ذهبَ الصدقُ وإخلاصُ العملْ

ما بقيْ إلا رياءٌ وكسلْ

Sincerity and honest work have gone

Only pretense and laziness remain

غرَّكَ التقصيرُ مِنْ ثوبي فإنْ

قُصِّرَ الثوبُ فقدْ طالَ الأملْ

You were fooled by the shortcomings in my clothes

Though clothes be short, hopes are long

إنْ تأملتَ فزيِّي منهمُ

غيرَ أَنَّ القلبَ مغناهُ طللْ

If you contemplate my attire

It is nothing, though my heart is filled with longing

إنما الصوفيُّ صافي القلبِ مِنْ

كلِّ غشٍّ فإذا قالَ فعلْ

The true Sufi has a heart cleansed

Of all deceit, and acts as he speaks

رَفَعَ الكلَّ عنِ الكلِّ وَمَنْ

كَلَّ في الدنيا تحامى كُلَّ كُلْ

He lifts all creation above the temporal

And one who rises in Dunya will fall in the end

ذَلَّ للهِ فعزَّتْ نفسُهُ

كلُّ مَنْ عزَّ بغيرِ اللهِ ذَلْ

He humbles himself before Allah, so his soul is exalted

All who are mighty, except through Allah, are abased

فَهْوَ إنْ يعلُ فباللهِ علا

وَهْوَ إنْ ينزلْ فبالحقِّ نَزَلْ

If he ascends, it is through Allah he rises high

If he descends, it is by truth he is brought low

كسرَ النفسَ فصمَّتْ واتقى

زخرف الدنيا وخيلاً وخَوَلْ

He tamed his ego, so it fell silent in piety

Shunning worldly vanities, steeds and foals

بَذَلَ الروحَ ولولا عزُّ ما

رامَ ما هانَ عليه ما بذلْ

He sacrificed his soul, else, without God's glory,

He'd not dare to sacrifice what he holds dear

عرفَ المربوبَ بالربِّ فلم

يخشَ إلا ربَّه عزَّ وجلْ

Knowing the Nurtured through the Nurturer

He fears none but his Lord, Mighty and Sublime

ليتني في جسم هذا شعرةٌ

صَغُرت أو طعنةٌ فيما انتعلْ

Would that I were a hair on the body

Of this man, or a sandal under his noble feet

بل مرامي لحظةٌ أو لفظةٌ

مِنْ وليِّ اللهِ مِنْ قبلِ الأجلْ

Or a moment, a word, from the saint

Before death comes to claim my wretched soul

هؤلاءِ القومُ يا قومُ مَضَوا

ما تبقى منهمُ إلا الأقلْ

These people, O people, have passed on

Naught remains of them but the few

فإلى اللهِ تعالى أشتكي

ما بقلبي مِنْ فتورٍ وخبلْ

So to Allah, Exalted, I complain

Of the apathy and confusion in my heart

لو تقنَّعتُ أتى رزقي على

رغمِهِ لكنْ خُلقنا مِنْ عجلْ

If I were content, my provision would come

Despite itself, but we were created hasty

كم رياءٍ كم مراءٍ كم خطا

كم عدوٍّ كم حسودٍ لا يملْ

So much ostentation, contention, error,

Enemies and envy, endless woes,

ليس يخلو المرءُ عن ضدٍّ ولو

حاولَ العزلةَ في رأسِ جبلْ

No man is free of opposites, even if

He isolates himself atop a mountain

لا أرى الدنيا وإنْ طابتْ لمن

ذاقَها إلا كسمٍّ في عَسَلْ

However sweet this world is to those

Who taste it, it is but poison in honey

أين كسرى وهِرَقْلٌ أين مَنْ

ملك الأرضَ وولَّى وعزلْ

Where are Chosroes and Heraclius now

And those who ruled the world, then passed away?

أينَ مَنْ شادوا وسادوا وبَنَوا

هَلَكَ الكلُّ وَلَمْ تغنِ القللْ

Where are those who built and lorded

And led? All perished, and mountains remain

لو سألتَ الأرضَ عنهمْ أنشدَتْ

أصبحَ الملعبُ قفراً والطللْ

If you ask the earth about them, it recites

"The playground is now empty, the hills deserted."