لَقَد كُنتُ أحجُو النَّاسَ جُلَّ إختِلاَفِهِم

لأجلِ إتِّباعِ الشَّرعِ في كُلِّ مَا وَقَع

I once supposed that nearly all the people’s differences

arose from striving to follow sacred law in every matter that occurred.

ولَمَّا رَأيتُ النّاسَ قَد هَابَ بَعضهُم

إِمَامَةَ قُطبِ فَاقَ في العُلُم والوَرَع

But when I saw that some among the people shrank from

the imamate of a Pole surpassing all in knowledge and scrupulousness,

وقَدَّمَ عَنهُ في الإمَامَةِ غَيرَهُ

تَبَيَّنتُ أنَّ الشَّرعَ لَيسَ بِمُتَّبَع

and preferred another to him for the imamate,

I realized that sacred law was not being followed,

وأَنَّ لأََمرَاضِ القُلُوبِ تَمَكَّناً

من العَبدِ لَمَّا يَبقِ مِنهُ ولَمَّا يَدَع

and that the diseases of hearts had taken firm hold,

ruling the servant alike in what he does and what he leaves undone.

وإِنَّ إمرءاً أَفنَى الشَّبَابَ مُجَدداً

لِدِينِ النبي الهَاشِمِىِّ وَمَا شَرَع

For here was a man who spent his youth as a renewer

of the religion of the Hashemite Prophet and all that he ordained;

ونَالَ اليَدَ الطُّولَى عَلَى كُلِّ عَالِمٍ

وفي الحَوضِ مِن مَجدِ الحَقِيقَةِ قَد كَرَع

who gained preeminence over every scholar

and drank deep at the pool of the glory of Reality.

وَمَدَّ أتِىُّ الشَّيخِ أحمَدَ لُبَّهُ

فَأترِعَ بِالعِرفَانِ فَاشتَاقَ وأرتَفَع

Then the influx of Shaykh Ahmad reached his innermost mind,

filling it with gnosis, so that he yearned and rose.

وَرَقَّاهُ حََتَّى رَاقَهُ الشَّيخُ أحمَدٌ

وألبَسَهُ مِن حَوكِ هَيبَتِهِ خِلَع

It raised him until he pleased Shaykh Ahmad,

who clothed him in robes woven from his majesty,

وَرَدَّاهُ بِالعِلمِ اللُّدني بَعدَمَا

تَرَدَّى بِهِ كَسباً فَبَينَهُمَا جَمَع

and arrayed him in divinely bestowed knowledge after

he had donned acquired learning—thus uniting the two.

إِذَا قالَ لَمَّا يُنكِرُ الشَّرعُ قَولَهُ

وكَانَ لِنَهجِ الصَّالِحِينَ قَد اتَّبَع

Whenever he speaks, sacred law does not reject his word,

and he has followed the path of the righteous.

فَلَيسَ عَلَينَا أن نُنَازِعَ إِنَّمَا

يَحِقُّ عَلَينَا أن نَكُونَ لَهُ تَبَع

It is not for us to dispute; rather,

it is our duty to become his followers.

وكُلُّ امرِئٍ لم يَدرُسِ العِلمَ دَرسَهُ

ولم يَتَغلغَل فَالسُّكُوتُ لَهُ يَسَع

Anyone who has not studied knowledge as it should be studied,

nor penetrated its depths, will find that silence suits him.

وإن قَالَ يَوماً قَائِلٌ نَهجُ مَالِكٍ

أبَاحَ لِهَذَا أولِذَلِكَ قَد مَنَع

And should someone say one day, “The path of Malik

permits this, while that it has forbidden,”

فَقُل سَلهُ عَمَّا قُلتَهُ إِنَّ صَدرَهُ

تَجَمَّعَ فِيهِ المَذَاهِبِ مَا اجتَمَع

tell him: “Ask him about what you claim, for within his breast

all the legal schools have gathered together.”

فَقَد كَانَ أدرَى بِالمَذَاهِبِ إِنَّهُ

لَمُجتِهِدُ الإِطلاَقِ إِن لَم يَكُ انقَطَع

For he knows the schools better than any other; indeed,

he is an absolute independent jurist—if that rank has not been cut off.

خَلِيلِىِّ دَع إنكَارَ ما قد حبي بِهِ

ولاَ تَعزُ نَهجَ الهَاشِمِىِّ إِلى البِدَع

My friend, cease denying what he has been granted,

and do not ascribe the Hashemite Prophet’s path to innovation.

ولا تَشِمَن بَرقَ الهَوَى فَهوَ خُلَّبٌ

وشِم بَارِقَ الحَقِّ اليَمَاني إِن لَمَنَع

Do not watch the lightning of caprice—it is a rainless flash;

watch the Yemeni lightning of truth when it gleams.

وإن تَكُ قَد َانكَرَت قَبلاً فَشَمِّرَن

إِلَى التَّوبِ يَنفَعُكَ المَتَابُ وكَم نَفَع

If you have denied before, then gird yourself

for repentance: repentance will profit you, as often it has profited.

وبَادِر لِرَقعِ الخَرقِ قَبل إتِّسَاعِهِ

فَقَد كَانَ صَعباً رَقعُهُ بَعدَمَا اتَّسَع

Hurry to patch the rent before it widens,

for once it has widened, its repair is hard.

وإن كُنتَ في الإنكَارِ صَادِقَ هِمَّةٍ

ولم يَكُ حَطٌ فِيكَ يُفضِى إِلَى القَذَع

If your denial truly springs from earnest resolve,

and no rancor within you drives you into foul speech,

فَمِل لِكَتَابِ اللهِ والسُّنُّةِ التى

بِها سَالِكٌ المَورِ المُضَلِّلِ مُرتَدَع

then turn to the Book of God and to the Sunna,

by which one wandering in delusive turmoil is restrained.

وسَل أهلَهَا عَنهَا الأُلَى أشتَهَرُوا بِهَا

فَمَا قَبِلُوا فَاقبَل وَمَا وَضَعُوهُ ضَع

Ask their acknowledged people about them—those renowned for their knowledge;

what they accept, accept, and what they set aside, set aside.

وإِيَّاكَ مِن تَحكِيمِ رَأيِكِ دُونَهُم

فَتَجزَعَ إِذ لاَ يَنفَعُ الجَازِعَ الجَزَع

Beware of making your own opinion the judge instead of theirs,

lest you grieve when grief can no longer avail the grieving.

وأوِّل كَلاَمَ القَومِ في غَلَبَاتِهِم

بَمَا لاَقَ تَشرَب مِن مُدَامَتِهِم جُرَع

Interpret the words of the mystic folk in their overpowering states

in the manner befitting those who have drunk draughts of their wine.

ولَيسَ كَلاَمُ القَومِ يُدرِكُ كُنهَهُ

مُجَانِبُه إِذ لَيسَ فِيهِ لَهُ طَمَع

The innermost meaning of the mystics’ speech cannot be grasped

by one who stands apart from them and has no aspiration toward it.