1. The time of departure has come
So stop at the difficult threshold

2. And cry over the right resolve
As the frail body bows down

3. A soul growing faint with fever
Overcomes it with its heaviness

4. As if it were the faint trace
Gleaming through the meadows at dusk

5. Time has cut off its hopes
With despair at attaining union

6. So it clung to the tails of my visitors
To those battlefields

7. And it began to implore those
In whom it saw signs of acceptance

8. O rider of the saddled camel wandering
In the wilds, dragging the tail of affliction

9. Strutting in the ink of the east at dawn
And in the garments of the late morning

10. Circling above the river of death
Like stars above a watercourse

11. Having grown accustomed to the path
Until appearing emaciated and frail

12. The extremists flee while they have
Naught but longing to guide them

13. And the tears in his eyelids increase
What flows from his ribs

14. And the breeze from lightning flashes
Gleams like a polished sword

15. So he spends the night reckoning fate
And soothing himself about the slain

16. And the incidents continue to shake him
With memories of beauty and affliction

17. And if he complains of the heat of ashes
I describe to him the shade of the palm trees

18. Until from longing he almost takes flight
The mounts with their burdens

19. By Allah! Bear my message
To the Messenger

20. And when you reach al-‘Aqiq
And prevail over it with ease

21. And glimpse in the darkness the moons
Safe from setting

22. And stand at the Gate of Peace
In that gentle shade

23. And look from the stars
To the Ascents of Gabriel

24. Unload your saddlebags and relieve
The heavy burden of my longing

25. And write a letter about my passion
In the sand with pouring tears

26. For tears speak more eloquently
Than words can tell

27. And say, “Peace be upon you,
O best of creation!”

28. O best of those whose sandals I make my goal
O you through whom all that is difficult becomes smooth

29. O you whose abundant grace
Will suffice until the Final Day

30. O savior of the disobedient one from
That momentous, awful calamity

31. O Allah’s blessing upon both his parents
Adam and Abraham the Friend

32. O mercy that spread over the realms
From a mighty King

33. You slept in the Farthest Mosque, the peak
Of glorious origin

34. So that jinn and mankind through you
Became equal in submission

35. You summoned the trees and they prostrated
Without delay

36. You restored the sight of Qatadah
Keener than kohl

37. And the staff of ‘Akashah you made
A sword without flaw

38. And likewise the moan of the palm trunk
Became soft wool

39. When you left it, it swayed in sorrow
And cried out in lament

40. What an exalted rank by which you surpassed
Those of profound understanding, confounded!

41. Strange that inanimate things praised
While rational minds were silent!

42. And water from your pool overflowed
Cascading like downpour

43. While the army then had no water
To quench their burning thirst

44. So they satisfied themselves and completed
Ritual purity to the ankles

45. And likewise you satisfied two hundred
From one emaciated ewe

46. O Seal of the Messengers, noble and
Source of abundant grace

47. What can I say in praise even if
Serpents became eloquent?

48. Is there a way for me unto that proximity
And its Dweller to be my companion?

49. That I may roam its hills freely
And find solace for my longing

50. For I have been overlong, gaining nothing
From time so slow to pass

51. Time is gone and too narrow
To attain my hopes and desires

52. The journey of life has ended
And the next has drawn near, so say:

53. “O Lord, make his love my provision
To the Abode of Eternity.”

54. For by his rank I have sworn an oath
Out of my fond notion

55. And hoped for his intercession
When my works fail me

56. May Allah shower him with blessings
As long as branches grow from roots!

57. Convey my secret unto the One called
Upon in hardship and ease!