him.

  10. وقلوبنا في بحر عشقته هوت

    تبغي اللقا لا تعرف الإنقاذا

    And our hearts plunged into the sea of love for him,

    seeking reunion, knowing nothing of rescue.

  11. نزل النقا فاشتاقه أهل النقا

    أوَ هل ترى بعد النزول لواذا

    He alighted at al-Naqa, and its people longed for him.

    And after his alighting, do you see any refuge?

  12. بالأمس كان مناخه بطويلعٍ

    واليوم صار مخيماً بغداذا

    Yesterday his halting-place was at Tuwayliʿ,

    and today he is encamped in Baghdad.

  13. لا عار إن خلع العذار محبُّه

    في حبه ولجا إليه ولاذا

    No shame if his lover casts off the bridle

    in love for him, and turns to him and seeks shelter.

  14. ظهرت ملاحته بديباج الورى

    فينا وقد لبس اللطافة لاذا

    His loveliness appeared in the brocade of humankind

    among us, having donned subtlety as fine silk.

  15. وأقول زيداً قد رأيت وخالداً

    لا ذاك في بصري رأيت ولاذا

    And I say, 'I have seen Zayd and Khalid'—

    yet in my sight I saw neither that one nor this.

  16. ورآه في زيد بن حارثةٍ هنا

    طه النبيُّ وحبَّ فيه معاذا

    And here he was seen in Zayd ibn Haritha

    by Taha the Prophet, who loved Muʿadh in him.

  17. وبيوسف الصديق شاهد وجهَه

    يعقوب حين له هواه آذى

    And in Yusuf the utterly truthful, his face was beheld

    by Yaʿqub, when his love for him caused pain.

  18. وصفاتنا ظهرت لنا بصفاته

    ورأى الجنيد به الورى ممشاذا

    And our attributes appeared to us through his attributes,

    and through him al-Junayd saw humankind as Mimshadh.

  19. أما هواه فإنه هو ملّتي

    وعليه كنت أعاهد الأستاذا

    As for love of him, it is my faith,

    and on that basis I would pledge myself to the master.

  20. عجبي له وهو الكثير أضلنا

    والواحد الهادي لنا استنقاذا

    I marvel at him: as the many, he led us astray,

    and as the One, our guide, he delivers us.

  21. يُشقي ويسعد بالذي أشقى به

    فتراه لاح صواعقا ورذاذا

    He makes us wretched, and makes us happy through what made us wretched,

    so you see him flash forth as thunderbolts and drizzle.

  22. بالله يا لحظاته لا تجرحي

    قلبي فإن بسهمك الفولاذا

    By God, O his glances, do not wound

    my heart, for there is steel in your arrow.

  23. ولأنت يا خمر الرضاب محوتنا

    سكراً وريحك لم يزل نبّاذا

    And you indeed, O wine of sweet saliva, have effaced us

    in intoxication, while your scent remains a wine-brewer.

  24. من لي بمشهود المحاسن غائب

    لام العذول على هواه وهاذا

    Who can bring me one whose beauties are seen, yet who is absent?

    The reproacher blamed me for loving him, and raved.

  25. هو حاضر لكن بغير إشارة

    فإذا جهلت تقول عنه هذا

    He is present, yet beyond indication;

    so when you do not know, you say of him, 'This.'

  26. عشاقه بعيونه مفتونة

    وقلوبهم صارت به أفلاذا

    His lovers are bewitched by his eyes,

    and their hearts have become fragments through him.

  27. ويظل يهجرهم ويكثر صده

    عنهم وما أحد يقول لماذا

    And he keeps forsaking them, ever more aloof

    from them, and no one asks, 'Why?'

  28. ويرونه حسناً وفي أفعاله

    لطفاً وفي تعذيبه استلذاذا

    And they find him beautiful, and in his deeds

    kindness, and delight in the torment he inflicts.

  29. وبهم تجمعت القبائل في الهوى

    وعلى البعاد تفرقوا أفخاذا

    And through them the tribes gathered in love,

    and in separation they dispersed into clans.

  30. يأتي النسيم لهم بأخبار الحمى

    للمسك فاوح في الهبوب وشاذى

    The breeze comes to them with news of the sanctuary,

    vying with musk in fragrance as it blows and wafts its scent.

  31. وتهيجهم ورقاء فوق أراكة

    تدني البعيد وتجمع الأفذاذا

    And a gray dove atop an arak tree stirs them,

    bringing the distant near and gathering the solitary.