Sol 5.6

  1. No sooner do I remember You, in secret or openly,

    than remembrance of You consoles me and fills me with rapture.

  2. Distance from Him does not veil me—rather,

    nearness to Him, in truth, is what veils me.

  3. Nearness to Him lies in my being His very essence; then whenever

    I am Him, He gives me the lie by laying obligation upon me.

  4. My remembrance of Him is not my remembrance; it is He who remembers it

    through us; and thereafter, through remembrance, He seeks me.

  5. I am bewildered in Him, just as I am bewildered in myself; nor do I

    reproach the self—except that it persists in reproaching me.

  6. Thus I have known none but a self, and I have not known

    my Lord. Who can help me with it, while helplessness accompanies me?

  7. By God, my eye has never looked upon anyone

    without my seeing You, making me weep and mourning me,

  8. for fear lest anyone gain the Kingdom

    besides You—a sovereign jealousy keeps casting me headlong.

  9. The affair arose between me, amid displeasure,

    and Him; therefore He has come to draw me near.

  10. Had it arisen from a nearness imagined by

    my fancy, it would surely have tormented me with affliction.

  11. Thus I have not been afflicted; yet I see Him whenever

    I behold my vision, despite myself, setting me aright.

Sol 5.6