1. لَمَّا تقَلْقَلَتِ الرُّكبانُ ساريَةً

    حَدا القُلُوبَ مع الرُّكبانِ حَاديها

    When the riders stirred, journeying by night,

    their driver urged the hearts along with the riders.

  2. ثَنى عَزائمَها وجدٌ أَضَرَّ بها

    لا واخَذَ اللهُ أَسْما في تَثَنِّيها

    Yearning that sorely afflicted them bent their resolve.

    May God not blame Asma for her swaying.

  3. هزَّتْ بِنا العِيسُ حتَّى طارَ طائِرُها

    شوقاً وقد جَذَبَتْنا في تجَنِّيها

    The pale camels rocked us until their bird took flight,

    in longing, while she had drawn us through her unjust reproaches.

  4. بُعَيْدَ أسْما لنا حِبٌّ نَموتُ به

    فخَلِّ أَسْما تُوَفِّي جُهْدَها تِيهَا

    Just beyond Asma, we have a beloved for whom we die.

    So leave Asma to spend her utmost effort on haughtiness.

  5. لو أنَّهُ رَمْشةً أعطى نَواظِرنا

    بُروزَ طالعةٍ غَرَّاءَ نَبْغيها

    If he granted our eyes, for a blink,

    the appearance of a radiant countenance we seek,

  6. وشَتَّ فينا بألبابٍ مُمزَّقَةٍ

    أجْزاؤُها لَوعةُ الهِجرانِ تُفْنيها

    and scattered among us hearts torn apart,

    whose fragments the anguish of separation consumes,

  7. وقالَ هلْ تُبْذَلُ الأرواحُ راضيةً

    منكمْ على نَظرَةٍ بيضاءَ أُبْديها

    and asked, “Would souls be offered willingly

    by you for one radiant glimpse I reveal?”

  8. لَقالَ قائِلُنا خُذ كلَّ جارحةٍ

    لنا والْحَقْ بها الدُّنيا وما فيها

    then our spokesman would say, “Take every limb

    we have, and add to it the world and all within it;

  9. واسْمَحْ بِرَمشَةِ عينٍ نَجْتَلي نَظَراً

    لِطَلْعَتهٍ منكَ قد جَلَّتْ مَعانيها

    and grant an eye's blink in which we may gaze

    upon a countenance of yours whose meanings are sublime.”

  10. يا مُسْدِلَ البُرْدِ في مجْلى جَلالَتِهِ

    عنهُ حِجاباً ولم تُكْشَفْ حَواشيها

    O you who drape the mantle where his majesty appears,

    as a veil over him, its fringes still unrevealed.

  11. قد زَجَّ بالنُّورِ والتَّقْديسِ ظاهرُها

    وعَجَّ بالمَدَدِ الفَيَّاضِ خافيها

    Its outward aspect cast forth light and sanctity,

    and its hidden depths resounded with overflowing aid.

  12. وطَبَّقَ الأُفقَ فُرْساناً مُعَرْبِدَةً

    سُلْطانُها وأرَجَّ الكَوْنَ واليها

    And the horizon was filled with riotous horsemen

    by its sovereign; its governor shook the universe.

  13. وأقْعَدَ القَوْمَ قَسْراً قَهْرُ حاكِمِها

    وقَيَّدَ الكُلَّ منهُمْ في دَعاويها

    And its ruler's overwhelming might forced the people down,

    and bound every one of them within its claims.

  14. بُحْبوحَةٌ عَظُمَتْ شأناً وقد كَبُرَتْ

    قدْراً وحاضرُها سامٍ وباديها

    A spacious realm, mighty in standing, and grown

    in rank; lofty are its settled folk and its nomads.

  15. حَظيرَةٌ طَفَحَتْ بالعِزِّ مائِجَةً

    مُلوكُ أهلِ المَعالي من مَواليها

    A sanctuary surging, overflowing with glory;

    the kings of the exalted are among its retainers.

  16. ضَلَّتْ عَصائِبُ أهلِ الكَوْنِ في عَمَهٍ

    لولا الإشاراتُ من مِقْباسِ هاديها

    The bands of creation's people would have strayed in blind confusion,

    were it not for signs from its guide's torch.

  17. تلكَ الحَضائرُ لو تَبْدو حَقائِقُها

    لَحارَ كُلُّ لَبيبٍ حاذِقٍ فيها

    Those sanctuaries—if their realities appeared,

    every keen, discerning mind would be bewildered within them.

  18. الأنْبِياءُ صُدورُ الكَونِ سادَتُهُ

    والأوْلياءُ بألبابٍ تُناجيها

    The prophets are creation's foremost, its masters,

    and the saints commune with them through their hearts.

  19. لها قُلوبُ أُولي الأسرارِ قد رُفِعَتْ

    بِجَذْبَةٍ تَدَلَّى من مَعاليها

    To them the hearts of those entrusted with secrets have been raised,

    by an attraction descending from their lofty heights.

  20. رُموزُ فَنِّ الخَفايا حَيْثُما اتُّبِعَتْ

    سَرائِرٌ تَتَبَدَّى من مَعانيها

    The symbols of the art of hidden things, wherever followed,

    are secrets emerging from their meanings.

  21. تلكَ الرِّواياتُ أهلُ اللهِ تَعْرِفُها

    وإنَّ جبريلَ روحَ الوَحْيِ راويها

    Those accounts the people of God know,

    and Gabriel, the spirit of revelation, is indeed their narrator.

  22. بِطاحُ حَيٍّ بهِ شَمسُ النُّبُوَّةِ قد

    لاحَتْ وأحْمَدٌ الجَبَّارُ حاميها

    The broad plains of an encampment where the sun of prophethood has

    shone forth, and mighty Ahmad is its protector.

  23. رِسالَةٌ بِصُنوفِ العالَمينَ سَرَتْ

    قَضَتْ على الناسِ قاصيها ودانيها

    A message that spread among all kinds of beings,

    ruling over people, far and near.

  24. لا أبْعَدَ اللهُ قَلبي عن مَحاضِرِها

    لا زَحْزَحَ اللهُ روحي عن مَغانيها

    May God not keep my heart far from its gatherings;

    may God not dislodge my spirit from its abodes.

  25. سَريرَةُ الشَّوقِ في سِرِّ المُهامِ سَرَتْ

    سَفينَةٌ هيَ بسم اللهِ مَجْريها

    The inner secret of longing traveled within the mystery of great affairs;

    a ship it is, its course in the name of God.

  26. شَبَّتْ بها لَوْعَةٌ بالقَلْبِ فاعِلَةٌ

    لا يَسْتَطيعُ انْفِكاكاً عن دَواعيها

    Through it an anguish flared, working in the heart,

    which cannot break free from its urgings.

  27. من أينََ للرُّوحِ مَرْقًى تَسْتَقِرُّ به

    من بعد أسْفارِها في ظِلِّ واديها

    Where can the spirit find an ascent on which to rest

    after its journeys in the shade of its valley?

  28. حَواضِرُ المَلإِ الأعْلى مُرَفْرِفَةٌ

    إلى القِيامَةِ جَهْراً في بَواديها

    The abodes of the highest assembly hover

    openly in its wildernesses until the Resurrection.

  29. فَأشْرَفُ الحَضَراتِ البيضِ حَضْرَتُها

    وخَيرُ نادٍ بِمُلْكِ اللهِ ناديها

    For the noblest of the radiant presences is its presence,

    and the finest gathering in God's dominion is its gathering.

  30. حَظائِرُ القُدْسِ مُلْقاةٌ مَقالِدها

    بِبابِها الكُلُّ صاديها وغاديها

    The keys of the holy precincts are cast down

    at its gate; all thirst for it and journey to it at dawn.

  31. بِقُبَّةٍ طافَ في أعْتابِها زُمَرٌ

    منَ المَلائِكِ إعْظاماً تُحَيِّيها

    At a dome whose thresholds were circled by throngs

    of angels, greeting it in reverence.

  32. من فَوْقِ رَفْرافِ هامِ العَرْشِ عِمَّتُها

    فالطُّهْرُ ساكِنُها واللهُ بانيها

    Its turban is above the fluttering canopy of the Throne's crown;

    for purity dwells within it, and God is its builder.

  33. لا زالَ فُرْقانُ مِسْكِ القُدسِ يُنْشَرُ من

    عَبيرِ سِرِّ المَثاني في مَجاليها

    May the Criterion of holy musk ever be wafted from

    the fragrance of the secret of the oft-repeated verses in its manifestations,

  34. يُبْدي الصَّلاةَ كما يَرضى مُحَمَّدُها

    لِذاتهِ شَرَفاً من فَضْلِ باريها

    offering blessings as its Muhammad desires,

    as honor to his person, from its Creator's bounty,

  35. وألْفَ ألْفِ سَلامٍ لا انْقِضاءَ لهُ

    مع التَّحِيَّاتِ باديها وخافيها

    and a thousand thousand salutations without end,

    with greetings, both manifest and hidden,

  36. تُتَرْجِمُ الشَّوْقَ من عَبدٍ لِسُدَّتِهِ

    من طَوْرِ روحٍ غَدا أقْصى أمانيها

    expressing a servant's longing for his exalted threshold,

    from the state of a spirit whose utmost wish he has become,

  37. حتَّى يَلوحَ لها من طَورِ قُبَّتهِ

    سَطَّاعُ بَدْرٍ فَيُفْنيها ويُحْييها

    until there appears to it, from the mount of his dome,

    a full moon's blazing radiance, annihilating it and giving it life.