1. ألا إنّ الوجودَ وجودُ ربي

    وما يبدو من الأحكام حكمي

    Behold, existence is my Lord’s existence.

    And the judgments that appear are my own.

  2. فلا عينٌ تراه علا فاعلم

    كذا يقضي به نظري وعلمي

    No eye sees Him; He is exalted—know this.

    Thus my reflection and my knowledge decree it.

  3. وعلمي بالذي يقضي صحيح

    ولكني أرجح فيه كتمي

    And my knowledge of what it decrees is sound.

    Yet I prefer to keep it concealed.

  4. وكونُ الحقِّ عينا عينُ حكمي

    فمن قبل الإله ولا إسمي

    The Real’s being an entity is the very essence of my judgment.

    So it comes from God, not from my name.

  5. فذاتُ الحقِّ إدراكات ذاتي

    وذاتي ظله في حكم زعمي

    The Real’s essence is the perceptions of my essence,

    And my essence is His shadow, according to my claim.

  6. ألا تنظر لمدّ الظلِّ منه

    بنورِ الشمس ابقاء لرسمي

    Do you not behold the shadow’s extension from Him,

    By the sun’s light, to preserve my form?

  7. فلولا أن أكونَ كهو وجوداً

    بحذفِ الكاف في مدّي وضمي

    But for my being 'like Him' in existence,

    With the kāf of 'like' removed, in my extension and gathering

  8. إليه بعد مدّي وانبساطي

    يسيراً إذ أساميه من اسمي

    To Him, after my extension and expansion,

    Gently, as I match Him in name through my own name.

  9. ولما كانت الأسماء باسمي

    كذاك له السماتُ من أصل وسمي

    And since the names were through my name,

    So too His marks derive from the source of my marking.

  10. فنعتي نعته من كلِّ وجه

    ولكني أغطيه لا عمي

    My description, then, is His description in every respect;

    Yet I veil Him, not out of blindness.

  11. ولولا أنْ يقول به أناسٌ

    لقلت به كما يعطيه فهمي

    Were it not that some people affirm it,

    I would affirm it as my understanding presents it.

  12. ووهمي في العلوم له احتكام

    وما همُ النفوسِ كمثل وهمي

    And my estimative faculty holds sway in the sciences;

    And the concern of souls is not like my estimation.

  13. فإن الوهم عينُ وجودِ حقي

    كمثل قواي في قولِ المسَمّي

    For estimation is the very existence of my Real,

    Like my faculties, in the words of the Namer.

  14. له عندي مقامٌ ليس يدري

    وهمّ الخّلقِ فيه غير همي

    It has a station with me that is not known,

    And creation’s concern with it is other than mine.

  15. حكمت به عليه وليس كوني

    به حكمي بعدلٍ أو بظلمِ

    I have judged Him through it; yet my existence

    Through it is no judgment of mine, just or unjust.

  16. لقد كان الوجودُ بلا زمانٍ

    ولا أين ولا كيف وكمّ

    Existence indeed was without time,

    Without where or how or quantity,

  17. ولا عرضٌ ولا وضعٌ بلحن

    ولا فعلٌ ومنفعلٌ وجسم

    Without accident or position, in any phrasing,

    Without action, a thing acted upon, or a body,

  18. ولا نسب يضافُ إلى وجودي

    وبعد الكونِ حققهن أمي

    Or a relation attributed to my existence.

    And after coming-to-be, my mother made them real:

  19. مقولاتٌ أتين على اتساق

    يترجمها إلى الأفهام نظمي

    Categories that came in ordered harmony,

    Which my verse translates for understanding.

  20. له عشر وللأكوانِ عشر

    كذا زعموا وهذا ليس زعمي

    Ten belong to Him, and ten to created beings;

    So they claim, but this is not my claim.

  21. فإن قلنا به جهلوا مقالي

    وإنْ جهلوا يزيد علي غمي

    If we affirm it, they fail to understand my words,

    And if they fail to understand, my grief weighs heavier upon me.

  22. مدحتُ المصطفى فمدحتُ نفسي

    ولي قسَمٌ وما جاوزت قسمي

    I praised the Chosen One, and so praised myself;

    And I swear an oath: I have not exceeded my share.

  23. فأعمالي تردّ عليّ منه

    ولو أرمي فعيني منه أرمي

    Thus my deeds are returned to me from Him,

    And even if I shoot, from Him I shoot my very self.

  24. وإن عصم الإله به وجودي

    فإن أرمي فنصلٍ ليس يصمي

    And if God protects my existence through it,

    Then if I shoot, it is with an arrowhead that does not kill outright.

  25. وهذي رحمة منه تواليت

    لديَّ بها يعود عليّ سهمي

    And this is mercy from Him; I followed on [text unclear],

    Here with me, through it, my arrow returns upon me.

  26. وظني لم يزل ظناً جميلاً

    فإنَّ الظنَّ مني عين علمي

    And my supposition has always been favorable,

    For my supposition is the very essence of my knowledge.

  27. إلى معناي فانظر يا خليلي

    ولا تنظر بطرفك نحو جسمي

    Look, then, to my meaning, my friend,

    And do not turn your gaze toward my body.

  28. فقفلي ما قفلتُ به وجودي

    عن الإدراك بي والختم ختمي

    My lock is that with which I have locked my existence

    Away from perception through me; and the seal is my seal.

  29. فلا تفتح فخلفَ البابِ ريحٌ

    إذا هبَّت عليّ تهين عظمي

    Do not open, then: behind the door is a wind

    That, if it blows upon me, humbles my bones.

  30. تميزني الصلاة ويرتدي بي

    إذا صليتها بأبٍ وأمّ

    Prayer distinguishes me, and He robes Himself in me

    When I perform it, with a father and a mother.

  31. ولو أنَّ الدليل يدل حقاً

    عليه لكان يولده لتمِّ

    And if proof truly pointed

    To Him, it would beget Him at full term;

  32. ولم يولد فلم يدركه عقلٌ

    فإنْ ظفروا به فبحكم وهم

    But He was not begotten, so no intellect has grasped Him.

    If they attain Him, it is through estimation’s judgment.

  33. وإن حكموا عليه بمثل هذا

    فقد حكموا عليه بغير علم

    And if they judge Him in this manner,

    They have judged Him without knowledge.

  34. تعالى الله عن قدمٍ بكوني

    كما قد جلَّ عن حدثٍ بكمّ

    God transcends beginninglessness conditioned by my existence,

    Just as He transcends temporal origination conditioned by quantity.