إذا أنا بالقرعِ الشديدِ لبابه

وقد راضني إذ كنتُ حشواها به

When I knock loudly at his door,

Though it pleases me as I fill it with him,

فلا تك ممن لا يقوم لقرعه

فإن الذي تبغيه من خلفِ بابه

Do not be like those who do not stand for its knocking,

For what you want is behind his door.

وهذا خلاف العرف في كل قارعٍ

وما كان هذا الأمر إلا لما به

This is unlike the custom with every knocker,

And this matter was only for what was in it,

من الشوق للمطلوب إذ جاء خارجاً

وسرَّ وجودُ الابِ عين حجابه

Of longing for the wanted when he went out,

And the presence of the father gladdened the eye of his veil.

فأرسل إرسالاً إلى كلِّ شارد

يردُّونه عن وجهه وذهابه

So he sent him back to every distracted one,

They sent him back from his face and his going,

إليه على كره وإنْ كان عالماً

بخير يراه منه عند إيابه

To him unwillingly though he knew,

The good he sees from him upon his return.

ووقع في توقيعهم كلَّ ما لهم

من الخير إن عادَ وابيض كتابه

And whatever good they have,

Fell into their signing if he returns whitening his book.

وهم طالبوا ما قد دعاهم لنيله

وأين اقترابُ العبدِ من اغترابه

And they wanted what he called them to attain,

And how close is the servant's withdrawal from his estrangement?

لقد أخطأوا نهجَ السلامةِ لو بقوا

على سيرهم لولا رجيمُ شِهابه

They have missed the path of safety if they stayed,

On their way were it not for the shooting star's projectiles.

فأفزعهم رجمُ النجومِ أمامَهم

فحادوا إلى ما قاله في خطابه

So the shooting of the stars frightened them ahead of them,

And they swerved to what he said in his letter.

وقد علموا أن السلامةَ في الذي

دعاهم إليه من أليم عُقابه

And they knew that safety was in what,

He called them to from his painful punishment.

فيأخذ سَفلاً لا يريد فريةَ

ويذهل عن مطلوبه وصَحابه

So he takes the lowly not wanting escape,

And is distracted from his want and friends.

ويأخذ الفكرُ الصحيحُ منبها

على منزلٍ لا أمنَ فيمن ثوى به

And sound thinking takes alert,

About a house no safety in whoever took shelter in it.

لا تعجلنّ فإنَّ الأمر حاصله

إليك مرجعه فانهض على قدرِ

Do not hurry, the matter's outcome,

Returns to you so rise to the extent,

واسلك سبيلَ إمامٍ جَلَّ مقصدُه

مصدِّق في الذي قد جاء من خبر

And take the path of an imam whose purpose is glorious,

Truthful in the news that has come.

وخذ به خلفه في الحال مقتدياً

واركن إليه ولا تركن إلى النظر

And take him as a successor in the case emulating him,

And lean on him and do not lean on thinking.

واعلم بأنَّ ذوي الأفكار في عمه

فكن من الفكر يا هذا على حَذر

And know that those with ideas are blind in it,

So beware of thinking O you.

والعقلُ ليس له تقبيحُ ما قبحتْ

صفاتُه وله التحكيم في العِبَرِ

And the mind has no vilification of what,

Its attributes have vilified and it has the arbitration in lessons.

وما له ذلك التحكيم في عِبَرِ

إلا إذا كان في التحكيم ذا بصر

And it has that arbitration in lessons,

Only if it has insight in arbitration.

وليس يعرف سرَّ الله في القدر

إلا الذي علم الأعيانَ بالأثرِ

And it does not know the secret of God in fate,

Except the one who knew realities through traces.

وما رأى أثر الأسماءِ في أحد

فقال في قبتيها هم على خطر

And he did not see the trace of names in anyone,

So he said in its domes they are in danger.

لا نعتَ اشرفُ من علمٍ يفوزُبه

يقولُ مَن فاته يا خيبةَ العمر

No purer attribute than knowledge in which he succeeds,

He who misses it says oh disappointment of a lifetime.

يمشي به آمناً فالعلمُ محفظةٌ

لمن يحصله من وقعةِ الغرر

It walks with him safely for knowledge is a repository,

For whoever obtains it from the occurrence of pitfalls.