تعلَّم منِّي النَّوحَ في مذهَبِ الهَوَى

حمامُ نواحيهِمْ فناحَ لهُمْ مِثلي

Learn from me the lament in the doctrine of passion,

The dove of their dwellings lamented for them like me,

وهفَّتْ بأَغصانِ الحِمى ريحُ لَهْفَتي

فقامَتْ بزَلْزالٍ طَوى الهَزَّ في الكُلِّ

The wind of my fervor rustled in the branches of love,

So it shook with an earthquake, folded from emotional tremors.

وقدْ أنَّتِ العيدانُ من نوعِ أنَّتي

فها فعلُها يشتَقُّ في الأصلِ من فِعْلي

The hands of happiness have granted from the type of my happiness,

So its deed yearns originally from my deed.

وقد جئتُ بَعداً في الرِّجالِ وإنَّما

سبقْتُ بميدانِ المحبَّةِ من قَبْلي

And I came late among the men but rather,

I preceded in the field of love before me.

تدلَّلَ مَحْبوبي عليَّ تعزُّزاً

فقابلتُهُ بالانْكِسارِ وبالذُّلِّ

My beloved acted spoiled before me boastfully,

So I met him with humility and submission.

وسرتُ لهُ في موكِبٍ أيِّ موكِبٍ

صُنوفُ سَلاطينِ المحَبَّةِ من حَوْلي

And I walked before him in a procession, what procession!

Levels of the sultans of love were around me.

وقمتُ خَطيباً بينَهُمْ فوقَ مِنْبَرٍ

وقد أخَذوا شرعَ المحَبَّةِ عن قوْلي

And I stood as an orator among them above a pulpit,

And they took the law of love from my words.

تحكَّمْتُ في فنِّ الغَرامِ فحالَتي

لأصحابِهِ أَحكامَ أحْوالِهِ تُمْلي

I arbitrated in the art of passion so my state,

Dictates to its people the judgments of its conditions.

وأنِّي على العلمِ اليَقينِ بمذْهَبي

ترفَّعَ في طَوْري سَماعي عنِ العَذْلِ

And that I am certain in the knowledge of my doctrine,

My hearing transcended in my best times over rebuke.

هو العلمُ في أَصلِ القَضايا نَتيجَةٌ

مُنَزَّهَةٌ عندَ اللَّبيبِ عن الجَهْلِ

It is knowledge in the origins of rulings, a result,

Purified to the intelligent from ignorance.

وما شأنُ من يَروي الغَرامَ تَبَجُّحاً

سِوى شأنِ ذي جَهْلٍ يُناظِرُ ذا فَضْلِ

And what is the matter of one who narrates passion as boasting,

Except the matter of an ignorant debating one with merit.

يُروحُ فُضولاً يدَّعي الفضلَ مثلَما

غَدا يدَّعي المأفونُ مرتَبَةَ العَقْلِ

He roams foolishly claiming merit just as

The despised claims the rank of intellect.

هو الحُبُّ شيءٌ في الطَّبائِعِ ساكِنٌ

يقِرُّ بذي عقلٍ لَبيبٍ وذي خَبْلِ

It is love, something innate, residing

One reasonable and intelligent admits it and one foolish.

ولكنْ شُجاعُ القومِ يفعَلُ نَصْلُهُ

إذاً فيه كانَ السِّرُّ لا السِّرُّ في النَّصْلِ

But the brave of people, his sword performs

So the secret was in it, not in the sword.

وما النَّفْعُ من سيفٍ مُصاغٍ بجوهَرٍ

حَديدِ نِصالٍ مُصْلَتٍ بيدِ النَّذْلِ

And what use is a sword forged with gemstones,

Blades of steel sharpened by the hand of the weak.

متى نازَلَ الفَحْلَ الشُّجاعَ رأَيتَهُ

بهامَتِهِ من راحَةِ البَطَلِ الفَحْلِ

When it confronted the brave stallion you saw it

With its resolve from the palm of the hero stallion.

تمسَّكْ بحالِ العارِفينَ وفعلِهِمْ

وكنْ ثابِتَ الأَقْدامِ في الحالِ والفعْلِ

Hold on to the state of the gnostics and their deeds

And be firm footed in states and deeds.

ولا تنقَطِعْ عنهُمْ بوصلٍ لغيرِهِمْ

فسِرُّ العُلى في ذلكَ القطعِ والوَصْلِ

Do not detach from them for the connection of others,

For the secrets of elevation are in that detachment and connection.

ولازِمْ بصدقٍ بابَهُمْ مُتَجَرِّداً

بكلِّكَ في كلِّ الشُؤُنِ عن الكُلِّ

And frequent their door truthfully with all of you

In all affairs detached from all.

وخذْهُمْ ضَراعاً في الأُمورِ وملجأً

ورُكْناً على الحالَيْنِ في العقدِ والحَلِّ

And take them as a place of request in matters and a refuge,

And a pillar in both conditions, in bond and separation.

ومنِّي اغْتَنِمْ أسرارَهُمْ وفُنونَهُمْ

فإنِّي أَمينُ السِّرِّ والفَنِّ والنَّقْلِ

And from me gain their secrets and their arts,

For I am the trustee of secrets, art, and conveyance.

وإنِّيَ فرعٌ والرِّفاعِيٌّ أَصلُهُ

وبالفَرْعِ معنًى يُسْتَدَلُّ على الأَصْلِ

And I am a branch and al-Rifa`i is its origin,

And in the branch is meaning inferred to the origin.

تقدَّمْتُ أعْيانَ الرِّجالِ بهِمَّةٍ

بِها قمتُ أَسْرارَ السَّمَواتِ أسْتَجْلي

I surpassed the elite of men with an ambition,

By which I discovered the secrets of the heavens I extract.

وطِرْتُ بجُنْحِ الصِّدقِ للرُّتْبَةِ التي

تَعالَتْ بطورِ المجدِ بالطَّوْرِ والطَّوْلِ

And I flew with the wing of truthfulness to the rank that,

Ascended in the abode of glory by ascent and height.

مَعانٍ أُفيضَتْ عن قُلوبٍ كَريمَةٍ

بمهدِ التُّقى شبَّتْ على الحقِّ والعَدْلِ

Meanings poured from generous hearts,

In the cradle of piety they grew on truth and justice.

ترَقَّتْ ببابِ اللهِ من قلبِ حِبِّهِ

نبِيِّ الهُدى خيرِ الوَرَى سيِّدِ الرُّسْلِ

They rose in the door of God from a heart loving,

The prophet of guidance, best of creation, master of messengers.

عليهِ صَلاةُ اللهِ ما لاحَ بارِقٌ

وطوبِقَ مِثْلٌ في الوُجودِ على مِثْلِ

Upon him the prayers of God what gleamed with lightning,

And folded like him in existence upon a like.

وآلٍ وأَصحابٍ وخُلَّصِ سادَةٍ

سِوى اللهِ دَهراً ما لَهُمْ قطُّ من شُغْلِ

And family, companions, and pure masters

Beside God eternally they never had any preoccupation.