لله رب العرش والأكوان

فكر تفوت تصور الإنسان

To God, Lord of the Throne and the worlds, belong

Thoughts surpassing human imagination.

ولقد أتاه ذات يوم خاطر

رقصت له الجنات بالسكان

And one day a thought came to Him;

The gardens danced for it, their inhabitants with them.

فأقام في أسمى قصور جنانه

عبدا له سجدت ذوو التيجان

So He placed in the loftiest palaces of His gardens

A servant before whom the crowned ones prostrated themselves.

ودعا إليه وهو أكرم من دعا

غيد الفضل زينة العمران

And invited to Himself—He, the most generous of hosts—

The fair maidens of virtue, civilization's adornment.

لكنه ساوى الجميع وربما

فاق الصغار الكبريات الشان

Yet He treated them all alike, and perhaps

The lesser ones surpassed those of greater standing.

فلكن في لطف التحية مسلكا

يزري على النسيمات في الاغصان

Then they followed a course of gracious greeting

That put the breezes among the boughs to shame.

وجميعهن جرين جري قرائب

وشقائق في طاعة الرحمان

And all conducted themselves as kinswomen

And sisters, in obedience to the All-Merciful.

ونهلن كاسات الولاء وقد تبا

دلن الحديث تبادل الاقران

And drank deeply from cups of devotion, and had

Exchanged conversation as equals do.

لكن رب القصر جل جلاله

إذ كان ينظر نظرة العرفان

But the Lord of the palace—exalted be His majesty—

As He looked with a discerning gaze,

لمح اثنتين كأنما احداهما

لا تعرف الأخرى فتأتلفان

Glimpsed two, as though one of them

Did not know the other well enough for them to grow close.

ولعلمه بطريقه البشر الألى

بلغوا من العمران خير مكان

And knowing the ways of those mortals

Who had reached civilization's highest station,

مد اليدين اليهما متناولا

يد كل خود منهما بينان

He stretched both hands toward them, taking

The hand of each fair maiden with His fingertips.

وإلى اليمين اشار وهو يقول ذي

في الأرض تدعى ربة الإحسان

And pointed to the right, saying, 'This one

On earth is called the Lady of Beneficence.'

واشار للأخرى وقال وهذه

تدعى كذلك ربة الشكران

And He pointed to the other and said, 'And this one

Is likewise called the Lady of Gratitude.'

فتفرس الاختان كل منهما

في أختها كتفرس الحيران

Then each of the two sisters gazed intently

At her sister, with the stare of one bewildered.

إذا منذ خلق الله دنيانا إلى

ذا اليوم لم تتواجه الاختان

For since God created our world, up to

This day, the two sisters had never met face to face.