نُورُ الْهَوَى فِي ظَلاَمِ الْبَيْنِ هَادِينَا

فَمَا لَنَا وَلِتَزْوِيرِ الْمُرَائِينَا

The light of passion in the darkness of separation guides us,

The light of love in the darkness of separation guides us, so what business have we with the deceptions of hypocrites?

So why care for the pretensions of the hypocrites?

Reproach attempts to make us forget our beloveds, but may nothing ever make us forget those we love.

يُحَاوِلُ الْعَذْلُ يُسْلِينَا أَحِبَّتَنَا

لاَ كَانَ شَيْءٌ مِنَ الأَحْبَابِ يُسْلِينَا

Reason tries to console us for our loved ones,

I beseech you by God, leave us alone with our passion, O you who has come to strike us with the arrows of blame.

But nothing can console us like our loved ones.

We have taken solemn covenants with our beloveds, that we shall forever despise those who cast blame.

نَاشَدْتُكَ اللهَ دَعْنَا وَصَبَابَتَنَا

يَا مَنْ غَدَا بِنِبَالِ اللَّوْمِ يَصْمِينَا

I implore you by God, leave us to our youth,

We are the most tender-hearted of God's servants, so do not blame us, for blame brings about our ruin.

O you who assail us with the arrows of blame!

And do not reprimand a lovesick soul for wasting away, for emaciation is the finest trait of lovers.

إِنَّا أَخَذْنَا عُهُوداً مِنْ أَحِبَّتِنَا

أَنْ لاَ نَزَالُ لِأَهْلِ اللَّوْمِ قَالِينَا

We have pledged to our loved ones

We, the fellowship of lovers, possess souls that long grieve over what once briefly brought us joy.

That we will not remain submissive to the blamers.

May my soul be a ransom—though ransom is futile—for those whose love has turned my hair gray just past twenty.

إِنَّا أَرَقُّ عِبَادِ اللهِ أَفْئِدَةً

فَلاَ تَلُمْنَا فَإِنَّ اللَّوْمَ يُرْدِينَا

We are the most tenderhearted of God's servants,

They are crescent moons; had your eyes seen their radiant beauty, you would have been struck with infatuation, imitating madmen.

So do not blame us, for blame ruins us,

You have gone to extremes in reproaching us, if only it were of use! But it only entices us further into wasting away and passion.

وَلاَ تُعَاتِبْ عَلىَ فَرْطِ الضَّنَى دَنِفاً

إِنَّ الضَّنَى خَيْرُ أَوْصَافِ الْمُحِبِّينَا

Nor rebuke us for the excess of love's agony,

Nothing benefits the heart-stricken, lovesick soul except the sublime traits of the Chosen One, the sun of the prophets.

For agony is the best trait of lovers.

Muhammad, the finest of all of God's creation without exception; by my life, these traits cure us of our deepest sorrows.

إِنَّا مَعَاشِرَ أَهْلِ الْحُبِّ أَنْفُسَنَا

تَشْجَى طَويلاً بِمَا سُرَّتْ بِهِ حِينَا

We lovers are people whose souls

May God reward Abu Isa with the greatest recompense given to one who built a legacy of compiling and recording.

Long mourn for what delighted us before.

He gifted us with a book containing pearls so magnificent they spare us the need for precious gems.

نَفْسِي الْفِدَاءُ وَمَا يُجْدِي الْفِدَاءُ لِمَنْ

شَيَّبَنِي حُبُّهُمْ فِي إِثْرِ عِشْرِينَا

My soul is ransom! But what avails a ransom for one

These are the noble traits of the best of messengers, the one for whom inanimate objects spoke in clear and eloquent articulation.

Whose love for them has turned my hair gray in my youth?

The palm trunk wept in yearning at his separation, and the desert lizard spoke to him, to the frustration of his enemies.

أَهِلَّةٌ لَوْ رَأَتْ عَيْنَاكَ بَهْجَتَهُمْ

لَصِرْتَ فِي وَلَهٍ تَحْكِي الْمَجَانِينَا

If your eyes saw their splendor but once,

Sweet water gushed abundantly from his hand, and the camel complained to him of its exhaustion and toil.

You would rave madly like the insane.

And the wolf eloquently told the news of his mission in a detailed story that profoundly dazzles the mind.

بَالَغْتَ فِي عَدْلِنَا لَوْ كَانَ يَنْفَعُنَا

لَكِنَّهُ بِالضَّنَى وَالْوَجْدُ يُغْرِينَا

You have exceeded in blaming us; if only blaming avails!

How many virtues, whose number cannot be counted, appeared for the refuge of mankind, the savior of those who call out!

But blaming drives us on to love and ecstasy.

May the God of the Throne bless him as long as the gray doves in the orchards continue to coo to us,

لاَ يَنْفَعُ الدَّنِفَ الْمَفْؤُودَ شَيْءٌ سِوَى

شَمَائِلِ الْمُصْطَفَى شَمْسِ النَّبِيئِينَا

Nothing avails the embittered critic but

And his family and all his companions, as long as the hand of intense passion plucks the hearts of lovers.

The noble traits of Mustafa, the sun of prophets,

O Lord, by the Chosen Guide and his followers, forgive us and overlook our misdeeds,

مُحَمَّدٍ خَيْرِ خَلْقِ اللهِ قَاطِبَةً

فَهْيَ لَعَمْرِي مِنَ الأَشْجَانِ تُبْرِينَا

Muhammad, the best of all God's creation,

And our parents, our families, and our companions; we have extended the hands of humility, calling upon You,

For he, by my life, frees us from sorrow.

Seeking the intercession of the best of all creation, seeking the rain of Your generosity, filled with hope.

جَزَى الإِلْهُ أَبَا عِيسَى بِأَفْضَلِ مَا

جَزَى الذِي شَادَ تَصْنِيفاً وَتَدْوِينَا

May God reward Abu Isa with the best reward

Accept the intercession of Your Messenger for us on the Day of Gathering; perhaps he will clothe us in the silk of Paradise.

For one who compiled and recorded this work,

And extend the life of our Sheikh, this valiant leader, who spends his evenings teaching us the traits of the best of messengers:

أَتْحَفَنَا بِكِتَابٍ قَدْ حَوَى دُرَراً

جَلِيلَةً عَنْ نَفِيسِ الدُّرِّ تُغْنِينَا

And presented us a book containing precious pearls

The full moon of the sciences and the lamp of the age, Abu al-Abbas, who has mastered excellence and refinement;

Sublime, that make rare gems unnecessary for us.

The sun of eminence, Ahmad ibn al-Hajj, whose constant habit is teaching the sciences and silencing adversaries.

هِيَ شَمَائِلُ خَيْرِ الرُّسْلِ مَنْ نَطَقَتْ

لَهُ الْجَمَادَاتُ إِفْصَاحاً وَتَبْيِينَا

These are the traits of the best messenger, whose speech

Protect him from all whose calamities are feared, and may God have mercy upon the servant who says 'Amen'.

Made inanimate objects eloquent and clear.

وَحَنَّ مِنْ بَيْنِهِ الْجِذْعُ وَكَلَّمَهُ

ضَبُّ الْفَلاَةِ بِمَا غَاظَ الْمُعَادِينَا

The tree trunk bent toward him and spoke to him

When the wolf of the wilderness raged against his foes.

وَفَاضَ مِنْ يَدِهِ الْمَاءُ الزُّلاَلُ وَقَدْ

شَكَا الْبَعِيرُ إِلَيْهِ الْكَدَّ تَلْقِينَا

Water flowed copiously from his hand, though

The camel had complained to him of exhaustion.

وَالذِّئْبُ أَفْصَحَ عَنْ أَنْبَاءِ بِعْثَتِهِ

فِي قِصَّةٍ تُبْهِرُ الأَلْبَابَ تَعْيِينَا

The wolf eloquently told of the news of his mission

In a tale that dazzles minds and wears them out.

كَمْ مِنْ فَضَائِلَ لاَ يُحْصَى تَعَدُّدُهَا

بَدَتْ لِكَهْفِ الْوَرَى غَوْثِ الْمُنَادِينَا

How many countless merits appeared

To the cave of the world, aid of those crying out!

صَلَّى عَلَيْهِ إِلَهُ الْعَرْشِ مَا طَفِقَتْ

وُرْقُ الْحَمَائِمِ فِي دَوْحٍ تُنَاغِينَا

May the God of the Throne bless him whenever

The leaves of doves rustle in the vale.

وَآلِهِ وَجَمِيعِ الصَّحْبِ مَا قَطَفَتْ

يَدُ الصَّبَابَةِ أَلْبَابَ الْمُحِبِّينَا

And his family, and all his companions, whenever

The hands of youth pluck minds of lovers.

يَا رَبِّ بِالْمُصْطَفَى الْهَادِي وَشِيعَتِهِ

إِغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَجَاوَزْ عَنْ مَسَاوِينَا

O Lord! By the Mustafa, the guide, and his followers

Forgive us and overlook our sins!

وَوَالِدِينَا وَأَهْلِينَا وَشِيعَتِنَا

إِنَّا مَدَدْنَا أَكُفَّ الذُّلِّ دَاعِينَا

And our parents, our families and our followers,

For we have extended the palms of humiliation beseeching you.

مُسْتَشْفِعِينَ بِخَيْرِ الْخَلْقِ قَاطِبَةُ

مُنْتَجِعِينَحَيَا جَدْوَاكَ رَاجِينَا

Seeking intercession through the best of creation universally,

Seeking refuge in the sanctuary of your generosity,

شَفِّعْ رَسُولَكَ فِينَا يَوْمَ مَحْشَرِنَا

عَسَاهُ مِنْ سُنْدُسِ الْفِرْدَوْسِ يُكْسِينَا

Intercede, your Messenger, for us on the Day of Gathering,

That he may clothe us in the silk of Paradise!

وَامْدُدْ مَدَى شَيْخِنَا هَذَا الْهُمَامِ الذِي

أَمْسَى شَمَائِلَ خَيْرِ الرُّسْلِ يُقْرِينَا

And extend the life of our Shaykh, this noble one, who

Recites to us the traits of the best Messenger.

بَدْرُ الْعُلُومِ وَمِصْبَاحُ الزَّمَانِ أَبُو الْ

عَبَّاسِ مَنْ حَازَ إِبْدَاعاً وَتَحْسِينَا

Full moon of knowledge, lamp of the age, Abu al-Abbas,

Who has achieved such excellence and grace!

شَمْسٌ الْعُلاَ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ الْحَاجِ دَيْدَنُهُ

دَرْسُ الْعُلُومِ وَتَبْكِيتُ الْمُنَاوِينَا

Sun of eminence, Ahmad Ibn al-Haj, Didda,

Lesson of sciences and lament of the woeful!

وَاكْلَأْهُ مِنْ كُلِّ مَا تَخْشَى غَوَائِلُهُ

وَيَرْحَمُ اللهُ عَبْداً قَالَ آمِينَا

And protect him from all feared misfortunes,

And may God have mercy on one who said "Amen!"