للهِ في خَلْقِهِ ما شَاءَ مِنْ نَظَرِ

فاصْبِر عَلَى الصَّفْوِ مِنْ دُنْياكَ والكَدَرِ

God does as He wills in His creation, so bear

The sweet and bitter in your life patiently.

فَلَيْسَ يَدْفَعُ ما جَاءَ القَضَارُ بِهِ

صِباً ولا تُدْرَأ الأقْدَارُ بالقُدَرِ

What is ordained cannot be resisted;

Fate cannot be warded off by scheming.

وَعَدِّ عَنْ حَزَنٍ يُضْنِي وَعَن أسَفٍ

وفَوِّضِ الأَمْرَ في وِرْدٍ وَفِي صَدَرِ

Put aside any grief that hurts, any sadness,

And entrust your affairs whether joyful or grieving.

وإن يَجلَّ مُصَابٌ قَدْ أُصِيبَ بِهِ

سَاداتُ سادَاتِ أَهْلِ البَدْوِ والحَضَرِ

If a calamity has struck that also struck

The finest of the finest leaders in desert and town—

أَعْنِي البهالِيلَ مَنْ شادُوا لمَدْدِهِمُ

رَبْعَ الفَخارِ بِبيضِ الهِنْدِ والحَضَرِ

I mean the Bahā’īlites who extended

Their rule over a quarter of the world, east and west—

بِمَوْتِ مَنْ فَجَعَتْنا الكُلِّ مَوْتَتُهُ

حَتّى تَحَدَّرَ دَمْعُ العَيْنِ كالدُّرَرِ

With the death that grieved us all, that death

Until tears streamed like pearls from every eye,

ذاكَ الحُسامِ الذي قَدْ سُلَّ فانْقَمَعَتْ

رُوسُ الرّؤوسِ لِجِيلِ البَغْيِ والبَطَرِ

That sword which, when drawn, the heads

Of the heads of armies bowed down before it,

لادَرّ دَرُّ زَمانٍ أَغْمَدَتْ يَدُهُ

ذَاكَ الحُسامَ ولا حَيّاهُ بالْمَطَرِ

Time does not last; its hand sheathed the sword

That gave life with the rain. It knew the world

العالمَ البرَّ وهُوَ البَحْرُ إن عَصَفَتْ

للمُشْكِلاتِ أعاصِيرٌ عَلَى العُصُرِ

And was righteous. Though problems whip up storms

Over the age, it was a sea.

حَبْرُ المسَائِلِ سَبّاقُ الأَماثِلِ في

بابِ الفَضَائِلِ في خَبْرٍ وفي خَبَرِ

Ink of issues, predecessor of examples

In the gate of virtues in every piece of news,

فالصَّبْرُ أَشْرَفُ ما لاَذَ الْمُصَابُ بِهِ

إن ناوَشَتْهُ يَدُ الأيّامِ بالضَّرَرِ

Patience is the noblest resort for one visited

By harm, when the days claw at him.

لو كَانَ يُحْمَى حَمَتْهُ عُصْبَةٌ أَلِفَتْ

وَخْزَ الرِّماحِ وضَرْبَ الصّارِمِ الذكَرِ

If hordes who befriend the point

Of spears and slash of sharp swords guarded him,

بِجَحْفَلٍ كَسَوادِ اللّيلِ أنْجُمُهُ

بَيْضٌ وبِيضٌ على الأَعْداءٍ كالقَدَرِ

With a host as dark as the night, its stars

White, descending on the enemy like fate—