أقول وعندي انني لست قائلاً

بنفسي ولكني أقول كما قالا

I say, and I know that I am not a speaker

By myself, but I speak as they have spoken

بأني ذو قول لما هو قائل

بنا ولساني عينه فيّ ما زالا

That I have an utterance for what has been uttered

About us, and my tongue in me has not ceased

وما أنا ظرفٌ كالمكان ولا أنا

محلٌ له والميل ميلي إذا مالا

And I am not a vessel like a place, nor am I

A location for it, and the inclination is my inclination if they incline

فلا تيأسي يا نفس مما نريده

فلا بدّ لي منه وإنْ طالَ ما طالا

So do not despair, O my soul, of what we want

For I must have it, though long it has been prolonged

تكشف عن عيني غطاء عمايتي

فأدركتُ ما خلفَ الحجابِ وما شالا

It uncovers from my eyes the cover of my blindness

So I realized what was behind the veil and what leaned

وأصبحتُ في يومٍ هداة أيمة

وغادرتُ أقواماً عن الحقِّ ضلالا

And I became one day guided, insightful

And left people in misguidance and error

إذا جاءهم حق أتوا ينكرونه

فلا تضربوا لله بالفكرِ أمثالا

When the truth came to them, they came to deny it

So do not make for Allah examples in thought

وإنْ كان حقاً ذلك المثلُ الذي

أتاهم به لم يعرفوا فيه أشكالا

And if that example which came to them

Was true, they did not recognize its forms

وما كنتُ في رَيبٍ من أمر شهدتُه

وما كنتُ في زهدي وفخري مختالا

And I was not in doubt about a matter I witnessed

Nor was I pretentious in my asceticism and pride

أجرِّرُ أذيالي كما قال عقبة

وما كل مختالٍ يجرِّر أذيالا

I drag my train, as Uqbah said

And not every pretentious person drags trains

ألمتدرِ أني في الجهادِ مُقدَّم

أصيِّر وإنْ جدئناه لم ندر إهلالا

Do you not know that I in jihad am advancing

I counsel, and even if we are diminished, we do not know defeat

وهل تُرفع الأصوات إلا لغائبٍ

بعيدٍ وذو التقريب يهمس إجلالا

And are voices raised except for an absent one

Far away, and one who is near whispers in awe