1. Perhaps the harshness of life will be kind
To a heart whose yearning prayed and longing answered

2. He walked away no longer turning back to home
Lest he should see it burning with anguish

3. And his body did not betray in leaving
Bound as it was, but he saw it as sinfully bound

4. So he parted from it in despair
Rarely does the freed last in useful bonds

5. O absent loved ones, a banished prayer
Sees the door closed to him, locked by you

6. Tomorrow his sighs and breath will meet
When you draw him close and end the separation

7. And red tears will race down his cheeks
When those riders return and embrace him

8. And the lonely exile will pray if far from you
While the branch of his hopes blooms only near you

9. He is left when you go, his passion futile
Grieving, hearing the fire and burning

10. And how many lines of resolve did he pen
Yet the hand of deprivation erased and destroyed them

11. And how often he yearned jealously for the perfume of flowers
While another attained it and he wept at dusk

12. And how often he hoped to journey to the sanctuary,
To gain your company, yet his efforts failed

13. My friends, my heart leans toward the caravan
To them - though unseen they are still vivid

14. Perhaps they will gladden me with kindness
I confide my burning longing lest they suffer it

15. And leave with them a plaint to soften their compassion
Whose gentleness humbled mountains and split them

16. When they crossed the dark dangers of the night sea
May the shoulders of dawn scent them with musk

17. And appear upon the eyelids like arrows
Aimed with purpose, striking and piercing

18. And the morn unveils after the night of desolation
A tender dawn rising for them in the horizon

19. And the lightning of victory flashes from the sanctuary clouds
Meeting them, and a courier sent from it

20. Waving to them, so their hearts understand
Turning to it while it hides behind the hills fluttering

21. Until the light of guidance shone clear
With the tears of my devotion overfilling its vision

22. So I thank the dawn of success after their night
And slight to them was what they endured meeting you

23. And that station silenced them, leaving them
Nothing but tears during those scenes of witnessing

24. And it covered them in such light that if not
For their appointment, no eye could have stared

25. There the burdens of sins fell from all people
And the captives of crimes were released

26. And no eye but drowned in tears
No heart untouched, burning with passion

27. So carrier of success, yes, by God, pause
Until you deliver it, arrive secured

28. For in its fold is greeting concealed
That if revealed, the world will scent it

29. And say, O Messenger of God, you were created peerless
With love for you overwhelming my tears and drowning me

30. I try to incline toward you but between us
A wall of my sins stands blocking the way

31. Whenever I long for the sanctuary, from my tears
And burning breath, liquid pearls and sparks fly

32. Your apparition appears to me at the door
Dazzled by the light of your epiphany till I faint

33. Perhaps my fervent longing exceeded the bounds
To attain the blessing of your company soon

34. Neither will disappointment revive my hopes
Nor the branch of my wishes bloom anew

35. And when he saw his goal obstructed
While deprivation and lessening sustained him

36. He rose donning the garb of patience after
It was torn by the hands of passion shred by shred

37. And bade even the breeze convey a greeting
Beyond its gentle whispers opening and spreading

38. And sent from afar a wretched supplication
To grasp the tail of your generosity, attaching to it

39. For you are intercessor of the sinners, and Hellfire
Hurls the transgressors and strikes them with flames

40. And none, save you O Master of Worlds
Will be there, without bewildered and silent

41. No intercessor has standing in that station
Except you, whom the creation universally acknowledge

42. For you is the Pool of Abundance, and above it
Are vessels, and you are the one who serves its water

43. They extended their cups like stars, and its water
Remains undiminished though many come to it

44. O Seal of Prophets, foremost among them in the arena of virtue
Surpassing all with your sublime traits

45. O you who, when the delegation visited in love
Were of the most excellent character and noble manners

46. Bestow upon me, O Master of Worlds, a portion
Of the virtue you were granted, spread among all people

47. O you through whom the Hashimites are raised
Above the stars of Capricorn, towering and lofty

48. O you who illuminated the horizon at the moment of your birth
Causing perspicacity to spread and minds to be freed

49. And the palace of Chosroes split the day you were born
Its battlements crumbling and sliding

50. And the Rabbis prophesied before your birth
Of your mission, as revelation flowed from the heavens

51. And the stoned satans fell prostrate
Their listening spreading through the celestial realm

52. And the idols were overturned at the hour of your birth
Their heads lowered, their foundations shaken

53. And the tree trunk yearned for you, with longing
That split it, after long separation tearing it asunder

54. And though your enemies schemed when you sheltered in the cave
The encircling doves protected you

55. The spider’s web was draped over you deceptively
Yet you succeeded while the eyes of disbelief lowered

56. And you passed your right hand over the belly of she camel
Until her skin nearly detached from her bones

57. She then knelt until she sated the whole convoy
And her udder remained full, pouring forth

58. You held serpents, grasping them
Till they flowed submissively in your grasp

59. You possessed miracles like the stars, and one who tries
To count the stars will surely fail and falter

60. And one whose elongated speeches fall short
Of your wonders, is deficient and inadequate

61. I got up to meet you, knowing well
That sins preclude and hinder the way

62. But longing drove me and passion led me
So the raven of misfortune cried ominously

63. Will my tears at your tomb
Take the place of my eyes gazing gently?

64. And will the hand of union remove the garb of patience
Wrestled by longing unfettered and unkind?

65. To you O Messenger of God, a prayer from one
Whose voice is muted, his utterance constrained

66. Threatened until excuses fled his great sins
Leaving only tormenting regret

67. Who will, without your love, be steeped in sins
Devoid of good, except loving you protects him

68. While you are kind to those whose wrongs distance them
Have mercy, best of all creation, have mercy

69. For you judge his deeds seeking excuse
And you are foremost in kindness and forbearance

70. Upon you, peace of God, neither transient
Nor fleeting, for you are most joyous and bright

71. The leaves did not sing, nor did the horizon bloom
As the travelers of the arid land set out and ascended