1. علمي بالرحمن لا يثبت

    لوصفه بالغضبِ القاصمْ

    My knowledge of the All-Merciful does not hold firm,

    because He is described as having crushing wrath

  2. في حق من أهله للشقا

    وسخطه الدائمُ واللازمْ

    against one He has prepared for wretchedness,

    and His everlasting, inescapable indignation.

  3. إذا أتى الأمر بإنفاذه

    فما له في الأمر من عاصم

    When the command comes to carry it out,

    then he has no protector in the matter.

  4. لو لم يكن يغضب قلنا له

    بذا أتت ترجمة الحاكم

    Were He not to grow angry, we would say to Him:

    Thus came the account of the Ruler,

  5. من يتجلى حكمه في الورى

    بصورةِ المظلوم والظالم

    whose judgment manifests among created beings

    in the form of the wronged and the wrongdoer,

  6. عنه فلا يأمن من مكره

    غير ظلوم نفسه غاشم

    from Him—so none feels secure against His devising,

    except one grievously unjust to himself, a ruthless oppressor.

  7. وعينه كونها فانظروا

    فإنه القاسمُ في القاسم

    And His very essence is its existence, so behold:

    for He is the Apportioner within the apportioner.

  8. كيف لنا بالأمن بفرقانه

    من عرضه يوصف بالعالم

    How can we find security through His criterion?

    Whoever sets it forth is described as a knower.

  9. لو لم يكلف عبده شرعه

    لم يتصف بالأحد الراحم

    Had He not charged His servant with His law,

    He would not be described as the One who shows mercy.

  10. ما حير العالم إلا الذي

    قد ضربَ العالمَ بالعالم

    None has bewildered the knower except the One

    who has struck the world with the knower.

  11. إذا درى الشخص بعلمِ الذي

    حيرّه لم يك بالقادم

    When a person learns of the knowledge of the One

    who bewildered him, he will not advance,

  12. إلا إذ أبصر معلومه

    أزال عنه حيرة الهائم

    unless, when he beholds what He knows,

    He dispels from him the bewilderment of the wanderer.

  13. ويحذر الأمر ويخشى الذي

    يقوده للوصف بالنادم

    And he is wary of the matter and fears what

    leads him to be described as remorseful.

  14. لو أنه يعرف أحواله

    لم يتصف للدينِ بالعازم

    Were he to know his own states,

    he would not be described as resolute in religion,

  15. وكان ذا رأي وذا فطنةٍ

    فعل اللبيب الحذر الحازم

    and would possess judgment and discernment,

    acting like an intelligent, cautious, resolute man.