الا يا من به يجلى الظلام

عليك صلاة ربك والسلام

Lo, O you through whom darkness is dispelled,

Upon you be your Lord's blessing and peace.

جمالك اترع الاكوان نوراً

ومنهجك الشريف لها نظام

Your beauty has filled the worlds with light,

And your noble path gives them order.

ولولا نورك الآثار طمس

فلا شمس ولا قمر يشام

Were it not for your light, all traces would be effaced;

Neither sun nor moon would be seen.

طلعت بنبعة الشرف المعلا

رسولا جنده الرسل الكرام

You arose from the stock of exalted honor,

A messenger whose army is the noble messengers.

وفي دست الرسالة قمت فردا

لكل الانبياء هو الامام

On the throne of messengership you stood alone;

He is the leader of all the prophets.

لمجدك في معاريج التداني

مقام لا يدانيه مقام

Your glory, on the ascents of drawing near,

Has a station no other station can approach.

وانت امين ربك في البرايا

لظل حماك يلتجيء الانام

You are your Lord's trustee among His creatures;

Humankind seeks refuge in your sanctuary's shade.

قلوب العاشقين لها حنين

لذكرك واضطراب واضطرام

The hearts of lovers are filled with yearning

At your remembrance, with trembling and burning.

حباك الله وحيا من لدنه

به في قلبك انتظم الكلام

God bestowed upon you revelation from His presence,

Through which the words were ordered in your heart.

فانت لسر علم الله كنز

وانت لكل منقبة عصام

You are a treasury for the secret of God's knowledge,

And the safeguard of every noble virtue.

تذوب لك القلوب وليس بدعا

فمن يفنى بحبك لا يلام

Hearts melt for you, and this is nothing strange;

Whoever loses himself in love for you is not to blame.

تطوف ببابك الارواح وجدا

فيسكرها التشوق والغرام

Souls circle at your door in ecstasy,

Intoxicated by yearning and passionate love.

وعينك اذ تنام فعن كمال

جليل الشأن قلبك لا ينام

When your eye sleeps, it does so through perfection;

Exalted in dignity, your heart does not sleep.

ولولا وجهك الوضاح كل ال

برايا حيثما انتظمت ظلام

Were it not for your radiant face, all the

creatures, wherever arrayed, would be darkness.

جلست على منصة كل فضل

لديك ملوك رتبتها قيام

You sat upon the dais of every excellence;

Before you stand kings of its rank.

وادوار الوجود تمر دهرا

وفي سلطان قبضتك الزمام

The cycles of existence pass through ages,

And the reins lie within the power of your grasp.

وانك يا ابن آمنة نبي

نبوته هي البدر التمام

You, O son of Amina, are a prophet

Whose prophethood is the moon in its fullness.

بروزك اولا في الغيب لكن

ظهرت وانت للرسل الختام

Your emergence was first in the unseen, yet

You appeared as the seal of the messengers.

بحقك يا مثير العيس ليلا

وساحات الحجيج لها التطام

By your right, O driver of the pale camels by night,

While the pilgrims' grounds surge with throngs,

بثايتك احتمل صبا جلوها

تأجج في جوانحه اصطلام

At your encampment, carry a lovelorn man [wording uncertain];

A consuming blaze has flared within his breast.

له حين انتهاض الركب نوح

كما قد ناح ينتدب الحمام

When the caravan sets out, he has a lament,

Like the doves that coo in mourning.

دعته الى الحجاز شؤن وجد

فمنه الدمع يحسده الغمام

The stirrings of longing called him to the Hijaz;

The clouds envy the tears that flow from him.

واقعده كليل العزم حظ

يسير به الى ما لا يرام

Yet a fortune of blunted resolve held him back,

Leading him toward what he does not desire.

كمن يبغي العراق تطير فيه

سوام كل بغيتها الشآم

Like one seeking Iraq, carried swiftly by

Grazing herds whose only aim is al-Sham.

فوالهفاه هل تصفو الليالي

وتدنو من اخي الوله الخيام

Alas! Will the nights become serene,

And the tents draw near to one distraught with longing?

ويهدأ بالوصال قريح طرف

عليه النوم يا علوى حرام

Will a wounded eye be soothed by union,

For which sleep, O Alwa, is forbidden?

وجسم للقلا اضحى سقيما

كأن عليه لم يشدد حزام

And a body made sick by rejection,

As though no belt had been tightened around it?

كأني كالخيال ولي دموع

لها كالغيث سح وانسجام

I seem a phantom, and I have tears

That pour and flow like rain.

ولي قلب يقلب فوق جمر

هواه الخيف والبلد الحرام

I have a heart turned over glowing coals,

Whose love is al-Khayf and the Sacred City.

وفي فيحاء يثرب لي حبيب

يسيل بسر رمشته الجهام

In spacious Yathrib I have a beloved;

Through the secret of his blink, rainless clouds pour.

على اعتابه في كل آن

وجوه العالمين لها ازدحام

Upon his thresholds, at every moment,

The faces of all beings throng.

ومن وافى حماه ولاذ مما

دهاه بغير ريب لا يضام

Whoever reaches his sanctuary and seeks refuge from what

Has befallen him is, without doubt, not wronged.

وللاملاك والاملاك كم قد

يحط ببابه تاج وهام

And among angels and kings, how often

A crown and heads are lowered at his door.

تراب رحابه للعين كحل

وقد يبرى بعجته الجذام

The dust of his courtyards is kohl for the eye,

And its swirling dust may cure leprosy.

رسول الله اضنى القلب هم

يتيه لعبأه الضرب الهمام

Messenger of God, a care has exhausted my heart;

A hardy, valiant man is bewildered by its burden.

ولا فرس تثور ولا حصان

ولا سرح لدي ولا لجام

I have no mare to charge, nor stallion,

Nor grazing herd, nor bridle at my disposal.

ولا من يدفع الاكدار عني

سوى الباري وجاهك لي حسام

Nor anyone to drive my troubles from me,

Except the Creator; your standing is my sharp sword.

واني يا عريق الجاه عبد

اخو ضعف متاعبه جسام

I, O you of deeply rooted standing, am a servant,

A weak man whose hardships are immense.

ولم يرع الخؤن له ذماما

وهل يرعى لدى الخب الذمام

The treacherous man honored no covenant with him;

And is a covenant honored by a deceiver?

يزور حماه للاغراض معن

وعن حب زيارته لمام

An importunate man visits his sanctuary for personal ends,

But visits made from love are only occasional.

تركت طوائف الآمال الا

بجاهك يا محمد والسلام

I abandoned all kinds of hope except

In your standing, O Muhammad—and peace.

فللخلان للميثاق نقض

وللاحباب عن طيش عرام

For friends break their covenant,

And loved ones, through recklessness, are unruly.

يقوم تلون الحرباء فيهم

كما في العيس تندلس النعام

The chameleon's changing colors appear among them,

As ostriches hide among the pale camels.

تغيرت المعاهد جل ربي

وحط الجيش وارتفع القتام

The familiar haunts have changed—exalted is my Lord—

The army has encamped, and battle-dust has risen.

فلم تنفع نصيحة ذي سداد

ولم يفد العتاب ولا الملام

The counsel of one of sound judgment did no good,

Nor did reproach or blame avail.

ولم ترفع لغير علاك شكوى

اذا صعب المسير او المقام

No complaint was raised to any but your eminence

When travel or staying became difficult.

احن اليك في صوتي خفوت

كما من ناقتي خفت البغام

I yearn for you, my voice grown faint,

As my she-camel's lowing has grown faint.

اتيتك استجير بعرض حالي

وسيف العزم منثلم كهام

I came to you seeking refuge, laying out my condition,

The sword of my resolve chipped and blunt.

وغير ندى يديك فلا وراءٌ

يطيب به الفؤاد ولا أمام

Apart from the bounty of your hands, nothing behind

Can gladden the heart, nor anything ahead.

بنات الدهر تطرقني لعلمي

واتعب هذه الناس الكرام

The daughters of time assail me, for I know:

The noblest are the most burdened of these people.

اترضى ان اعارك متعبات

وذيال المراح له جمام

Would you consent that I wrestle with exhausting trials,

While the long-tailed prancer enjoys repose?

طوت بي هذه الاكدار سقما

فلا حزم لدي ولا اعتزام

These troubles have enfolded me in sickness,

So I have neither firmness nor resolve.

وهل يبدو لجوهرة بهاء

عليها وهي في الحفر الرجام

Can a jewel's radiance appear

While it lies in a pit with stones heaped upon it?

اغث يا روح جسم الكون يا من

تزول بسره الكرب العظام

Help, O soul of the universe's body, O you

Through whose secret mighty afflictions vanish.

اغث يا ابن العواتك يا حبيبا

بنهلة ريقه تحيى العظام

Help, O son of the 'Awatik, O beloved,

By a draught of whose saliva bones are revived.

فلم اندبك والايام تبدي

قطوبا غير يعقبه ابتسام

Never have I invoked you when the days showed

A frown, but a smile followed it,

ويطفيءُ لوعتي شبت بهم

وبالالطاف يندفع الضرام

And quenched my anguish, kindled by care;

Through gracious favors the blaze is dispelled.

وترفعني اكف العون حتى

يحير لذلك السر اللئام

The hands of aid raise me until

The base are bewildered by that secret.

وكم رام الحسود لي احتقاراً

ومنك حمى حماي الاحتشام

How often the envious man sought to demean me,

Yet the reverence you inspire guarded my sanctuary.

وانك بي من الثقلين اولى

بذي الدنيا وحين يرى الزحام

You have more claim on me than humankind and jinn,

In this world and when the throng appears.

اغث يا صاحب الغارات اني

بجاهك في الشؤن لي اعتصام

Help, O master of raids; I

Find refuge in your standing amid all affairs.

حبيب الله ادركني فعرقي

له بجليل نسبتك العحام

Beloved of God, come to my aid, for my lineage

Has a bond with your exalted lineage [reading uncertain].

اليك علت بسلسلتي جدود

ببضعتك الحسين لها انتظام

Ancestors in my chain of descent ascend to you,

Joined through al-Husayn, a part of your flesh.

ومالي غير فضلك من مرام

ولا قلبي تسامره الحطام

I have no aim other than your bounty,

Nor does worldly chaff keep my heart company at night.

فلاحظني بغوثك من زمان

به قد سامت الخف السنام

So regard me with your aid against an age

In which the hoof has rivaled the hump.

واعداء ولو كانوا رجالا

للذّ اليّ اذ ترمى السهام

And enemies—if only they were men—

Would please me when the arrows are loosed.

ولكن من طغام الناس رد ال

جواب لهم يهون له الحمام

But they are mankind's rabble; returning the

answer to them makes death seem easy by comparison.

ضحكت لذي الشؤن وكل آن

فاعداء الكرام هم الطغام

I laughed at these affairs at every moment,

For the enemies of the noble are the rabble.

ابا الزهراء يا شرف البرايا

ويا من شأن دولته الدوام

Father of al-Zahra, O honor of all creatures,

O you whose dominion endures forever.

بك الشرف الصميم له افتتاح

ونظم المرسلين له اختتام

Through you, pure honor has its beginning,

And the succession of messengers has its end.

وعنك العلم والآيات جاءت

وبالله التول والهيام

From you came knowledge and the signs,

And in God lie infatuation and rapture.

ومنك طرائف الاحسان تبدو

وعنك الصوم يؤخذ والقيام

From you appear wondrous gifts of kindness,

And from you are learned fasting and the night vigil.

وكم خصمت بالمعنى خصاما

دهاهم من جلالتك انتقام

How many adversaries you vanquished in spirit,

Whom retribution from your majesty befell.

وكم اغنيت مسكينا عديما

وزال بلطف نفحتك السقام

How many a destitute poor man you enriched,

And illness vanished through your gentle breath.

هداك لكل ذي عقل كمال

ومنك لكل ذي نقص تمام

Your guidance is perfection for everyone of reason,

And from you comes completion for everyone deficient.

بحقك بالقبول اشمل ضراعي

لانشط والقبول هو الختام

By your right, embrace my supplication with acceptance,

So I may regain vigor; acceptance is the final seal.