تبارك الله لا أبغي به عِوضاً

تبارك الله لا أبغي به عِوضاً

ولستُ أبرم ما قد حل أو نقضا

ولستُ أبرم ما قد حل أو نقضا

Blessed is God; I seek no substitute for Him.

Blessed is Allah, I do not seek any reward for Him

Nor do I bind what He has loosened or undone.

And I do not intend what is decided or annulled

إني عجبتُ لمن بالجهل أعرفه

إني عجبتُ لمن بالجهل أعرفه

والعجز غاية من في ذاته نهضا

والعجز غاية من في ذاته نهضا

Indeed, I have marveled at Him whom I know through ignorance.

I am amazed by those I recognize with ignorance

And incapacity is the utmost reach of whoever ventures into His essence.

And incapacity is the limit of one who rose in himself

قد حجر الشرع فكري أن يصرفه

قد حجر الشرع فكري أن يصرفه

في ذاته فأبى العقلُ الذي فرضا

في ذاته فأبى العقلُ الذي فرضا

The Law has forbidden the directing of my thought

The law has forbidden my mind to divert it

Into His essence; yet the intellect refused what was ordained.

In itself, so reason refused what it imposed

ما إن رأيت له مثلاً يعارضه

ما إن رأيت له مثلاً يعارضه

وهو المريد وما أدري له غرضا

وهو المريد وما أدري له غرضا

Never have I seen an equal to Him who could rival Him.

I have not seen anyone contradict Him

And He is the One who wills, yet I know no purpose for Him.

And He is the Willful, though I do not know His purpose

لما تألفتِ الأشياء في عدم

لما تألفتِ الأشياء في عدم

قام الوجود به لعارضِ عرضا

قام الوجود به لعارضِ عرضا

When things came together in nonexistence,

When things became accustomed to non-existence

Existence arose through Him, owing to a contingency that occurred.

Existence stood by Him for an arbitrary purpose

وهو الوجود كما قامت بأنفسها

وهو الوجود كما قامت بأنفسها

لذاك ما أبتغي بربنا عوضا

لذاك ما أبتغي بربنا عوضا

And He is existence, just as they subsisted in themselves.

And existence is as it stood by itself

For that reason, I seek no substitute for our Lord.

Therefore I do not seek any substitute for our Lord

فما ترى جوهراً في الكون منفرداً

فما ترى جوهراً في الكون منفرداً

على اختلافٍ ولا جسماً ولا عرضا

على اختلافٍ ولا جسماً ولا عرضا

For you see no individual substance in the cosmos,

So you do not see any singular essence in the universe

For all their diversity, nor a body, nor an accident,

With difference, nor body, nor incident

إلا وذاك الذي عاينت صورته

إلا وذاك الذي عاينت صورته

فمن به مرض قد زدته مرضا

فمن به مرض قد زدته مرضا

Except that it is He whose form you have beheld.

Except that the one whom you saw its image

So whoever harbors illness, I have increased his illness.

So whoever is ill with it, I have increased his illness

كذا أتت في كتابِ الله آيته

كذا أتت في كتابِ الله آيته

فلم تقل غير ما قد قاله ومضى

فلم تقل غير ما قد قاله ومضى

Thus His verse came in the Book of God.

Thus His signs came in the Book of Allah

So you have said only what He said and what came to pass.

It did not say other than what He said and passed on

فليس يظهره في عين مبصره

فليس يظهره في عين مبصره

إلا الغمام إذا برق به ومضا

إلا الغمام إذا برق به ومضا

So nothing reveals Him in the eye of His beholder

None shows it in the eyes of one who sees

Except the cloud, when lightning flashes within it.

Except the clouds when it lightens with flashes

بذا أتى نصه إنْ كنتَ ذا نظرٍ

بذا أتى نصه إنْ كنتَ ذا نظرٍ

والكشفُ أعطى الذي قد قلته وقضى

والكشفُ أعطى الذي قد قلته وقضى

His text states this, if you possess insight.

With this His text came if you are of insight

And unveiling has given what I have said, and settled the matter.

And unveiling gave what I have said and passed on

طه ويس لا تعربهما فهما

طه ويس لا تعربهما فهما

من الذي أبهم النبراس حين أضا

من الذي أبهم النبراس حين أضا

Ta-Ha and Ya-Sin—do not explain them, for they are

Ta Ha and Ya Sin do not inflect them for they

Among what the lamp left obscure when it shone.

Are from Him who obscured the lantern when it lit

يا عابد الفكر لا تسلك طريقتنا

يا عابد الفكر لا تسلك طريقتنا

هذي بحور بلا سيفٍ لها واضى

هذي بحور بلا سيفٍ لها واضى

O worshipper of thought, do not tread our path.

O worshipper of thought, do not follow our path

These are seas with no visible shore.

This has trackless seas with no drawn sword

إنَّ القرآن لنورٌ يُستضاء به

إنَّ القرآن لنورٌ يُستضاء به

وزاد رجساً قليبٌ زاده مضضا

وزاد رجساً قليبٌ زاده مضضا

Indeed, the Qur'an is a light by which one is illumined.

Indeed the Qur’an is a light to be illuminated by

And a little heart grew in defilement, its anguish increased by that light.

And an impure heart, it only increases in sickness