لَولا سَنىً رَبَّةِ الخَدرِ بَدا
لَم يَدرِ حادي المُدلَجَينَ الرَشَدا
Had it not been for the beauty of the veil's mistress appearing,
The lost ones would not have found guidance, nor the wanderer the right path.
وَلا اِهتَدى إِلى حِماها حائِرٌ
بِكَشفِها في سَترِها لَولا النَدا
By her unveiling in her veil, had it not been for her voluptuousness,
He would not have been guided to her protection.
دَعَت فَلَبّاها السَميعُ وَاِنثَنى
عَنها الأَصَمُّ مُستَجيباً لِلصَدى
She called him, so the All-Hearing inclined toward her,
While the deaf man responded, obeying the echo.
وَأَوهَمَ الناسَ هُدىً في قَصدِها
حَتّى أَضَلَّ قَومَهُ وَما هَدى
And she made people think there was guidance in her aim,
Until he led his people astray, while he himself was not guided.
تِلكَ الَّتي صَيَّرَني الوَجدُ بِها
وَقَفاً عَلى أَيدي الأَسى مُؤَبَّدا
She is the one whom passion has stationed me before,
Standing at the hands of anguish, everlasting.
لا أَملِكُ السُلوانَ عَنها لا وَلا
أَلقى عَلى طولِ جَفاها مُسعِدا
I can neither find solace from her nor
Cast on the length of her disdain, feeling at ease.
قَد غادَرَت نارَ فُؤادي مُصطَلىً
لِرَكبِها وَماءَ عَيني مَورِدا
She has abandoned the fire of my heart, leaving it extinguished
For her hill, and the water of my eye as her watering place.
عَلَت فَأَدناها كَمالُ لُطفِها
مِن صَبِّها حَتّى بَدَت كَما بَدا
Her perfect grace drew her near
From her aloofness until she appeared as she appeared.
تَحَيَّرَ العالَمُ في جَمالِها
وَأَصبَحَ العُشّاقُ فيها قِدَدا
The world was perplexed by her beauty,
And the lovers in it became devoutly attached to her.
فَواقِفٌ عِندَ مِثالِ ظِلِّها
وَتائِهٌ أَضحى لِسَلمى مُلحِدا
So I stand before the image of her shadow,
And I have become, for her cause, an atheist, gone astray.
وَعارِفٌ يُبِتُ مِن ذواتِها
بِمَحوِهِ ما لِلعَيانِ أُشهِدا
While the mystic passes the night annihilating
From his essence whatever is evident to the eyes.
واحِدَةَ الحُسنِ الَّتي أَمسَيتُ مِن
وَجدي بِها بَينَ البَرايا أَوحَدا
The peerless beauty whom I, because of my passion for her,
Have become solitary among mankind.
وَصِرتُ فيها أُمَّةً يَأتَمُّ بي
كُلُّ مُحِبٍّ راحَ فيها وَغَدا
And through her I have become a community,
To which every lover comes for guidance.
صَبا إِلَيَّ الصابِئونَ إِذ رَأَوا
طِرفي لِنَجمِ الحُسنِ فيها رَصَدا
The Sabians have turned to me when they saw
My gaze fixed upon the star of beauty in her.
وَاِتَّخَذَ المَجوسُ قَلبي قِبلَةً
لِما رَأَوا لِلنارِ فيهِ مَوقِدا
And the Magi have taken my heart as their qibla,
When they saw in it a fire kindled for her.
وَلَم أَزَل مُتَسِّعاً مُسَبِّعاً
مُخَمِّساً مُثَلِّثاً مُوَحِّدا
I have not ceased being an expansionist, annexationist,
Pentagonist, trinitarianist, unitarianist.
وَبي اِقتَدى في الحُبِّ مِن ثَنِيَّ وَمَن
ثَلَّثَ أَو أَسلَمَ أَو تَهَوَّدا
And by me is guided, in love, whoever
Has dualized, triplicated, submitted, or Judaized.
وَشيعَةُ الحَقِّ اِرتَضوا بِسُنَّتي
وَاِتَّخذوني في الغَرامِ مَشهَدا
The Shia of Truth have accepted my ways
And have taken me, in passion, as their place of pilgrimage.
وَالحُنَفاءُ تابَعوني إِذ رَأَو
ني في اِتِّباعِ رِسلِها مُجتَهِدا
The Hanifs have followed me when they saw
Me striving to follow her messengers.
وَالمُلحِدونَ حَمَدوا طَريقَتي
حينَ رَأَوني لِهَواها مُلحِدا
The atheists have praised my path
When they saw me an atheist for her sake.
وَالحُكَماءُ العارِفونَ صَبّوا
رَأَيي بِرَفعِ الوَصفِ عَنها وَالبَدا
The wise gnostics have poured
My doctrine by removing descriptions of her and transcendence.
وَظَنّي مُجَسِّداً في نَعتِها
بِصورَةٍ غِرٌّ غَدا مُجَسِّدا
And imagined me embodied in describing her
In a form, so the embodied became embodied.
وَما دَرى بِأَنَّني لِذاتِها
أَمسَيتُ عَن صِفاتِها مُجَرَّدا
Yet they did not know that for her essence
I have become stripped of her attributes.
وَفي سُجودي لِمِثالِ حُسنِها
قَد غادَرَت لي في الضَميرِ مَسجِدا
And in my prostration to the ideal of her beauty
She has left in my conscience a mosque for me.
فَلا أَرى في الكَونِ شَخصاً واحِداً
يَهوى هَوى إِلّا وَبي فيهِ اِقتَدى
So I do not see in the universe a single one
Who loves except that in it he follows me.
كَلّا وَلا أُمَّ حِمىً مُجَدَّداً
إِلّا أَراهُ في حِمايَ مَعهَدا
Never does a protector renew his protection
Unless I see his protection linked to mine.
لِأَنَّ داري لَم تَزَل دائِرَةً
تَجمَعُ مَن ضَلَّ السَبيلَ وَاِهتَدى
For my abode has never ceased being a circle
That gathers those who have strayed from the path and those guided aright,
وَكُلُّ شَيءٍ خارِجٌ عَنها إِذا اِع
تَبَرتَهُ وَجدَتَهُ مِنها بَدا
And everything outside of it, if you examine it,
You will find it derived from it.
ما وَرَدَ الصادي زُلالَ مَورِدي
مِن عَينَيهِ إِلّا اِنتَفى عَنهُ الصَدى
No thirsty one comes to my spring
Except the echo fades from him.
وَلا اِقتَدى بي في هَواها حائِرٌ
إِلّا وَأَضحى هادِياً إِلى الهُدى
Nor does a wanderer in his love for her follow me
Except he becomes a guide to the right path.
وَإِن أَكُن عَبدَ هَواها فيهِ
رُحتُ لِأَربابِ الغَرامِ سَيِّدا
And if I am a slave to her love therein,
I have attained, for the lovers, mastery.
