أسرى به في ليلة المعراج

بمعاجز الإلجام والإسراج

He was borne by night on the night of the Ascension,

through miracles of bridling and saddling.

نور سرى فوق الأثير وميضُه

والليل في العشر الأواخر داجي

A light whose gleam coursed above the ether,

while the night, in the last ten nights, was dark,

حتى أضاء الكون نو سنائه

متألقا في ضوئه الوهاج

until the light of his splendor illumined the universe,

shining in his blazing light.

بدر أضاء الخافقين بهديه

في عالم لضيائه محتاج

A full moon that illumined East and West with his guidance,

in a world in need of his radiance.

من بطن مكة والعوالم هجع

أسرى به للقدس ذي الأبراج

From the heart of Mecca, while the worlds slept,

he was borne by night to Jerusalem with its towers,

وسما إلى اُلأُفق العليّ بليله

يَفتَضُّ محكمَ مغلق الازلاج

and ascended to the lofty horizon that night,

breaking open what was firmly shut and bolted,

حتى تدنىَّ قاب قوسين إلى

أن كان يسمع همسة المتناجي

until he drew within two bow-lengths, so close

that he could hear the whisper of one speaking in confidence.

ولقد رآه نَزلَةً أخرى كما

قال الإله بقصة المعراج

And indeed he saw him at another descent, as

God said in the account of the Ascension.

من ذا يماريه على ما قد رأى

لولا العناد وخطة الارهاج

Who would dispute with him about what he had seen,

were it not for obstinacy and a scheme of stirring turmoil?

إذ جنة المأوى وفيها ما اشتهت

نفس وما يهواه كل مزاج

There was the Garden of Refuge, containing whatever is desired

by a soul, and whatever every temperament craves,

والسدرة العظمى وإذ يغشي الذي

يغشى من الأفراد والأزواج

and the mighty lote-tree, when it was veiled by whatever

veiled it, of single beings and pairs.

في عالم ملكوته طُهرٌ بلا

رجس هناك لا بذيء لجاج

In the realm of His dominion there is purity without

defilement; no foul-mouthed wrangler is there.

جبريل ينشر بالسلام جناحَه

يققاً تطهر عن دم ثجّاج

Gabriel spreads his wing in peace,

pure white, cleansed of gushing blood.

وترى الملائك قائماً أو قاعداً

يدعو بذلك ربه ويناجي

And you see the angels, standing or seated,

calling thus upon their Lord and communing with Him.

بحر من الأنوار ضَوءٌ كله

متلاطم كالعيلم العجّاج

A sea of lights, all of it radiance,

its waves clashing like the roaring deep sea.

تتوجه الآمال نحو مقامه

مثل الفراش يحوم حول سراح

Hopes turn toward his station,

like moths circling a lamp.

يدوي دُعا المظلوم فيه مكبرا

وتوسلُ الملهوف والمحتاج

The wronged one's prayer resounds there, proclaiming God's greatness,

and the entreaties of the distressed and the needy.

فرأى الذي ما قبله عين رأت

كلا ولا سمعته أذنُ مناجي

So he saw what no eye had seen before him,

no, nor had the ear of one in communion heard it.

والصالحون ذوو الشهادة والتقى

يمشون في الفردوس في الديباج

And the righteous, endowed with martyrdom and piety,

walk in Paradise clad in brocade.

يسقون مختوم الرحيق مشعشعا

بالنور كأسا في لطيف مزاج

They are given sealed nectar to drink, sparkling

with light—a cup with a delicate blend.

ورأى ذوي الآثام والإجرام في

حال من الآلالم والإزعاج

And he saw those guilty of sin and crime in

a state of pain and torment.

يُغذَونَ بالزقوم والغسلين أو

يمشون في الأغلال بالكرباج

They are fed on zaqqum and ghislin, or

walk in shackles under the whip.

والأنبياء استبشروا بأجلهم

في القدر والناموس والمنهاج

And the prophets rejoiced in the most exalted among them

in rank, divine law, and guiding way.

ولقد رأى آياته الكبرى التي

هي للجهول طلاسمٌ وأحاجي

And indeed he saw His greatest signs, which

are talismans and riddles to the ignorant.

تبا لمن أعمى الهوى أبصاره

فغوى كسار في قتام عجاج

Ruin to him whose eyes desire has blinded,

so that he strays like a traveler in dark, swirling dust.

هزأت قريش حين قال طغاتها

لا تسمعوا لمخرف هراج

Quraysh scoffed when its tyrants said:

"Do not listen to a babbling teller of nonsense!

قولوا أيقطع في هزيع ماونت

عنه هجان السير والادلاج

Say: Can he traverse, in a portion of the night, what exhausted

the purebred camels of daytime and nighttime travel?

أم كيف يعرج للسماء بجسمه

صُعُداً بلا سبب ولا أدراج

Or how can he ascend to heaven in his body,

upward, without a means of ascent or stairs?"

من ذا يقيس المعجزات بعقله

في منطق وقواعد استنتاج

Who can measure miracles by his reason,

through logic and rules of inference?

إن المعاجز لا تقاس بآلة

وَسَمَت عن المسطار والأزياج

Miracles cannot be measured by an instrument,

and rise above the ruler and astronomical tables.

من قبل قرن من يصدق أننا

سنرى ونسمع من بعيد فجاج

A century ago, who would have believed that we

would see and hear from distant mountain passes,

أو يدرك الرادار رجع صدى له

حول السهى بتذبذب الأمواج

or that radar could detect an echo returning to it

around al-Suha, through the oscillation of waves,

أو يخضع الإنسان عنصر ذره

بسديد تفكير وحسن علاج

or that man could master the substance of his atoms

through sound thinking and skillful handling?

هزؤوا به سَفهاً لضعف حلومهم

والله آخذهم بالاستدراج

They mocked him foolishly, for the weakness of their judgment,

while God drew them step by step into His grasp,

حتى انجلت لهم الحقيقةُ بعدما

شهدوا من الآيات كل مفاجي

until the truth became clear to them, after

they had witnessed every startling sign.

وانقاد كل مكابر ومعاند

وانصاع كل منافق ومداجي

And every arrogant denier and obstinate opponent submitted,

and every hypocrite and dissembler yielded.

وتهاوت الأصنام من عليائها

واجتُثَّت العُزَّى من اَلأوشاج

And the idols toppled from their lofty places,

and al-Uzza was uprooted from the tangled roots.

والناس كلهم بعزم صادق

دخلوا بدين الله بالأفواج

And all the people, with sincere resolve,

entered God's religion in throngs.

ومشت كتائبهم مشاعلَ للعلى

من كل أزهر بالشهادة ناجي

And their battalions marched as beacons of lofty glory,

made up of radiant souls, saved by the testimony of faith.

هوت العروش أمامهم وعنا لهم

ذو الصولجان وأبّهات التاج

Thrones fell before them, and bowed to them

the bearer of the scepter and the crown's magnificence.

وعلى البسيطة رفرفت أعلامهم

كالصبح عمَّ اُلأفق بالإبلاج

And across the earth their banners fluttered,

like morning flooding the horizon with dawn-light.

القدس للفاروق يفتح بابه

ويزيل عنه محكم الإرتاج

Jerusalem opens its gate to al-Faruq,

and undoes its firmly secured bolts.

ويظل مفتوح الرتاج مُؤَمَّنَا

حرا لمقدم سائر الحّجاج

And it remains open-gated and secure,

free to welcome all arriving pilgrims.

وأتى صلاح الدين يَقدُمُ جيشَه

ليبشر المأسور بالافراج

And Salah al-Din came, leading his army,

to give the captive glad news of release.

واليوم روعت المحارم جهرة

فيه وشتت أهله بملاجي

Today the sacred precincts are openly terrorized

there, and its people scattered among shelters.

وغدت فلسطين الشهيدة مذبحاً

فيه الدماءث جرت من الأوداج

And martyred Palestine has become a slaughterhouse,

where blood has flowed from jugular veins.

في دير ياسين وفي أخواتها

ذبح اَلأهالي مثل سرج نعاج

In Deir Yassin and its sister villages,

the inhabitants were slaughtered like a flock of ewes.

والمسلمون جميعهم في شاغل

من سفسفات أو عقيم لجاج

While all the Muslims are preoccupied

with trivialities or barren wrangling.

رحماك ربي إنَّ أرشك قد خلت

فابعث لنا يا رب بالإفراج

Your mercy, my Lord! Your [earth?] has become deserted;

so send us deliverance, O Lord.