أمرت فلم أسمع دعوتُ فلم تجب

ألا ليت شعري من هو الربُّ والعبدُ

I commanded but did not hear, I called but got no response

Oh, would that I knew who is the Lord and who the servant!

تسترت عني بي فقلت بأني

ظهرت فلم تخفَ خفيت فلم أبدُ

You hid from me in me, so I said it was I

You appeared but did not shy away, I hid but did not last

طلبتكم مني فلم أر غيركم

فهل حكمُ القبلِ المحكم والبعدُ

You sought me from me but I saw none but you

So does the judgment of before and after hold firm?

قعدتُ بكم عنكم لكوني كونكم

فلما قعدنا قمتَ أنت بنا تعدو

I sat with you, from you, due to my being your being

But when we sat, you rose and strode before us

إليكم عسى يبدو وجودي إليكمُ

فألفيته في اسم يقال له الفرد

To you I hope my existence appears to you

And I found it in a name called the Unique

فأسماؤك الحسنى يكثر كونها

وجودي ولولا ذاك لم يكن البعد

For your beautiful names abound in its existence

And without that there would be no distance

فمن يحصها حالاً يكون بجنة

ومن يحصها عدّا يكون له الحدّ

So one who enumerates them finds Paradise

And one who counts them has the limit

لي البعد منكم والتداني من اسمكم

فبعدي لكم قربٌ وقربي بكم بُعدُ

For me is distance from you and nearness to your name

So my distance to you is nearness and my nearness remoteness

إذا أنت أعطيتَ النعيم وجدتني

شكوراً وإن لم تعطني قلك الحمد

When you give bliss you find me thankful

And if you do not give me, still to you belongs praise

مركبنا يبغيه برهانُ وجدكم

وأفراده بالذاتِ يطلبها الحدّ

Our boat is sought by the proof of your existence

And its parts by the essence seek the limit

فمن قام في الأفراد فالحدّ آجلٌ

ومن قام في التركيب برهانه النقد

So one who stands by the parts, the limit hastens him

And one who stands by the composition, his proof is critique

فكم بين موضع حماه محرَّم

وكم بين محمولٍ يساعده الجدّ

So how many a place its protector made forbidden

And how many a predicate his effort aids

إذا غطني ملقى الحديثِ بباطني

ففي حلِّ تركيبي يكونُ له قصد

When the mantle of speech wraps my essence

In solving my composition lies his intent

فيفصم عني وهو للذاتِ قاهرٌ

إذا بلغ المقصودُ من غطى الجهد

So it severs me while it subdues the essence

When the purpose is attained, the effort's discharge

أسايره حتى إذا ينقضي الذي

أتاني به ألوي على عقبي أعدو

I accompany him until what brought me to him is spent

Then I turn back on my heels and stride away

يزملني من كان عندي حاضراً

لما هدَّ مني ما تضمنه العهدُ

He carries me off, who was present within me

When what the pact contained collapsed from me

ولستُ بما قد قلته بمشرِّع

لقومي ولكني ورثتُ فلم أعد

And I do not sanction by what I have said

A people, but I inherited and did not renew

تروح عليّ الروح يوماً إذا ما آمرٌ

وما لي مهما جاني منهما بدّ

The spirit comes and goes from me one day when commanded

And I have no say however it comes to me

لعبت بشطرنجِ العقولِ مدبراً

ولي في الذي يبدو القبولُ أو الردّ

I play the chess of intellects, arranging

And for me in what appears, agreement or refusal

وبالنرد يلهو صاحبُ الشرعِ والحجى

وقد عرفَ المطلوبَ من لهوه والنرد

And the scholar plays with dice though he knows

What's sought from his play and dice

وبينهما شطرنج نردٍ لمن يرى

ويقضي عليه ما يقابله العقد

Between them lies chess of dice for one who sees

And fulfills for him what his contract faces

تولى على السرار سلطانُ ودِّه

وأفلح سرٌّ كان سلطانه الودّ

Authority over secrets was assumed by his love's sultanate

And a secret triumphed whose sultan was love

له حرمات في شهور تعينت

فواحدهم فردٌ وباقيهمُ سرد

It has sanctities in designated months

So one is unique and the rest enumerated

إذا أنت شاهدت الوجودَ وجودَه

بذلك ما يعطيه من قدحه الزند

When you witness existence, his existence is its witness

By what he gives it of his eternal power

ولكنه بالريح روحٌ بقائه

يقال له في عُرفنا النفخ والوقد

But by the wind he is a spirit, his remaining

We call it in our convention breath and kindling

فيفعل فعل النورِ والنارِ وسمه

كما لهما الإطفاء والذم والحمد

So it acts the deeds of light and fire, name it

As they have extinguishing, blaming and praise

فخض بفتح النون إذ عمّ نفعه

ورحمته والضم من شأنه السدّ

So live prosperously when its benefits spread

And mercy, and binding when checking spreads

فتطمع فيه الكاعبات لنفعه

وترهب منه في أماكنها الأسد

Thus do the stars covet its benefits

And in their abodes lions dread it