الْجَوَابُ الذي أَرَاهُ صَوَاباً

يَرْتَضِيهِ أَئِمَّةُ الاِنْتِقادِ

The answer I deem right

Would please the critics of reproach

أنَّ قُرْبَ الأَشْباحِ في هذِهِ الدّا

رِ هُوَ الْوَصْلُ عِنْدَ أَهْلِ الْوِدادِ

That the proximity of spirits in this abode

Is reunion for those of affection

لَوْ أَفادَ اتِّصالُ رُوحٍ برُوحٍ

في وِدادٍ وَمَعْ طَويلِ بِعادِ

If the communion of one soul with another

In affection despite long separation

كَانَ لَغْواً جَميعُ ما قَدْ حَكَى النّا

سُ مِنَ الْهَجْرِ والْبُكا والسُّهادِ

Were nonsense, then all that people have recounted

Of separation, weeping, and wakefulness by night

إنَّما أَلْهَبَ الجوَانِحَ مِنّا

وأَسالَ الدُّموعَ سَيلَ الْوَادِي

It was only remoteness that inflamed our hearts

And set free a flood of tears down the valley

بُعْدُنا مِنْ مَرابِعٍ حَلَّ فيها

مَنْ أَحَلَّ الْغَرامَ بالأجْسادِ

We are far from dwellings where she settled

Who inspired passion in the bodies

يا لَقَوْمِي وَهَلْ لقومي غَناءٌ

في تَلاقِي الأَرْواحِ والأَكْبادِ

Oh my people, would that my people had

In the meeting of souls and innermost hearts

إنَّما قَطَّعَ الْقُلوبَ بِعادٌ

قَطَّعَ اللهُ قَلْبَ هذا الْبِعادِ

It was only separation that sundered hearts

May God sunder the heart of this separation

فالغَريبُ الذي يَحِلُّ بِلاداً

وَهَواهُ في غَيْرِ تِلْكَ الْبِلادِ

So the stranger who settles in a land

While his passion is in other realms

والبعِيدُ الذي يُقيمُ بأَرْضٍ

قَدْ قَلَى رَبْعُها رَبيعَ الْفُؤادِ

And the distant one who resides in a place

Whose springtime seared the heart

ما تَرَى ما الّذي يُفِيدُ أنْطِوا الْقَل

بِ عَلَى الْحُبِّ والْهَوَى في ازْدِيادِ

Do you not see what availing comes

From cherishing love and passion's increase?

إِنَّما يَشْتَكي مِنَ الْبَيْنِ قَلْبٌ

قَدْ بُلي قَبْلَ بَيْنِهِ بالوِدادِ

Only a heart tried before its sundering

Complains of estrangement

وَإذا ما خَلاَ مِنَ الْحُبِّ فالبَيْ

نُ لَدَيْهِ كالوَصْلِ في الاِتّحادِ

And if it is devoid of love, then estrangement

Is to it like union in oneness

والنَّبيُّ الْكَريمُ صَلّى عَلَيْه

رَبُّنا قَدْ أَفادَنَا بالْمُرادِ

The noble Prophet, God's blessings upon him,

Has provided us guidance in meaning:

قَالَ لَيْسَ الإخبارُ مِثْلَ عَيانٍ

عِنْدَ إصْدارِ الأَمْرِ والإيرادِ

"Report is not like witnessing

In issuing commands and directing."

والْخَلِيلُ الْجَلِيلُ يَطْلُبُ مَعْنىً

مِنْ عَيانٍ يَزيدُ في الاِعْتِقادِ

And the venerable Friend demanded a meaning

From witnessing that increases faith

فالذي قَالَ إنَّ عُمرانَ رَبْعِ ال

حُبِّ بالحُبِّ نافِعٌ في الْبِعادِ

So he who said inhabiting a quarter of love

With love is beneficial in absence

غاَلِطٌ أَو مُغَالِطٌ عِنْدَ مَنْ كا

نَ مِنَ الأَذْكِياءِ والنُّقّادِ

Is wrong or deceiving, by those

Who were discerning and critics

هَاكَ يا عَالِمَ الزَّمانِ جَوَاباً

شَيَّدَتْ رُكْنَهُ يَدُ الاِجْتِهادِ

There you have it, O sage of the age, an answer

Whose pillar was built by striving

وَسَلامُ السَّلامِ يَغْشاكَ يا فَرْ

دَ بَني الْمُصْطَفَى النَّبِيّ الهادِي

And greetings of peace be upon you, O individual

Of the Mustafa's progeny, the guiding Prophet.