قلب الكليم هائم لم يضع للائم

ولم يزل طائر على الحبيب حائم

The heart of the Kalīm wanders in love, yielding to no reproacher;

It has never ceased to fly, circling the beloved.

يا من يرى زجري إنّ الهوى عذري

ومذ بدا فجري صادق أنا صائم

O you who would rebuke me—passion is my excuse;

Since my true dawn broke, I have kept the fast.

حبّي له دقّه قلبي غدا رقّه

في الشام والرقه دوماً هو الحاكم

Love of him is its very beat; my heart has become his thrall.

In al-Sham and al-Raqqa, he is forever the ruler.

ما دعد ما أسما كلٌّ له أسما

وحسنه الأسمى قد حيّر الفاهم

What are Daʿd and Asmāʾ? Each is but a name for him;

His most exalted beauty has bewildered the understanding.

نحن بلبس الخلق من سر أمر الحقّ

وما بدا بالفرق تخيّل الواهم

In creation’s garb, we are of the mystery of the Real’s command;

Whatever appears as distinction is the deluded one’s imagining.

وكلّما يظهر من كلّ ما مظهر

شأنٌ بدا مضمر في رفعه جازم

And whatever appears through every manifestation—

Is a hidden reality come forth, assured in its elevation:

الأوّل الآخر الباطن الظاهر

القادر القاهر المالك الدائم

The First, the Last, the Hidden, the Manifest;

The All-Powerful, the Subduer, the Sovereign, the Everlasting.

صلاته تهمي على النبي الأمّي

مدينة العلم الفاتح الخاتم

May His blessing pour down upon the unlettered Prophet,

The City of Knowledge, the Opener and the Seal;

والآل والصحب والقوم والحزب

من حازوا بالقرب عيش الصفا الناعم

And upon the Family, the Companions, the people and the band—

Those who, through nearness, attained the gentle life of purity.

يا ربّ يا كافي أدرك بإسعاف

للخلوتي اليافي الناثر الناظم

O Lord, O All-Sufficient, come swiftly with aid

To al-Khalwatī al-Yāfī, composer of prose and verse.