1. قلبي بذكرِكَ مسرورٌ ومحزونٌ

    لما تملكه لمحٌ وتلوينُ

    My heart is joyful and sorrowful in remembering you,

    For a glimpse and shifting states have possessed it.

  2. فلو رقت في سماءِ الكشفِ همته

    لما تملكه وَجدٌ وتكوين

    Had its aspiration risen into the heaven of unveiling,

    Neither ecstasy nor formation would have possessed it.

  3. لكنه حاد عن قصدِ السبيل فلم

    يظفر به فهو بين الخلقِِ مِسكين

    But it strayed from the path's straight course and did not

    Attain it; so among created beings it is destitute.

  4. حتى دعتْ من الأشواق داعيةٌ

    همت لها نحو قلبي سحبة الجون

    Until a caller from the longings cried out,

    A dark cloud poured toward my heart in answer to her.

  5. وأبرقت في نواحي الجوّ بارقة

    أضحى بها وهو مغبوطٌ ومفتون

    And a flash of lightning blazed through the reaches of the sky;

    Through it, it became enviable and enthralled.

  6. والسحبُ ساريةٌ والريح ذارية

    والبرقُ مختطفُ والماءُ مسنون

    And the clouds travel by night, and the wind scatters,

    And the lightning snatches away, and the water is poured forth.

  7. وأخرجتْ كل ما تحويه من حبس

    أرضُ الجسوم وفاح الهندُ والصين

    And all it held imprisoned was brought forth

    By the earth of bodies; India and China breathed fragrance.

  8. فما ترى فوق أرضِ الجسمِ مرقبة

    إلا وفيها من النُّوار تزيين

    So you see no vantage point above the body's earth

    Except with an adornment of blossoms within it.

  9. وكلما لاح في الأجسام من بدعٍ

    وفي السرائر معلومٌ وموزونُ

    And whatever marvels appear in bodies

    Are known and weighed within the inward depths.

  10. والقلبُ يلتذ في تقليبِ مشهده

    بكلِّ وجه من التزيين ضنّين

    And the heart delights in the turning of its vision,

    Jealously cherishing every aspect of adornment.

  11. والجسم فلكٌ ببحرِ الجود يزعجه

    ريح من الغرب بالأسرار مشحُون

    And the body is a ship on the sea of bounty, driven

    By a wind from the west, laden with secrets.

  12. وراكبُ الفلك ما دامت تسيِّره

    ريحُ الشريعة محفوظٌ وممنون

    And the ship's rider, so long as he is borne

    By the wind of sacred law, is protected and favored.

  13. ألقى الرئيسُ إلى التوحيد مقدمه

    وفيه للملأ العلويِّ تأمين

    The captain directed its prow toward divine oneness,

    And in it is assurance of safety for the heavenly assembly.

  14. فلو تراه وريحُ الشوقِ تزعجُه

    يجري وما فيه تحريكٌ وتسكينُ

    If only you could see it, driven by the wind of longing,

    It runs, yet within it is neither stirring nor stilling.

  15. إن العناصر في الإنسانِ مُودَعة

    نارٌ ونورٌ وطينٌ فيه مَسنونُ

    The elements are indeed deposited in the human being:

    Fire and light, and clay molded within him.

  16. فأودعِ الوصلَ ما بيني على كثبِ

    وبين ربي مفروضٌ ومسنون

    So entrust union to what lies close between me

    And my Lord: the obligatory and the recommended.

  17. فالسرُّ بالله من خَلقي ومن خُلُقي

    إذا تحققت موصولٌ وممنون

    So the secret, by God, of my form and character,

    When you attain realization, is joined and severed.

  18. يقولُ إني قلبُ الحقِّ فاعتبروا

    فإن قلبَ كتابِ الله ياسين

    It says: 'I am the heart of the Real—take heed,'

    For the heart of God's Book is Ya-Sin.

  19. من بعدِ ما قد أتى من قبل نفحته

    عليّ من دهره في نشأتي حين

    After there had already come, before his breath,

    Upon me, in my coming-to-be, a span of his time.

  20. لا يعرفُ الملكُ المعصومُ ما سببي

    ولا اللعين الذي ينكيه تنّين

    The sinless angel does not know what my cause is,

    Nor does the accursed one whom a dragon wounds.

  21. لما تسترت عن صَلصال مملكتي

    أخفانِ عن علمه في عينه الطين

    When I veiled myself from the ringing clay of my realm,

    The clay hid me from his knowledge, in his sight.

  22. فكان يحجبه عني وعن صفتي

    غيمُ العمى وأنا في الغيب مخزونُ

    Thus what veiled him from me and from my attribute

    Was the cloud of blindness, while I lay hidden in the unseen.

  23. فعندما قمتُ فيه صار مفتخراً

    يمشي الهوينا وفي أعطافه لِينُ

    When I arose within him, he became proud,

    Walking gently, with suppleness in his sides.

  24. لما سرى القلبُ للأعلى وجاز على

    عدنٍ وغازلنه حُورٌ بها عِينُ

    When the heart journeyed by night to the Most High and passed over

    Eden, and wide-eyed houris there courted it,

  25. غضِّ الجفونَ ولم يثنِ العنان لها

    لما مضى عن هواه القرضُ والدَّينُ

    Lower the eyelids! It did not turn its reins toward them,

    When loan and debt had passed beyond its desire.

  26. فعندما قام فوقَ العرش بايعه

    اللوحُ والقلمُ والعلاَّمُ والنُّونُ

    And when it stood above the Throne, allegiance was pledged to it

    By the Tablet, the Pen, the All-Knowing, and Nun.

  27. فلو تراه وقد أخفى حقيقَته

    له فويقَ استواءِ الحقِّ تمكين

    If only you could see it, having concealed its reality,

    It has firm establishment just above the Real's enthronement.

  28. فإن تجلى على كونٍ بحكمته

    له علا ظهرِ ذاك الكونِ تعيين

    If it manifests upon a being through its wisdom,

    It has a distinct determination upon that being's back.

  29. فلا يزالُ لمرح الملقيات به

    يقول للكائناتِ في الورى كونوا

    So, for the delight of the inspirers through it, it never ceases

    To say to beings among creation: 'Be!'

  30. فكلُّ قلبٍ سها عن سرِّ حكمته

    في كل كونٍ فذاك القلبُ مغبونُ

    So every heart heedless of the secret of its wisdom

    In every being—that heart is cheated.

  31. فاعلم بأنك لا تدري الإله إذا

    ما لم يكن فيك يرموكٌ وصِفِّين

    Know, then, that you do not know God if

    Yarmuk and Siffin are not within you.

  32. فاعرف إلهك من قبل الممات فإن

    تمت فأنت على التقليد مسجونُ

    So know your God before death; for if

    You die, you are imprisoned in uncritical imitation.

  33. وإن تجليت في شرقي مشهده

    علماً تنزه فيك العالُ والدون

    And if you manifest yourself in the east of its vision

    As knowledge, the high and low are purified within you,

  34. ولاح في كلِّ ما يخفى ويظهره

    من التكاليف تقبيح وتحسين

    And in all that is hidden and that it reveals there appear

    Among obligations, censure and approval.

  35. فافهم فديتُكَ سرَّاً لله فيك ولا

    تظهرْه فهو عن الأغيار مكنونُ

    So understand—may I be your ransom—a secret of God within you; do not

    Reveal it, for it is concealed from others.

  36. وغر عليه وصُنه ما حييتَ به

    فالسرُّ ميتٌ بقلبِ الحرِّ مدفونُ

    And be jealous over it; preserve it as long as you live by it,

    For the secret is dead, buried in the free man's heart.