سفحت عقيق الدمع من سفح مقلتي

وبت لدى الجرعاء أجرع عبرتي

I spilled the carnelian of tears from the slope of my eye.

And spent the night beside the sandy tract, gulping down my tears.

وروحي ذابت بالاسى وتفطرت

وسالت دموعا من تصعد زفرتي

And my soul melted with sorrow and shattered,

and flowed as tears from my rising sigh.

ومذ بصفا قلبي سعى طائف الهوى

رمى بفؤادي جمرة بعد جمرة

And since love’s circling pilgrim hastened upon my heart’s Safa,

he cast into my heart ember after ember.

وبين جفوني والرقاد خنافر

كما بين جسمي في السقام وصحبتي

Between my eyelids and sleep lies enmity,

as between my ailing body and my companions.

فمفترق وجدي وصبري عنكم

ومتفق سقمي لديكم ولوعتي

So my passion and my patience are divided over you,

while my sickness and anguish are united before you.

فاول شوقي كان آخر ادمعي

وآخر دمعي كان آخر صبوتي

The beginning of my longing was the last of my tears,

and the last of my tears was the last of my yearning.

الا يا اهيل المنحنى من اضالعي

بقلبي رفقا فهو منكم بقيتي

Ah, dear people of the bend within my ribs,

be gentle with my heart—it is all you have left of me.

وفي الحب ان عذبتموني فليكن

بتوصول سقمي لا بمر القطيعة

And if in love you torment me, let it be

by prolonging my sickness, not by bitter estrangement.

فمني قد ابلى جميعي هواكم

ولم يبق مني غير حفظ المودة

For love of you has worn away all of me,

and nothing remains of me but fidelity to affection.

عدمت فؤادي ان تناسى ودادكم

ولا كان قلبي ان نحا غير نحلتي

May I lose my heart if it neglects your affection,

and may my heart cease to be if it follows any creed but mine.

على غاربي ألقيتم حبل هجركم

وخيل اصطباري في الاعنة عنت

On my withers you cast the rope of your abandonment,

and the steeds of my endurance bowed within their reins.

ومني قد رققتم الجسم بالجفا

واني ليرضيني جفاكم ورقتي

And through estrangement you have made my body frail,

yet your coldness and my frailty truly please me.

وعيش هواكم لو سلا مهجتي القلا

لما فيت عنكم في الغرام بسلوة

By the life of love for you, even if aversion calmed my heart’s blood,

I would not turn from you in passion toward forgetfulness.

حرام على عيني كراها وطيبه

لما قد جرى يوما وحل بطيبة

Forbidden to my eye are its slumber and slumber’s sweetness,

because of what happened one day and befell Tayba.

فلا تنكروا بالحزن أن صرت حائرا

اشق جيوب الصبر من عظم حسرتي

So do not find it strange that grief has left me bewildered,

tearing patience’s collars from the immensity of my sorrow.

جدير لعيني بالدموع اذا بكت

على حرم قد ضم اشرف بقعة

Tears befit my eye whenever it weeps

over a sanctuary that held the noblest spot.

بصاعقة ليلا اصيب كأنما

لشدة ذاك الهول نودي بصعقة

At night it was struck by lightning, as though,

so immense was that terror, a stunning blast had been sounded.

وقد فوقت منها سهاما مصيبة

ولم ار يوما مثلها من مصيبة

From it were aimed arrows that struck their marks,

and never have I seen a calamity like it.

وما برحت تزداد وفد وكلما

اقول عساها قد تولت تولت

Its blaze kept growing, and whenever

I said, 'Perhaps it has withdrawn,' it took command.

وعاج اليها الناس من كل جانب

وكل ينادي بالحريق بحرقة

People turned toward it from every side,

and each cried 'Fire!' in anguish.

ولم يستطيعوا بعض اطفاء وقدها

ومن ذا الذي يسطيع رد البلية

They could not quench even part of its blaze,

and who could repel such affliction?

ومات بها حرقا من الناس معشر

يزيدون عشرا بابن زين العشيرة

A group of people died in it, burned to death,

more than ten, including Ibn Zayn al-ʿAshira.

وجاءت طيور ردت الناس بعدما

احاطت بتلك الحجرة النبوية

Birds came and drove the people back after

surrounding that chamber of the Prophet.

وشاهد ذاك الطير من كان حاضراً

من الناس مرأى العين من غير ريبة

And those present witnessed those birds,

among the people, with their own eyes and without doubt.

ولله في هذا الحريق ارادة

وما ذاك الا عن علوم خفية

God has a purpose in this fire,

and that proceeds only from hidden knowledge.

فياليتني لو كنت يوما لها الفدا

وكنت بروحي افتديها ومهجتي

Would that one day I had been its ransom,

and had redeemed it with my soul and my heart’s blood.

احاشيك يا هذا الجدار بان أرى

تمسك ايدي الحادثات بنكبة

Far be it from you, O wall, that I should see

the hands of misfortune touch you with calamity.

الا مبلغ عني لساكن تربة

اجل سلامي ثم ازكى تحيتي

Will someone convey on my behalf to the dweller in a tomb

my loftiest greeting of peace, then my purest salutation?

حبيبي يا مختار يا كنز مقصدي

ومنهاج آمالي وبهجة روضتي

My beloved, O Chosen One, O treasure of my quest,

pathway of my hopes and delight of my garden,

ذنوبي وزلاتي لحظي تعاظمت

وانت الذي ترجى لكل عظيمة

my sins and lapses have grown great, to my misfortune,

and you are the one hoped in for every grave affair.

بك اليوم لي ارجو النجاة وفي غد

يكون ليوم الفصل أعظم وصلة

Through you I hope for deliverance today; and tomorrow

it will be the greatest bond for the Day of Decision.

فأنت الذي لولاه ما كان آدم

ولا كان نوح قد نجا في السفينة

For you are he without whom Adam would not have existed,

nor would Noah have escaped in the Ark.

ولا كان ابراهيم في الحال ناره

عليه غدت بردا بارض اريضة

Nor would Abraham’s fire at once

have become cool for him on a fertile stretch of earth.

ولا كان اسماعيل للذبح مذ أتى

مطيعا نجا في الحال من حد مدبة

Nor would Ishmael, when he came for slaughter,

obediently, have escaped at once the edge of a sharp blade.

ولا كان لما تله لجبينه

وقد سلما افدي باعظم فدية

Nor, when he laid him down upon his forehead,

and both submitted, would he have been ransomed with the greatest ransom.

ولولاه موسى ماء مدين لم يرد

ولا كان ليلا يهتدي نحو جذوة

Without him, Moses would not have reached the water of Madyan,

nor found his way by night toward a firebrand.

ولا كان عيسى وهو طفل بمهده

ينبىء عنه قومه بالنبوة

Nor would Jesus, an infant in his cradle,

have told his people of him as a prophet.

ولا مريمٌ كانت به حملت ولا

لها قيل هزّي في الندا جذع نخلة

Nor would Mary have conceived him, nor

been told in the call, 'Shake the trunk of a palm.'

وادريس لولاه لما كان قد علا

مكانا رفيعاً دونه كل رتبة

Without him, Idris would not have risen

to a lofty station beneath which lies every rank.

ولا كان عن ايوب قد زال ضره

ولا كان اعطى الصبر عند البلية

Nor would Job’s affliction have been removed,

nor would he have been granted patience amid calamity.

نعم فهو خير الانبياء جميعهم

وامته معدودة خير امة

Yes, he is the best of all the prophets,

and his community is reckoned the best of communities.

له المعجزات الباهرات وكم لنا

بها ظهرت من آية بعد آية

His are the dazzling miracles; how many

signs through them have appeared to us, one after another!

فبدر السما قد شق طوعا لاحبته

وردت اليه الشمس عند عشية

The full moon of heaven split willingly for his loved ones,

and the sun was returned to him toward evening.

وجاء له يشكو البعير ومنه قد

وهي الظهر وهنا من هجير الظهيرة

A camel came to him complaining, and its

back had weakened beneath the scorching heat of noon.

وفي الافق هاتيك الغزالة سلمت

عليه وللصياد عادت ووفت

On the horizon that gazelle greeted

him, then returned to the hunter and kept its pledge.

وكم رد من عين وجاد بها وكم

اصابعه فاضت وللجيش روّت

How many an eye he restored and bestowed; how often

his fingers overflowed, giving the army drink!

وفي ليلة الاسرا من الله قد دنا

وخاطبه في الحضرة القدسيّة

On the night of the Night Journey, he drew near to God

and spoke with Him in the holy presence.

وداس بنعليه البساط تكرما

ومن نال هذا غيره في البسيطة

Honored, he trod the carpet with his sandals;

who else on earth has attained this?

فأن قلت بدر فهو من بعض نوره

وان قلت شمس فهي منه استمدت

If you call him a full moon, it is only part of his light;

if you call him a sun, it drew its radiance from him.

ولو أن عثب الارض اقلام كاتب

لها البحر حبر عنه في الوصف كلت

Even if the earth’s grass were a writer’s pens,

and the sea their ink, they would fail in describing him.

فلا تحسبوا ما قلته حق قدره

وما ذاك إلّ حسب قدري وقدرتي

Do not suppose that what I have said measures his true worth;

it is only according to my own measure and ability.

اليك رسول الله اشكو كبائرا

على كبر وارحمتاه لكبرتي

To you, Messenger of God, I complain of grave sins

in old age—oh, mercy for my old age!

وها قد وهي ظهري وقد جئت تائبا

عسى بك ان تمحي وتقبل توبتي

My back has weakened, and I have come repentant,

hoping that through you they may be erased and my repentance accepted.

ايا ابن كريم وابن خير كريمة

بك اليوم ارجو كشف ضر كريمتي

O son of a noble man and of the finest noble woman,

through you today I hope my precious eye’s affliction will be removed.

وارجوك في الحشر الصراط تجيزني

جواز جزاء عن اجازة مدحتي

I beseech you at the Gathering to bring me across the Bridge,

a passage as recompense for honoring my praise.

فان تم لي هذا فقد تم لي الهنا

وحزت نعيما وانقلبت بنعمة

If this is fulfilled for me, my happiness is complete,

and I shall have gained bliss and returned with a blessing.

فدونك ياذا البر مني مدائحا

لعل يكون البرء فيها لعلتي

So take from me, O beneficent one, these praises;

perhaps in them lies healing for my ailment.

عسى ابن مليك منك يشفى بنظرة

تقيه العنا من كل عين ونظرة

May Ibn Mulayk be healed by a glance from you,

shielding him from the hurt of every eye and gaze.

عليك صلاة الله ثم سلامه

مدى الدهر يبقى مدة بعد مدة

Upon you be God’s blessing, then His peace,

lasting throughout time, age after age;

وآلك والاصحاب ما هبت الصبا

وما نشقت عرف الشذا حين هبت

and upon your family and companions, as long as the east wind blows,

and as long as I breathe fragrance’s scent when it blows.