كففت انسجام الدمع فانهل وانتثر — Ahmed Al Hiba

كففت انسجام الدمع فانهلّ وانتثر

وعاد عقيقا بعدما كان كالدرر

I restrained the flowing tears, but they poured and scattered.

They became agate after having been like pearls.

وأبدل مني من جوى البين والأسا

سبات الكرى والنوم بالسهد والسهر

Separation's anguish and sorrow replaced within me

drowsiness and sleep with sleeplessness and vigil.

وجفني مبنيّ على الفتح رفعه

ولا يتأتى فيه ضمّ وما انكسر

My eyelid's raising is fixed upon opening;

no closing is possible in it, nor has it broken.

وقد كان لي لب مصون فقدته

فيا ليت شعري أين صار وما الخبر

I once had a well-guarded mind, but lost it.

Would that I knew where it went, and what became of it!

هلمّوا اقرأوا ما الحب ّمني وما الجوى

وما العشق ما أحلى الجميع وما أمر

Come, read what love is within me, and what burning longing is,

and what passion is—how sweet it all is, and how bitter!

فيثلج ما بالمستهام من اللظى

ويوقد الخفا أخفى وأظهر ما ظهر

It cools the flames within the love-struck,

and kindles what lies most hidden, and reveals what appears.

أهيم إذا ما شمت برقا يمانيا

وإن ماست الأغصان في نسم السحر

I wander love-struck whenever I glimpse Yemeni lightning,

or branches sway in the breezes before dawn,

وتوقاد أضواء النجوم إذا رست

أو أظلم ليل العاشقين أو اعتكر

or the lights of settled stars blaze,

or lovers' night grows dark or murky.

تغرّب جسمي ف يالتوله مغربا

وغرب جفوني بالدم انهلّ وانهمر

My body has journeyed west—oh, the bewilderment of one gone west!

The channels of my eyelids poured and streamed with blood.

وقلبي بالشوق الحجازي مشرق

فهل لهما جمع ولو جمع انكسر

My heart, longing for Hijaz, faces east.

Can the two unite, even as a broken plural?

لئن شاق مشتاقا إلى اليض منزل

فشوقي على الخضر المطيّبة انحصر

If a dwelling stirs a lover's yearning for fair beauties [reading uncertain],

my yearning is confined to the perfumed green [dome].

وقد شاقني ذكر الحبيب محمد

إذا اشتاق أقوام إلى الدل والخفر

Remembrance of the beloved Muhammad has stirred my longing,

while others yearn for coquetry and modesty.

وقد شاقني لألاء ذر حديثه

إذا اشتاق قوم للثغور وللأشر

The radiance of the pearls of his discourse stirred my longing [reading uncertain],

while others yearn for mouths and bright teeth.

وإن سمرو في أنسهم وحديثهم

فسيرته عندي التحدّث والسمر

If they spend the night in companionship and conversation,

his life-story is my conversation and evening discourse.

وإن سكروا بالشرب من راح خمرهم

فراح حميّا حبه الشرب والسكر

If they grow drunk on draughts of their wine,

the wine of his love's fervor is my drink and drunkenness.

فعلل ودندن باسمه وبذكره

وروح وجانب في تدندنك الخفر

So soothe yourself and hum his name and remembrance;

take comfort, and set aside shyness in your humming.

فلالوم لي إن همت شوقا إلى اللقا

وإن غاب عقلي عند ذلك أو حضر

I am not to blame if I wander yearning for the meeting,

whether my mind is absent then or present.

هناك يتيه التائهون بذكره

وترميهم نار المحبّة بالشرر

There the bewildered lose themselves in his remembrance,

and love's fire pelts them with sparks.

به ازدانت الدنيا به البشر ازدهى

متى كان في الدنيا متى كان من بشر

Through him the world was adorned; through him humanity flourished,

whenever he was in the world, whenever he lived among mortals.

فياليلة الميلاد يا خير ليلة

بك ازدانت الدنيا بك الدين قد زهر

O night of his birth, O finest night!

Through you the world was adorned; through you religion blossomed.

تحلّيت بالمولود فيك وحليت

جيود الليالي من حليك بالنضر

You were adorned with the one born in you, and

the necks of nights were decked with gold from your ornaments.

وأنت ربيعي يا ربيع ومربعي

بمولودك الأسمى استدام لنا البشر

You are my spring, O Rabi', and my spring abode;

through your loftiest newborn, gladness endured for us.

ألم يك خير الخلق تالله لم تلد

شبيها له أنثى يمينا ولا ذكر

Was he not the best of creation? By God, no woman bore

his like—I swear—nor any man.

فمن يدّعي من مادح حصر مدحه

فبالصقر امتاز ادعاء وبالبقر

If any praiser claims to encompass his praise,

his claim is distinguished by falsehood and lies.

فإن شئت إجمالا ففيه عن الورى

لقد حصر الفضل المهيمن فانحصر

If you want a summary: in him, apart from all mankind,

the Sovereign gathered every excellence, and there it was gathered.

وتفصيله يعيى الألباء حصره

ألم يكف ما تاتي به الآي والسور

Enumerating its details exhausts the keenest minds.

Do the verses and surahs not suffice?

أأهل الثنا فأتوا بمثل براءة

وفاتحة والفتح والنجم والزمر

O people of praise, produce the like of Bara'a,

and Fatiha, Fath, Najm, and Zumar!

أو ايتوا بإحدى الآي والآي أنزلت

عليه فهل من بعد ذلك مفتخر

Or produce a single verse—the verses were revealed

to him; who, after that, can boast?

أبعد ثناء الله مدح ورفعة

وفخر وتفضل لخلق من البشر

After God's praise, is there praise, elevation,

glory, or favor left for any human creature?

فأظهره قهرا على الدين كله

برغم على أهل النفاق ومن كفر

He made him prevail by force over every religion,

despite the hypocrites and those who disbelieved.

وأرسله للخلق قاطبة ومن

سواه على جبل من الأمم اقتصر

He sent him to all creation, whereas

others were confined to one people among the nations.

وناصره بالرعب شهرا ومن يكن

له ناصرا قد عزوا اغتزّ وافتخر

He aided him with terror a month's journey away; whoever

has Him as helper has grown mighty, gained honor, and gloried.

به أقسم المولى فقال معظما

لعمرك إن تفخر فحق لك الفخر

The Lord swore by him, saying in exaltation:

'By your life!' If you boast, boasting is rightfully yours.

رسول لعمري سر طينة آدم

ونقطة سر الكون الاتي ومن غبر

A messenger—by my life!—the secret of Adam's clay,

and the central secret of the world to come and those gone before.

بصائر أهل الجحد كفّت بنوره

وعين يقين الحق إنسان من نظر

The deniers' inward sight was blinded by his light;

for one who sees, he is the pupil of the eye of true certainty.

وشقّ على أهل الشقاق شقاقهم

متى عاينوا شقين شق له الذكر

The dissenters' dissent weighed heavily upon them

when they saw two halves whose splitting Revelation proclaimed for him.

وقد خرسوا من نطق وحشيّة الظبا

ووقع الظبا فيهم وصارمة الذكر

They were silenced by the speech of a wild gazelle,

and by blades striking among them, and Revelation's cutting edge.

سقت يده جيشا بها سبّح الحصا

وقد جاءه يختال في مشيه الشجر

His hand watered an army; in it pebbles glorified God.

Trees came to him, swaying proudly as they walked.

إذا ما مشى في الصخر أثر إثره

وإن سار في حقف اللوى خفي الأثر

When he walked on rock, his footsteps left their mark;

when he traversed curving sand dunes, the trace was hidden.

وحين له جذع النخيل تشوقا

فلله جذع حن للشوق واذكر

A palm trunk yearned for him in longing.

By God, a trunk that yearned with longing! Remember it.

وقد عذب الماء الأجاح بريقه

كما رييء في الظلماء من نوره الإبر

His saliva sweetened brackish water,

and by his light needles were seen in darkness.

ولو شاء قلب الصخر يقلب عسجدا

ولو شاء منه اللين يقلب كالوبر

Had he wished, the heart of rock would turn to gold;

had he wished it soft, it would become like down.

أو أن الحصى تبر من الأرض خالص

وخالص تبر العين يقلب كالمدر

Or the earth's pebbles would become pure gold,

and pure native gold would turn to clods.

أتى صفو لو شاء في عشر حجة

ولو شاء كان العيد في العشر من صفر

Purity [reading uncertain] would come, if he wished, in Hijja's ten days;

had he wished, the feast would fall in Safar's first ten days.

ونجم الثرى نجم السماء أحاله

وزهر السما عادت هي النجم والزهر

He turned the earth's herbs into the stars of heaven,

and heaven's flowers became the herbs and blossoms [of earth].

ولو شاء لم تخلق من الكون ذرّة

فمن شاء فليؤمن ومن شابه كفر

Had he wished, not a particle of the universe would have been created.

Let whoever wishes believe; whoever resembles him disbelieves [reading uncertain].

فإن تفهم المعنى سلمت وما على

مصحح معناه الغباوة في البقر

If you understand the meaning, you are safe; no blame falls upon

one who understands it rightly—stupidity belongs among cattle.

فقد قال سل تعطه مفضله كما

أتى في الحديث القدسي عنه وفي الأثر

His Benefactor said, 'Ask, and you shall be given,' as

related about him in the sacred hadith and in tradition.

فيارائما في الكون شبه محمد

فبطن يد الانسان هل ينبت الشعر

O seeker of Muhammad's equal in the universe,

does hair grow on the palm of a human hand?

لأحلم من أغضى وأفضل من مشى

وأكرم من أعطى واسمح من غفر

The most forbearing of those who overlook faults, the best of those who walk,

the most generous of those who give, the most gracious of those who forgive.

فسيان ألف من جواهر عنده

وجوهر فرد الأرض والبدر والبدر

A thousand gems are equal in his eyes

to a single jewel, the earth, the full moon, and bags of gold.

عطاء بلامن ولاسأم العطا

ويطلق وجها للعفاة إن اعتذر

Giving without reproach, never weary of giving;

he meets petitioners with a cheerful face even when declining.

فكم من فقير من غنائمة اغتنى

وكم من غني من كتائبه افتقر

How many poor people grew rich from his spoils!

How many rich people were impoverished by his battalions!

فلله بدركم حواه قليبه

وكم أسروا فيه وكم أودعوا سقر

By God, Badr! How many its well contained!

How many were captured there, and how many consigned to Saqar!

فأين أبو جهل وعتبة وابنه

وشيبة والعاتي أميّة الأشر

Where are Abu Jahl, Utba, and his son,

and Shayba, and the insolent tyrant Umayya?

واين الصناديد الطغاة وبغيهم

وطغيانهم والسحر والهزء والبطر

Where are the mighty tyrants and their oppression,

their tyranny, sorcery, mockery, and arrogance?

تفرّق بالهندي والسمر حزبهم

وبالمشرفيات اللدان شدر مذر

Indian blades and brown spears scattered their party,

and supple Mashrafi swords dispersed them far and wide.

وخير لم تحص العبارة قبله

زهاها فصارت عبرة لمن اعتبر

And goodness [unclear here]—words could not formerly encompass

its splendor; it became a lesson for those who took heed.

ولم أنس يوم الفتح لله درّة

فهل لهم من بعده الهزء والسخر

Nor have I forgotten the day of conquest—how wondrous it was!

Could they still mock and scoff after it?

فكم منهم أخزى وأخجل منهم

وكم منهم أجلى وكم منهم هدر

How many of them he disgraced and humbled!

How many he exiled, and how many he declared forfeit!

وكم سلمت من بعد أن أسلمت له

وسلّمت أقوام سمت واختفت أخر

How many were saved after submitting to him!

Peoples surrendered; some rose, while others vanished.

زمام المعالي وهو مالك أمرها

وذرّة أعلاها وإستبرق الحبر

The reins of high honors—he is master of their affairs—

and their highest pinnacle [reading uncertain], and the brocade of fine robes.

وعاقدها جبريل صاحبه ومن

سما فوق أملاك المهيمن واشتهر

Their marriage-binder is Gabriel, his companion, and one who

rose above the Sovereign's angels and became renowned.

وشاهدها ختم الرسالة وابتدا

ذكانوره من قبل أن تخلق الصور

Their witness is the seal of messengership, and

his light began to shine before forms were created.

بماضي سيوف الله في مفرق العذا

بسنّته السمحا بشرعته مهر

With God's keen swords upon the parting of the foes' heads,

his gracious practice and sacred law were a dowry.

وأنتج منه محو كل ضلالة

إلى أن أنار الدين بالحق وانتشر

From this came the erasure of every error,

until religion shone with truth and spread.

فأين قياصر الملوك وما اقتنى

هرقل وكسرى الفرس ملكا وما اذخر

Where are the Caesars among kings, and what

Heraclius and the Persian Kisra acquired as dominion or stored away?

ويارائما منها اقتطافا بغيره

هبلت له الابنا وللعاهر الحجر

O seeker of plucking those honors without him,

may his children be lost to him; the adulterer gets the stone.

فلو كان خلق الله أغصان دوحة

لكنت لها نورا وكنت لها ثمر

If God's creatures were branches of a great tree,

you would be their blossom and their fruit.

ولو كان نجما كنت شمسا أو الحصا

لكنت هو الياقوت والتبر والدرر

If they were stars, you would be a sun; if pebbles,

you would be the ruby, gold, and pearls.

ولو كان جسما كنت روحا لجسمه

ورأسا لكنت النطق والصسمع والبصر

If they were a body, you would be its spirit;

if a head, you would be speech, hearing, and sight.

ومنطقه فصل بأبلغ حجّة

ولا نزر في ذاك البلاغ ولا هذر

His speech is decisive, with the most eloquent proof,

neither scant in its expression nor rambling.

شفاء فما أحلى عذوبة لفظه

ومعسوله فالشهد منها بلا إبر

A healing—how sweet the freshness of his words!

Their honeyed sweetness is honey without stings.

وأشهى من الراح العقار تعلّلا

والاوبة بعد الغنم من وحشة السفر

More delightful to savor than potent wine,

or homecoming with profit after travel's loneliness,

ومن نغمة المعشوق في أذن عاشق

وخلسة مشتاق لمن شاقه النظر

or the beloved's voice in a lover's ear,

or a yearning lover's stolen glance at the one he longs for.

هنيئا وياطويي لمن زار طيبة

ولم تثنه عنها الملامة والزور

Blessings and bliss for whoever visits Tayba

and is not turned away by blame or falsehood.

فطيبة طيب الطيب طبنا

ومرهمنا ترياقنا إثمد البصر

Tayba is the perfume of perfumes, our healing,

our balm, our antidote, the kohl of our eyes.

بها راحة المهموم من كل غمّة

وراح ارتياح النفس من كربة الكدر

There the troubled find relief from every sorrow,

and the soul finds the wine of ease from distress and gloom.

مقرّا له اختيرت ودارا لهجرة

فأكرم بها دارا وأكرم بها مقر

It was chosen as his abode and a home for migration.

How noble a home, how noble an abode!

هنالك خضراء القباب تلألأت

بها رفرف الأنوار لألاؤه ازدهر

There the green dome sparkled;

beneath it the canopy of lights blossomed in radiance.

وذاك قباء والبقيع وهذه

قباب أهاليه الجهابذة الغرر

There are Quba and al-Baqi', and these

are the domes of his people, the radiant sages.

فليت مطايا الوهم كانت مراكبي

إليها أو الأرواح تخذي أو الفكر

Would that imagination's mounts were my conveyances

to it, or that spirits or thoughts could speed along!

إذا ما حططنا الرحل بين رحابها

وداخلنا ذهل الملاقاة والحير

When we set down our saddles within its spacious precincts,

and the meeting's amazement and bewilderment enter us,

فلا لي لالي لا عليّ ملامة

فحالة مرء فاقد اللب تغتفر

then no, none for me—no blame upon me [wording uncertain];

the state of one bereft of reason is excusable.

أغفر خدي في حراء ومن حرى

أطوف ببيت الله في الحج والعمر

I cover my cheek with dust at Hira, and from Hira

I circle God's House in pilgrimage and umra.

وأضرع في أخذي لاستار كعبة

وأدعو مجابا في الخطيم لدى السحر

I entreat while grasping the Kaaba's curtains,

and pray, answered, in the Hatim before dawn.

وأركع في محراب مسجد بيته

وأكرع من أكواب زمزمه تير

I bow in the prayer niche of his House's mosque,

and drink from cups of his Zamzam [final word unclear].

أمرغ وجهي في المحصب من منى

وأهدي وبعد الهدي أحلق للشعر

I rub my face in Mina's pebbled ground,

offer a sacrifice, then shave my hair after the offering.

ومن بين ما هذي وذاك وهذه

أقبل في كل المناسك للحجر

And amid this, that, and this,

I kiss the Stone throughout all the rites.

وفي عرفات الحج لم أنس موقفا

فكم هز من باك وأجرى من العبر

At the pilgrimage's Arafat I have not forgotten a standing-place:

how many weepers it moved, how many tears it made flow!

منازل منها بعثه ليتني بها

أزور على ترتيبها أقتفي الأثر

Places from which he was sent—would that I could

visit them in their order, following his traces!

ولي على ترتيب ما بعثت إلى

تراتيبه شعرا قرائح من شعر

And mine, in the order of what has been sent toward

his ranks, is verse from the inventive minds of poets [syntax uncertain].

ففي مدحه قسّ وسحبان وائل

سيان هما أو باقل وأبو حذر

In praising him, Quss and Sahban Wa'il

are equal to Baqil and Abu Hadhr.

مآلهم للعجز والعي والونى

وهل يدرك الغواص ما أضمر الزفر

Their end is helplessness, inarticulacy, and exhaustion.

Can the diver grasp what the deep sea conceals?

فما مادح مدحا بأبلغ مدحة

تطاول إلا عن مدائحه قصر

No praiser, however eloquent his praise,

aspires without falling short of his praises.

أقربأني قاصر عن مديحه

ومن سامه حصرا فقد ربح الخسر

I acknowledge that I fall short of praising him;

whoever seeks to encompass him has gained only loss.

ومن لي بمستوف ثناء صحابه

نجوم الدياجي صفوة البدو والحضر

Who can fully render the praise of his Companions,

stars of dark nights, the elect of desert and town?

وباعوا نفوسا بعد أن بايعوه في

رضا الله لا بيع احتكار ولا غرر

They sold their lives after pledging allegiance to him for

God's pleasure—not a sale of hoarding or uncertainty.

أروني أروني كالعتيق رفيقه

ولا أروني مثل سيدنا عمر

Show me, show me someone like al-Atiq, his companion!

Nor show me anyone like our master Umar!

وإلا أروني مثل عثمان صهره

وشبه أبي السبطين حيدرة الزفر

Or else show me someone like Uthman, his son-in-law,

or like the father of the two grandsons, mighty Haydara.

هو المهجر الأسمى ومنتخب العلى

وفتاح إشكال إذا حارت المرر

He is the loftiest emigrant, the chosen one of high honors,

the solver of difficulties when minds are bewildered.

تصير هباء عنده أسد الشرى

وما تلبث المرآة إن لاقت الصخر

The lions of al-Shara become dust before him;

a mirror does not endure when it meets rock.

وطلحة أو شبه الزبير وسعدا أو

سعيدا ومن حاكى ابن عوف وما ادخر

Or Talha, or one like al-Zubayr, or Sa'd, or

Sa'id, or one matching Ibn Awf and what he amassed.

وشبه أمين الأمة المرتضى ابي

عبيدة ختم المسك للسادة النصر

Or one like the nation's trusted, chosen Abu

Ubayda, the sealing musk of the victorious masters.

فهل أسد الله الغضنفر حمزة

له من يضاهي من ربيعة أو مضر

Does God's lion, the mighty lion Hamza,

have an equal among Rabi'a or Mudar?

أوالأنجب الأسمى أبو الفضل من به

أبو حفص يستسقى فينسكب المطر

Or the loftiest noble, Abu al-Fadl, through whom

Abu Hafs seeks rain, and the rain pours down?

أو الحسنان الهاشميان سيدا

شباب جنان الخلد نادرتا السمر

Or the two Hasans, the two Hashimites, masters

of the youths of eternal gardens, two marvels of evening tales?

فكم أنجبا من قدوة بعد قدوة

وكم من نجيب فاق منهم وقد مهر

How many exemplars they begot, exemplar after exemplar!

How many gifted ones among them excelled and became accomplished!

وكم منهم في الكون قطب بربّه

تصرّف أو غوث تصرف أو ظهر

How many among them were spiritual poles who, through their Lord,

acted, or a succor who acted or appeared!

ومن هاجروا الأوطان والإلف منهم

ولم يثنهم خوف ولم يثنهم حذر

Those among them who left their homelands and loved ones

were turned back by neither fear nor caution.

عيون العلا تيجانه أبحر الندا

ليوث الوغى نور الظلام إذا احتضر

The choicest of high honors, its crowns, oceans of generosity,

lions of battle, light when darkness gathers.

فذاك فتى النادي وبيت قصيده

وخنصره الأسمى المطاع كما أمر

One is the assembly's champion and its finest verse,

and its loftiest little finger, obeyed as he commanded.

وذاعن تليد المال منهم مهاجر

وطارفه والبيض والكوم والحير

Another among them emigrated, leaving inherited wealth

and newly acquired wealth, fair women, high-humped camels, and gardens.

وكم غادروا من غادة قمريّة

تباهي ضياء الزبر قان إذا بدر

How many moonlike maidens they left behind,

rivaling the moon's radiance when it becomes full!

مآثرهم لا تنقضي أو للحصى

عديد وموج البحر عد إذا زخر

Their feats do not end—unless pebbles could be

numbered and the sea's waves counted when it surges.

وأنصاره أكرم بأنصاره اللي

بهم عزّ دين الله وامتدّ وانتشر

His Helpers—how noble his Helpers are, those

through whom God's religion grew mighty, extended, and spread!

لقد بذلوا أموالهم ونفوسهم

وآووا رسول الله في العسر واليسر

They gave freely of their wealth and their lives

and sheltered God's Messenger in hardship and ease.

أولئك أبطال الوغى وأسودها

إذا اصفرّت الآسادوا انتفخ السحر

They are battle's champions and its lions

when lions pale and lungs swell.

وهزّ الرماح السمر يطربهم كما

يطيرون عقبانا إلى رنّة الوتر

The shaking of brown spears delights them, as

they fly like eagles toward the bowstring's twang.

وفرد جميع الصحب جمع وعنه قد

تقاصر أهل المجد في الطول والقصر

A single one of all the Companions is a multitude; beside him

the people of glory fall short, whether tall or short.

أيا خاتم الرسل الكرام وصحبه

أضفت لكم نفسي وإني على خطر

O seal of noble messengers, and O his Companions,

I have attached myself to you, and I am in peril.

فلا تجعلوا بين المضاف وبين من

يضاف له فصلا وإن زلّ أو عثر

Do not place between the attached one and those

to whom he is attached a separation, though he slip or stumble.

وحاشاكم أن تجعلوه ولو هفا

كغالب ما يأتي للولا من الخبر

Far be it from you to make him, though he err,

like the usually omitted predicate after 'lawla.'

ومن شرف المتبوع يشرف تابع

ومن جالس العطار طيّبة العطر

A follower gains nobility from the nobility of the one followed;

whoever sits with the perfumer is perfumed by the fragrance.

ويا أهل بدر والبقيع ومكة

ومن بايعوا طه بمفردة الشجر

O people of Badr, al-Baqi', and Mecca,

and those who pledged allegiance to Taha beneath the solitary tree,

فإنا توسّلنا بكم للذي به

توسلنا لله في نيلنا الوطر

we have appealed through you to the one through whom

we appealed to God to attain our desire:

محمدنا المختار كعبة قصدنا

مقضي اللبانات الملاذ من الغير

our chosen Muhammad, the Kaaba of our intent,

fulfiller of wishes, refuge from reversals.

أناشدك الله الكريم تفضلا

فمن علينا بالمراد وبالظفر

I implore you by God the Generous, as a kindness:

favor us with our desire and with triumph.

وكن حصننا في كل خوف وأمننا

ومعقلنا أنت المؤمل والوزر

Be our fortress in every fear, and our safety,

our stronghold—you are our hope and refuge.

وقل وشتت صد واهزم ودمرن

أعادينا لاتبق منهم ولا تذر

Speak; scatter, repel, rout, and utterly destroy

our enemies; leave none of them, spare none.

وضنّ بنا عن ضرهم وأذاهم

فلا بؤس نلقى من عدانا ولا ضرر

Guard us jealously from their harm and injury;

let us meet neither misery nor harm from our foes.

وأنشدك اللهم بالنور أحمد

فأجر وحرّك بالمراد لنا القدر

I implore You, O God, by the Light, Ahmad:

set destiny in motion for us toward what we desire.

ومره إلهي بالقضاء لحاجنا

بلا مهلة كالبرق واللمح للبصر

Command it, my God, to fulfill our need

without delay, like lightning or the blink of an eye.

وإنا غلبنا غالب فانتصر لنا

أيا غالب الغلاب يا خير من نصر

A conqueror has overcome us; bring us victory,

O conqueror of conquerors, O best of helpers!

وعن بيضة الإسلام فرج بسرعة

ونسبتنا واكشف عن الأمة الضرر

Swiftly relieve the heart of Islam

and our lineage, and remove harm from the community.

أدم نضرة الدنيا عليّ وبرها

وخيراتها والعز والنصر واليسر

Keep the world's freshness and bounty upon me,

its good things, honor, victory, and ease,

وخفضالعيش العمر في منتهى الغنى

بأحكام رفع القدر لا أدوات جر

and ease of living throughout life, in utmost abundance,

with firm rules for raising rank, not particles that lower it.

وأسالك الإسعاد والحظ لي وأن

تديم علي السعد والحفظ والفجر

I ask You for happiness and good fortune for me, and that

You perpetuate happiness, protection, and dawn upon me.

وتثبتني عند النزوع وكن معي

وعند مماتي والتوجه للحفر

Make me steadfast when my soul is drawn away, and be with me

at my death and as I am borne toward the grave.

ولا أر في قبري مضيقا ووحشة

وفي الحشر لا ألقى وما بعده ضجر

Let me not meet confinement or desolation in my grave,

nor misery at the gathering or after it.

وتنزلني أعلى الجنان مخلدا

وأكد حاجاتي إلى وجهك النظر

Lodge me eternally in the highest gardens;

my most urgent wish is to behold Your face.

وصلى على النور المقدس من سرى

به ليلة الإسرا إلى منتهى السدر

May He bless the sacred Light, whom He bore by night

on the Night Journey to the limit of the lote tree,

وكلمه فردا مشرف قدره

وما زاغ منه أو طغى ثمة البصر

and spoke to alone, ennobling his rank;

his sight neither strayed nor transgressed there.

صلاة سمت فضلا على غيرها فلا

يحيط بها وهم ولا اللسن والفكر

A blessing surpassing all others in excellence, which

neither imagination nor eloquent tongues nor thought can encompass.

وسلم تسليما عليه يجل عن

مساومة الإحصاء والعد والقدر

Grant him a peace beyond

any attempt at tallying, counting, or measuring,

سجيس الليالي ما تشوّق مغرمٌ

وما غردت ورقاء في مورق الشجر

through all nights, as long as a lover yearns,

and a gray dove sings amid leafy trees.