لما رأيتُ منازلَ الجوزاءِ

لما رأيتُ منازلَ الجوزاءِ

خفيتْ عليَّ حقائق الأنباء

خفيتْ عليَّ حقائق الأنباء

When I saw the mansions of Gemini,

When I saw the houses of Jawzā',

the realities of the tidings were hidden from me.

The realities of the news were hidden from me.

وعلمتُ أنَّ الله يحجبُ عبدَه

وعلمتُ أنَّ الله يحجبُ عبدَه

عن ذاتِه لتحقق الأنساء

عن ذاتِه لتحقق الأنساء

And I learned that God veils His servant

And I knew that God veils His servant

from His Essence, so that intimates may come into being.

From His essence to actualize intimacy.

إن الدليلَ مقابلُ مدلولِه

إن الدليلَ مقابلُ مدلولِه

حكم التقابلِ بنفسه الإنشاء

حكم التقابلِ بنفسه الإنشاء

Indeed, the sign is the counterpart of what it signifies;

Indeed, evidence is opposite to the evidenced -

the law of opposition is itself the bringing into being.

This opposites' ruling inheres creation.

انظر إلى أسمائه الحسنى تجد

انظر إلى أسمائه الحسنى تجد

أعياننا من حضرةِ الأسماء

أعياننا من حضرةِ الأسماء

Look to His most beautiful names: you will find

Look to His beautiful names, you find

our individual realities issuing from the Presence of the Names.

Our entities from the presence of names.

فإذا بدا بالوجه أظهرَ كوننا

فإذا بدا بالوجه أظهرَ كوننا

بالنسخةِ المشهودة الغَرَّاء

بالنسخةِ المشهودة الغَرَّاء

Then, when He appears with His Face, He reveals our existence

So when He appeared through the face, He showed our being

through the radiant copy that is beheld.

In the witnessed copy, gleaming.

زلنا عن الأمثالِ لا بل ضربها

زلنا عن الأمثالِ لا بل ضربها

لله إذ كنا من الجهلاء

لله إذ كنا من الجهلاء

We turned from likenesses—no, rather, from applying them

We slipped from examples—no, He struck them

to God, for we were among the ignorant.

For God, when we were among the ignorant.

أين الذراعُ وهقعةٌ وتحيةٌ

أين الذراعُ وهقعةٌ وتحيةٌ

من فرضٍ قدر فوقهم مُتنائي

من فرضٍ قدر فوقهم مُتنائي

Where are al-Dhirāʿ, Haqʿa, and a greeting

Where are the forearm and prostration and greeting

beside a posited division set above them, far removed,

From an ordained duty above the towering?

في أطلس ما فيه نجمٌ ثابتٌ

في أطلس ما فيه نجمٌ ثابتٌ

يبدو يشاهد نوره للرائي

يبدو يشاهد نوره للرائي

in a smooth sphere where no fixed star

In an atlas where no fixed star appears,

appears, its light visible to the beholder?

Its light seems and is seen by the beholder.

وله الرطوبةُ والحرارة إذْ له

وله الرطوبةُ والحرارة إذْ له

طبعُ الحياةِ وسرُّه في الماء

طبعُ الحياةِ وسرُّه في الماء

And moisture and heat belong to it, since it has

And to Him belong moisture and heat, for to Him belongs

the temperament of life, and its secret is in water.

The nature of life and its secret in water.

عصرُ الشبابِ له وليس لكونه

عصرُ الشبابِ له وليس لكونه

في الرتبة العلياءِ برجُ هواء

في الرتبة العلياءِ برجُ هواء

Youth's season belongs to it; it is not because it stands

The age of youth is His, not because His constellation

in the highest rank that it is an airy sign.

Is in the highest station, the House of Air.

والدالي والميزانُ أمثالٌ له

والدالي والميزانُ أمثالٌ له

فالحكمُ مختلفٌ بغيرِ مِراء

فالحكمُ مختلفٌ بغيرِ مِراء

And Aquarius and Libra are its counterparts;

The Bucket and the Scales are examples of Him.

so the ruling varies, beyond dispute.

So judgment differs without contention.

حكم المنازلِ قد تخالفُ طبعه

حكم المنازلِ قد تخالفُ طبعه

كيفَ الشفاءُ وفيه عينُ الداء

كيفَ الشفاءُ وفيه عينُ الداء

The mansions' rulings may oppose its temperament:

The judgment of the houses may oppose His nature—

how can there be healing when the very illness lies within it?

How healing, while in it lies the eye of sickness?

حار المكاشف في الدجى خياله

حار المكاشف في الدجى خياله

مثل المفكر إذ هما بسواء

مثل المفكر إذ هما بسواء

The visionary was bewildered, his imagination in the dark,

The mystic wandered confusedly in the darkness,

like the thinker, for the two are alike.

Like the thinker when both are equal.

الأمر أعظم أن يحاط بكنهه

الأمر أعظم أن يحاط بكنهه

ومع النَّزاهة جاء بالأنواء

ومع النَّزاهة جاء بالأنواء

The matter is too great to be encompassed in its essence;

The matter is greatest that its essence be encompassed

and despite transcendence, it came with the stars' risings and settings.

And with sincerity came with tidings.

حرنا وحار العقل في تحصيله

حرنا وحار العقل في تحصيله

إذ ليس منحصراً على استيفاء

إذ ليس منحصراً على استيفاء

We were bewildered, and reason was bewildered in grasping it,

We were perplexed, and the mind was confused in attaining it,

for it is not confined within an exhaustive account.

Since it cannot be limited to enumeration.

لولا ثبوتُ المنع قلتُ بجودِه

لولا ثبوتُ المنع قلتُ بجودِه

المنعُ يُذهبُ رتبةَ الكرماء

المنعُ يُذهبُ رتبةَ الكرماء

Were withholding not established, I would profess belief in His generosity;

Had the impossibility of limitation not been proven, I would have said, by His generosity,

withholding takes away the rank of the generous.

"Limitation removes the rank of generous ones."

لا تفرحنَّ بما ترى من شَاهدٍ

لا تفرحنَّ بما ترى من شَاهدٍ

يبدو لعينِك عند كشفِ غِطاء

يبدو لعينِك عند كشفِ غِطاء

Do not rejoice at any visible sign you see

Do not rejoice in what you see of a witness

appearing to your eye when a veil is lifted.

That appears to your eye when a cover is unveiled.

من شانه المكر الذي قد قاله

من شانه المكر الذي قد قاله

في محكمِ الآياتِ والأنباء

في محكمِ الآياتِ والأنباء

Among His ways is the guile He has spoken of

It is His way to use that deceit which

in the unequivocal verses and tidings.

He has stated in the decisive verses and news.

القصد في علمِ الأمور كما جَرَتْ

القصد في علمِ الأمور كما جَرَتْ

ما القصد في حَمَل ولا جَوزاءِ

ما القصد في حَمَل ولا جَوزاءِ

The aim is knowledge of things as they have come to pass;

The aim in the knowledge of matters is as

the aim lies not in Aries, nor in Gemini.

The aim in bearing neither crow nor dove.

إن الطبيعة كالعروسِ إذا انجلتْ

إن الطبيعة كالعروسِ إذا انجلتْ

والبعلُ من تدريه بالإيماء

والبعلُ من تدريه بالإيماء

Indeed, nature is like a bride when she is unveiled,

Indeed, nature is like a bride when she adorns herself,

and her husband is the one you know by allusion.

And the groom—who makes her gestures to him?

عنها تولدتِ الجسومُ بأسرها

عنها تولدتِ الجسومُ بأسرها

وتعاقبَ الإصباحُ والإمساء

وتعاقبَ الإصباحُ والإمساء

From her all bodies were born,

From her originated all bodies altogether,

and morning and evening alternated.

And morning and evening alternate.

فهي الأميمة للكثيفِ وروحُه

فهي الأميمة للكثيفِ وروحُه

وهو لها للنشء كالأبناء

وهو لها للنشء كالأبناء

So she is the little mother of dense matter and its spirit,

So she is the wet nurse of the dense and its spirit,

and in coming into being, it is to her like children.

And it is to her, for procreation, like sons.

وهم الشقائقُ يُنسَبون إليهما

وهم الشقائقُ يُنسَبون إليهما

بالفعلِ لا بالتحامِ النائي

بالفعلِ لا بالتحامِ النائي

And they are full siblings, attributed to the two of them

And they are the anemones attributed to them

through action, not through union with the far-removed.

Through action, not through the distant conjunction.

مَن دانَ بالإحصاء دانَ بكلِّ ما

مَن دانَ بالإحصاء دانَ بكلِّ ما

دلَّت عليه حقائقُ الإحصاءِ

دلَّت عليه حقائقُ الإحصاءِ

Whoever believes in enumeration believes in all that

Whoever believes in enumeration believes in all

the realities of enumeration point to.

To which the realities of enumeration point.

لا تلق ألواحاً تضمن رحمته

لا تلق ألواحاً تضمن رحمته

وادفع بهن شماتة الأعداء

وادفع بهن شماتة الأعداء

Do not cast away tablets that contain His mercy,

Do not receive tablets containing His mercy

and with them ward off the enemies' gloating.

And repel with them the gloating of enemies.

واسلك بنا النهجَ القويمَ ملبياً

واسلك بنا النهجَ القويمَ ملبياً

صوتَ المنادي عند كلِّ نهداء

صوتَ المنادي عند كلِّ نهداء

And walk with us along the upright path, answering

And make me follow the straight path, answering

the caller's voice beside every full-breasted woman.

The voice of every caller at each slope.

هو حاجب البابِ الذي خضعتْ له

هو حاجب البابِ الذي خضعتْ له

غلبُ الرقابِ وآمرُ الأمراء

غلبُ الرقابِ وآمرُ الأمراء

He is the keeper of the gate, before whom have bowed

He is the veiler of the door to which

stout necks—and he is the commander of commanders.

The necks of the elite bowed, commander of commanders.