1. حبذا وارد صفا

    وجنًى ظله ضفا

    How lovely an inspiration grown pure,

    and fruit whose shade spreads wide;

  2. واشارات عارف

    ظاهرات مع الخفا

    and a knower's intimations,

    manifest even amid concealment;

  3. ومعان عروسها

    تلبس الحلى أحرفا

    and meanings whose bride

    wears jewels in the form of letters.

  4. مسمع الشيخ قد غدا

    بحُلاها مشنفا

    The sheikh's ear has become

    adorned with their jewels as earrings.

  5. حليت في صحيفة

    فتمثلت مصحفا

    They were adorned on a page,

    and so took the form of a codex.

  6. وتحليتُ روضها

    عرفها قد تعرّفا

    And I adorned myself with their garden;

    their fragrance has made itself known.

  7. لبست من بديعها

    بردزهر مفوفا

    From their wondrous art I donned

    a robe of blossoms, richly striped.

  8. وبدارنور نورها

    فحذار ان يخطفا

    And in a house of light is their light—

    so beware lest it dazzle.

  9. كل شادى معنى على

    غصن حرف ليهتفا

    Each meaning is a singer upon

    a letter's branch, there to call aloud.

  10. يا لها تحفة جزى ال

    له خيرا من اتحفا

    What a gift! May God

    reward with good the one who bestowed it.

  11. أوقفت عبد رقها

    موقفا جل موفقا

    It stationed the slave held in its bondage

    in a lofty, favored station.

  12. بشرتني بأنني

    صالح ان اعرّفا

    It brought me glad tidings that I

    was worthy to be made known.

  13. جاء امر مصرّف

    لم أحد عنه مصرفا

    A command came from one with authority;

    I did not turn aside from it at all:

  14. شرف الدين اشرفا

    Sharaf al-Din, most noble,

  15. الفصيح الذى له ال

    قول أضحى مصرفا

    the eloquent one, to whom

    speech has become subject;

  16. والعليم المحقق ال

    كامل الصدق والوفا

    and the learned, discerning one,

    perfect in truthfulness and fidelity;

  17. وهو العارف الذي

    كان فى الناس أشرفا

    and he is the knower who

    was the noblest among people.

  18. قال لى قل فقلت اذ

    لم أجد عنه مصرفا

    He said to me, 'Speak'; so I spoke, since

    I found no way to turn from it:

  19. ان من صاغه الغرا

    م الى غاية الخفا

    Indeed, one whom passion has fashioned

    to the utmost limit of concealment—

  20. ان تناهى الى فتى

    لسوى حبّه نفى

    if it comes at last to a young man

    who banishes all but his love—

  21. فبه البيت زائر

    وبه قد تطوّفا

    through him the House is a visitor,

    and around him it has circled.

  22. وله الكل راجع

    وله العيش قد صفا

    And to him all things return,

    and for him life has become serene.

  23. واذا لم يكن مع ال

    حب شي فهو الصفا

    And if there is not, alongside

    love, anything, that is purity.

  24. وهو في كل حالة

    صاحب الصدق والوفا

    And in every state he is

    a man of truthfulness and fidelity.

  25. ومتى يبق بعضه

    كان صبّا مكلفا

    And whenever some of him remains,

    he is a lover, deeply enamored.

  26. يا لها من بقية

    حكمها قد تصرّفا

    Oh, what a remnant!

    Its rule has taken command.

  27. عندها القرب والنوى

    ولها الوصل والجفا

    With it lie nearness and separation,

    and to it belong union and estrangement.

  28. وهي الذل والضنا

    ولها العز والشفا

    And it is abasement and wasting illness,

    and to it belong honor and healing.

  29. واذا ما المحب في ال

    حب نال الضنى اشتفى

    And when the lover, in

    love, suffers wasting illness, he finds healing.

  30. وإذا ذل عز أو

    خان صبراً فقد وفى

    And when he is abased, he is exalted; or,

    if he betrays patience, he has kept faith.

  31. واذا ما جرت له

    حالها زنها جفا

    And when there befalls him

    its state, weigh it as estrangement.

  32. فالى الحب حكم ما ال

    صبّ في الحب اسلفا

    So to love belongs judgment of what

    the lover has already offered in love.

  33. ان رب الجمال اه

    ل اذا جاد او عفا

    Indeed, the lord of beauty is worthy,

    when he gives or pardons.