الشدة أودت بالمهج

يا رب فعجل بالفرج

Hardship has brought ruin upon souls.

O Lord, so hasten relief.

والأنفس أمست في حرج

وبيدك تفريج الحرج

And souls have fallen into distress,

and in Your hand is relief from distress.

هاجت لدعاك خواطرنا

والويل لها إن لم تهج

Our thoughts have stirred to call upon You;

woe to them if they do not stir!

يا من عودت اللطف أعد

عاداتك باللطف البهج

O You who have made kindness Your custom, renew

Your ways of gladdening kindness.

أغلق ذا الضيق وشدته

وافتح ما سد من الفرج

Close off this constriction and its severity,

and open the relief that has been blocked.

عجنا لجنابك نقصده

والأنفس في أوج اللهج

We have turned toward Your presence, seeking it,

and souls are at the height of fervent pleading,

وإلى أفضالك يا أملي

يا ضيعتنا أن لم نعج

and toward Your bounties, O my hope—

alas for our ruin if we do not turn!

من اللملهوف سواك يغث

أو للمضطر سواك نجي

Who but You gives aid to the distressed,

or is a confidant to the desperate?

وأساءتنا أن تقطعنا

عن بابك حتى لم نلج

And should our wrongdoing cut us off

from Your door, so that we fail to enter—

فلكم عصا أخطأ ورجا

ك أبحث له ما منك نجي

for how many a sinner has erred and hoped in

You—[the rest of this line is unclear].

يا سيدنا يا خالقنا

قد ضاق الحبل على الودج

O our Master, O our Creator,

the rope has tightened around the jugular vein.

وعبادك أضحوا في ألمٍ

ما بين مكيريب وشجي

And Your servants have come to be in pain,

some anguished, others sorrowful.

والأحشاء صارت في حرق

والأعين غارت في لجج

And the innards have become a blaze,

and the eyes have sunk into depths;

والأعين صارت في لجج

غاصت في الموج مع المهج

and the eyes are in deep waters,

plunged into the waves along with the souls.

والأزمة زادت شدتها

يا أزمة علك تنفرجي

The crisis has grown more severe;

O crisis, perhaps you will ease!

جئناك بقلب منكسر

ولسان بالشكوى لهج

We have come to You with a broken heart

and a tongue unceasing in complaint,

وبخوف الذلة في وجل

لكن برجاك ممتزج

and with fear of humiliation, in dread,

yet mingled with hope in You.

فكم استشفى مزكوم الذنب

بنشر الرحمة والأرج

For many a soul, congested by sin, has sought healing

through the wafting of mercy and fragrance.

وبعينك ما نلقاه وما

فيه الأحوال من المرج

And within Your sight are what we suffer and

the confusion in which our circumstances lie.

والفضل أعم ولكن قد

قلت ادعوني فلتبتهج

Your grace is all-embracing; yet You have

said, ‘Call upon Me’—so rejoice!

فبكل نبي نسأل يا

رب الأرباب وكل نجي

So by every prophet we beseech You, O

Lord of lords, and by every confidant,

وبفضل الذكر وحكمته

وبما قد أوضح من نهج

and by the excellence of the Remembrance and its wisdom,

and by the path it has made clear,

وبسر الأحرف إذ وردت

وضياء النور المنبلج

and by the mystery of the letters as they came,

and the radiance of the light breaking forth,

وبسر أودع في بطد

وبما في واح مع زهج

and by a mystery deposited in bāʾ–ṭāʾ–dāl,

and by what lies in wāw–alif–ḥāʾ together with zāy–hāʾ–jīm,

وبسر الباء ونقطتها

من بسم اللضه لذي النهج

and by the mystery of the bāʾ and its dot

from ‘In the name of God,’ for one who follows the path,

وبقاف القهر وقوتها

وبقهر القاهر المبهج

and by subjugation’s qāf and its power,

and by the gladdening might of the Subduer,

وببرد الماء واساغته

وعموم النفع مع الثلج

and by water’s coolness and ease of swallowing,

and the all-embracing benefit, together with snow,

وبما طعمت من التطعيم

وما درجت من الدرج

and by what You have nourished through feeding,

and what You have raised through the degrees—

يا قاهر يا ذا الشدة يا

ذا البطش أغث ذا الفرج

O Subduer, O Lord of severity, O

Lord of might, give aid, O Lord of relief!

يا رب ظلمنا أنفسنا

ومصيبتنا ما حيث نجى

O Lord, we have wronged ourselves,

and our calamity leaves nowhere to escape [wording unclear].

يا رب خلقنا من عجل

فذلك ندعو باللجج

O Lord, we were created of haste;

for that reason we plead insistently.

يا رب وليس لنا جلد

إني والقلب على وهج

O Lord, we have no endurance;

indeed, my heart and I are ablaze.

يا رب عبيدك قد وفدوا

يدعون بقلب منزعج

O Lord, Your humble servants have come,

calling with an agitated heart.

يا رب ضعاف ليس لهم

أحد يرجون لدى الهرج

O Lord, weak ones have no

one to hope in amid turmoil.

يا رب فصاح الألسن قد

أضحوا في الشدة كالهمج

O Lord, the eloquent of tongue have

become, in hardship, like a witless rabble.

السابق منا صار إذا

يعدو يسبقه ذو العرج

The swiftest among us has become such that, when

he runs, one who limps outstrips him.

والحكمة ربي بالغة

جلت عن حيف أو عوج

Your wisdom, my Lord, is consummate,

exalted above injustice or crookedness.

والأمر إليك تديره

فأغثنا باللطف البهج

And the affair rests with You; You direct it.

So aid us with gladdening kindness.

أدرج في العفو أساءتنا

والخيبة إن لم تندرج

Include our wrongdoing within pardon—

what disappointment if it is not included!

يا نفس وما لك من أحد

إلا مولاك له فعجى

O soul, you have no one

but your Master: turn toward Him.

وبه عوذي وبه فلذي

ولباب مكارمه فلجي

In Him seek refuge, and in Him seek shelter;

enter through the door of His generosity,

كي تنصلحي كي تنشرحي

كي تنبسطي كي تبتهجي

so you may be set right, so you may open up,

so you may expand, so you may rejoice,

ويطيب مقامك من نفر

أضحوا في الحندس كالسرج

and your dwelling be sweet among a company

who have become lamps in pitch darkness.

وفوا للَه بما عهدوا

من بيع الأنفس والمهج

They were true to God in what they pledged:

the selling of their souls and lifeblood.

فهم الهادي وصاحبته

ذو الرتبة والعطر الأرج

They are the Guide and his companions,

he of lofty rank and fragrant perfume.

قوم سكنوا الجرعاء وهم

شرف الجرعاء ومنعرج

A people who dwelt in al-Jarʿāʾ, and they

are the glory of al-Jarʿāʾ and its winding ground.

جاءوا للكون وظلمته

عمت وظلام الشرك دجى

They came to the world while its darkness

had spread, and the darkness of polytheism lay deep.

ما زال النصر يحفهم

والظلمة تمحي بالبلج

Victory never ceased to surround them,

while darkness was effaced by dawnlight,

حتى نصروا الإسلام فعا

د الدين عزيزاً في بهج

until they made Islam victorious, and

the faith returned mighty and joyful.

فَعَليهم صلى الرب على

مر الأيام معَ الحجج

Upon them may the Lord send blessings throughout

the passing days and years,

وَعلى الصديق خليفته

وكذا الفاروق وكل نجي

and upon al-Ṣiddīq, his successor,

and likewise al-Fārūq and every confidant,

وعلى عثمان شهيد الدار

وفي فرقي أعلى الدرج

and upon ʿUthmān, martyr of the house,

and in [unclear wording], the highest ranks,

وأبي الحسنين مع الأولاد

كذا الأزواج وكل شجي

and the father of Ḥasan and Ḥusayn, with the children,

likewise the wives and every sorrowful one,

ما مال المال وحال الحال

وسار الساري في الدمج

as long as wealth shifts and circumstances change,

and the night-traveler journeys through darkness.

يا رب بهم وبآلهم

عجل بالنصر وبالفرج

O Lord, by them and their families,

hasten victory and relief.

واغفر يا رب لناظمها

وله رقى أعلى الدرج

And forgive, O Lord, its composer,

and grant him ascent to the highest ranks.

واختم عملي بخواتمها

لأكون غداً في الحشر نجِ

And seal my work with its closing verses,

so that tomorrow, at the Gathering, I may be saved.

وإذا بك ضاق الأمر فقل

الشدة أودت بالمهج

And when distress closes in upon you, say:

Hardship has brought ruin upon souls.

يا رب فعجل بالفرج

O Lord, so hasten relief.