يا سعد قلبي ما سلا ولا طاب

وزاد حزنه والحنين

O Saʿd, my heart has found neither solace nor ease,

And its sorrow and longing have grown,

من بعدما فارق ربوع الأحباب

وصار بين النازحين

Ever since it left the dwellings of loved ones

And came to be among those far from home,

وحل بين الباديه والأجناب

أهل الجفاء الغافلين

And settled among desert dwellers and strangers—

Heedless people of coldness—

في البعد عن الأفه والأصحاب

أهل المحبة واليقين

Far from intimates and companions,

The people of love and certainty.

رعى الله أوقات الوصال ياصاح

ساعات راحات الفؤاد

May God preserve those times of union, my friend,

Those hours of the heart's repose,

أيام كنا في سرور وأفراح

والأنس مع صفو الوداد

Days when we were in happiness and joy,

And companionship with unclouded affection.

نسقى بكاسات الهنا من الراح

مع أهله في خير ناد

We were given wine to drink in cups of bliss,

With its people in the finest gathering,

ما نختشى مس الوصب والأوصاب

ولا أذايا المؤذيين

Fearing no touch of illness or affliction,

Nor harm from those who cause harm.

باسعد سر بي نحو ربع حبي

قم بي وعجل يا سعيد

O Saʿd, take me toward my beloved's dwelling;

Set out with me, and hurry, O Saʿīd.

فالشوق قد قطع نياط قلبي

وزاد في جوفي وقيد

For longing has severed my heartstrings,

And a blaze has grown within me.

وليس يبرد حرناركربي

من بعد ذا الوهج الشديد

And nothing cools the heat of my anguish's fire,

After this fierce blaze,

إلا نزولي بين تلك الأطناب

بين الهداة الفائزين

Except my lodging among those tent-ropes,

Among the guides who have attained success.

الله جارى من جفا الحبايب

نعوذ بالله الكريم

God is my protector from loved ones' estrangement;

We seek refuge in God, the Generous.

إنه مصيبه دونها المصائب

لأنه نار الجحيم

It is a calamity greater than all other calamities,

For it is the fire of Hell.

وهل ترى تصفو لي المشارب

وعندهم أمسى نديم

And do you think the drinking waters will run clear for me,

And I will spend the evening as a boon companion among them,

من بعد طول البعد والتغراب

وقد مضت كم من سنين

After long separation and exile,

When so many years have passed?

أرجو إلهي ذي الكرم والأفضال

الله رب العالمين

I hope that my God, Lord of generosity and bounties,

God, the Lord of the worlds,

يفتح على قلبي سنى الأحوال

من محض أفضاله آمين

Will open to my heart the radiance of spiritual states,

Out of His pure bounty—amen.

مما منح أوتادها والأبدال

ممن سبق واللاحقين

Of what He bestowed on its spiritual pillars and the substitutes,

Among those who preceded and those who follow,

وإغواثها وأفرادها والأقطاب

نسألك جودك يامعين

And its succor-givers, its singular saints, and the spiritual poles.

We ask You for Your generosity, O Helper.

أولئك الأقوام هم مرادي

وبغيتي بل والمرام

Those people are the ones I desire,

And my quest—nay, my very aim,

ومطلبي من جملة العباد

وأنس روحي في الأنام

And those I seek among all the servants,

And my spirit's delight among all creation.

وحبهم قد حل في فؤادي

وعم لحمي والعظام

And love for them has settled in my heart

And pervaded my flesh and bones.

أهل المعارف والصفا والآداب

وراث علم المرسلين

People of spiritual knowledge, purity, and noble conduct,

Heirs to the knowledge of the messengers,

المخلصون الصادقون الأبرار

التائبون العابدون

The sincere, the truthful, the righteous,

The repentant, the worshippers,

الطيبون الطاهرون الأخيار

الراكعون الساجدون

The good, the pure, the virtuous,

Those who bow, those who prostrate,

العارفون الذائقون الأحرار

الحامدون الشاكرون

The knowers of God, the tasters, the free,

Those who praise, those who give thanks.

الكل منهم مخبت وأواب

سلكوا سبيل السابقين

Each of them is humbly devoted and ever turns to God;

They have followed the way of the forerunners.

ياالله بذره من محبة الله

يارب يامعطي الجزيل

O God, with a speck of love for God—

O Lord, O Giver of abundant bounty—

أفنى بها عن كل ماسوى الله

يامن عوائدك الجميل

May I be effaced through it from all that is other than God,

O You whose customary favors are beautiful,

ولا أرى من بعدها سوى الله

الخالق الفرد الجليل

And may I thereafter see nothing but God,

The Creator, the Unique, the Majestic,

الواحد المعبود رب الأرباب

محي قلوب العارفين

The One, the Worshipped, Lord of lords,

Reviver of the hearts of the knowers of God.

فأرجى اليوم كشف كربه

ورفع مابي من شرور

So today I hope for distress to be lifted,

And for the evils within me to be removed,

إلا ان صفالي مشرب المحبه

وعم قلبي كل نور

Only if the draught of love runs clear for me,

And every light fills my heart,

ونلت من ربي رضا وقربه

وكل خصله لن تبور

And I attain favor from my Lord and nearness to Him,

And every virtue that shall never perish,

يكون فيها قطع كل الأسباب

مما سوى الله المتين

Within it is the severing of all ties

To all that is other than God, the Firm in strength,

على بساط العلم والعباده

على الصراط المستقيم

On the carpet of knowledge and worship,

On the straight path.

والغيب عندي صار كالشهادة

بالروح والقلب السليم

And the unseen has become, for me, like the seen,

Through the spirit and a sound heart.

هذا لعمري منتهى السعاده

طلبت ذا الفضل العظيم

This, by my life, is the utmost happiness;

I have sought this immense bounty.

سبحان ربي من رجاه ما خاب

والنجج للراجي ضمين

Glory be to my Lord! Whoever hopes in Him is not disappointed,

And success is assured to the one who hopes.

ياطالب التحقيق قم وبادر

واسلك بحالك والفعال

O seeker of realization, rise and hasten,

And follow the path through your state and deeds.

وانهض على ساق الهمم وخاطر

وارق إلى أوج المعال

And rise on the leg of high aspirations, and venture,

And ascend to the summit of eminence.

واصبر على قمع الهوى وصابر

ولا تطع عاذل وقال

And patiently bear the curbing of desire, and persevere,

And do not heed a reproacher or idle talk.

واصدق ولا تبرح ملازم الباب

تعطي كمثل الصادقين

And be sincere; never cease to keep to the door,

You will be given as the truthful are.

واعلم بأن الخير كله أجمع

في حال موتك والحياه

And know that all goodness, in its entirety,

In your death and in life,

ضمن اتباعك للنبي المشفع

شفيعنا عندالإله

Lies in your following the Prophet whose intercession is accepted,

Our intercessor before God.

صلى عليه الله ماتشعشع

بدرو ما أبدى سناه

May God bless him as long as there shines

A full moon, and as long as its radiance is revealed by

فجروماسالت عيون الأشعاب

فاخضر عيش المجذبين

Dawn, and as long as the ravines' springs flow,

So the drought-stricken people's livelihood grows green.