1. شُرافَةُ الشَّوقِ لا زالت تَطولُ إلى

    أنْ طاوَلتْ قُممَ الأفلاكِ ثمََّّ عَلتْ

    The battlement of longing kept rising until

    it rivaled the peaks of the celestial spheres, then rose higher.

  2. واسْتَطْلعتْ في سَمواتِ الضَّميرِ لنا

    شُموسُ وجدٍ أفانينَ الظَّلامِ جَلتْ

    And in the heavens of the inner self there appeared for us

    suns of ecstasy that dispelled darkness in its many forms.

  3. ومزَّقَتْ نفْسَ عبدٍ بالغرامِ عَفا

    بأيِّ ذنبٍ إذاً مَوؤودَتي قُتلتْ

    And they tore apart the soul of a servant worn away by love.

    For what sin, then, was my buried-alive girl killed?

  4. لله أدّمعُ عينٍ طالما هَطلتْ

    ومنكَ أجفانُ عيْنٍ طالما فعَلتْ

    To God belong an eye's tears, so often poured forth,

    and from you, an eye's lids that have so often acted.

  5. ورَمشةٌ بالصِقَّالِ البيضِ قَدْ قطعَتْ

    وأنَّةٌ للفَناءِ المَحضِ قَدْ وصلَتْ

    And a blink has cut with polished white swords,

    and a groan has reached pure annihilation.

  6. وزَفرةٌ ملأَ الأكْوانَ لاهِبُها

    وما سرَتْ وبِقلبي وحدهُ اشْتعلَتْ

    And a sigh whose blaze filled the worlds,

    yet did not spread, but blazed in my heart alone.

  7. وحضْرةٌ من فُؤادي فيكَ حاضرةٌ

    وعن جَنابكَ طرْفَ العينِ ما اشْتغلَتْ

    And a presence from my heart is present in you,

    and has not been distracted from your presence for an eye's blink.

  8. ورنَّةٌ ضمْنَ عَقلي لَوعتي عقَلتْ

    وحُكمَ حُبِّكَ في أطرافهِ عقِلَتْ

    And a ringing cry within my mind has bound my anguish,

    and understood the rule of your love in its reaches.

  9. ولوعةٌ أذْهلَتْ روحي وعن شغَفٍ

    بنورِ حُسنكَ عن كلِّ الوَرَى ذهِلتْ

    And anguish bewildered my soul, and through passion

    for the light of your beauty it became oblivious to all creation.

  10. وفكْرةٌ علِمتْ معْناكَ حين رَوَتْ

    عنكَ المَعاني وأسْنادَ الهَوَى نقَلتْ

    And a thought knew your meaning when it narrated

    meanings from you, and passed on love's chains of transmission.

  11. وصَيْحةٌ أخذتْ قلبي فريعَ بها

    وهمَّةٌ بك يا مولايَ ما بطِلتْ

    And a cry seized my heart, which was startled by it,

    and an aspiration through you, O my master, never proved vain.

  12. وبُغيةٌ دونكُمْ خفَّتْ وفيكَ على

    ميزانِها بينَ أربابِ النُّهى ثقُلتْ

    And a desire apart from you grew light; but in you, on

    its scales among the masters of reason, it grew weighty.

  13. روحي فِداكَ وتدري كلَّ بُغيتها

    وإنْ تكنْ هي في مَطْلوبِها جهِلتْ

    My soul be your ransom, and you know all that it seeks,

    even if it has been ignorant of what it seeks.

  14. عزيمةً عزمَتْ حتَّى إِذا صَعِدتْ

    عن دركِ مَعناكَ في ناسوتِها نزلتْ

    It made a firm resolve, until, when it ascended,

    it descended in its human nature, short of grasping your meaning.

  15. ونفسِ حُرٍّ عن الأكوانِ قَدْ عزَفتْ

    لأجلِ وجهكَ منها الذَّاتُ قَدْ بُذِلتْ

    And by a free man's soul, which has turned away from the worlds,

    for your face's sake, its very self has been offered up;

  16. وما انْطوى لك في قلبي خزائنُهُ

    للهْفِ ما فُتحتْ يوماً ولا قُفِلتْ

    and by what lies enfolded for you in my heart—its treasuries

    have never been opened for yearning, nor closed;

  17. وطينةٍ قبلَ أن قامتْ عَلائمُها

    على غرامِكَ في طيِّ العَما جُبلتْ

    and by clay that, before its signs appeared,

    was molded upon love of you within the folds of the Cloud;

  18. وما السَّريرةُ من لُبِّي عليهِ من ال

    عهْدِ القديمِ وأسرارِ الهَوَى اشْتملَتْ

    and by what the inward secret of my core, from the

    ancient covenant and the mysteries of love, has embraced:

  19. أنْظارُ عَيني سِوى مَعناكَ ما نَظرتْ

    ولا مدامعُها إِلاَّ لهُ هملَتْ

    My eye's glances have looked upon nothing but your meaning,

    nor have its tears flowed for anything but it.

  20. فانظرْ لِحالِ امرءٍ أوضاعُهُ سفِلتْ

    يا من مَعانيهِ في كلِّ الشُؤُنِ علَتْ

    So look upon the state of a man whose circumstances have sunk low,

    O you whose meanings have risen high in all affairs.