1. كيف لا أَنْدُبُ الطُّلولَ غَرامَا

    وفُؤادي على الطُّلولِ تَرامى

    How can I not lament the ruins out of passionate love,

    when my heart has flung itself upon the ruins?

  2. فاعْذُرني يا أَهل وُدِّي بحِبِّي

    فلقد علَّمَ القُلُوبَ الغَراما

    So pardon me, O friends I cherish, for my beloved's sake;

    for he has indeed taught hearts passionate love.

  3. والذي صيَّرَ القُلُوبَ سُكارى

    ذاهِلاتٍ وطائراتٍ هُياما

    By the one who made hearts drunk,

    dazed and soaring in love's rapture,

  4. إِنَّ لي في الطُّلولِ معنًى لَطيفاً

    أَقعَدَ الشَّوقَ في الفُؤادِ فَقاما

    indeed, I have within the ruins a subtle meaning

    that seated longing in the heart, whereupon it rose.

  5. أَسهرُ اللَّيلَ والِهاً ذا شُجونٍ

    وأَرى لَذَّةَ المَنامِ حَراما

    I stay awake through the night, distraught and full of sorrows,

    and deem the pleasure of sleep forbidden.

  6. وأُعيدُ الكَلامَ والحُبُّ قَوْلي

    أَنا لولاهُ ما عرفْتُ الكَلاما

    I repeat the words, and love is my speech;

    without it, I would never have known speech.

  7. وضَجيجُ الرُّكْبانِ من أَيمنِ الوَا

    دي خُشوعاً والأَنُّ كانَ لِزاما

    And the riders' clamor from the valley's right side,

    in humble awe, with groaning now inescapable,

  8. وحَنينُ الحادي وقد زُمَّتِ العِي

    سُ وشبَّتْ نارُ القُلُوبِ اضْطِراما

    and the camel-driver's yearning chant, the pale camels now haltered,

    as the fire of hearts flared into a blaze,

  9. عرَّفَتْنا أَنَّ الطُّلولَ تَراءَتْ

    وشهِدْنا قربَ الطُّلولِ الخِياما

    told us that the ruins had come into view;

    and near the ruins we beheld the tents.

  10. فأَتَيْنا والحيُّ من كلِّ طلٍّ

    للمحبِّينَ أَفلَتَ الآراما

    So we came, and the tribe, from every ruin,

    released the gazelles for the lovers.

  11. ملأَتْنا العُيونُ منها جِراحاً

    كلُّ رَمْشٍ منها يَسُلُّ حُساما

    Their eyes filled us with wounds;

    every eyelash of theirs unsheathes a sword.

  12. يا نَدامى والوجدُ أَمرٌ عَجيبٌ

    ساعِدونا على الهوَى يا نَدامى

    O boon companions—longing is a wondrous thing—

    help us bear our passion, O boon companions.

  13. قد حَيينا والقومُ راضُوا كَمالاً

    ولَغَوْنا والقومُ مرُّوا كِراما

    We lived, while the people cultivated perfection;

    and we spoke idly, while the people passed nobly by.

  14. نفَحَ الطِّيبُ بالخِيامِ فهِمْنا

    ونَسينا الشُّهورَ والأَعْواما

    Fragrance wafted through the tents, and we were enraptured;

    and we forgot the months and years.

  15. واللَّيالي هناكَ لمَّا تقضَّتْ

    هي أَنستْ عُقولَنا الأَيَّاما

    And when the nights there had passed,

    they made our minds forget the days.

  16. نظرٌ يُسكِرُ المُحِبَّ نعَمْ نح

    نُ سَكِرْنا وما رَشَفْنا مُداما

    A glance intoxicates the lover—yes, we

    were drunk, though we had sipped no wine.

  17. ما أُحيلَى لمَّا وصلْنا سُحَيْراً

    وقرأْنا على الدِّيارِ السَّلاما

    How very sweet it was when we arrived just before dawn

    and greeted the dwellings with peace;

  18. وشَممنا مِسْكَ الخُدودِ لَطيفاً

    ورأَيْنا الرَّاياتِ والأَعْلاما

    and smelled the delicate musk of cheeks,

    and saw the banners and standards.

  19. وملأْنا القُلوبَ منَّا سُطوراً

    وجعلْنا أَلْبابَنا أَقْلاما

    And we filled the hearts with lines of our own,

    and made our minds into pens.

  20. يا رَفيقي وأَنتَ خيرُ رَفيقٍ

    متْ بحُبِّي واطْرَحْ به من لامَا

    O my companion, you are the best of companions:

    die in my love, and through it cast aside whoever reproaches you.

  21. وافْهَمِ السِّرَّ من كلامٍ رَشيقٍ

    رُبَّ سِرٍّ قد أَوْدَعوهُ الكَلاما

    And understand the secret in graceful speech:

    many a secret they have lodged in words.

  22. كم بحرفٍ طَوى اللَّبيبُ فُصولاً

    حيَّرَتْ في تَصْريفِها الأَوْهاما

    How many chapters the discerning man has folded into a letter,

    whose unfolding has bewildered imaginations!

  23. هِمْ عن الكونِ بالحَبيبِ فما

    شَ بغَبْنٍ مُوَلَّهٌ قد هاما

    Lose yourself in the Beloved, away from the universe; for no

    enraptured lover, lost in love, is at a loss.

  24. وترقَّبْ من ذَروَةِ الغيبِ إِلها

    ماً إلى القلبِ مُسْقِطاً إِلهاما

    And await, from the summit of the unseen, an inspiration

    that casts inspiration down into the heart.

  25. وتدبَّرْ من نُكْتَةِ الذَّوقِ معنًى

    يُبلِجُ القلبَ بل يُضيءُ الظَّلاما

    And ponder a meaning drawn from the subtle point of spiritual tasting,

    that brightens the heart—nay, lights up the darkness.

  26. والتَزِمْ رُكْنَ من تُحِبُّ وَحيداً

    واترُكِ العُرْبَ فيه والأَعْجاما

    And cling alone to the refuge of the one you love,

    and, in him, leave Arabs and non-Arabs behind.

  27. وتخلَّصْ من رِبْقَةِ الكونِ طُرًّا

    كم سَقيمٍ بالوهمِ صلَّى وصَاما

    And free yourself wholly from the universe's fetter;

    how many a person sick with illusion has prayed and fasted!

  28. واترُكِ الكلَّ تُدْرِكِ الكلَّ واخْلِصْ

    إِنَّ نورَ الإِخلاصِ يجْلو القَتاما

    Leave all, and you will attain all; be sincere,

    for the light of sincerity dispels the murk.

  29. وتذكَّرْ حالَ الرِّجالِ إذا ما

    قَطَعوا اللَّيلَ رُكَّعاً وقِياما

    And remember the state of the men when

    they passed the night bowing and standing in prayer.

  30. ذَهَبوا عن شُؤونِهم وبصِدقٍ

    وهُيامٍ قد طهَّروا الأَفْهاما

    They withdrew from their own concerns, and with sincerity

    and passionate love purified their understanding.

  31. وخُذِ المُصْطَفى دَليلاً كَريماً

    وأَميناً وقُدوَةً وإِماما

    And take al-Mustafa as a noble guide,

    and a trusted one, a model, and an imam.

  32. رَبِّ بلِّغْهُ من عُبَيْدِكَ دَهراً

    كلَّ رَمْشٍ تحيَّةً وسَلاما

    My Lord, convey to him from Your humble servant, for all time,

    with every blink, a greeting and peace.

  33. فهو قد بلَّغَ الأَمانَةَ فينا

    وبعزْمٍ قد أَظْهَرَ الإِسْلاما

    For he has conveyed the trust among us,

    and with resolve has made Islam manifest.

  34. وبنورِ الإِيمانِ أَحْيى قُلوباً

    قبلَ أَنْ جاءَ تحمِلُ الأَوْهاما

    And with the light of faith he revived hearts

    that, before he came, had borne illusions.

  35. فأَحالَ الوهمَ المُبَرِّحِ فهماً

    ومِثالَ الأَنْعامِ شُوساً عِظاما

    He turned tormenting illusion into understanding,

    and those like cattle into fierce, mighty men.

  36. قلَبَ الشُّؤمَ بالعِنايَةِ يُمْناً

    وأَعادَ النَّقصَ المُشِينَ تَماما

    He turned ill fortune into good fortune through providence,

    and restored shameful deficiency to wholeness.

  37. هو في حضرَةِ البِدايَةِ بَدْءٌ

    قام للمُرْسَلينَ طُرًّا خِتاما

    He is a beginning in the presence of the beginning;

    he stood as the last of all the messengers.