صاح يمم ان رمت نيل الاماني

ساحة السيد الرفيع المكان

Friend, if you seek the fulfillment of your wishes, make for

the courtyard of the master exalted in station.

احمد الاولياء غوث البرايا

كعبة السالكين حرز الامان

Ahmad of the saints, succor of creation,

Kaaba of the wayfarers, refuge of safety;

شيخنا الجهبذ الكبير الرفاعي

علم العارفين كنز المعاني

Our sheikh, the great sage al-Rifa'i,

banner of the knowers of God, treasure of meanings.

من بلثم اليد الشريفة وافى

رتبة دون ظلها الفرقدان

He who, by kissing the noble hand, attained

a rank beneath whose shadow lie the two Farqad stars.

نظرتها الاقران حين تجلت

من خباها بمقلة الحيران

The peers beheld it when it shone forth

from its tent, with the eye of one bewildered.

رفعة اقصرت مطال المعالي

عن علا طولها مدى الدوران

An exaltation—the reach of lofty honors has fallen short

of its towering height through all the cycles of time.

يا حويدي الاظعان ان سرت ليلا

وفرى العيس وجنة القيعان

O little camel-driver of the caravans, if you travel by night,

and the white camels cleave the cheek of the plains,

غنها بالاخلاص في حضرة البع

د تراها تهيم بالطيران

sing to them with sincerity, in the presence of

distance; you will see them enraptured in flight.

من لقلب مشت عليه المطايا

حين امت سوح البطاح الحسان

Who will succor a heart upon which the mounts trod,

when they headed for the open grounds of the fair valleys,

ومحته اخفافها وملح ال

وجد منه لا زال في عنفوان

and their padded feet effaced it, yet the salt of

its longing remains in full vigor?

جذبته من واسط نفحات

اخمرته بحب تلك المغاني

Fragrant breezes from Wasit drew it;

they intoxicated it with love for those abodes.

يا خليلي والمودة دين

عللاني بذكرها عللاني

O my two friends—affection is a faith—

soothe me by recalling them; soothe me.

ان فيها روحي وسر فتوحي

ودليلي لحضرة الرحمن

For in them lie my soul and the secret of my spiritual openings,

and my guide to the presence of the All-Merciful,

وطريقي الى الرسول وذخري

ومغيثي اذا الزمان دهاني

and my path to the Messenger, and my treasure,

and my rescuer when time assails me.

فارس الغيب قطب دائرة القو

م امام الورى عظيم الشان

Knight of the unseen, pole of the circle of the

people, leader of humankind, great in stature;

سيد الصالحين في كل عصر

شيخ اقطابهم بكل اوان

Master of the righteous in every age,

sheikh of their spiritual poles at all times.

بعده القوم كالنجوم بليل

وهو بين الجميع كالزبرقان

After him, the people are like stars at night,

while among them all he is like the full moon.

اكبرته اخلاقه حين حاكى

حاله حال جده العدناني

His character exalted him when he mirrored

in his state that of his Adnanite forefather.

ان يعادى فصدمة الدهر بأسا

او يوالي فصالحات الزمان

If opposed, he is time's crushing blow in might;

or, if he befriends, he is the blessings of time.

اعجزت في الورى مناقبه الزه

ر حسابا عزائم الاذهان

Among humankind, his radiant virtues have defeated

the minds' resolve to number them.

هو في منصب الولاية والاق

طاب جيش يحف بالسلطان

He holds the rank of sainthood, and the

spiritual poles are an army surrounding the sovereign.

أي بأس له اذا ذكر احتا

طت وفود الخمود بالنيران

What might is his! When he is mentioned, there gather

around the fires the hosts of extinction.

أي عزم له اذا قلت غوثا

قل عزم العضب الصقيل اليماني

What resolve is his when you cry for succor?

Say: the resolve of the keen, polished Yemeni sword.

نال بالانكسار عزا له استص

غر كسرى مشيد الايوان

Through brokenness he gained a glory before which

Kisra, builder of the vaulted hall, was deemed small.

ورقى في حظائر القدس متنا

ما رقاه من المشايخ ثاني

And in the precincts of holiness he climbed a ridge

that no other sheikh had climbed.

هيبة حفها شموس شؤن

رصعت بالمريخ والميزان

A majesty encircled by suns of spiritual states,

adorned with Mars and Libra,

ترجع الطرف خاسئا وكليلا

من حسود بورطة الوزر عاني

drives back the gaze, humbled and weary,

of an envier held captive in the predicament of sin.

تلك آيات رفعة بينات

قمعت زيغ عصبة الشيطان

Those are clear signs of exaltation,

which crushed the deviation of Satan's faction.

حملت من احول احمد احكا

م سلوك الرسول والقرآن

They bore, from Ahmad's states, the precepts

of following the Messenger and the Qur'an.

واتتنا تجر ذيل ابتهاج

طرزته جواهر العرفان

And they came to us trailing a train of joy,

which the jewels of gnosis had embroidered.

ارشدتنا الى الاله فقمنا

بمروط اليقين والايمان

They guided us to God, and so we stood

clad in the mantles of certainty and faith.

يا له من امام هدي كبير

قد تجلى برهانه للعيان

What a great imam of guidance he is!

His proof has indeed shone forth for all to see.

فعليه السلام من حضرة القد

س يوافي مثواه بالرضوان

So upon him be peace from the presence of

holiness, reaching his resting place with divine favor,

ما تدلي على اريكته الفي

حاء عطر الثنا من الاكوان

as long as upon his spacious couch there descends

the fragrance of praise from all creation;

وعلى حزبه واتباعه الغ

ر اسود الهيجاء في الميدان

and upon his fellowship and his radiant followers,

lions of battle on the field.