Sol 5.6

  1. This is the station, and these are its mysteries.

    The veil was lifted, and its lights shone forth.

  2. The crescent of perfection appeared, its light aglow

    for all beholders, and its dark concealment passed away.

  3. It illumined the heart’s garden within its spiritual realm,

    and its trees came bearing every truth.

  4. At the descent, whatever it chooses proves true.

    My heart—its veils enclosed it in ruin.

  5. The breeze appeared, caressing its boughs,

    and its birds yearned for the mysteries of the heights.

  6. It lavished a gracious gift upon the people of spiritual fragrance:

    from it came a scent made sweet by its blossoms.

  7. The heart grew rapt in love of Him, and so its qualities

    were sanctified and its thoughts purified.

  8. The Faithful Spirit descended into its heart

    on the Day of al-ʿArūba—Friday—and its desires were fulfilled.

  9. Indeed, the heart stands poised at the descent

    until its flight toward the arriving Guest is made true.

  10. Whoever is distracted by rivalry in abundance will find

    that his plenty avails him nothing at his resurrection, the day he arrives.

  11. Who is the true champion who, for a Reality, patiently endures

    its hardships until he sees its worth?

  12. Not one who has become averse to it, recoiling;

    the true devotee is one who does not fear its power to repel.

  13. Whoever claims that the Beloved is his intimate companion—

    in his spiritual state, his joy is his proof.

  14. Whoever claims dominion over the realm of being—indeed,

    its dust has enslaved him through love of it.

  15. Whoever claims that he belongs among His own—

    glory be to Him—his witnessing lies in his acts of remembrance.

  16. Witnesses are the emblem of one who has attained Being—

    a matter whose sacred law and outward mantle are known.

  17. His moaning springs from what he conceals, while his silence

    speaks of it—as do his tears, ecstasy, and burning ardor.

  18. Whoever sets the Sacred Law aside attains

    nothing, though his beacon should reach the sky.

  19. The spiritual state is either a witness or an influx;

    its effects flow beneath passion’s command.

  20. People are either believers or deniers,

    or pretenders wearing hypocrisy as their badge.

  21. The lofty abode, sublime in its construction,

    is frail whenever its supporting pillars fail to stand.

  22. Reason—if you keep pace with it in its judgment—

    is the axis upon which your attainment of the station turns.

  23. If souls could bring him happiness—but instead

    his burdens barred him from attaining the heights.

  24. But when providential care comes to him from his Lord,

    at once his visitors throng about his door.

  25. You see him when his spirit slips free

    from its prison: his Almighty Compeller takes him by night.

  26. Then he mounts a broad-chested steed, departing,

    called al-Burāq; none can overtake its dust.

  27. Fierce and violent winds plunge onward with him, and he is hurled

    toward the layered heavens; their meteors are his blades.

  28. Every gleaming light continues to descend

    on either side of him, so his resting place finds no rest,

  29. until the sun of Being appears to his heart

    and what he concealed appears to his heart’s inward eye.

  30. The spirits meet within its spiritual realm,

    and its rivers join with its seas.

  31. He extends the right hand specially appointed for his pledge;

    His Chosen One shows that hand the face of approval.

  32. When the beauty of the station appears to his eye,

    the clasps of the caliphate are fastened upon him.

  33. Then he turns back, folding the road away for his body

    by night, lest its daylight disclose the secret.

  34. His mounts come into the presence of His kingdom,

    bearing trusts familiar to His righteous ones.

  35. His envoys set forth bearing his decree

    to every heart he has never ceased to choose.

  36. Swords of firm resolve, issuing from him, guard his flanks,

    while his nighttime companions circle his door.

  37. Where are those who became realized through His attributes?

    Here are the enemies—where, then, are His supporters?

  38. Whoever claims love for the Imam—surely

    his seas have cast him toward death.

  39. He assails the host of the cosmos with his sword,

    keen-edged in battle, its cutting edge never notched.

  40. A grace: the discerning are guided by a beacon—

    that is the caliph whose footsteps are followed.

  41. Indeed, those who pledge allegiance to you—they

    pledge allegiance to the One whose mysteries are exalted.

  42. Thus your right hand is the Honored Stone among them,

    O banner before which His chosen ones have bowed!

  43. O Pledge of Riḍwān, may you remain blessed

    until the Imam’s full-term she-camels are left untended.

  44. Indeed, dwellings are wastelands unless

    their guest and their bloom are wholly devoted to the two Beloveds.

  45. Wealth sets every corrupted thing aright,

    and through it the generous man’s stumbling is removed.

Sol 5.6