رأيتُ الذي لا بدَّ لي منه جَهرة
ولم يك إلاّ ما رأيتُ من الكونِ
I saw openly what I could not do without,
and it was nothing but what I saw of the cosmos.
ولكنه منه على ما رأيته
كإنسانِ عينِ الشخصِ فيه من العينِ
Yet it was from Him, in keeping with how I came to it,
like the pupil in a person’s eye—within the eye and of it.
ويأتي على ما يأتي للفصلِ والقضا
وقد كان قبلَ الخلقِِ في ذلك العينِ
It comes as it comes, for distinction and judgment,
though before creation it was already in that very essence.
وما جاءني في كلِّ معنى وصورةٍ
لأمر سوى ما يتقيه منَ العينِ
Whatever came to me, in every meaning and proof,
came for no purpose except to shield it from the evil eye.
إذا المرءُ لم يعرف بسمعٍ ولا بدا
لعينٍ أتاه إلا مَن بالحفظ والصَّون
If a man is known neither by report nor by appearing
to an eye, none comes to him save one bearing guardianship and protection.
فرضنا له عينَ الكمالِ لأنه
إذا كان في الأحجارِ فيها من العين
We posited for him the very essence of perfection, because
even when it lies among stones, a spring is there within them.
إذا شاء أن يروي من الماء مرتوٍ
فلا يشربُ إلا ما يكون من العين
If one already quenched should wish to take his fill of water,
he drinks only what comes from the spring.
فذاك له مثلُ الرَّضاعِ لأنه
تولَّد منها عن فصالٍ وعن بين
To him this is like suckling, because
he was born from it after weaning and separation.
وما كان قولي إنه عينُ ما يرى
من الكونِ إلا قوله لي بلا مين
My saying that it is the very essence of what is seen
in the cosmos was only His telling me so, without falsehood.
ولما سألتُ الله عوناً على الذي
يكلفني من فرضِه كان في عَوني
And when I asked God for aid in what
He charged me, by His ordinance, to fulfill, He aided me.
ويا عجباً إن المعين هو الذي
يكون مُعاناً ردُّه شاهد البَينِ
How wondrous: the Helper is the very one who
becomes helped—though the witness of separation refutes it.
ولو لم يكن في الغيب عينٌ لصورةٍ
لما كان للعينِ التصوُّر في العين
Had there been no entity for a form in the unseen,
the eye could have conceived no image within the eye.
وما زينةُ الأعيانِ إلاَّ بربِّها
وقد ظهرتْ للعينِ في أحسن الزين
Entities are adorned by none but their Lord,
and they have appeared to the eye in the finest adornment.
تباعد عنها الشَّينُ والشينُ كونها
فأنت ترى عَيناً وما ثَمَّ من شَيْن
Defect withdrew far from them, though defect is their very being—
for you see an entity, and there is no defect there.
إذا قال لي ما أنت إلا هويتي
فأين الذي قال المنازعُ من بوني
When He says to me, “You are nothing but My identity,”
where, then, is the distance alleged by the disputant?
لقد حِرتُ في أمري وإني لصادقٌ
تقابلُ ألفاظٍ تُترجمُ عن عيني
I am bewildered in my affair—and I speak truly—
as opposing words give expression to my essence.
وما عجبي عن واحدٍ عنه واحدٌ
كما قيل لكنْ مِن وحيدٍ عن اثنين
My wonder is not at one proceeding from His unique One,
but my wonder is at one proceeding from two.
فلولاه لم أوجد ولولاي لم يكن
ولا بدَّ لي في كون ذاتي من اثنين
Without Him I would not exist; without me He would not be,
and for my essence to exist, I cannot do without two.
حقيقةُ ذاتي من حقيقةِ ذاته
ولا بدَّ من ذاتي فلا بدَّ من تَين
The reality of my essence comes from the reality of His Essence,
and my essence must be; therefore, there must be two.
وإني من الأضدادِ في كلِّ حالة
كما هو مثل الغرِّ في اللوّنِ والجونِ
I am composed of opposites in every state,
as He is—like white and black among colors.
إذا كان عيني عينه فمن الذي
تحكم فيه بالنوى حاكم البَينِ
If my very essence is His essence, then who is it
whom the judge of separation rules through estrangement?
ومَن ذا الذي قد قيلَ فيه مُداين
وهل كان هذا الحكمُ إلاّ من الدّينِ
And who is this of whom it is said that he deals in debt?
Was this judgment anything but from dīn—debt, or religion?
لقد حُجبتْ منا قلوبٌ صقيلةٌ
عن الكشفِ والتحقيقِِ من حُجُبِ الرِّينِ
Polished hearts have indeed been veiled from us,
barred from unveiling and verification by veils of rust.
لقد خالفوا في اللونِ وهو مشاهدٌ
وأينَ شهيدُ الكونِ من شاهد اللونِ
They have disputed about color, though it is plainly witnessed;
how far the witness of existence is from the witness of color!
لقد لنتُ للأقوامِ حتى كأنني
عجزتُ عن التقييد من شِدَّة اللين
I grew so gentle toward the people that it seemed
I could impose no bounds, so extreme was my pliancy.
وقد جاء حكمُ الفالِ فيما علمتم
وحاشاه مما تعرفون من الغَين
The judgment of the omen has come, as you know,
and far be it from the ghayn you know.
كما قيلَ حَدّادٌ لحاجبِ بابهم
وقد قيلَ هذا اللفظ في العرفِ للقَين
Thus “smith” was said of the keeper of their door,
though in customary speech that word is used for the smith.
ولوكان في الداعي إلى الله غلطة
لفرُّوا ولكنْ جاء باللين والهينِ
Had there been any harshness in the one calling to God,
they would have fled; but he came with gentleness and ease.
