رأيت الذي قد جاء من أرضِ بابلٍ

بعلمٍ صحيحٍ للهوى غيرِ قابلِ

I saw the one who came from the land of Babylon

With true knowledge of love that admits no change

فقلتُ له أهلاً وسهلاً ومَرحباً

فردَّ بتأهيلٍ على كلِّ آهلِ

So I said to him, welcome, greetings and hello

He reciprocated with praise for all the worthy

ألا إنَّ شرَّ الناسِ من كان أعزبا

وإنْ كان بين الناسِ جمَّ الفضائلِ

Beware, the worst of people is the one who is unmarried

Even if he has the highest virtues among people

وما في عبادِ الله من هو أعزب

فيا جاهلاً لم تخل مني بطائل

And none of God's servants remains unmarried

You ignorant one, do not blame me for what has passed

تأملْ وجودَ الأصل إذ شاء كوننا

فهل كنتَ إلا بين قولٍ وقائلِ

Consider the existence of the origin when He willed our being

Were you anything but between saying and speaker?

فقال لشيءٍ كُن فكان لحينه

عن أمر إله بالطبيعةِ فاعل

So He said "Be" to a thing and it became in its time

By command of God, nature acted upon it

فأرضعني حولين جوداً ومنَّةً

تماماً لكي أربى على كلِّ كاملِ

So nurture me two years with bounty and favor

Completely so I can grow upon all perfection

فثَّنى ولم يفردْ فعمَّ وجودُنا

بحوليه جوداً كلَّ عالٍ وسافلِ

So He paired me, and did not leave me single

With His two years of bounty, every high and low

وفاطمتي ما كانت إلا طبيعتي

لآخذَ عنه العلمَ من غيرِ حائلِ

And my Fatimah was nothing but my nature

To take knowledge from Him without any barrier

لقد فطمتني والهوى حاكمٌ لها

عليَّ بحبٍ من ثابتِ زائلِ

She weaned me while love rules over her

Over me, with constant affection beyond change

فما ثَمَّ إلا عاشقُ عينِ ذاته

عموماً وتخصيصاً لدى كلِّ عاقل

So there is none but the lover of his own essence

Generally and particularly for every rational being

فلو لم يكن لي شاهدٌ غيرَ نشأتي

على الصورةِ المثلى كفاني لسائلِ

If I had no witness but my own upbringing

In the most excellent image, that would suffice the questioner

بها أقبل الأسماء منه تحققاً

ويقبل آسمائي حكومةَ عادل

Through it, the names come to Him in realization

And my names accept His just governance

إذا هو ناداني فتى فأجبتُه

به عند فصلِ واصلٍ غيرَ فاصل

When He called me "young man" I answered Him

Through it, in the gathering of an unsevered connection

لقد قسم الرحمن بيني وبينه

صلاةً على رغم الأنوفِ الأوائل

The Merciful has sworn between me and him

Prayers, despite the noses of the early ones

فقمت بها والعلم يشهد أنني

بها بين مفضولٍ يقومُ وفاضل

So I performed them, and knowledge testifies that I

Through them, am among the superior and the excellent

فقال وقلنا والخطوبُ كثيرةٌ

فاسمني شرّ الخطوبِ النَّوازل

So he spoke and we spoke, and discourse is plentiful

Name me the worst of discourses that have descended

وما قسمَ الرحمنُ إلا كلامه

فنحكي وما يُتلى بغير المقاتل

The Merciful has apportioned nothing but His speech

We speak what is recited without fighting

بذا جاء لفظُ العبدِ فيها لأنه

غيورٌ فينفي عنه جدَّ المماثل

With this, the word "servant" came regarding it because He

Is jealous, negating any likeness to Himself

كما جاء في الشورى وفيه تنبُّه

لكلِّ لبيبٍ في المحاضر واصل

As it came in Surat Ash-Shura, and in it take heed

For every intelligent one present and connected

تمنيت منه أن أفوز بقربه

فقال تمن حكمه غير حاصل

I wished to gain nearness to Him, but He said

Wish for His judgment, it cannot be obtained

ومنْ يقتربْ منه يجد غيرَ نفسه

وليس أخو علم بأمرٍ كجاهل

And whoever draws near Him finds other than himself

A brother of knowledge is not like an ignorant one

ولو علمَ الرآؤون ماذا يرونه

وفيما رأوه لم يفوزوا بنائل

Had those who see known what they were seeing

And in what they saw, they would not have won goals

ولكنها الأوهام لم تخل فيهم

بأحكامها ما بين بادٍ وآفل

But imaginations did not leave them

With their judgments, between fading and bleak

فيعطيك زهداً بالأفولِ ورغبةً

إذا هي تبدو ناجزاً غير آجل

So He gives you asceticism for the fading

When it appears as achiever, not delayed

تحفظ فإنَّ الوهم مدَّ شِباكه

وما يبتغي غيرَ النفوسِ الغوافل

Be careful, for fancy has spread its nets

Seeking nothing but oblivious souls

فلا تطمعَنْ في الحبِّ فهو خديعة

أراك لتمشي في حِبالةِ حابل

So do not covet love, for it is deception

I see you walking in the ropes of a roper

لذلك كان الزهد أشرفَ حليةٍ

تحلَّى بها قلبُ الشجاعِ المناضل

For that, asceticism is the noblest adornment

Which adorns the heart of the brave warrior