سلامٌ له وجهٌ من الحبّ ناضرُ

سلامٌ له وجهٌ من الحبّ ناضرُ

ولحظٌ بعين القلب والروح ناظرُ

ولحظٌ بعين القلب والروح ناظرُ

A greeting whose face is radiant with love,

A greeting of love illuminates his face,

And a gaze looking through the eye of heart and spirit,

His gaze with the eye of heart and soul observing.

لريحانة القلب الّذي غرسه الحشا

لريحانة القلب الّذي غرسه الحشا

بروضة سرّي منه فاحت أزاهر

بروضة سرّي منه فاحت أزاهر

To the sweet basil of the heart, which the bosom planted

For the basil of the heart that the Almighty planted

In the garden of my inmost self; from it, blossoms breathed fragrance.

In the garden of my secret, from which flowers diffused their fragrance.

وأمّا اشتياقي والسؤال فإنّه

وأمّا اشتياقي والسؤال فإنّه

إليكم وعنكم وافرٌ متواتر

إليكم وعنكم وافرٌ متواتر

And as for my longing and inquiry, they are indeed

As for my longing and questioning, it is indeed

For you and about you, abundant and continual,

Abundantly recurring, about you and for you.

يجلّ عن الإحصاء عدّاً وكثرةً

يجلّ عن الإحصاء عدّاً وكثرةً

وأن تحمل المعشارَ منه الدفاتر

وأن تحمل المعشارَ منه الدفاتر

Too great for reckoning in number and abundance,

It defies enumeration and counting for its excess

Or for record books to contain a tenth of them.

And overflows the pages if recorded in notebooks.

ففي ظاهر ودٌّ وفي السرّ مثله

ففي ظاهر ودٌّ وفي السرّ مثله

لكم وهو يبدو يوم تُبلى السرائر

لكم وهو يبدو يوم تُبلى السرائر

For outwardly there is affection, and in secret its equal,

My affection is evident, and my secret matches it,

For you—and it will appear on the day when secrets are tested.

For you, to be revealed when hidden thoughts are laid bare.