نِلْنَا وَلَوْلاَ الْحُبُّ مَا نِلْنَاهَا

أَلْوِيَةَ التَّرْقِيقِ إِذْ سُمْنَاهَا

We attained though love we'd not attained,

We attained—and were it not for love, we would never have attained— / the banners of tenderness when we sought them out.

The gentle songs as we named them.

The hands of passion wove magnificent garments for us, / spun by the intense longing for the Beloved in their warp.

حَاكَتْ لَنَا أَيْدِي الْغَرَامِ مَطَارِفاً

غَزَلَ التَّوَلُّهُ فِي الْحَبِيبِ سَدَاهَا

The hands of passion wove for us subtleties,

We guided passion when we surrendered to passion, / holding reins whose harshness was broken by our submission.

When obsession spun in the lover its veil.

We found delight, and deep longing granted us our full due; / just as it tamed our hearts, we tamed it in return.

قُدْنَا الْهَوَى لَمَّا انْفَعَلْنَا لِلْهَوَى

بِأَزِمَّةٍ قَتَلَ الْخُضُوعُ قُوَاهَا

We led passion when we were impassioned with passion

I swear by the Fire of Passion and the One who kindled it: / truly blessed is the one whose heart is its dwelling place.

In a crisis that meekness killed its strength.

Ignite its blaze within my soul, for the height / of all hopes lies in the depths of its burning trial.

طِبْنَا فَوَفَّتْنَا الصَّبَابَةُ حَقَّنَا

مِنْ حَيْثُ رَاضَتْ لُبَّنَا رُضْنَاهَا

We were delighted so we were granted our right,

Yet I fear, O my benefactor, that through my love for you, / I will be entirely consumed by the scorching heat of yearning.

Whence youth satisfied our heart we were satisfied.

Never! Loving you makes one like Abraham; thus its fire / becomes coolness and peace, despite its heat and blaze.

نَارُ الْغَرَامِ وَحَقِّ مَنْ أَغْرَاهَا

لَمُنَعَّمٌ مَنْ قَلْبُهُ مَأْوَاهَا

The fire of passion, by the right of the one who lit it,

Increase its raging flames, and I shall increase my humble submission, / for I cannot bear the harshness of unfeeling souls.

What bliss for he whose heart is its abode.

By God, oh God, O Sun of Radiance! / He granted you dominion over my depths, and you became their very core.

أَوْقِدْ لَظَاهَا فِي حَشَايَ فَمُنْتَهَى

آمَالِهِ فِي مُنْتَهَى لَأْوَاهَا

Light its flames in the embers of my mouth,

By God, oh God, O Essence of Desire! / He cast you into my spirit, and you became its ultimate wish.

His hopes at the extremity of its passions.

By God, oh God, O Source of Brilliance! / He placed you in my eyes, and you became their guiding light.

لَكِنْ أَخَافُ عَلَى هَوَاكَ مُنَعِّمِي

بِحَرَارَةِ الأَشْوَاقِ أَنْ يَصْلاَهَا

But I fear for your passion, my bliss,

By God, oh God, O Soul of True Wealth! / He established you in my being, and you became its absolute richness.

With the heat of longing that it will scorch it.

By God, oh God, O Bane of the Enemies! / He gave you power over my foes, intensifying their torment.

كَلاَّ هَوَاكَ بِهَا الْخَلِيلُ فَنارُهُ

بَرْدٌ سَلاَمٌ حَرُّهَا وَلَظَاهَا

Nay, your passion, by it the Friend's fire,

Increase their burning! May God increase within / their hearts a fury that shatters their resolve.

Is cool safety, hot yet soothing.

Prolong their restlessness! May God forever preserve / your enduring presence, completely vanquishing their malice.

زِدْ فِي تَسَعُّرِهَا أَزِدْكَ تَذَلُّلاً

فَقَسَاوَةُ الأَجْلاَفِ لاَ أَرْضَاهَا

Increase in its inflammation, I'll be humbled to you,

In my love for the Beloved, I find the most profound ecstasy, / an unbroken joy fueled by the purest, most refined wine.

The harshness of the stony-hearted I do not please.

When I am intoxicated, I am awakened by the sheer thrill of it; / and when I am sober, I am intoxicated simply by remembering it.

بِاللهِ آاللهُُ يَا سَمْشَ الْبَهَا

أَوْلاَكَ أَحْشَائِي فَكُنْتَ حَشَاهَا

By God, O sun of splendor,

When I am sober, my sobriety never falls from exalted heights; / and when I am intoxicated, my intoxication is never from foolish vice.

You dwelt in my innards so you were its dweller.

My poetic spirit surged wildly in the fields of amorous verse, / yet the praise of the Master of all Creation gently reins it in.

بِاللهِ آاللهُُ يَا رُوحَ الْمُنَى

أَلْقَاكَ فِي رُوحِي فَكُنْتَ مُنَاهَا

By God, O soul of elation,

It called out to him: 'O Dispeller of Sorrows! The paths of passion / spurred me onward when I mounted their steeds.'

I met you so you were its confidant.

Thus, it was delivered by his brilliant light when he answered its call, / much like the sun whose morning radiance drives away the dark.

بِاللهِ آاللهُُ يَا عَيْنَ السَّنَا

أَلْقَاكَ فِي عَيْنِي فَكُنْتَ سَنَاهَا

By God, O eye of mirth,

It found the realm of speech utterly limitless in its scope, / with towering peaks whose ascent exhausts all humankind.

I met you so you were its gaze.

His virtues are so abundant that none can attempt to encompass them; / his merits are an overflowing sea that never knows an end.

بِاللهِ آاللهُُ يَا نَفْسَ الْغِنَى

أَلْقَاكَ فِي نَفْسِي فَكُنْتَ غِنَاهَا

By God, O life of bounty,

The fingers of eloquence fall far too short to explain them, / as human comprehension proves entirely helpless before their true meaning.

I met you so you were its life.

It stood bewildered—and rightly so, for one attempting to praise him— / yet no equivalent or likeness exists for Ahmad Taha.

بِاللهِ آاللهُُ يَا غَيْظَ الْعِدَى

أَوْلاَكَ أَعْدَائِي تُثِيرُ ضَنَاهَا

By God, O scourge of the foe,

He is the Sun of all worlds and the wellspring of their grace, / both in the earliest dawn of creation and in the life to come.

Your enemies rouse its rancor.

Before existence itself, his luminous light was already shining; / the Divine Throne and Footstool are but a fraction of his radiance.

زِدْ فِي تَحَرُّقِهَا فَزَادَ اللهُ فِي

أَكْبَادِهَا غَيْظاً يَحُلُّ عُرَاهَا

Increase in their burning, so God increased

He is the Origin of all origins, their finest branch, and their ultimate refuge, / the blazing lamp in their deepest darkness and the dawn breaking their night.

In their livers wrath dissolving their shame.

Amina gave birth to him, who is the spiritual forefather of Adam; / glory be to God for a mother who births both her son and her father!

وَأَطِلْ تَمَلْمُلَهَا أَطَالَ اللهُ فِي

إِبْقَائِكَ الْمُفْنِي مُفِيتَ رَدَاهَا

And lengthen their disquiet, so God prolonged

Through him, the legions of Ultimate Truth rejoiced with laughter, / while the factions of ruin wept, their eyes pouring with bitter tears.

Your lasting vanquisher of their demise.

Thus, the wellsprings of faith overflowed with absolute guidance, / while the echoing halls of perdition were struck utterly deaf.

لِي فِي هَوَى الْمَحْبُوبِ أَعْظَمُ نَشْوَةٍ

مَوْصُولَةِ الأَفْرَاحِ رَقَّ طِلاَهَا

For me in the passion of the beloved is greatest elation

The sovereign masters of eloquence lost their way in praising him, / for being utterly bewildered in his praise is the highest eloquence.

Continuous joys, soften its climb.

How can one possibly praise a man whose majestic attributes / are ornaments that the Qur'an itself has intricately embroidered?

فَإِذَا سَكِرْتُ صَحَوْتُ مِنْ طَرَبِي بِهَا

وَإِذَا صَحَوْتُ سَكِرْتُ مِنْ ذِكْرَاهَا

If I get drunk I sober from my rapture by it

And if you ever doubt this, the verse 'Glory be to Him who carried / His servant by night' suffices you, alongside the chapter of Ta-Ha.

And if I sober I get drunk by remembering it.

They asked, 'Will you not praise him?' I replied, 'What can I say after / God, the Exalted, has praised him directly with His own words?'

فَإِذَا صَحَوْتُ فَمَا صَحَوْتُ عَنِ الْعُلاَ

وَإِذَا سَكِرْتُ فَمَا سَكِرْتُ سَفَاهَا

If I sober I sober not from sublime love,

In a divine presence of absolute sanctity, where even / the Archangel Gabriel could not approach its nearest threshold.

And if I get drunk I get not drunk with frivolity.

Beyond the praise bestowed by God—majestic is His majesty— / there is no greater praise for the one who humbled the heights yet transcended them all.

جَمَحَتْ بِمَيْدَانِ النَّسِيبِ قَرِيحَتِي

وَمَدِيحِ مَنْ سَادَ الْوَرَى يَرْعَاهَا

My talent gathered in the realm of ode

His noble fingertips overflowed with generous grace, just as / they once overflowed with the very waters that quenched entire armies.

And praise of the unparalleled guide of all.

The Most Merciful has granted him a station of immense majesty; / highly exalted is the Merciful—how endlessly supreme is that rank!

نَادَتْهُ يَا مُجْلِي الْعَنَا رُسُمُ الْهَوَى

أَرْقَلْنَ بِي لَمَّا امْتَطَيْتُ مَطَاهَا

It called him, "O effacer of distress, the form of passion

I swear by the intense devotion hidden within these holy secrets: / no created being has ever truly circled the heights of his sanctuary.

Weakened me when I mounted its course."

Forgive me, O Messenger of God! I come to you as a beggar in need, / not merely as a praiser, for your exalted status is utterly beyond my words.

فَتَخَلَّصَتْ بِسَنَاهُ إِذْ لَبَّاهَا

كَالشَّمْسِ إِشْرَاقُ الضًُّحَى جَلاَّهَا

So it slipped by his brilliance when it clung to him

And if my humble verses have somehow fallen short, / I have still offered the purest first-fruits of my poetry to their rightful Master.

Like the sunrise, the radiance of dawn bared it.

You are the one who bestowed upon us the means of grace; / by God, were it not for you, we would never have attained them!

وَجَدَتْ مَكَانَ الْقَوْلِ مَفْقُودَ الْمَدَى

سَامِي الذُّرَى أَعْيَى الْوَرَى مَرْقَاهَا

It found in place of utterance, the extended range lost,

Here stands your desperate servant, seeking refuge at your door, / hoping to grasp the strongest and surest of all means of guidance.

Sublime above all creation, the highest of its ascent exhausted.

Here is your sorrowful servant, seeking absolute sanctuary at your gate, / hoping for the most healing remedy to cure his spiritual afflictions.

جَمَّ الْفَضَائِلِ لاَ يُحَاوِلُ حَصْرَهَا

غَمْرَ الْمَزَايَا عَوْضُ لاَ تَتَنَاهَى

He combined all virtues, one cannot attempt to enumerate them,

He has been chained by his ceaseless indulgence in worldly desires, / as his mounting sins have bound him forcefully against his will.

An abundance of qualities, infinite recompense.

The crushing hardships of his era have ruthlessly assailed him, / until the sheer weight of his grief has worn him down to nothing.

قَصُرَتْ بَنَانُ الشَّرْحِ عَنْ تَبْيِينِهَا

إِذْ بَانَ عَجْزُ الْفَهْمِ عَنْ مَعْنَاهَا

Eulogies fell short of describing it

Meet his desperate need with the healing grace of your remedy, / for the constancy of your cure will forever release him from his sorrow.

When the incapacity of the mind to apprehend it became evident.

Turn the light of your guidance upon the dark places of his error, / with a boundless compassion that rescues the soul from its smothering gloom.

بَهَتَتْ وَحُقَّ لِمِثْلِهَا فِي مِثْلِهِ

وَالْمِثْلُ مَفْقُودٌ لِأَحْمَدَ طَهَ

It was perplexed, and rightly so for the like of it,

Grant him a special distinction, spiritually binding him / to your sanctuary alongside those who have truly obeyed God.

Yet the like is absent except Ahmad Taha.

Grant him spiritual wealth that banishes all forms of hardship, / until his right hand firmly grasps the ultimate realization of his hopes.

شَمْسُ الْعَوَالِمِ كُلِّهَا وَمُمِدُّهَا

فِي النَّشْأَةِ الأُولَى وَفِي عُقْبَاهَا

The sun of all the worlds and their illuminator,

Endow him with deep understanding of your divine decrees, / where even the contrapositive perfectly affirms their profound truth.

In the first creation and in its succession.

And protect his father, his family, and his spiritual guides, / both in the trials of this present world and in the everlasting Hereafter.

قَبْلَ الْوُجُودِ تَلَأْلَأَتْ أَنْوَارُهُ

فَالْعَرْشُ وَالْكُرْسِيُّ بَعْضُ سَنَاهَا

Before existence, his lights gleamed,

May God's blessings be upon you, O you who came to us / bearing glad tidings, radiant as the sun in its mid-morning glory.

The Throne and Footstool some of its rays.

May God's blessings be upon you, O you who came to us / with supreme gentleness, never harsh-hearted nor overbearing.

أَصْلٌُ الأُصْولِ وَفَرْعُهَا وَمَلاَذُهُا

وَسِرَاجُ غَيْهَبِهَا وَفَجْرُ دُجَاهَا

The origin of origins and its branch, and its refuge,

May God's blessings be upon you, O you who came to us / as a gentle shelter for the weak, entirely free of arrogant pride.

And lamp of its darkness and dawn of its gloom.

May God's blessings be upon you, O you whose brilliant light / upholds the entirety of the worlds, spanning both earth and sky.

وَلَدَتْهُ آمِنَةٌ أَبَا الأُمِّ آدَمٍ

لِلَّهِ مَنْ تَلِدُ ابْنَهَا وَأَبَاهَا

Amina birthed him, father of fathers Adam,

May God's blessings be upon you, O you whose profound love / has restored perfect vision to hearts that were once completely blind.

To God belongs she who gives birth to her father.

May God's blessings be upon you, O you whose very remembrance / forever perfumes the ears that hear it and the lips that speak it.

ضَحِكَتْ بِهِ زُمَرُ الْحَقِيقَةِ إِذْ بَكَتْ

فِرَقُ الرَّدَى هَمَّالَةٌ عَيْنَاهَا

The hosts of reality laughed as the throngs of falsehood cried,

May God bless you for as long as the mystic, / having drunk deeply of the bewilderment of your majesty, cries out 'Ah!'

Blinking their eyes.

And upon his noble kindred, the guiding lamps of all humanity, / and upon his companions, whose radiant guidance embraces everyone.

فَمَنَاهِلُ الإِيمَانِ طَمَّ هُدَاهَا

وَمَنَازِلُ الْخُسْرَانِ صَمَّ صَدَاهَا

The springs of faith surged while its call rang out,

And the abodes of ruin deafened its echo.

تَاهَتْ مُلُوكُ الْقَوْلِ فِي أَمْدَاحِهِ

وَالتِّيهُ فِي أَمْدَاحِهِ أَقْصَاهَا

The kings of speech wavered in their eulogies of him,

Bewildered were the eulogies of him in its limits.

لاَ يُسْتَطَاعُ مَدِيحُ مَنْ أَوْصَافُهُ

قَدْ طَرَّزَ الْقُرْآن ُ بَعْضُ حُلاَهَا

The praise of one whose traits embroidered the Quran,

Some of its adornment cannot be lauded.

وَإِذَا امْتَرَيْتَ فَإِنَّ سُبْحَانَ الذِي

أَسْرَى بِه لَبْلاً كَفَاكَ وَطَهَ

And if you lack, Glory to He Who took him on the night journey,

That sufficed you, and Taha.

قَالُوا أَلاَ امْدَحْهُ فَقُلْتُ أَبَعْدَمَا

أَثْنَى عَلَيْهِ اللهُ جَلَّ شِفَاهَا

They said, "Do praise him." I said, "After God extolled him,

What praise from one whose lips He made majestic?"

فِِي حَضْرَةٍ مِنْ قُدْسِهِ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ

جِبْرُيلُ أَنْ يَدْنُوَ مِنْ أَدْنَاهَا

In a sphere of His holiness that Gabriel

Could not come near in its base.

مَا بَعْدَ مَدْحِ اللهِ جَلَّ جَلاَلُهُ

مَدْحٌ لِمَنْ خَفَضَ الْعُلاُ وَعَلاَهَا

Beyond God's praise, Majestic His Majesty,

Is praise of whom the Most High exalted and raised.

وَبَنَانُهُ فَاضَتْ نَوَالاً مِثْلَ مَا

قَاضَتْ بِمَا رَوَّى الْجُيُوشَ مِيَاهَا

His edifice overflowed equally as

The armies quenched their thirst from his downpour.

وَأَنَالَهُ الرَّحْمَانُ جَلَّ مَكَانَةً

فَتَبَارَكَ الرَّحْمَانُ مَا أَعْلاَهَا

And the Merciful granted him lofty rank,

So Blessed is the Merciful for how lofty He raised it.

أَقْسَمْتُ بِالْهَيَمَانِ فِي أَسْرَارِهَا

مَا حَامَ خَلْقٌ قَطُّ حَوْلَ حِمَاهَا

I swear by the Sanctuary in its mysteries

None can approximate its fence.

عُذْراً رَسُولَ اللهِ جِئْتُكَ طَالِباًَ

لاَ مَادِحاً حَاشَاكَ عِنْدَكَ جَاهَا

Excuse me, Messenger of God, I came to you seeking,

Not praising, far from you is grandeur.

وَلَئِنْ أَسَأْتُ بِمَا نَظَمْتُ فَإِنَّنيِ

أَهْدَيْتُ أَبْكَارِي إِلَى مَوْلاَهَا

If I was wrong in what I wrote, I gifted to your Master

My first works.

أَنْتَ الذِي أَوْلَيْتَنَا أَسْبَابَهَا

وَاللهِ لَوْلاَ أَنْتَ مَا نِلْنَاهَا

You are the one who granted us its means,

By God, without you we'd not attained it.

هَا عَبْدُكَ الْمُضْطَرٍّ أَمَّ جَنَابَكُمْ

يَرْجُو مِنْ أَسْبَابِ الْهُدَى أَقْوَاهَا

Hoping from the means to guidance its strength.

Seeking from the cures of distress its healing.

هَا عَبْدُكَ الْمَلْهُوفُ لاَذَ بِبَابِكُمْ

يَرْجُو مِنْ أَدْوِيَةِ الضَّنَى أَشْفَاهَا

Passion overwhelmed him as his sins shackled him,

Coercing him.

قَدْ غَلَّهُ الْإِيغَالُ فِي شَهَوَاتِهِ

إِذْ أَوْثَقَتْهُ ذُنُوبُهُ إِكْرَاهَا

And the conundrums of his time wore him down,

Until hardship showed him its bitterness.

وَتَنَاوَشَتْهُ مُعْضِلاَتُ زَمَانِهِ

حَتَّى بَرَاهُ الْوَجْدُ مِنْ جَرَّاهَا

Counter his necessity with your able healing,

Its continuity is endless releasing his agony.

قَابِلْ ضَرُورَتَهُ بِمُمْكِنِ طِبِّكُمْ

فَدَوَامُ ذَلِكَ مُطْلِقٌ شَكْوَاهَا

And turn your guidance to the place of his misguidance,

Gently saving the soul from its gloom.

وَاعْطِفْ هُدَاكَ عَلَى مَحَلِّ ضَلاَلِهِ

عَطْفاً يُنَجِّي النَّفْسَ مِنْ غُمَّاهَا

And specify for him in drawing near

Your sanctuary along with those obeying God.

وَأَنِلْهُ تَخْصِيصاً بِجَرِّ إِضَافَةٍ

لِحِمَاكَ مَعَ مَنْ قَدْ أَطَاعَ اللهَ

And grant in terms of independence, riddance of distress,

The wishes reach and gratify him.

وَامْنَحْهُ فِي حَدِّ الْغِنَى طَرْدَ الْعَنَا

حَتَّى تُنَاوِلَهُ الْمُنَى يُمْنَاهَا

And endow him with understanding in your concepts which

The opposite corresponds with its contents.

وَأَفِدْهُ فَهْماً فِي قَضَايَاكَ التِي

عَكْسُ النَّقِيضِ مُوَافِقٌ فَحْوَاهَا

And protect his father, family, and elders,

In this world and the next.

وَاحْفَظْ أَبَاهُ وَأَهْلَهُ وَشُيُوخَهُ

فِي هَذِهِ الدُّنْيَا وَفِي أُخْرَاهَا

God bless you, O you who came to us,

Like the sun at the time of its forenoon.

صَلَّى عَلَيْكَ اللهُ يَا مَنْ جَاءَنَا

مُسْتَبْشِراً كَالشَّمْسِ وَقْتَ ضُحَاهَا

God bless you, O you who came to us,

With kindness, neither stern nor frowning.

صَلَّى عَلَيْكَ اللهُ يَا مَنْ جَاءَنَا

بِالرِّفْقِ لاَ فَضّاً وَلاَ جَبَّاهَا

God bless you, O you who came to us

Easy on the weak, not assaulting.

صَلَّى عَلَيْكَ اللهُ يَا مَنْ جَاءَنَا

سَهْلاً عَلَى الضُّعَفَاءِ لاَ تَيَّاهَا

God bless you, O whose light

Touched the worlds, its earth and sky.

صَلَّى عَلَيْكَ اللهُ يَا مَنْ نُورُهُ

مَسَكَ الْعَوَالِمَ أَرْضَهَا وَسَمَاهَا

God bless you, O whose love

Granted sight to the wise after blindness.

صَلَّى عَلَيْكَ اللهُ يَا مَنْ حُبُّهُ

قَدْ بَصَّرَ الأَلْبَابَ بَعْدَ عَمَاهَا

God bless you, O whose mention

Purified hearings and mouths.

صَلَّى عَلَيْكَ اللهُ يَا مَنْ ذِكْرُهُ

قَدْ طَيَّبَ الأَسْمَاعَ وَالأَفْوَاهَا

God bless you, of whom he who drank

Perplexity from your majesty complained.

صَلَّى عَلَيْكَ اللهُ مَا قَالَ الذِي

شَرِبَ التَّحَيُّرَ مِنْ جَلاَلِكَ وَاهَا

And his kin, the lamps of creation,

And his companions, the cloud of its guidance.

وَعَلَى قَرَابَتِهِ مَصَابِيحِ الْوَرَى

وَعَلَى صَحَابَتِهِ الْعَمِيمِ هُدَاهَا