قم واستنشق نفح الفرج — Omar Alyafi

قم واستنشق نفحَ الفرَجِ

واشتمّ شذى طيبِ الأرجِ

Rise and breathe the breeze of relief,

and smell the fragrance of sweet perfume.

واخضع بالذلّ بباب العز

ز ولذ بالصدق ولا تَعُجِ

Humble yourself at the gate of might,

and take refuge in truthfulness; do not turn aside.

واخلص لله ففي الإخلا

ص سناً يهدي أسنى النهج

Be sincere toward God, for in sincerity

is a radiance guiding to the noblest path.

وإذا ما ليل الخطب سجى

وغدا صبحُ الأكوان دَجِي

Whenever the night of calamity settles

and the dawn of the worlds grows dark,

فافهم حكماً لاحت بتجل

لي الحقّ لمعنىً مبتهج

discern the wisdoms revealed through the self-disclosure

of the Real, conveying a joyous meaning.

واشهد ما شمتَ بفيض الحق

ق مع التسليم به تَهج

Witness what you glimpsed through the Real's outpouring;

with surrender to Him, be stirred to joy.

فالحكم له وهو الفعّا

ل فسلّم تسلم تغدو نجي

Judgment is His, and He is the Doer;

so surrender and be safe; you will be delivered.

فسيُجلى ليل الخطب ويب

دو فجرُ الفتحِ المنبلج

The night of calamity will be dispelled, and there will appear

the brightly breaking dawn of opening.

وسيخفى غيم العسر ويع

قبه يسرٌ فاطرب وهج

The cloud of hardship will vanish, and after it

will come ease; so rejoice and be stirred.

وبذاك جرت عادات الحق

ق تعالى ذي اللطف البهج

Such have been the customary ways of the Real,

exalted is He, whose kindness brings delight.

واصبر للحكمة إن برزت

فالصبر مفاتيح الفرج

Be patient with wisdom when it appears,

for patience holds the keys to relief.

وإذا ما الأزم اشتدَّ فقل

اشتدي أزمة تنفرجي

Whenever distress grows severe, say:

'Tighten, O crisis, and you will ease!'

واضرع لله وناد أياً

غوثاه بإخلاص المُهج

Beseech God and cry aloud, 'O

help!' with sincerity from the soul's depths.

قد قلتَ أجيبُ لدعوة مَن

يدعوك بقلبٍ مختلج

You have said You answer the prayer of whoever

calls upon You with a trembling heart.

ووعدتَ ووعدُك يا مولا

ي الحقّ لداعٍ منتهج

You have promised, and Your promise, O my Lord,

is true for a supplicant who follows the path.

فلهذا عبدك وافى با

بَ العزّ بذلٍّ ذا لهج

Therefore Your servant has come to the gate

of might, humbled and fervently pleading.

يدعو بتجلّي الذات وبال

أسما تمحو غيمَ الحرج

He prays by the self-disclosure of the Essence and by the

Names that dispel the cloud of distress;

بمظاهر أسماءٍ برزت

من فيض الذات إلى الحبج

by the manifestations of Names that appeared

from the Essence's outpouring to [unclear: al-habaj];

وبسرّ الإسم الأعظم مَن

تاليه علا أعلى الدرج

and by the secret of the Greatest Name, whose

reciter ascends the highest ranks;

بمحمّدك المحمود ومن

يهدي للحقّ بلا عوج

by Your praised Muhammad, and him who

guides to the Truth without crookedness.

هو رحمتنا العظمى وسرا

جُ الكون ومقتبس السرج

He is our greatest mercy, the lamp

of the cosmos, the source from which lamps are lit;

وبما أنزلت عليه من ال

نور الهادي أهدى نهج

and by what You sent down upon him of the

light that guides to the straightest path;

بخليلك إبراهيم أبي ال

ضيفان المشبع من وأَج

by Your intimate friend Abraham, father of

guests, who sates whoever burns with hunger;

بكليمك موسى الفرد ومن

سمع التكليم بمنعرج

by Moses, Your peerless interlocutor, and him who

heard the divine speech at a bend;

بالروح بنوحٍ من أهدي

تَ بهم مَن كان مِن الهمج

by the Spirit, by Noah—those through whom You guided

whoever had been among the uncultivated rabble;

وبكلّ نبيٍّ من قدمٍ

بعلاك سما أوجَ البرج

and by every prophet of old

who through Your exaltedness rose to the tower's summit;

وبما أنزلتَ عليهم من

كتبٍ قد خطّت في درَج

and by what You sent down upon them:

books inscribed in scrolls;

وبما أدنيت من الأملا

ك ومن قد ساروا في البلج

and by those angels You brought near,

and those who walked in radiance;

وبأفضلهم هو ثاني اثني

ن رفيق الغار وذو الأرج

and by their best, the second of two,

the companion of the cave, possessed of fragrance;

وبسيّدنا الفاروق كذا

عثمان عليٍّ ذاكي النفج

and by our master al-Faruq, and likewise

Uthman, and Ali of potent fragrance;

وبمن قد سار بنهجهمُ

وبكلّ فتىً بالحبّ شجي

and by those who followed their path,

and every youth whom love has made sorrowful;

بالغوث الفرد الجامع مَن

قد شاد لأركان الوُلَج

by the peerless, all-embracing Ghawth, who

has raised the pillars of the inner retreats;

وبأهل الجذب وأهل القر

ب وأهل الحبّ المنتهج

and by the people of divine attraction and of nearness,

and those who have made love their path;

وبعبد القادر قطبهمُ

بأبي فرّاجٍ ذي الفرج

and by Abd al-Qadir, their spiritual Pole,

by Abu Farraj, endowed with relief;

وبأحمدهم وبمن بدسو

قٍ حلّ لنجدة ذي وهج

and by their Ahmad, and him who in Disuq

dwelt, to succor one aflame;

بالشيخ الأكبر عارفهم

وبختمهم محيي النهج

by the Greatest Shaykh, their knower of God,

and by their Seal, reviver of the path;

بمعارفه وعوارفه

وبما قد أبدى من حجج

by his spiritual insights and his favors,

and by the proofs he has made manifest;

وبعمدتنا البكريّ ومن

لولاه ببابك لم نَلُج

and by our mainstay al-Bakri, and him

without whom we would not have entered Your gate;

وبكلّ وليٍّ منك دنا

في ماضي الدهر ومن سيجي

and by every saint who drew near to You

in ages past, and whoever is yet to come;

بعرائس قدسٍ قد جليت

بحُلَى الأسرار وبالدعج

by brides of holiness unveiled

in the ornaments of mysteries and dark-eyed beauty:

فرّج كُرَباً زادت وصباً

أنت المأمول لدى الهَرَج

Relieve afflictions that have increased our suffering;

You are the one hoped in amid turmoil.

وافتح مولاي بمحض الفض

ل لما قد سُدّ من الفرج

Open, my Lord, through pure grace,

whatever openings have been sealed.

فالأحشا يا غوثاه غدت

من بحر الأزمة في لجج

Our inmost hearts—O help!—are now

in the deep waters of the sea of crisis.

وظلامُ قتامِ الخطبِ سجى

وغدا ذا الحيّ كما السبج

The black darkness of calamity has settled,

and this quarter has become like jet.

دارك باللطف بمنح العط

ف أزل ذا الخوف مع الحرج

Come to our aid with kindness, bestowing compassion;

remove this fear and distress.

حاشاك تردّ لمن بالبا

ب بذل عطفاً منك رجي

Far be it from You to deny one at the gate,

in lowliness, the compassion hoped for from You.

هذا وأكف الذلّ رفع

نا ندعو بقلبٍ منزعج

Thus we have raised the palms of abasement,

calling out with an anguished heart.

ما ثمّ سوى ننحوه إذاً

إلّاك لنا يا ذا الحجج

There is no other, then, for us to seek

except You, O Possessor of proofs.

من ينحو الغير ويشهده

في فعلٍ ما بالطرد فجي

Whoever seeks another and sees him

as the doer of any act is stricken with banishment.

لولاك تريد أحبّتنا

ما ألهمنا لدعا اللجج

Had You not desired our beloved ones,

we would not have been inspired to insistent prayer.

أنت الفيّاض ومولي سح

ب الجود لإطفاء الوهج

You are the Ever-Overflowing, bestower of the clouds

of generosity, to extinguish the blaze.

قد حاق السوء بجيش الخط

ب وضاق الحبل على الودج

Evil has closed in with calamity's army,

and the cord has tightened around the jugular.

فبعطف اللطف فخلّصنا

من تهمة خطبٍ للدلج

Through the tenderness of kindness, deliver us

from the suspicion of calamity in night travel;

بحبيبك طه رحمتنا

ووسيلتنا ماحي الدجج

by Your beloved Taha, our mercy

and our means of approach, dispeller of darkness.

فعليه صلاةٌ مع تسلي

مٍ منّا منك مدى الحجج

Upon him be blessings and salutations,

from us and from You, throughout the years;

والآلِ وصحبٍ مَن بهمُ

نفحاتُ اللطف إلينا تجي

and upon his family and companions, through whom

the wafts of kindness come to us,

ما صاح هزارُ الأنس على

فننٍ برُبى روضٍ بهج

as long as the nightingale of intimacy sings upon

a branch on the hills of a delightful garden;

أو واردُ سرّ الفتح سرى

بحشاً صبٍّ بالحبّ هجي

or an inspiration from opening's secret flows by night

through the heart of a lover stirred by love,

ناداه بالبشرى كرماً

قم واستنشق نفح الفرج

calling him graciously with glad tidings:

'Rise and breathe the breeze of relief.'