أَفْنَيْتُ في السَّعْيِ عُمْرِي غَيْرَ مُرْتَفِقِ

وَالصَّبْرُ زَادُ الْمُنَى.. وَالنَّفْسُ في الرَّمَقِ

All my life I have toiled without rest

Patience is the provision for death, and my soul is at its last gasp

أَسْعَى إِلَيْكَ وَخَيْلِي في الدُّرُوبِ كَبَتْ

مِنْ زَحْمَةِ الْهَمِّ لا مِنْ زَحْمَةِ الطُّرُقِ

I hasten to you, though my steed is exhausted in the paths

Not from the crush of roads, but from the crush of cares

شَوْقِي يَحُثُّ وَآثامي تَكِيدُ لَهَا

وَالدَّرْبُ أَطْوَلُ مِنْ أنْفاسِ مُسْتَبِقِ

My passion urges me on, though my sins plot against me

The way is longer than the breaths of one racing

وَبَيْنَ مَدِّ الْخُطَى وَالْجَزْرِ قَافِيَةٌ

تَغْدُو بِمَدْحِكَ بَيْنَ الْغَوْصِ والغَرَقِ

Between the flow and ebb of my pace is a rhyme

Rising at dawn with your praise between diving and drowning

آنَسْتُ نُورًا.. وَقَوْمِي يَصْطَلُونَ هَوىً

في ظُلْمَةِ الْجَهْلِ في مُسْتَنْقَعِ النَّزَقِ

I glimpsed a light while my people crave

Delusions in the darkness of ignorance, in the swamp of misery

ظلمٌ وجَهْلٌ وتضليلٌ ومَفْسَدَةٌ

والحقُّ أَشْرَدُ مِنْ نوْمٍ لِذِي أَرَقِ

Oppression, ignorance, deception, corruption

While truth is more perplexed than one plagued with insomnia

آنسْتُ نُورَكَ والنيرانُ مُحْرِقَةٌ

مَنْ يَصْطَلِي بِهَوَى الأَحْزَابِ والفِرَقِ

I caught your light in the wing of darkness, a shelter

For the lost, and deliverance for the anxious

كلٌّ يَرَى رَأْيَهُ دِينًا وَيُعْجِزُهُ

أَنْ يُبْصِرَ الْحَقَّ دِينًا وَهْوَ في الأُفُقِ

Everyone views their opinion as religion, and it defeats them

To discern the truth as religion, while still limited

مُذْ كانتِ الأرضُ والنيرانُ مُوقَدَةٌ

ومَنْ يَلُذْ بِسِوَى الرَّحْمَنِ يَحْتَرِقِ

Since the earth and fires were kindled

And none finds comfort except in the Merciful without being scorched

آنستُ نوركَ في جُنْحِ الظلامِ صُوىً

لِلْحَائرينَ وَمَنْجَاةً لذِي فَرَقِ

I glimpsed your light in the gloom, a refuge

For the confused, and escape for the divided

فَجِئْتُ مُقْتَبِسًا للناسِ مِنْكَ هُدىً

مِنْ آخرِ "الشَّرْحِ" أَوْ مِنْ أَوَّلِ "العَلَقِ"

So I came bearing your guidance to people

From the end of “The Opening” or the start of “The Clots”

يَا سَيِّدَ الخَلْقِ يَا رُوحَ الْحَيَاةِ وَيَا

غَيْثَ القُلُوبِ وَطِبَّ الحَائِرِ القَلِقِ

O master of creation, O spirit of life, O

Solace of hearts, and remedy for the troubled insomniac

يا جَنَّةَ اللهِ في أرضِ الشَّقَاءِ، وَيَا

شمسَ الدُّنَا، وسَنَا المِشْكَاةِ في النَّفَقِ

O God’s paradise on earth of misery, O

Sun of the world, and star of the lamp in the dark

يا نسْمَةَ الْحُبِّ، يا بُشْرَى الوُجودِ، وَيَا

ماءَ الحياةِ ونَبْعَ العَرْفِ والعَبَقِ

O breeze of love, O good news of existence, O

Water of life, wellspring of cognizance and scent

لَـمْ يَنْأَ قَوْمٌ عنِ الإسلامِ فَاجَتَمَعُوا

إلاَّ تَمَزَّقَ ثَوْبٌ خِيطَ مِنْ مِزَقِ

No people shunned Islam and congregated

Except a woven robe was ripped from the seams

ولاَ أضَاعَ هُدَاكَ النَّاسُ واصْطَنَعُوا

هَدْيًا فَأَفْلَحَ مَنْ بالدِّينِ لَـمْ يَثِقِ

Nor did people lose your guidance and contrive

Another, except those who did not rely on religion succeeded

يَا طِبَّ كُلِّ عَلِيلٍ بِالقُرَانِ شَفَى

أَهْلَ الْهُمُومِ ودَاوَى كُلَّ ذِي حُرَقِ

O cure for every ailment with the Quran, healing

The anguished, and remedying all with burns

يَا رَحْمةَ اللهِ هُبِّي.. وابْعَثِي سَبَبًا

يَنْجُو بأُمَّتِنَا مِنْ لُجَّةِ الْغَرَقِ

O God’s mercy, bestow upon me and send a cause

Through which my nation may be saved from the swamp of drowning

إنْ جِئْتُ في هَرَمِ الدُّنْيَا فَلِي أَمَلٌ

أَرَاهُ بَعْدَ غُرُوبِ الشَّمْسِ في الشّفَقِ

If in the sunset of life, I still have hope

I see it after the sunset glow in the horizon

يَا سَيِّدَ الرُّسْلِ لي في المدْحِ مَفْخَرَةٌ

وإنْ تَقَاصَرَ شِعْرِي عَنْ ذُرَى الوَمَقِ

O master of messengers, I pride myself in praise of you

Though my poetry falls short of the full magnificence

هَذِي قَوافٍ كَنَبْضِ القَلْبِ مُتْعَبَةٌ

شَوْقًا إِلَيْكَ تُنَاجِي النُّورَ في الغَسَقِ

These rhymes throb like a heart, wearied

With longing for you, conversing with the light in the darkness

ظَمْأَى لِوِرْدِكَ.. إنْ مَا خِفْتُ كَبْوَتَهَا

أَعَذْتُهُنَّ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ وَالفَلَقِ

Thirsty for your affection, if I fear their extent

I blame the Lord of mankind and daybreak

أَرْسَلْتُهَا رَائِدًا لي في الطَّرِيقِ إِلَى

لُقْيَاكَ يَا بَلْسَمًا يَشْفِي فُؤَادَ شَقِي

I sent them as my envoy on the path to

Meeting you, O balm that heals the heart of the miserable

صَلَّى عَلَيْكَ إِلَهُ الكَوْنِ مَا رُفِعَتْ

كَفٌّ إلَيْهِ وَمَا بُلَّ الثَّرَى وَسُقِي

The God of the universe blessed you as long as

A palm was raised to Him and the soil was moistened

مَا قِيلَ شِعْرٌ، وَمَا أَوْعَتْهُ مِنْ أُذُنٍ

أَوْ أَثَّرَتْ قُبْلَةُ الأَقْلاَمِ في الوَرَقِ

It is said poetry, and what an ear can contain

Or what a kiss of the pen on paper can affect