إنما قلتَ لشيءٍ كن فكان

إنما قلتَ لشيءٍ كن فكان

بكلامِ الحقِّ لا قولِ فلانِ

بكلامِ الحقِّ لا قولِ فلانِ

You only said to a thing, “Be,” and it came to be,

You have only said something, "Be," and it is

through the speech of the Real, not the utterance of so-and-so.

With the true word, not the saying of so-and-so

مهد العذر لنا صاحبه

مهد العذر لنا صاحبه

بإشاراتٍ ورمزٍ في بيانِ

بإشاراتٍ ورمزٍ في بيانِ

Its author prepared an excuse for us

The one who gave the excuse made it clear for us

through signs and a symbol in an exposition.

With gestures and symbols in the statement

إنما كان عن أذني لا تقل

إنما كان عن أذني لا تقل

إنه كان عن إذا لكيان

إنه كان عن إذا لكيان

It came to be only from my ear; do not say

Do not say it was from my ear, no

that it came to be from “when” for existence.

It was from "if" and "so that" being

يتعالى الله في إيجاده

يتعالى الله في إيجاده

ما تراه من جميعِ الحدْثان

ما تراه من جميعِ الحدْثان

God is exalted, in His bringing into being

God transcends in His creation

all that you see of temporal happenings,

What you see from all the modern

عن شريكٍ غيرِ ما أثبته

عن شريكٍ غيرِ ما أثبته

حكمُ إمكانٍ لشخصٍ ذي جنان

حكمُ إمكانٍ لشخصٍ ذي جنان

above any partner, save what is established

Without a partner other than what He affirmed

by the ruling of contingency for a person endowed with a heart.

The judgment of possibility for a person of paradise

نظر الله إليه نظرةً

نظر الله إليه نظرةً

إذ أتاه في غمامٍ لا عيان

إذ أتاه في غمامٍ لا عيان

God cast a glance upon him

God looked at him with a look

when He came to him in a cloud, not in plain sight.

When he came to Him in an unseen cloud

ما حديثي لم يكن عن لم يكن

ما حديثي لم يكن عن لم يكن

إنما أورده عن كان وكان

إنما أورده عن كان وكان

No—my discourse was not about “was not”;

My talk was not about "was not"

I only set it forth concerning “was” and “was,”

Rather I mentioned it from "was" and "was"

بلسانٍ ومقالٍ واضحٍ

بلسانٍ ومقالٍ واضحٍ

ورقومٍ بيراعٍ وبنان

ورقومٍ بيراعٍ وبنان

with a tongue and clear speech,

In clear, eloquent language and writing

and inscriptions, with a reed pen and fingertips.

And elegant, well-constructed verses

وكذا أورده الله لنا

وكذا أورده الله لنا

في كتابٍ بلسانِ الترجمان

في كتابٍ بلسانِ الترجمان

And thus God set it forth for us

And so did God present it to us

in a book, in the tongue of the interpreter.

In a book in the tongue of the translator