وافى كتاب ولِّينا الغزال

وافى كتاب ولِّينا الغزال

مني على شوقٍ له متوالِ

مني على شوقٍ له متوالِ

The letter of our friend al-Ghazal arrived,

Our master's book has come, the gazelle

amid my unceasing longing for him.

Brought to me, increasingly longing for him

وفضَضْتُ خاتمه الكريمَ فلم أجد

وفضَضْتُ خاتمه الكريمَ فلم أجد

غيرَ الجمالِ مقيداً بوصالِ

غيرَ الجمالِ مقيداً بوصالِ

And I broke its noble seal, but found nothing

I opened his precious seal, but did not find

save beauty, bound by union.

Anything but beauty, restricted to union

فأخذته فالاً وسرت مبادراً

فأخذته فالاً وسرت مبادراً

فوجدتُ ما أضمرته في الفال

فوجدتُ ما أضمرته في الفال

So I took it as a good omen and set out in haste,

So I took it as an omen and went ahead

and found what I had harbored within the omen.

And I found what I harbored in fortune-telling

فتنزَّلَ الأمرُ العليّ لخاطري

فتنزَّلَ الأمرُ العليّ لخاطري

بحقائق الأمر العزيز العالي

بحقائق الأمر العزيز العالي

Then the exalted command descended into my mind,

Then the sublime command descended for my thoughts

with the realities of the mighty, lofty command.

With the realities of the mighty, lofty matter

فظهرتُ مرتدياً بثوبِ جلالة

فظهرتُ مرتدياً بثوبِ جلالة

بين العبادِ مؤزَّراً بجمال

بين العبادِ مؤزَّراً بجمال

So I appeared, clad in a robe of majesty,

So I appeared wearing the garment of majesty

among the servants, girded with beauty.

Among the servants, girded with beauty

كلتا يديّ يمين ربي خلقته

كلتا يديّ يمين ربي خلقته

والله قد أخفى عليَّ شمالي

والله قد أخفى عليَّ شمالي

Both my hands are right hands; I created my Lord,

Both my hands were created by my Lord’s right hand

and God has indeed hidden my left hand from me.

And Allah has hidden my left hand from me

وخطوتُ عنه خطوةً وتْرية

وخطوتُ عنه خطوةً وتْرية

منه إليه بأمرِه المتعالي

منه إليه بأمرِه المتعالي

And I took an unpaired step away from Him,

And I stepped away from it hesitantly

from Him to Him, by His transcendent command.

From it to it by its most high command

فلحظت ما قد كنتُ قبل علمته

فلحظت ما قد كنتُ قبل علمته

فعلمتُ أني لم أزل عن حالي

فعلمتُ أني لم أزل عن حالي

Then I glimpsed what I had known before,

So I glimpsed what I had been before I knew it

and knew that I had not left my state.

And I learned that I had never changed from my state

فالعينُ عين مشاهد في علمه

فالعينُ عين مشاهد في علمه

ما دام في كون وفي اضمحلال

ما دام في كون وفي اضمحلال

For the eye is a beholder's eye within his knowledge,

For the eye is an eye that sees in His knowledge

so long as he remains in being and in dissolution.

As long as it exists and in annihilation

فإذا تخلص عن كيانٍ وجوده

فإذا تخلص عن كيانٍ وجوده

بالموتِ عاين غير ما في البال

بالموتِ عاين غير ما في البال

Then, when his existence is freed from individual being,

So when it is free from the existence of its being

through death, he beholds something other than what was in his mind.

By death, it sees something other than what was in the mind

ويكون يشهدُ فوق رتبةِ علمه

ويكون يشهدُ فوق رتبةِ علمه

بشهودِه في عالم التِّرحال

بشهودِه في عالم التِّرحال

And he will witness beyond the level of his knowledge,

And it comes to witness above the level of its knowledge

through his witnessing in the realm of journeying.

By its witnessing in the world of migration

فكأنَّ ما يبديه عَزَّ جلاله

فكأنَّ ما يبديه عَزَّ جلاله

من ذاتِه للعلمِ لمحة وآل

من ذاتِه للعلمِ لمحة وآل

So it is as though what He reveals—exalted is His majesty—

It is as if what His mighty majesty shows

of His essence to knowledge were a glimpse and a mirage.

Of His essence to knowledge is a glance and states