سبحان من لا أرى سواه

في كلِّ شيء تراه عيني

Glory be to Him, besides whom I see none,

in everything my eye beholds.

وذاك فرقٌ يراه عقلي

ما بين معبوده وبيني

And that is a distinction my intellect perceives

between its object of worship and me.

فكلما قلت أنت ربي

لبستُ بالسلبِ ثوبَ صوفي

So whenever I said, 'You are my Lord,'

I donned, through negation, a Sufi's robe.

تنزيهه جدُّه تعالى

تشبيهُه كونه بكوني

Declaring Him transcendent: exalted is His majesty;

likening Him: His being through my being.

طلبتُ بالشرعِ منه عوناً

يا مدعي لا يكون عوني

Through the sacred law, I sought help from Him.

O claimant, my help is not given

إلا لعبدٍ له مجالٌ

ولا مجالٌ إلا لأيني

except to a servant who has scope;

and there is no scope except for my 'where.'

وفي استوائي العقولُ تاهت

إذ حال ما بينها وبيني

And in my settling, minds went astray,

since what lay between them and me stood in the way.

قد جاءنا الحقُّ في التلقي

بكلِّ هينٍ وكلِّ لينِ

The Real has indeed come to us in the act of receiving,

with all that is easy and all that is gentle.

يا مرسلاً إنني سميعٌ

إن قمت لي فيه باثنتين

O messenger, I am indeed listening,

if you establish two things for me concerning Him:

ذاتٌ تعالتْ لها صفاتٌ

من كلِّ حسنٍ وكلِّ زينِ

an exalted essence that has attributes

of all beauty and all adornment.

إن رامَ تحصيلهن فكري

بنيتُ بيتي بتبنتين

If my thought sought to grasp them,

I would build my house with two pieces of straw.