1. كلات ودين الله أفضل ما تكلا

    وأفضل ما امنت في بهجة السبلا

    You have guarded; God's religion is the finest thing to guard,

    and the finest of the splendid paths you have made safe.

  2. فذبك عن دين الإله مقدم

    على كل شيء دق عندك أم جلا

    Your defense of God's religion takes precedence

    over everything, whether small or great in your eyes.

  3. وما أنت الا نائب الله في الورى

    فلا ذقت يوما من نيابته عزلا

    You are only God's deputy among mankind;

    may you never taste dismissal from His deputyship.

  4. خلفت رسلول الله بعد خلائف

    فكن خيرهم في نصر سنته المثلا

    You succeeded God's Messenger after other successors;

    be the best of them in defending his exemplary way.

  5. فما أحد في الناس منك إذا دعا

    إلى نصرة الإسلام أولا ولا أملا

    For no one among the people, when he calls

    for Islam's defense, is worthier than you or more looked to.

  6. كمال وحلم فيك زانا خلافة

    نهضت وقد أعيوا بأعبائها حلا

    Perfection and forbearance in you adorn a caliphate

    you rose to bear when others were spent resolving its burdens.

  7. رفعت إليك الأمر إذ أُوذى الهدى

    وحل به ممن يعاديه ما حلا

    I brought the matter to you when guidance was harmed,

    and what befell it from its enemies befell it.

  8. وقد أظهروا ما يكتمون وأصبحوا

    وأمر الهدى واه وأمرهم فحلا

    They have revealed what they conceal, and now

    guidance's cause is frail, while theirs has grown strong.

  9. وفي بلد الإسلام تقرأ كتبهم

    وقد عقدوا فيها لها مجلساً حفلا

    Their books are read in the land of Islam,

    where they have convened a crowded gathering for them.

  10. وما للهدى سيف سواك نسله

    وإنك سيف لا يطاق إذا سلا

    Guidance has no sword but you for us to draw;

    you are a sword none can withstand when drawn.

  11. نحامي بنص الكتب عنه ومالنا

    سوى سيفك الماضي يضر فلا فلاّ

    We defend it with the texts of books, and we have nothing

    except your keen sword that strikes—may it never be blunted.

  12. أعد نظرا في الأمر غير مقلد

    تجدها قضايا لست تنكرها عقلا

    Consider the matter again without merely following others;

    you will find propositions you cannot rationally deny.

  13. وبالعدل خذ للدين من خصمه ودع

    فما ظالم للخصم من طلب العدلا

    Obtain justice for religion from its adversary, and leave the rest:

    one who seeks justice does not wrong his adversary.

  14. وما كنت في حق الإله مقصرا

    ولكن رضوا أن يحملوا وزرها ثقلا

    You have not fallen short in your duty to God,

    but they have consented to carry its sin as a heavy burden.

  15. إذا العلما أفتوا فتى في قضية

    بما ليس حكم الله ضلوا وما ضلا

    When scholars give a man a ruling on a question

    contrary to God's judgment, they go astray, not he.

  16. لقد اعذر الملك المقلد عالما

    فدع عدة افتوه في هذه الحبلا

    The king who follows a scholar surely has an excuse;

    summon a group who advised him concerning these snares.

  17. فدعني اسائلهم ومرهم يجوبوا

    لتعم منا من أصاب ومن زلا

    Let me question them, and command them to answer,

    so you may know who among us was right and who erred.

  18. فيا علماء الدين مالي أراكم

    عليه مع الأعداء كالطالب الذحلا

    O scholars of religion, why do I see you

    allied against it with its enemies, like one seeking vengeance?

  19. وفي دينكم ان الالوهة صنعنا

    وان البرايا جاعلوا ربهم جعلا

    And in your creed, divinity is our own creation,

    and created beings fashion their Lord themselves.

  20. وإن اله العبد كالدر تبتنى

    فيعرفها الباني وتنكره جهلا

    And a servant's god is like a dwelling [unclear reading] being built,

    known to its builder, while you deny him in ignorance.

  21. أفي دينكم ان المصلى لكوكب

    وللشمس والاصنام لله قد صلى

    Is it your religion that one who prays to a star,

    to the sun and idols, has indeed prayed to God?

  22. فما بالهم صاحوا بها وعلومكم

    تقول لكم ردوا فقلتم لهم كَلاّ

    Why have they proclaimed this aloud, while your learning

    tells you, 'Refute them,' yet you answer, 'No'?

  23. تلاقونهم لقيا محب حبيبه

    وترضونهم قولا وترضونهم فعلا

    You meet them as a lover meets his beloved,

    and please them with words and please them with deeds.

  24. وود الفتى من حادد الله سالب

    من المؤمن الإيمان في صحفكم يتلى

    A man's love for one who opposes God strips

    the believer of faith: this is recited in your writings.

  25. لقد أتى الإسلام من حيث أمنه

    وعدد في الأعداء من عدهم أهلا

    Islam has been assailed from the quarter it trusted,

    and counted among its enemies those it counted as kin.

  26. ولم يؤت الا من ذويه وربما

    أتى من فروع الاصل مايقطع الأصلا

    It has been assailed only by its own people; sometimes

    a root's branches produce what cuts away the root.

  27. أما قال فض الله فاه بصخرة

    تبدد مما التف في فمه الشملا

    Did he not say—may God shatter his mouth with a stone

    that scatters all that is gathered in his mouth—

  28. بأن ليس للتهليل معنى لأنكم

    بإثباتكم جئتم بما قد نفى قبلا

    that the declaration of God's oneness has no meaning, because you

    by affirming have brought back what it had already denied?

  29. فابعد لا في لا إله هو الذي

    أتى مثبتا من بعد قولكم إلا

    For the 'no' in 'no god' excludes the very one

    who is affirmed after your saying 'except'.

  30. وقال قضى أن ليس يعبد غيره

    فمن شئت فاعبد فهو رب السما الأعلى

    And he said, 'He decreed that none but Him is worshipped;

    so worship whomever you wish: he is heaven's most exalted Lord.'

  31. كلام تكاد الأرض تنشق والسما

    تفطر أو كادت تكون مهلا

    Words that nearly split the earth, while the sky

    ruptures—or almost turns to molten metal.

  32. لقد أحدثوا ذنبا أدلتهم به

    منام يرى أو وارد كاذب يقلى

    They have introduced a sin for which their proofs

    are a dream seen, or a false, hateful inspiration.

  33. وقالوا أخذناه عن الله لم يكن

    بواسطة توحى فاستاذنا أعلى

    They say, 'We received it from God; it did not come

    through an intermediary conveying revelation, so our teacher is higher.'

  34. فقلنا كذبتم ليس من بعد أحمد

    فتى يأخذ الأحكام عن ربنا جلا

    We said, 'You lie! After Ahmad there is no

    man who receives rulings from our Lord, exalted is He.'

  35. ولكنه أبقى كتابا وسنة

    فمن يقتفى حكما لغيرهما ضلا

    But he left behind a Book and a prophetic way;

    whoever follows a ruling from outside those two goes astray.

  36. وذلكم الشيطان يبدى لبعضكم

    وقد لا يرى شيئا فيخلق مستملا

    That is Satan appearing to some of you;

    one may see nothing, yet fabricate a supposed dictation.

  37. ورؤيا الفتى والنفث في الروع أن أتى

    على الشرع وفقا فهو خير فما يقلى

    A man's vision and an inspiration breathed into his heart, if they come

    in agreement with sacred law, are good and not to be rejected.

  38. وان لم يوافقه فخفه فإنها

    وساوس شيطان رشقت بها نبلا

    But if it does not accord with it, beware of it, for these are

    Satan's whispers, shot at you as arrows.

  39. ومن تره يمشى على الماء في الهوى

    ولم تعتبر بالشرع حرما ولا حلا

    And anyone you see walking on water or through the air,

    without assessing the forbidden and lawful by sacred law—

  40. فذلك دجال فكذبه أن روى

    فما هو في أخباره إن روى عدلا

    that is an impostor; disbelieve him if he narrates anything,

    for he is not trustworthy in the reports he narrates.

  41. وفي السحر ما يحكى الكرامات والذي

    يميز ذا عن ذا ويعلي الذي استعلا

    Sorcery contains things that imitate saintly wonders; what

    distinguishes one from the other and exalts what truly stands higher

  42. هو الشرع فليستعصمون بحبله

    وليّون والأشقون من قطعوا الحبلا

    is sacred law: those who hold fast to its cord

    are saints; the wretched are those who sever the cord.

  43. وقالوا مقامات الولاية عندنا

    تضاهي مقامات النبوة بل اعلا

    They say, 'The stations of sainthood, in our view,

    match those of prophethood—indeed, are higher.'

  44. فقد كذبوا ضد الولي هو العدو

    فما متق الأولى كما بتلا

    They lie: a saint's opposite is an enemy;

    no godfearing man is the superior one [ending unclear].

  45. لقد خاب ذو علم تعاصى ولم يقم

    ويجعل أعداء الإله له شغلا

    A man of learning who refuses and does not rise

    and make God's enemies his concern has surely failed.

  46. ألا فاعلموا أن السكوت على الأذى

    لرب السما من يوم حرم ما حلا

    Know, then, that silence in the face of harm

    to heaven's Lord has not become lawful since it was forbidden.

  47. تخافون ماذا فرق الله بينكم

    ولف من المحيين سنته الشملا

    What do you fear? May God scatter you,

    and unite those who revive His way.

  48. تخافون أن تخلى المنازل منكم

    ألا إنها منكم وأنتم بها أهلا

    Do you fear that your homes will be emptied of you?

    Indeed, they are yours, and you belong there.

  49. أيبقى هذا الاعجمي بكفره

    عزيزا وأنتم مثل فقع الفلا ذلا

    Shall this foreigner remain, in his unbelief,

    mighty, while you are abased like desert truffles?

  50. ويُسمعنا من ربنا ما يسؤنا

    فنغضي له عنها ونرخي له الحبلا

    He makes us hear things about our Lord that distress us,

    yet we overlook them for him and slacken his tether.

  51. يقولون حسب المرء إصلاح نفسه

    واصلاح ما يسنى له الشر والأكلا

    They say, 'A man need only set himself right

    and arrange what enables him to drink [unclear reading] and eat.'

  52. وهيهات لم نخلق لهذا وشر من

    قرا أو ورى من همه البطن أن يملا

    Far from it! We were not created for this; the worst of those

    who read or narrate are those concerned only with filling their bellies.

  53. فلا عاش من للعيش يغضى على الأذى

    لمولاه إلا عيشة الواله الثكلى

    May one who, for a livelihood, overlooks harm

    to his Lord live only like a distraught, bereaved mother.

  54. فما للفتى للنفس واق ونفسه

    تفي دينه فالدين قيمته أعلى

    What a man has shields his life, and his life

    serves his religion, for religion's value is higher.

  55. أما جاهدوا في الله حق جهاده

    خطاب لنا من ربنا عمم الكلا

    Is not 'Strive for God as He should be striven for'

    an address to us from our Lord that embraces everyone?

  56. فذو العجز منا باللسان جهاده

    وذو البطش ضربا بالحسام فلا شلا

    The powerless among us strive with the tongue;

    the strong strike with the sword—may their arms never be palsied.

  57. فما أحسن التقوى وما أيمن الهدى

    وأسعد عبد سل في نصره نصلا

    How beautiful is piety, how blessed is guidance,

    and how fortunate the servant who draws a blade to defend it!

  58. وما أقدر البارى على نصر نفسه

    ولكنه يبلى اختياراً لمن يبلى

    How fully the Creator can defend Himself,

    yet He deliberately tests those whom He tests.

  59. على جهاد باللسان أقوله

    وأنت ابن إسماعيل جاهدهم فعلا

    My struggle is with the tongue, in what I say;

    and you, Ibn Isma'il, strive against them in deed.

  60. فوالله لا حابيت في ديني امرءا

    ولا صانعت نفسي بخالقها خلا

    By God, I have favored no one in my religion,

    nor humored myself at my Creator's expense [ending unclear].

  61. ووالله لا يؤذي إلهي ببلده

    أنام بها عينا وأمشى بها رجلا

    By God, my God shall not be insulted in His land

    where my eyes sleep and my feet walk,

  62. وفيها إلى الأصنام داعي ضلالة

    يرى أنها لله أن عبدت مجلى

    while in it a preacher of error calls people to idols,

    claiming that, when worshipped, they are a manifestation of God.

  63. وقد رسا فيها وطالا على الورى

    وأذعن من فيها لقولهما ذلا

    He has settled there, and the two have lorded it over mankind,

    while its inhabitants have meekly yielded to the two men's words.

  64. أبى الله ألا يستتابا ويرجعا

    إلى ملة الإسلام أو يمضيا قتلا

    God refuses anything but that the two be called to repent and return

    to Islam's creed, or depart by being slain.

  65. وحتى أراها لا ارى مسلما بها

    ذليلا عليه كافر طال واستعلا

    And until I see that land with no Muslim there

    abased beneath an unbeliever who has grown haughty and dominant.

  66. ألا يا ابن إسمعيل لا تهملنهم

    ما أمرهم بالطعن في ديننا سهلا

    O Ibn Isma'il, do not neglect them;

    their assault upon our religion is no trivial matter.

  67. ولا تصغ للفتوى التي نطقت بها

    رجال هوى حابوا رجال هوى شكلا

    Do not heed the ruling uttered by

    men of caprice, favoring others of their own kind.

  68. وإن شئت أن تدرى بكنه الذي انطووا

    عليه وما قد خاتلوك به ختلا

    If you wish to know the essence of what they conceal

    and the deceit by which they have tricked you,

  69. فسل عنهم في الطرس وضع خطوطهم

    بما خالفوا فيه النبيين والرسلا

    ask that their statements be set down on paper,

    concerning the points where they oppose the prophets and messengers.

  70. وكلفهم إن يكتب المرء منهم

    بما كان أفتى فيه سراً وما أملى

    Require each man among them to write

    what he privately ruled on and what he dictated.

  71. تجدهم حزانا مطرقين أذلة

    ومن يعص أمر الله أو نهيه ذلا

    You will find them sorrowful, downcast, abased;

    whoever disobeys God's command or prohibition is abased.

  72. يخافون أن تبقى الخطوط عليهم

    من العار خزيا لا يموت ولا يبلى

    They fear that the written words will remain against them,

    a disgrace of shame that neither dies nor wears away.

  73. فتخزيهم أقلامهم في حياتهم

    وتخزى إذا ماتوا وراءهم النسلا

    Their pens will shame them in their lifetime,

    and shame their descendants after they die.

  74. ولكن هنا فتوى رجال خطوطهم

    كستهم وقد ماتوا على فضلهم فضلا

    But here are rulings by men whose written words

    have added merit to their merit after their deaths:

  75. فتاوى بدر الدين ابن دماعة

    وامثاله اكرم به وبهم مثلا

    the rulings of Badr al-Din Ibn Dama'ah,

    and his peers—how noble he and they are as examples!

  76. إذا قرئت للمسلمين ترحموا

    وودت قلوب ان يكون لهم نزلا

    When these are read to Muslims, they pray for mercy,

    and hearts wish these might be their welcoming reward.

  77. تواريخ أبقت حسن ذكر وراءهم

    بما قدموا من صالح لهم قبلا

    Records that left a good remembrance behind them,

    through righteous deeds they had sent ahead for themselves.

  78. ظفرت بها تبدى لك الحق واضحا

    وتكشف أمراً كلفوك له حملا

    I have obtained them; they show you the truth plainly

    and uncover a matter whose burden they made you bear.

  79. وأنت التقي الطاهر العرض شوشوا

    عليك بقول ما أبيح ولا حلا

    You, pious and pure of honor, have been confused

    by their words, which were neither permitted nor lawful.

  80. تأمل فتاوى المسلمين وخُذ بِهَا

    ودع قول من يحكي المحال ومن ضلا

    Consider the Muslims' rulings and follow them;

    leave the words of those who repeat absurdities and go astray.

  81. فتاوى لا يسطيع ينكرها امرؤ

    ومن منكر شمسا على طرفه تجلى

    Rulings that no one can deny—

    who could deny a sun shining before his eyes?

  82. وما سرني نفيانها ليزيدني

    يقينا فان الأمر أوضح ان يجلى

    Finding them [unclear reading] did not delight me as a way to increase

    my certainty, for the matter is too clear to need explaining;

  83. ولكن لتجلو عنك ما لبسوا به

    وتغسل امراً خادعوك به غسلا

    rather, to clear from you what they have obscured,

    and thoroughly wash away the deception with which they tricked you.

  84. وغيرك لا يأسى على وجهه الهدى

    أقبل إقبالا على الحق ام ولىّ

    Guidance would not grieve over any face but yours,

    whether it turned eagerly toward truth or turned away.

  85. فأنت الذي إن شئت وطدت ركنه

    وقد هم أن تجتث منه العدى الاصلا

    You are the one who can, if you wish, secure its pillar,

    when enemies have sought to tear out its very root.

  86. فيا فرحة الإسلام إن كشف الغطا

    لأحمد عن من بالغرور لنا دلا

    O how Islam will rejoice if the veil is lifted

    for Ahmad from those who lured us with deception!

  87. فمن للهدى منه بيوم يعزه

    ويكسو عراه بعد عزتهم ذلا

    Who will win from him, for guidance, a day that strengthens it

    and clothes its foes [unclear reading] in abasement after their might?

  88. تمد به الأيدي لك الخلق بالدعا

    ويرضى به الرحمن والملأ الأعلى

    On that day, people stretch their hands in prayers for you,

    and the Merciful and the highest assembly are pleased.

  89. وتملى قلوب المسلمين مسرة

    تعم ويملا سرها الحزن والسهلا

    Muslims' hearts are filled with joy

    that spreads, its inward delight filling rough country and plain.

  90. فحب الورى الإسلام قد مازج الدما

    وقد خالط الامشاج واللحم والأشلا

    For people's love of Islam has mingled with their blood,

    mixed with their bodily humors, flesh, and limbs.

  91. شريعتك انثالت عليها عصابة

    تناولن أشلاها وتاكلها أكلا

    A band has swarmed upon your sacred law,

    seizing its limbs and devouring it.

  92. وقد شرعوا شرعا أباح لهم به

    إمامهم أن يعبدوا الشمس والعجلا

    They have prescribed a law by which

    their leader permits them to worship the sun and the calf.

  93. وقد صنفوا في المدح فيه أكاذبا

    ليستفززوا عن دينك الجاهل الغفلا

    They have composed lies in his praise,

    to drive the ignorant and heedless away from your religion.

  94. ووافقهم في مدحه بعض من بلي

    من العلما أقبح به وبما أبلى

    Some of those afflicted joined them in praising him,

    among the scholars—how vile he is and what he has wrought!

  95. وهذي فتاوي شيخهم في فصوصه

    فضائحها تخزى وجوههم الخجلى

    Here are their shaykh's rulings in his Fusus,

    whose scandals disgrace their shamefaced faces.

  96. دعوه فما عن ربنا ونبيه

    لكم عوض فيه ولا غيره أصلا

    Leave him: in place of our Lord and His Prophet,

    you have no substitute in him or anyone else at all.

  97. خذوا نصح من دانا الثمانين سنه

    وذلك عمر من يقاربه قلا

    Take advice from one who has approached eighty years,

    an age that few ever approach.

  98. نصحت به رب السمآء وأحمدا

    مليك البرايا والأجانب والأهلا

    Through it I have shown loyalty to heaven's Lord and Ahmad,

    sovereign of mankind, strangers, and kin,

  99. لأكسب خيرا بالدعا من ذوى التقى

    وبالسب من ذى شقوة حمل الثقلا

    to gain good through the prayers of the pious,

    and through the insults of a wretched man bearing his heavy burden.

  100. ألا يا ابن إسمعيل راجع ذوي التقى

    ومن فيه خيراً لا ذوى النطفة الطحلا

    O Ibn Isma'il, consult the pious

    and those in whom there is good, not those of murky seed.

  101. إلهي ألهمه رضاك فارضه

    عن الحق وارض الحق عنه الرضى الجزلا

    My God, inspire him to seek Your pleasure, and make him pleased

    with the truth, and make the Truth richly pleased with him.

  102. وشدد على الأعدا به لك وطأة

    فاصلح به في أهل شرعك ما اختلا

    Through him make Your tread heavy upon the enemies;

    through him mend what is broken among the people of Your law.

  103. وحبب إليه ما تحب مكرما

    وبغض إليه ما بغضت وما يُقلى

    Make him love what You love, honoring him,

    and hate what You hate and what is detested.

  104. وألف به بين القلوب وكن به

    حفيا وزد يارب أعداءه خذلا

    Through him unite hearts, and be

    gracious to him; Lord, leave his enemies ever more forsaken.

  105. وتمم له هذا الكمال بعصمة

    يظل بها غيث الرضى عنه منهلا

    Complete this perfection in him with protection from error,

    through which the rain of Your favor upon him keeps pouring.