1. I said to the noble, intelligent knower:
Take words from me you have no doubt in.

2. Do not think al-Khalil said this.
He is my Lord from a planet he saw,

3. Or about the sun or the shining moon.
Far be it from him to stray!

4. Rather, he said that about the kingdom
God showed him for guidance.

5. And he became one of those certain
As God said of him when choosing him.

6. And read the verse in which that is,
And ponder with understanding what comes to you.

7. You will find the matter called the kingdom,
A command of the Lord, transcendent of all.

8. Thus he was saying: I do not love
The setting of creation he meant,

9. But I love the command which is
Their rising, as I hinted to.

10. It is the science of gesture, the inheritance from
What the prophets brought, each following it.

11. We inherited it from honored shaykhs
Through chains from prophet to prophet.

12. The True's call to creation, without a how
Or likeness for it or assimilation.

13. So convey it from us to whom you wish
With meanings of glorification and transcendence.

14. And likewise idols became fragments
By a hand zealous of them moving him.

15. Then after, he said, "Except the greatest,"
That they might turn from them in awe of Him.

16. And greatest of idols is the Lord encompassing
His command over creation as He purposes.

17. And far from him, he says about the idols,
"Except their greatest," esteeming Him.

18. He is Ibrahim the Friend, prayers
And peace from God upon him.

19. So ask them, and he did not say "ask Him"
Where they were in equivocation.

20. Thus understand the speech, or else
Leave truth with a learned shaykh.