ما آذنته بينها أسماء

فتقول ثاو مل منه ثواء

Asmāʾ did not announce her departure to him,

so that you might say, “A dweller whose stay has grown wearisome.”

لكنه ادكر الحمى فتقاسمت

احشاءه الأشجان والبرحاء

But he remembered the sanctuary, and they divided

his innermost being between them: sorrows and anguish.

متوقد الزفرات يطفى وحجدي

المامة بلوى الحمي لا الماء

Ablaze with sighs, [my longing?] is quenched by

a brief visit to the sanctuary’s winding sands, not water.

اضحى لقي في الحي ليس يتيمه

إلا اللقا وما هناك لقاء

He became an outcast among the tribe; nothing enthralls him

except reunion—and there is no reunion there.

يهوي الكلام لذكرهم وهو الذي

يشجيه فهو داؤوه والداء

He loves talk that mentions them, though it is what

saddens him: it is both his remedy and his malady.

ويروقه حر الهواجر في السرى

نحو الحمى فلهيبها انداء

And noonday heat delights him as he journeys by night

toward the sanctuary, for its flames are dew.

وغذا جرى ذكر العقيق جرى له

دمع حكاه إذ الدموع دماء

And when al-ʿAqīq is mentioned, there flows for him

a tear resembling it, for his tears are blood.

يا حبذا وادي العقيق وحبذا

بقبا ظلال الدوح والأفياء

Ah, how lovely the valley of al-ʿAqīq, and how lovely

at Qubāʾ, the shade of great trees and the shadows!

ومسارح بين النخيل تأرجت

منها بعرف نسيمها الأرجاء

And pasturelands among the palms, perfuming

the surrounding lands with the scent of their breeze.

فكأنما في كل أرض بالحمى

مغنى غنى أو روضة غناء

As though in every tract within the sanctuary

there were a rich dwelling or a luxuriant garden.

لا برتوي صاد الهوى إلاإذا

لحظته منها عينها الزرقاء

The thirsty lover is not sated unless

its blue spring gazes upon him.

وإذا بدا بان المصلي بان من

تلك القباب أشعة وضياء

And when the bān trees of the prayer-ground appear, there emerge from

those domes rays and radiance.

ولوا مع تغشي الورى فلنورها

في كل قلب وحد الألاء

And flashes envelop humankind; their light awakens

in every heart the joy of blessings [reading uncertain].

وإذا تقابلت الوفود وأقبلوا

وهم كضغر عيسهم انضاء

And when the delegations meet and arrive,

exhausted, like their lean, pale camels,

يعلو أنينهم وفرط حنينها

فغدا سوأ أنة ورغاء

their groans rise, and their camels’ boundless yearning,

until moaning and camel-bellowing are alike.

وسرى وهم موتى جوى نفس الرضى

فغدوا وهم من فوزهم أحياء

And while they are dead with longing, the breath of favor drifts through them,

and through their good fortune they become alive.

وتبادروا نحو اللقاء وقد مضى

عنهم غناء وانقضى أعياء

They rush toward the meeting, while there has departed

from them hardship, and exhaustion has ended.

فكباؤهم يوم القدوم سلامهم

وسلامهم يوم الرحيل بكاء

On the day of arrival, their tears are their greeting,

and on the day of departure, their greeting is tears.

وهناك تهمي للنوال سحائب

تروي بها الآمال وهي ظماء

And there clouds rain down gifts,

by which hopes are watered while still thirsty.

وتعمهم خلع الندى فملأوة

تضفو عليهم بالرضى ورداء

And robes of bounty cover them: a mantle

drapes amply over them with favor, and a cloak.

وقرى من الرضوان ليس وراءه

إلا القبول وجنة فيحاء

And hospitality of divine pleasure, beyond which there is

only acceptance and a spacious garden.

صدروا به عن روضة أجنتهو

ثمر الرضى وتبوؤا ما شاؤوا

They departed with it from a garden that had yielded them

the fruits of favor, and took whatever abodes they wished.

طوبى لمن أضحىة بطيبة داره

وله بها الأصباح والإمساء

Blessed is he whose dwelling has come to be in Ṭayba,

and who spends his mornings and evenings there.

لم يدر هل رحل الفريق واسرعوا

بالسير أم لمسيرهم إبطاء

He does not know whether the company departed and hastened

on their journey, or whether their journey was slow.

دار الهدى والمنزل الرحب الذي

كانت به تنزل الأنباء

The abode of guidance, the spacious lodging where

the tidings used to descend.

ومقام خير العالمين بأسرهم

عند الإله ومن له افسراء

And the dwelling of the best of all beings,

in God’s sight, and of him granted the Night Journey.

ولهإذا حشر الخلائق حسراً

حوض به تروي الورى ولواء

And when all creatures are gathered uncovered,

his are a pool that slakes their thirst and a banner.

ووسيلة وشفاعة ننجوا غدا

بهماإذا حفت بنا اللاواء

And a high station and intercession; tomorrow we shall be saved

through both, when hardship surrounds us.

هادي البرية عند ما نذقتهموا

من قبل في لهواتها الأهواء

The guide of humankind, when they had been flung

before into their jaws by unruly passions.

وسروا على عشواء ظلم الهوى

فتلألأت لهم به الأضواء

And they traveled on the blind mount of desire’s darkness,

then lights shone for them through him.

فرأ وأهدوا مسوي امري ذي شقوة

بصيرة قلبه عمياء

They saw and found guidance, save a man doomed to misery,

the inner sight of whose heart was blind.

وسرى الهدى فأجاب دعوة دينه

طوعاً رجال منهم ونساء

Guidance spread, and the call of his faith was answered

willingly by men and women among them.

وضح الطريق لهم فلم يك فيهم

من بعد ما وضح الطريق إباء

The way became clear to them, and among them there was no

refusal once the way was clear.

وبدت لهم من بعد ظلمة غيهم

بهدي الرسول محجة بيضاء

And after the darkness of their error, there appeared to them,

through the Messenger’s guidance, a radiant path.

وتفرقت بين الضلالة والهدى الأ

خوان والأباء والأبناء

And between error and guidance were divided the

brothers, fathers, and sons.

صاروا فريقي نعمة وشقاوة

والحق أبلج ما عليه غطاء

They became two parties, of blessedness and misery,

while truth stood radiant, with no veil upon it.

عجباً وهل في ذلك النور الذي

وافى به بين العقول مراء

How strange! Is there concerning that light which

he brought any dispute among minds?

فاستشهدت منهم نفوس حرة

غدت الجنان بهن وهي ملأ

Then noble souls among them suffered martyrdom,

and the gardens of Paradise became filled with them.

وهوت إلى دارك الجحيم عصائب

غلبت عليهم شقوة وبلاء

And bands of people fell into the depths of Hell,

overwhelmed by wretchedness and affliction.

ثم استقام الأمر واتضح الهدى

لا بيهم فالكل فيه سواء

Then order was established and guidance became clear,

with no obscurity, so all are equal in it.

هل بالنهار وقد جلا ظلم الدجا

للناظرين إذا رأوه خفاء

Is there in daylight, once it has dispelled the darkness of night,

any concealment for those who behold it?

هل يستوي شمس الظهيرة أشرفت

أنوارها والليلة الليلاء

Can the noonday sun, when there shine

its rays, be equal to the pitch-dark night?

لولا الهوى غطي الباهرات ترفعت

عن أن يميز وصفها الإحصاء

Were it not for desire, nothing would veil the dazzling signs, which rise above

having their qualities set out by enumeration.

منهن تسبيح الحصا في كفه

وكذا الطعام وفاض منها الماء

Among them are pebbles glorifying God in his palm,

and food likewise, and water gushing from it.

وسلام أحجار رأي بطريقه

غرفته وهي الصلدة الصماء

And stones he saw along his path greeting him,

having recognized him, though they were hard and deaf.

وإجابة الشجار حين دعابها

تسعى إليه كأنهن الماء

And trees answering when he called them,

running to him as though they were water.

ورجوعها بالأمر نحو مكانها

سيان منها العود والأبناء

And their returning, at his command, to their place,

returning and [setting forth?] being alike for them.

وكذاك عين قتادة أذردها

من بعد ما سقطت واعيا الداء

And likewise Qatāda’s eye, when he restored it

after it had fallen and the ailment had resisted treatment.

فغدت كأحسن مقلتيه يرى بها

الشيء البعيد كأنها الزرقاء

It became like the finer of his two eyes; through it he saw

far-off things, as though it were al-Zarqāʾ.

وكذا على إذ دعاه بخيبر

فأتى إليه وعينه رمداء

And likewise ʿAlī, when he summoned him at Khaybar:

he came to him with an inflamed eye.

فاجال فيها ريقه فغدا لها

برء به في وقتها وشفاء

He applied his saliva to it, and there came to it

an immediate cure through him, and healing.

وحبي عكاشة يوم بدر محجنا

فغدا له في الدار عين مضاء

And he bestowed on ʿUkāsha, on the day of Badr, a hooked staff,

which became for him, in the abode, sheer cutting power:

سيف ولم يضر به قبين صاغته

من يصنع الأشياء كيف يشاء

a sword no smith had hammered, fashioned by

the One who makes things however He wills.

وكذاك ما عين الحديبة الذي

لم يلف فيه لظلامئ أرواء

And likewise the water of the spring at al-Ḥudaybiyya, which

was found to offer no quenching for the thirsty.

يا قاصداً ما ليس يدرك حصره

من وصفه مالا ينال عناء

O you who seek what cannot be fully reckoned

of his qualities: striving for the unattainable is toil.

فاتت مدائحه القصائد فاقتصد

يغنيك عن تصريحك الأثماء

His praises outstrip poems, so be measured:

a mere gesture suffices, without your explicit words.

هل يبلغ الشعراء شيئاً قد أتت

بصفاته الأحزاب والشعراء

Can poets attain anything of what has been told

of his qualities by al-Aḥzāb and al-Shuʿarāʾ?

الأمر أعظم أن يحاط بكنهه

ما ذاك مما تبلغ البلغاء

The matter is too great for its essence to be encompassed;

it is beyond what eloquent speakers can attain.

صلى عليه الله ما سرت الصبا

فوق الربا وتلاقت الأنواء

May God bless him as long as the east wind travels

over the hilltops and rainstorms converge,

وترقرت سحب وأومض بارق

وشدت على أوراقها ورقاء

and clouds shimmer, and lightning flashes,

and a gray dove sings upon its leaves.