الهي الهي يا غفور استغاثة

بغفرانك اللهم من كرب حوبتي

My God, my God, O All-Forgiving, I plead for help,

through Your forgiveness, O God, from the anguish of my sin.

الهي اكتسبت الاثم جهلاً وغرة

بعافية من فضل ربي ونعمة

My God, I incurred sin through ignorance and heedlessness,

while enjoying well-being from my Lord’s bounty and blessing.

فكم نعمة أسبغتها قل عندها

لحقك شكري قابلتها خطيئتي

So many blessings You lavished; scant beside them was

my gratitude for Your due; my sin repaid them.

تبادرني من كل نعمى بخيرها

فأقوى بهذا الخير في شر خصلة

You hasten to me with the good of every blessing,

so through this good I grow stronger in the worst of habits.

فيا ويلتا مما جنيت وليته

جناء زكا مني ونفساً تزكت

Oh, woe to me for what I have reaped! If only it were

a pure harvest of mine, and a soul that purified itself!

تذرعت بالنعمى إلى درك كفرها

وأشنع بها من خسة ودنية

I made blessing my means of reaching ingratitude for it;

and how hideous it is—such baseness and degradation!

عبيدك باستغفاره واعترافه

عقيدته في النفس نيطت بتهمة

Your humble servant, with his plea for forgiveness and his confession—

his view of his soul is bound to suspicion.

وامتن أسباب النجا أصدق الرجا

وإلا فدون الدرك جد المجدة

And the firmest means of salvation is the sincerest hope;

otherwise, earnest striving falls short of attainment.

ومن أرسل الآمال نحو مبرها

تعالى حباها واجبات المبرة

And whoever sends his hopes toward the One who fulfills them—

He—exalted is He—bestows on them the kindness they are due.

ولم تبرح الغفران نفس بكسبها

ولكنه التوفيق فاض بمنة

No soul has attained forgiveness through its own deeds;

rather, it is divine guidance, poured forth as a gift.

بما يقتضي الجود الالهي نجني

فما الشأن إلا محض جود الألوهة

As divine generosity requires, save me,

for it is nothing but the pure generosity of the Divine.