ما بال نفس تطيل شكواها

إلى الورى وهي ترتجي اللَه

What ails a soul that prolongs her complaints

To humankind, while putting her hope in God?

يفسد إخلاصها شكايتها

ذاك الذي راعها وأرداها

Her complaining corrupts her sincerity;

That is what frightened her and brought her to ruin.

لو أنها من مليكها اقتربت

وأخلصت ودُّها لأدناها

Had she drawn near to her Sovereign

And made her love sincere, He would have brought her near.

لكنها آثرت برتيه

عليه جهلاً به فأقصاها

But she preferred His creatures [reading uncertain]

To Him, ignorant of Him, so He drove her away.

أفقرها المورى ولو لجأت

إليه من دونهم لأعتاها

Her Lord made her poor [reading uncertain]; yet had she sought refuge

In Him rather than them, He would have provided for her [reading uncertain].

تشكو إلى خلقه كأنهم

قد ملكوا نفعها وضراها

She complains to His creatures as though they

Held the power to help and harm her.

لو فوضت أمرها لخالقها

وصححت صدقها وتكلاها

Had she entrusted her affairs to her Creator

And made her sincerity and reliance true,

عرضها من همومها مزجاً

ولم يدعها يطول غماها

He would have exchanged her cares for relief [reading uncertain],

And would not have let her grief endure.

تسخطه في رضا بريته

تباً له ما أجل يلواها

She angers Him by pleasing His creatures.

Woe to that! How great her affliction [wording uncertain]!

لو أنها للعباد مسخطة

مرضية ربها لأرضها

Had she displeased the servants

While pleasing her Lord, He would have pleased her.

لدي نفس أحب أنعتها

لتعرفوا نعتها وأسماها

I have a soul whose nature I wish to describe,

So that you may know her character and her names.

فاسمع صفاتي لها لعلك أن

تفهم ذا اللب سر معناها

Hear my description of her, that you might

Understand, O discerning one, her hidden meaning.

تسعى إلى اللهو وهو غايتها

يا ويلها ما أضر مسعها

She pursues diversion: it is her goal.

Woe to her! How harmful her pursuit!

أزجرها وهي لي مخالفة

كأنني لست من أوداها

I rebuke her, yet she defies me,

As though I were not one who loved her [reading uncertain].

تنظر في عيب غيرها سفهاً

وكم عيوبٍ لها فتنساها

Foolishly she looks at the faults of others,

And forgets how many faults she has herself.

قد ظلَمتني بسوء عثرتها

ولم تدع لي تقوى ولا جاها

She has wronged me through her grievous stumbling,

Leaving me neither piety nor standing.

كثيرة اللغو في مجالسها

قليلة الذكر في مصلاها

Much given to idle talk in her gatherings,

Little given to remembrance in her place of prayer;

قليلة الشكر عند نعمتها

ضعيفة الصبر عند بلواها

Offering little thanks when blessed,

Showing little patience when afflicted;

بطيئة السعي في مصالحها

سريعة الجري في بلاياها

Slow to strive for her own good,

Swift to rush into her calamities;

كثيرة المطل في مواعدها

كذوبة في جميع دعواها

Much given to delay in her promises,

Lying in all her claims;

بصيرة بالهوى وفتنته

عمية عن أمور أخراها

Clear-sighted about desire and its temptation,

Blind to the affairs of her hereafter;

نشيطة عند وقت لذتها

كاسلة عند وقت ذكراها

Energetic when it is time for her pleasure,

Sluggish when it is time for her remembrance;

تؤومة العين عند صحتها

عظيمة الخوف عند ضراها

Drowsy-eyed when she is healthy [reading uncertain],

Greatly afraid when harm befalls her;

حليفة الكبر والرياء فقد

أفسدها كبرها وأطغاها

An ally of pride and ostentation—for

Her pride has corrupted her and driven her to excess;

عظيمة المدح والثناء لمن

يرفع مقدارها ومثواها

Lavish in praise and acclaim for whoever

Raises her rank and her station;

مطيلة الذم بالقبيح لمن

عرفها قدرها وطغياها

Prolonging ugly condemnation of whoever

Makes her know her worth and her transgression;

تفرح في أكلها ومشربها

وحبها للمنام أغراها

Rejoicing in her food and drink,

And seduced by her love of sleep;

ذاكرة للورى مساويهم

ناسية ما جناه كفراها

Recounting to people their faults,

Forgetting what her own two hands have done [reading uncertain].

كم بين نفسي وبين نفس فتى

طهرها بالتقى ونقاها

How far my soul is from the soul of a young man

Who purified her through piety and cleansed her,

علمها رشدها وبصرها

ثم بقوت الحلال غداها

Taught her the right way and gave her insight,

Then fed her with lawful sustenance;

أقامها في الدجى على قدم

فانهملت بالدموع عيناها

He made her stand on her feet in the darkness,

And her eyes poured forth tears.

إذا اشتهت شهوة يعودها

بخوف معبودها فسلاها

Whenever she craved something, he trained her

Through fear of the One she worshipped, and eased her longing.

وراضها بالصيام فانقمعت

بالرغم عن غيها ومغراها

He disciplined her through fasting, so she was restrained,

Against her will, from her error and her enticements.

ذاكرة للإله شاكرة

مخلصة سرها ونجواها

Remembering God and giving thanks,

Sincere in her inward thoughts and whispered prayers.

للَه نفس امرئٍ موفقة

آوت إلى ربها فآواها

To God belongs the soul of a man granted guidance,

That sought refuge in her Lord, and He sheltered her.

شرفها ربها وكرمها

ومن مياه اليقين أرواها

Her Lord honored her and ennobled her,

And quenched her thirst with the waters of certainty.

سمت إليه بحسن فكرتها

ثم صافي ودادها فصفاها

She rose toward Him through her noble reflection,

Then He met her love with sincerity and purified her.

تلك التي أن دعت لحاجتها

أجابها مسرعاً ولباها

Such is the soul: if she calls in need,

He answers her swiftly and heeds her.

إن بليت بالخطوب صبرها

أو سألت ما يريد أعطاها

If she is tried by calamities, He gives her patience;

Or if she asks for what He wills, He gives it to her.

ليست كنفسٍ لدي عاصية

آمرها جاهداً وأنهاها

She is not like the rebellious soul I have,

Which I labor to command and forbid.

وهي لأمر الإله عاصية

ويلي لما قد جنت ويلاها

She disobeys the command of God.

Woe to me for what she has done—woe to her!

كيف إلى ربها تنوب وقد

ذلت لشيطانها فأغراها

How can she return to her Lord, when

She has submitted to her devil, who has lured her astray?

فكلما قلت نفس أزدجري

وراقبي في أمورك اللَه

Whenever I say, 'O soul, restrain yourself,

And be mindful of God in your affairs,'

صمت عن الحق وهي سامعة

كأنني ما أريد إياها

She turns deaf to the truth, though she hears,

As though I did not mean her.

لو علمت بعض ما له خلقت

أحزنها علمها وأبكاها

Had she known even some of what she was created for,

Her knowledge would have grieved her and made her weep.

لو تعرف اللَه حق معرفة

لصححت برها وتقواها

Had she truly known God,

She would have set her goodness and piety right.

لكنها جهلها بخالقها

أغفلها رشدها وألهاها

But her ignorance of her Creator

Has made her heedless of right guidance and distracted her.

يا ويح نفسي والويح حق لها

أن صدها ربها وأرداها

Alas for my soul! Such lament is her due,

For her Lord has rejected her and brought her to ruin.

تغرها لذة الحياة وما

تدري إلى ما يكون عقباها

The pleasure of life beguiles her, and she does not

Know what her final outcome will be.

قد ضقت ذرعاً بها وأحبسها

لم أك أعصي الإله لولاها

I can no longer bear her, and I restrain her;

Were it not for her, I would not disobey God.

إن أنا حاولت طاعت فترت

وأظهرت وحشة وأكراها

Whenever I attempt obedience, she grows listless

And shows estrangement and aversion [wording uncertain].

صرت مع النفس في محاربةٍ

تأمرني بالهوى وأنهاها

I have entered into warfare with my soul:

She commands me to follow desire, and I forbid her.

نحن كقرنين في معاركة

أدرع الصبر عند لقياها

We are like two rivals locked in combat;

I don patience as armor when I meet her,

وهي بجند الهوى مبارزتي

وأي صبر يطيق هيجاها

While she challenges me with the army of desire.

What patience could withstand her battle?

إن جبنت بالقتال شجعها

أو ضعفت في اللقاء قواها

If she grows timid in battle, desire emboldens her;

Or if she weakens in the clash, it strengthens her.

أصرعها تراة وتصرعني

لكن لها السبق حين ألقاها

At times I fell her, and she fells me,

But she has the advantage when I meet her.

أحبها وهي لي معادية

كأنني لست من أحباها

I love her, yet she is hostile to me,

As though I were not one who loved her.

عدوة لا أطيق أبغضها

يا ليتني أستطيع أنساها

An enemy I cannot bring myself to hate—

If only I could forget her!

سابحة في بحار فتنتها

جاثية في سدول ظلماها

Swimming in the seas of her temptation,

Kneeling within the curtains of her darkness.

أحسبها أن أبت موفقتي

خاسرة دينها ودنياها

I reckon that, if she refuses to agree with me,

She will lose both her faith and her worldly life.

يا رب عجل لها بتوبتها

واغسل بماء التقى خطاياها

O Lord, hasten her repentance for her,

And wash her sins with the water of piety.

إن تك يا سيدي معذبها

من ذا الذي يرتجي لرحماها

If You, my Master, should punish her,

Who, then, could hope for mercy upon her?

فألطف بها واغتفر خطيئتها

أنك خلاقها ومولاها

Be gentle with her, then, and forgive her sin,

For You are her Creator and her Lord.