أَنَا لَمْ أَكُنْ عِنْدَ الْغِيَابِ رَسُولَا

لِأَذُودَ عَنْ دَمْعٍ بَقَى مَكْبُولَا

I was not a messenger at the absence

To ward off a tear that remained shackled

الْآَنَ أَعْرِفُهُ وَأَعْرِفُ خَطْوَهُ

أَنْ كُنْتُ فِي الْمَعْنَى الْعَتِيقِ قَتِيلَا

Now I know him and his path

That I was in the ancient meaning a victim

مَا ذَنْبُ قَلْبِيَ أَنْ أَرَاهُ مُعَلَّقًا

بِهَوًى يُفَرِّدُ مَوْعِدًا مَجْهُولَا؟!

What is the sin of my heart to see it hung

With a passion that sets an unknown appointment?!

فِي عِشْقِهَا الْأَبَدِيِّ صِرْتُ مُحَنَّطًا

لَا أَرْتَوِي غَيْرَ الْعَنَاءِ دَلِيلَا

In her eternal love I became embalmed

I do not quench but hardship a guide

مَجْهُولَةٌ تِلْكَ الْخُطَا وَأَنِينُهَا

سَاقَ الْفُؤَادَ مُوَثَّقًا مَغْلُولَا

Unknown are those footsteps and their moan

Led the heart shackled, handcuffed

سِجَّادَةُ الْمَعْنَى تَقُولُ لِنَاسِكٍ

أَغْوَيْتَنِي وَبَقَيْتَ فِيَّ نَزِيلَا

The prayer rug of meaning says to an ascetic

You have seduced me and remained residing in me

سِجَّادَةٌ قُدْسِيَّةٌ مَا خَانَهَا

حُرْفٌ تَزَيَّا بِالنَّدَى إِكْلِيلَا

A sacred prayer rug that no letter betrayed

Adorned with dew a wreath

قَلْبِي بِظِلِّ سَمَائِهَا مُتَمَسِّكٌ

لَا يَبْتَغِي مِنْ غَيْرِهَا تَكْحِيلَا

My heart clinging to the shade of her heavens

Seeks no kohl other than hers

فَإِذَا دَنَا مِنْ أَيْكِهَا كَتَبَتْ لَهُ

أنْ صَارَ عُمْرُكَ عِنْدَنَا مَوْصُولَا

So when he approaches her precincts she wrote him

That your life with us has become connected

مَا كُنْتُ أُخْطِئُ بُغْيَتِي حِينَ الْتَقَى

قَلْبِي بِقَلْبِكِ فَابْتَدَا التَّأْوِيلَا

I was not wrong in my seeking when

My heart met yours and interpretation began

اللهُ يَعْصِمُنِي إِذَا مَا جِئْتُهَا

لِأَقُولَ شِعْرًا سَامِقًا مَثْقُولَا

May God protect me when I come to her

To say towering heavy poetry

آَيَاتُ وَجْهِكِ يَا جَمِيلَةُ فِي الْلُغَا

تِ، وَسِرُّهَا أَنْ كُنْتُ مِنْكِ عَلِيلَا

The verses of your face, O beautiful one, in language

And its secret is that I was sick for you

فَإِذَا رَضِيتِ بِشَاعِرٍ كُنْتِ الَّتِي

فِي شِعْرِهِ أُمَّ الْلُغَاتِ بَتُولَا

So when you were pleased with a poet you were the one

In whose poetry the mother of languages was chaste

وَالْحَرْفُ مِنْكِ تَقَطَّرَتْ أَطْرَافُهُ

عَسَلًا مُصَفًّى سَائِغًا وَزَلُولَا

And the letter from you its edges dripped

Clear, delicious, flowing honey

أَشْعَلْتُ فِيكِ أَنَامِلِي فَتَبَخَّرَتْ

شِعْرًا يُغَازِلُ فِي الْحَيَاةِ عَذُولَا

I ignited in you my fingers, and poetry evaporated

That flirts with life, fickle

مَا كَيْدُ عُذَّالِي كَكَيْدِ مَحَارِمِي

أَبْلَيْتُ فِيهِمْ قَائِلًا وَمَقُولَا

Not the cunning of my slanderers like the cunning of my in-laws

I wore them out saying and being told

أَحْصَى الْإِلَهُ لُغَاتِهِمْ وَاخْتَارَكِ

لُغَةَ الْقُرَانِ، فَأَوْثَقَ التَّنْزِيلَا

God counted their languages and chose you

The language of the Quran, and affirmed the revelation

لُغَةٌ تَغَنَّى مِنْ مَحَاسِنِهَا الْأُلَى

نَسَجُوا الْبَيَانَ مُعَتَّقًا وَظَلِيلَا

A language in whose beauty the sublime sang

They wove rhetoric shaded and leafy

أُمَّ الْلُغَاتِ، عَلَيْكِ مِنْ تَعْظِيمِهِ

فَإِذَا وَعَاكِ الْغَرْبُ كَانَ زَهُولَا

Mother of languages, to you from his glorification

So when the West courts you it becomes withered