1. هل لميت أبلاه طول البعاد

    من معاد يرجوه قبل المعاد

    Is there, for a dead man worn away by long separation,

    a return he may hope for before the final Return,

  2. فيلاقي الأحباب في هذه الدار

    إذا أقام من مهاد السهاد

    so that he might meet his beloved ones in this abode,

    when he rises from the bed of sleeplessness,

  3. ويوافي على الظما عين قرب

    برتوي من ورودها كل صاد

    and reach, in his thirst, a spring of nearness,

    whose waters quench every thirsty soul,

  4. وينادي في يومه شافع الخل

    ق غداً يا ذخري ليوم التنادي

    and call today upon the one who will intercede for creation

    tomorrow: O my treasure for the Day of Mutual Calling!

  5. يا أنيسي يا شافعي يا مجيري

    يا ملاذي يا عصمتي ياعمادي

    O my companion, my intercessor, my protector!

    O my refuge, my safeguard, my support!

  6. جئت أسعى مودعاً لك إذ حا

    ن انصرافي وآن طول انفرادي

    I have come hastening to bid you farewell, now that

    my departure is due and my long solitude has come.

  7. اشتكي ثقل كاهلي بذنوبي

    ورحيلي الدني وقلة زادي

    I lament the burden of my sins upon my shoulders,

    my imminent departure, and my scant provisions.

  8. وأرجى نداك ياأكرم الخل

    ق بقصدي إرجاء هذا النادي

    And I hope for your bounty, O noblest of

    creation, as I seek the precincts of this gathering.

  9. لست اخش الضلال عن ظلك الضا

    في بقصدي إرجاء هذا النادي

    I do not fear straying from your ample shade,

    as I seek the precincts of this gathering.

  10. إنما غفلتي ولهوي وتقصي

    ري ثنتني عما أرى من رشاد

    Only my heedlessness, my idle play, and my negligence

    turned me from the right guidance I perceive.

  11. فتغابيت للردى وهو جد

    وتعاميت في الهدى وهو بادي

    I feigned ignorance of perdition, though it was in earnest,

    and feigned blindness to guidance, though it was plain.

  12. وتناءيت باجتهادي فسيحا

    من حياتي فضاق وقت اجتهادي

    I kept my striving far off through a broad span

    of my life, until the time for striving grew short.

  13. وتناسيت ما فعلت وقد أث

    بته في صحائف الاشهاد

    I deliberately forgot what I had done, though it was recorded

    in the scrolls of the witnesses.

  14. وتصاممت عننداء نذير ال

    شيب لهواً وياله من مناد

    I feigned deafness to the warning call of

    gray hair, in idle play—and what a herald it is!

  15. ودهي صحتي الضني وفراغي ال

    شغل فاستجمعا على ميعاد

    Illness assailed my health, and my leisure was beset by

    busyness; the two converged at the appointed time.

  16. رمت أن يستقيم عودي وبعد ال

    بين كيف استقامة المياد

    I sought to make my bough stand straight; but after

    parting, how can a swaying bough be straight?

  17. ما بقي لي سوى رجا الله في يو

    م معادي شيء عليه اعتمادي

    Nothing remains for me but hope in God on the

    day of my return—nothing else on which I can rely—

  18. وانتظاري منك الشفاعة عما

    كان مني والله بالمرصاد

    and my awaiting your intercession for what

    I have done, while God keeps watch.

  19. عفو ربي غداً وجاه نبيي

    فوق ذنبي الوافي وهذا اعتقادي

    My Lord's pardon tomorrow and my Prophet's honored standing

    outweigh my abundant sins: this is my belief.

  20. أشرف العالمين طراً وخير ال

    خلق جمعاً من حاضر أو بادي

    The noblest of all beings, without exception, and the best of

    creation altogether, whether town-dweller or desert-dweller,

  21. صفوة الله في البرايا وداعي

    ه وهادي عباده العباد

    God's chosen one among creatures, the one who calls to Him,

    and the guide of His devout servants,

  22. صاحب المعجزات منها كلام ال

    وحش جهراً له ونطق الجماد

    The bearer of miracles, among them the speech of

    wild beasts aloud to him, and the utterance of lifeless things,

  23. وانشقاق افيوان من فوق كري

    ملك الفرس ليلة الميلاد

    and the splitting of the palace hall above Kisra [?],

    king of Persia, on the night of the birth;

  24. وخمود النيران من بعد ما م

    ر لها ألف حجة في اتقاد

    and the quenching of the fires after

    a thousand years of burning had passed;

  25. وكذا غارت البحيرة من سا

    وة والماء حولها في ازدياد

    and likewise the lake of Sawa sank away,

    while the waters around it were rising.

  26. وكذا الجن عاد من رام منها السمع

    يرمي بكوكب وقاد

    Likewise, among the jinn, whoever sought to overhear

    came to be pelted with a blazing star.

  27. وتوالت بشري الهواتف من قبل

    به في ربا الفلا والوهاد

    Successive glad tidings came from unseen voices beforehand,

    of him, across the desert's heights and hollows.

  28. وكذاك الأحبار من قبل

    والرهبان نصاً عليه في كل ناد

    And likewise, the rabbis beforehand,

    and the monks, proclaimed him explicitly in every gathering.

  29. واستمر السعيد منهم على الح

    ق واردي الشقى سوء العناد

    The fortunate among them remained steadfast in the

    truth, while evil obstinacy brought the wretched to ruin.

  30. وأتاه جبريل بالوحي في غا

    ر حري حال وحدة وانفراد

    Gabriel brought him revelation in the cave

    of Hira, in a state of solitude and seclusion.

  31. فوعى ما أوحى وقام بأم

    ر الله في الخلق هادياً للعباد

    He grasped what was revealed and rose to carry out

    God's command among creation, guiding His servants,

  32. داعياً مرشداً إلى الله والح

    ق وخلع الأوثان والأنداد

    calling and guiding them to God and the

    truth, and to casting off idols and rival deities,

  33. واجتناب الاثام والبغي والغ

    ي ووأد البنات والإلحاد

    and to shunning sins, oppression, and

    error, the burying of daughters alive, and impiety.

  34. ورؤوفاً بهم حريصاً عليهم

    صافحاً عن أذي المعادي المعاد

    Compassionate toward them, solicitous for them,

    overlooking the harm of the hostile adversary.

  35. فاستجاب الذين فازوا بفضل الس

    بق من ربهم وفضل الجهاد

    Then those who won the merit of being first responded,

    a favor from their Lord, along with the merit of striving in His cause.

  36. وأتوه مهاجرين إليه

    هاجري الأهل فيه والأولاد

    They came to him as emigrants,

    leaving family and children for his sake,

  37. مدركي منه كل غاية خير

    تاركي كل طارق وتلاد

    attaining from him every utmost good,

    leaving every newly acquired and inherited possession.

  38. يجعلون الآباء أن خهالفوهم

    في رضا الله في اشد الأعاد

    They counted their fathers, if they opposed them

    in what pleased God, among their fiercest foes.

  39. ويصفون دينهم في ابتذال النف

    س في الله بالسيوف الحداد

    They purified their faith by freely offering their

    lives for God amid sharp swords.

  40. فأقاموا الدين الحنيف لديه

    بالعوالي على اصح عماد

    Thus they established the upright faith in his presence,

    with long spears upon the soundest support.

  41. قسموا دهرهم فبين اجتهاد

    لم يزالوا في دهرهم وجهاد

    They divided their lifetime between diligent devotion,

    unceasing all their days, and striving in God's cause.

  42. كل عار من الهوى لابس التق

    وى قصير المنى طويل النجاد

    Each stripped of passion, clothed in

    piety, with few worldly hopes and a long sword-belt.

  43. يا رسول الإله حبك في قلبي

    وطرفي ممكن في السواد

    O Messenger of God, love for you is in my heart

    and my eye, firmly rooted in its black pupil.

  44. ما احتيالي أن أبعدتني ذنوبي

    فهي عندي مظنة الأبعاد

    What recourse have I if my sins have driven me far away?

    For I deem them a likely cause of banishment.

  45. وقف العجز بي واصعب منه

    غفلتي عن تأهبي ورقادي

    Helplessness has halted me; harder still

    are my neglect of preparation and my slumber.

  46. كيف أنجو والقلب في أسرغي

    موثق ماله سوى الرشد فادي

    How shall I escape, when my heart, captive to error,

    is bound, with no rescuer but right guidance?

  47. فعسى نفخة تسوق إلى الله

    قيادي وقد نضت اقيادي

    May a breath lead to God

    my reins, having stripped away my fetters.

  48. وغذا ما ضللت في تيه تقص

    يري هدتني إلى الشفيع الهادي

    And whenever I stray in the wilderness of my

    neglect, may it guide me to the guiding intercessor.

  49. فعليه السلام ما افتر ثغر النور

    في الروض من بكاء الغوادي

    Peace be upon him so long as the blossoms' mouth smiles

    in the garden from the weeping of morning rainclouds,

  50. أو سرى نحو أرض مكة سار

    أو تغني بذكر طيبة حادي

    or a traveler journeys by night toward the land of Mecca,

    or a camel-driver sings in remembrance of Tayba.