1. كل من رام في الوجودِ اتصالا

    بوجودي قد رام أمراً مُحالا

    Whoever has sought union in existence

    With my being has sought an impossible thing.

  2. قد قطعنا لرؤيةِ السرِّ شوقا

    واشتياقا فيافياً ورِمالا

    Longing to behold the secret, we have traversed

    Deserts and sands in yearning.

  3. ثم إني لما وصلتُ إليه

    لم أجد غيرنا فزدت نكالا

    Then, when I reached him,

    I found none but ourselves, and grew in torment.

  4. قلت ربي فقال لبيك عبدي

    لم أجد غير حيرةٍ لي ضلالا

    I said, "My Lord!" He said, "At your service, my servant."

    I found only bewilderment—a wandering astray for me.

  5. قال لي هكذا هو الأمر فاعلم

    لم يزد طالبوه إلا خبالا

    He said to me, "Such is the matter; know this:

    Its seekers have only grown more confused."

  6. كلُّ قلبٍ يبغي الوصول إليه

    معلم بالفراقِ منه تعالى

    Every heart that seeks to reach him

    Is marked by separation from him, exalted is he.

  7. وكذا من يقول ربي بقلبي

    جدٌّ والجدُّ لم ينله فنالا

    Likewise, whoever says, "My Lord is in my heart,"

    Is earnest; earnestness did not attain him, and so attained

  8. حيرةٌ مثله فقال شخيصٌ

    غاطسٌ في السرابِ ماءً زلالا

    Bewilderment like his; then a towering figure said,

    Plunging into the mirage, "Clear, sweet water!"

  9. ثم لما أتاه لم يلفَ إلا

    عُدماً حاصلا وقد كان آلا

    Then, when he reached it, he found nothing but

    Present nothingness, though it had been a mirage.

  10. يثبتُ الجهلَ ههنا ثم أيضا

    ههنا والجهولُ نال الوبالا

    It establishes ignorance here, and then also

    Here; the ignorant one has earned calamity.

  11. وجد الله عنده فكفاه

    صاحبُ الآلِ كان أحسن آلا

    He found God there, and He sufficed him;

    The mirage's master was a finer mirage.

  12. إخوتي هل رأيتهمُ أو سمعتم

    أن شخصاً أتى إليه فمالا

    My brothers, have you seen them or heard

    That someone came to him and then turned

  13. عنه عن غير حاصل مستلذ

    لا وحقَّ الإله جلَّ جلالا

    Away from him for something else attained and enjoyed?

    No, by God's truth—exalted is he in majesty!

  14. ما رأيناه في سوى الحق عينا

    وقصاراه أنْ يكون خيالا

    We have not seen him as a real presence outside the Real;

    And at most, it can be an imagined form.

  15. وهو شرع مقرَّر مستفادٌ

    جاء بالكاف نوره يتلالا

    And it is an established, imparted law,

    Its light came with the letter kāf, shimmering,

  16. لقلوبٍ دنت إليه اشتياقا

    فكساها مهابةً وجمالا

    To hearts that drew near to him in yearning,

    And clothed them in awe and beauty.

  17. لا وحقِّ الهوى ومتبعيه

    ما رأينا في الهجر إلا الوصالا

    No, by the truth of passion and its followers,

    We have seen in separation nothing but union.

  18. لم ينل كلُّ طالبٍ مستفيدٍ

    عينَ كونِ الحبيبِ إلا كَلالا

    No seeker seeking benefit has attained

    The Beloved's very being, but only weariness.

  19. فاطلب الأمر بالوجودِ تجدّه

    عند حبلِ الوريد يشكو المطالا

    So seek the matter through existence, and you will find it

    At the jugular vein, complaining of delay.

  20. قلت مذ أنت ههنا قال دهري

    إنَّ ربي أتيت عنه مثالا

    I said, "Since when are you here?" He said, "For all my time.

    Indeed, I came from my Lord as a likeness.

  21. وأنا ما أريد غلا إلهي

    حبه الدهر لا أريد اتصالا

    And I desire nothing but my God—

    His love for all time; I desire no union

  22. بسوى الله قال عينُ وجودي

    حققِ الأمر يا فتى استقلالا

    With any but God." The essence of my being said:

    "Verify the matter, young man, independently."

  23. يدري قطعاً من أبصر البدر فينا

    إنه كان في العيان هلالا

    Whoever has seen the full moon in us knows for certain

    That, to the eye, it was a crescent.

  24. ثم لما تزايد الأمر فينا

    عاد في نقصه يريد الكمالا

    Then, when the matter grew within us,

    It returned to its waning, seeking perfection.

  25. كلُّ نقصٍ تراه فهو كمال

    للذي جاء فيه أنَّ المثالا

    Every deficiency you see is a perfection

    For that in which it occurs, since the likeness

  26. يستر الشيء خلفه وهو كشفٌ

    عند من يعرفُ الحلال حلالا

    Veils the thing behind it, yet is an unveiling

    For one who knows the lawful as lawful.

  27. حكم العلمُ أنَّ ما كان رجماً

    إنه كان في الهواء اشتعالا

    Knowledge has judged that what was a projectile

    Was a blaze in the air.

  28. وهو نجم كما تراه ولكن

    جعلَ الجوّ للرجوم مجالا

    It is a star, as you see it, but

    The atmosphere was made an arena for projectiles.

  29. هو نار وفي الحقيقةِ نورٌ

    فيه شغلٌ لمن يريد اشتغالا

    It is fire, and in reality, light;

    There is work in it for whoever wishes to be occupied.

  30. وأتى الربُّ للحرارةِ فيها

    رحمة للورى فمدّ الظلالا

    And the Lord came because of the heat within it,

    As mercy for creation, and spread the shades.

  31. فنعمنا بها فعشنا ملوكا

    ليس نبغي ضدّاً فنبغي قتالا

    So we delighted in them and lived as kings,

    Seeking no opponent, and thus no battle,

  32. في نعيم به وظل ظليل

    مستريحين لا نقط ذبالا

    In bliss through him, beneath sheltering shade,

    At rest, trimming no lampwicks.

  33. إن ترد أنْ تكون فيه مكانا

    أكثر الصوم ههنا والوصالا

    If you wish to be a place within it,

    Increase fasting here, and keep the fast unbroken.

  34. كلُّ من مال عنك فيما تراه

    لا تقل عنه إنه عنك مالا

    Whoever, in your eyes, turns away from you,

    Do not say of him that he turned away from you.

  35. فتغيظ العدوّ قولا وفعلا

    وتسرّ الوليّ فعلا وحالا

    Thus you anger the enemy in word and deed,

    And delight the friend in deed and state.

  36. سمى المال في العموم لميل

    فيك والعبدُ مال عنه ممالا

    Wealth—māl—is commonly so named for an inclination

    Within you; and the servant indeed turned away from it.