كُفّي أَراني وَيكِ لَومَكِ أَلوَما

هَمٌّ أَقامَ عَلى فُؤادٍ أَنجَما

Enough of my blame while I blame you,

Desist, for I see—woe to you—that your blame is the greater sin,

A care that made a star dwell in my heart,

A sorrow that has settled upon my heart like the unmoving stars,

وَخَيالُ جِسمٍ لَم يُخَلِّ لَهُ الهَوى

لَحماً فَيُنحِلَهُ السَقامُ وَلا دَما

And the image of a body that love did not

The mere ghost of a body, for which passion has left behind

Leave as flesh to be wasted by disease, nor as blood.

Neither flesh for sickness to wither, nor a single drop of blood.

وَخُفوقُ قَلبٍ لَو رَأَيتِ لَهيبَهُ

يا جَنَّتي لَظَنَنتِ فيهِ جَهَنَّما

And the fluttering of a heart - if you could see its flame,

And the pounding of a heart—if you but saw its blazing fire,

My paradise, you would think hell was in it.

O my paradise, you would deem that Hell itself raged within.

وَإِذا سَحابَةُ صَدِّ حُبٍّ أَبرَقَت

تَرَكَت حَلاوَةَ كُلِّ حُبٍّ عَلقَما

And when the cloud of loving barrier lightened,

And when the cloud of love’s rejection flashes with lightning,

It left the sweetest of all loves bitter.

It renders the sweetness of all affection into bitter gall.

يا وَجهَ داهِيَةَ الَّذي لَولاكَ ما

أَكَلَ الضَنى جَسَدي وَرَضَّ الأَعظُما

O face that brightened life - without you

O face of calamity, were it not for your existence,

Grief would have consumed my body and crushed the bones.

Wasting sickness would not have devoured my flesh nor crushed my bones.

إِن كانَ أَغناها السُلُوُّ فَإِنَّني

أَصبَحتُ مِن كَبِدي وَمِنها مُعدِما

If solace has made her rich, I have become

If indifference has enriched her spirit, then surely I

Ruined of my liver and of her destitute.

Have become destitute—bereft of my heart and bereft of her.

غُصنٌ عَلى نَقَوى فَلاةٍ نابِتٌ

شَمسُ النَهارِ تُقِلُّ لَيلاً مُظلِما

A branch on the slopes of desolation growing -

She is a tender branch springing from the desert dune,

The sun of day makes the night darker.

A sun of the day that carries aloft a dark and heavy night.

لَم تُجمَعِ الأَضدادُ في مُتَشابِهٍ

إِلّا لِتَجعَلَني لِغُرمي مَغنَما

The opposites were not brought together in a resemblance

Never have opposites been united within a single form,

Except to make me find my love a gain.

Save to make me a spoil of war through my own ruin.

كَصِفاتِ أَوحَدِنا أَبي الفَضلِ الَّتي

بَهَرَت فَأَنطَقَ واصِفيهِ وَأَفحَما

Like the attributes of our unique father Al Fadl that

Like the traits of our peerless one, Abu al-Fadl—traits which,

Dazzled, making his describers speak and fall silent.

Having dazzled, grant speech to his praisers yet strike them dumb with awe.

يُعطيكَ مُبتَدِراً فَإِن أَعجَلتَهُ

أَعطاكَ مُعتَذِراً كَمَن قَد أَجرَما

He gives readily so if you hurry him

He bestows upon you unasked; yet if you hasten him,

He gives apologizing like one who has sinned.

He gives with an apology, as one who has committed a crime.

وَيَرى التَعَظُّمَ أَن يُرى مُتَواضِعاً

وَيَرى التَواضُعَ أَن يُرى مُتَعَظِّما

And he sees magnificence as being seen humble

He perceives true greatness in appearing humble,

And sees humility as being seen grand.

And regards it as base lowliness to appear proud.

نَصَرَ الفَعالَ عَلى المِطالِ كَأَنَّما

خالَ السُؤالَ عَلى النَوالِ مُحَرَّما

He helped the doer over the demander as if

He championed action against delay, acting as though

Asking for gifts was forbidden gain.

He deemed it forbidden for a request to precede the gift.

يا أَيُّها المَلَكُ المُصَفّى جَوهَراً

مِن ذاتِ ذي المَلَكوتِ أَسمى مَن سَما

O you the immaculate king, quintessence

O Angel whose very essence is refined and pure,

Of the essence of the Lord of Lords supremely high.

Derived from the Divine Essence, the highest of those who ascend.

نورٌ تَظاهَرَ فيكَ لاهوتِيَّةً

فَتَكادُ تَعلَمُ عِلمَ ما لَن يُعلَما

A light associated in you divinely

A light manifests within you, divine in its nature,

Almost knowing the knowledge of what will not be known.

Until you well-nigh possess the knowledge of the Unknowable.

وَيُهِمُّ فيكَ إِذا نَطَقتَ فَصاحَةً

مِن كُلِّ عُضوٍ مِنكَ أَن يَتَكَلَّما

And an eloquence stirs in you when you speak

And when you speak with eloquence, it stirs the desire

As if every limb of you would speak.

In every one of your limbs to burst into speech.

أَنا مُبصِرٌ وَأَظُنُّ أَنِّيَ نائِمٌ

مَن كانَ يَحلُمُ بِالإِلَهِ فَأَحلُما

I can see and I think I'm dreaming -

I see clearly, yet I deem myself asleep;

Who dreams of God - I have dreamed.

For who is it that dreams of the Divine, that I too might dream?

كَبُرَ العِيانُ عَلَيَّ حَتّى إِنَّهُ

صارَ اليَقينُ مِنَ العِيانِ تَوَهُّما

Seeing grew too great for me until

The vision has grown so vast before me that truly,

Certainty from seeing became illusion.

Certainty born of sight has turned into mere illusion.

يا مَن لِجودِ يَدَيهِ في أَموالِهِ

نِقَمٌ تَعودُ عَلى اليَتامى أَنعُما

O you whose open hands giving wealth

O you, whose hands’ generosity toward his own wealth

Have harms that come back upon the orphans blessedly.

Is a scourge upon the gold, yet becomes a blessing to the orphan;

حَتّى يَقولَ الناسَ ماذا عاقِلاً

وَيَقولَ بَيتُ المالِ ماذا مُسلِما

Until people say what - being rational!

Until the people ask, "What kind of sane man is this?"

And the public treasury says what - being Muslim!

And the Treasury cries out, "What kind of Muslim is this?"

إِذكارُ مِثلِكَ تَركُ إِذكاري لَهُ

إِذ لا تُريدُ لِما أُريدُ مُتَرجِما

To mention your like leaves mentioning me

To remind one such as you is to abandon the need for reminding,

Since you want not what I want for a translator.

For you require no interpreter to know what I desire.