1. إن سيرت صمّ الجبال سراباً

    وتفتحت أفلاكها أبوابا

    If the solid mountains are set moving as a mirage,

    and their celestial spheres open into gates,

  2. يبدو لنا من لم تزل سبحاته

    تفني الحجابَ وتحرقُ الحجابا

    there appears to us the One whose splendors have never ceased

    to annihilate the veil and burn the gatekeepers.

  3. فعرفته بالنفي لم أعرفه بالإ

    ثبات ما إنْ لم أكن مرتابا

    So I knew Him through negation, not through affir-

    mation, so long as I was not in doubt.

  4. فأذاقني من حيرة قامتْ بنا

    لشهودِه في الأكثرين عَذابا

    So He made me taste, from bewilderment that arose in us,

    torment for witnessing Him among the majority.

  5. فلبثت في نار الطبيعة عنده

    من أجل هذا مدَّةً أحقابا

    So I remained with Him in the fire of nature,

    for this reason, for a span of ages,

  6. لما خصصت الأكثرين ولم أقل

    عم الوجودَ مظاهر أكبابا

    because I singled out the majority and did not say

    that He pervaded existence in throngs of manifestations.

  7. إني طمعت من الشهودِ مطاعما

    وشربتُ ماءَ المعصراتِ شرابا

    Indeed, I craved nourishment from witnessing,

    and drank the water of rain-laden clouds as a drink.

  8. وشهدته في غيرِ صورةِ عقدنا

    فرأيتُ أمراً في الشهود عجابا

    And I witnessed Him in a form unlike that of our creed,

    so I saw a wondrous thing in witnessing.

  9. فوددت اني لم أزل في غيبة

    في غيبِه أو لا أزالُ تُرابا

    So I wished I had always remained absent,

    in His unseen realm, or were still dust.

  10. فدعا بديوانِ الوجودِ ورأسه

    عند التقي وأرادَ منه حسابا

    Then He called for the register of existence, and its head

    was with the God-fearing one; He sought an account from him.

  11. فأجابه لما دعاه ملبِّياً

    سَمعاً وطوعاً ثم قال صَوابا

    So he answered Him when He called him, responding:

    “I hear and willingly obey”; then he spoke rightly.

  12. أوحى إليه أن اتخذ دارَ الشقا

    للمسرفينَ المجرمين مآبا

    He revealed to him: Make the abode of misery

    a place of return for the transgressors, the sinners.

  13. جلَّ الإله الحقُّ إجلاله

    قدساً وتعظيماً وعزَّ جنابا

    Sublime is God, the Real, in His exaltation,

    in holiness and reverence, and mighty in His precinct.

  14. فإذا أتته من المهيمنِ تحفةٌ

    قطع الثيابَ وقطعَ الأسبابا

    Then, when a gift from the Guardian comes to him,

    he tears his garments and severs the ties.