1. برق الإساءة من جنابك أومضا

    من خان عهداً حقّه أن يرفضا

    The lightning of wrongdoing flashed from your quarter.

    Whoever betrays a covenant deserves to be rejected.

  2. يا من منحناه الوصال فأعرضا

    ما زلت دهرك للرضا متعرضا

    O you whom we granted union, yet who turned away,

    All your life you have kept seeking favor,

  3. ولطالما قد كنت عنا معرضا

    صفَت الموارد يا مريد ولم ترد

    Yet for so long you have turned away from us.

    The watering places have grown clear, O seeker, yet you have not come to drink.

  4. ما في الورى ركن إليه يستند

    إلا أنا فعلى دهرك فاعتمد

    Among humankind there is no pillar to lean upon,

    Except me—so rely on me throughout your life.

  5. جانبتنا دهراً فلما لم تجد

    عوضا سوانا عدت تبكى ما مضى

    You shunned us for an age; then, when you did not find

    A substitute for us, you returned, weeping for what had passed.

  6. أفنيت عمرك في المحال تعللا

    لما علمت بأننا يا من سلا

    You wasted your life seeking solace in the impossible,

    When you learned that we, O you who forgot,

  7. نعفو ونقبل من إلينا أقبلا

    وهب أننا جدنا عليك تفضلا

    Forgive and accept whoever comes to us.

    And suppose we gave generously to you, as a favor—

  8. أيعود دهرٌ بالبعاد قد انقضى

    اذكر مواهبنا التي أوتيتها

    Can time already spent in separation return?

    Remember our gifts that you received,

  9. ومراتبا من فضلنا وليتها

    لو شكرها واليته لوليتها

    And the ranks entrusted to you through our grace.

    Had you kept giving thanks for them, you would have retained them.

  10. لكن تركت حقوقنا ونسيتها

    ولذاك ضاق عليك متسع الفضا

    But you abandoned our rights and forgot them;

    And so the broad expanse grew narrow for you.

  11. مالى أراك تحوم حول قبابنا

    وتروم أن تحظى بعز جنابنا

    Why do I see you hovering around our domes,

    And seeking to gain the honor of our presence?

  12. خل اختيارك واستمع لخطابنا

    لو كنت لازمت الوقوف ببابنا

    Set aside your own choice and listen to our words.

    Had you persisted in standing at our door,

  13. لكسبت من إحساننا خلع الرضا

    من أمّنا يشكو إلينا خطبَه

    You would have gained, through our kindness, robes of favor.

    Whoever comes to us complaining of his plight,

  14. وخاف أن يقضى التباعد نحبه

    نحنو عليه ثم ندنى قربه

    And fears that estrangement will end his life,

    We show him tenderness, then draw him nearer,

  15. وننيله عفواً ونغفر ذنبه

    ونرد أسود ما جناه أبيضا

    And grant him pardon and forgive his sin,

    And turn the blackness of his wrongdoing white.

  16. بلبان ثدى الغدر دهراً تغتدى

    واليت ذاك بشهوة وتلذذ

    For an age you have fed on the milk of treachery's breast;

    You clung to that with desire and delight.

  17. من خاننا ما إن له من منفذ

    لكننا من فضلنا ندنى الذي

    Whoever betrays us has no way of escape;

    Yet, by our grace, we bring near the one

  18. بعد الإساءة جاءنا متعرضا

    Who, after wrongdoing, came to us seeking favor.