نمت ولم يجف كراك الجفون

فالمتني واللوم أمر يهون

You slept, and your slumber never forsook your eyelids;

then you reproached me—reproach is easily borne.

رمت بأن يسلو فؤادي هوى

سلع فمهلاً رمن مالا يكون

You wished my heart to forget the love of

Salʿ—gently now! You seek what cannot be.

أبا المنون الآن خونتني

وهل يخاف العاشقون المنون

Do you now frighten me with death? [Wording uncertain.]

Do lovers fear death?

ما أنا بالروح ضنين ولا

ممن إذا خوف ظن الظنون

I am not stingy with my soul, nor

one who, when frightened, harbors suspicions.

فاسكن ولا تلح أمرأ ماله

في حب سكان الحمى من سكون

So be still, and do not reproach a man who finds

no stillness in loving the sanctuary's dwellers.

لو عاينت عيناك برق الحمى

أومض كالنصل جلته القيون

If your eyes had seen the sanctuary's lightning

flash like a blade polished by smiths,

إذا خبا أضرم نار الجوي

وإن بدا فجر ماء الشؤون

when it fades, it kindles the fire of longing,

and when it appears, it makes the tear ducts' water gush;

ولاح في حلة أنواره

وهنا سنا ذاك الجناب المصون

and, robed in its lights, there appeared,

late at night, the radiance of that guarded precinct;

وقد بدا نور أعالي الحمى

كالنور يبدو في اعلى الغصون

and the light upon the sanctuary's heights appeared,

like blossoms showing on the highest boughs;

وذهبت منه ثياب الدجى

فأشرقت أعلامها وهي جون

and the robes of darkness were gilded by it,

so their embroidered markings shone, though they were black;

وشاهد الركب قبايا أتو

لظل من حل بها يرتجون

and the caravan saw Quba [reading uncertain], having come

hoping for the shade of him who dwelt there;

ولاحظتهم في حمى حمزة

على الظما أعين تلك العيون

and in Hamza's sanctuary they were regarded,

amid their thirst, by the eyes of those eminent ones;

وأفوا ووفاهم كفيل المني

ما كان في ذمته من ديون

they arrived, and the guarantor of hopes paid them

whatever debts lay upon his charge;

وهب من ذاك الحمى نسمة

تذكي شجاهم وتثير الشجون

and from that sanctuary a breeze blew,

kindling their grief and stirring their sorrows—

همت ومللت ووافيتهم

موافقاً في كل ما يدعون

you would have been love-struck, grown weary, and joined them,

joining in everything they prayed for,

حيث ترى الأدمع منهلة

على الربى مثل السحاب المهتون

where you see tears streaming

upon the hills like pouring clouds;

والنور من حجرة خير الورى

لولا سنا الرحمة أغشى العيون

and the light from the chamber of the best of humankind,

but for mercy's radiance, would have blinded the eyes.

والناس من هيبة ذاك الحمى

خاشعة أبصارهم مطرقون

And the people, in awe of that sanctuary,

bow their heads, their eyes humbled.

موطن من أسرى به ربه

إليه وأئتم به المرسلون

The dwelling of him whom his Lord bore by night

to Himself, and whom the messengers followed in prayer:

محمد أشرف خلق نشا

ومن مشى بين الصفا والحجون

Muhammad, the noblest creature ever brought into being,

and of all who walked between al-Safa and al-Hajun.

يأوى إليه الأخرون الأولى

يرجونه في الحشر والأولون

To him the later generations take refuge, those who

hope in him at the Gathering, and the earliest generations.

له اللوا والحوض في بعثهم

يظلهم ذا وبذا يرتون

His are the banner and the Pool at their resurrection:

this shades them; from that they drink their fill.

وشافع الكلإذا ما أتوا

إليه عندالله يستشفعون

And he intercedes for all when they come

to him, seeking intercession with God;

منقذهم من كربهم يوم لا

تنفعهم أموالهم والبنون

he delivers them from their distress on the day when neither

their wealth nor their sons will benefit them.

لولاه لم يعرف طواف ولا

أهل بالتلبية المحرمون

But for him, circumambulation would not have been known, nor

would consecrated pilgrims have cried the talbiyah;

ولا سمي الساعون في صحبهم

ولا أرتقي فوق الصفا المرتقون

nor would the ritual walkers have been named among their fellows,

nor would climbers have climbed to the top of al-Safa;

وما درى الحجاج ماذا الذي

يأتون في الإحرام أويتمون

nor would pilgrims have known what

to perform in consecration or complete;

ولا أتوا من كل فج إلى

ذاك الحمى يستطئون الحزون

nor would they have come from every mountain pass to

that sanctuary, making light of rugged ground;

ولا أقيمت في جهاد العدي

بنصرة الإسلام حرب زبون

nor, in striving against the enemy, would there have been waged,

in support of Islam, a fierce war.

ماذا يقول الناس في وصف من

أنزل فيه الله طه ونون

What can people say in describing one

concerning whom God revealed Ta Ha and Nun?

الأمر فوق المدح لكنه

يمدح كي يسمو به المادحون

His stature is beyond praise, yet he

is praised so that his praisers may rise through him.

وما عسى الناظم يبديه في

أجياد أبكار ثناء وعون

And what can the poet display upon

the necks of praises, maiden and mature?

وما الدراري بأكفائها

والدر لو يسمو لها ظل دون

The brilliant stars are not their equals,

and pearls, though aspiring to them, remain below.

لهفي على عمر تمادت على

شحط التنائي عن حماه النون

Alas for a lifetime prolonged in

far estrangement from his sanctuary—[nūn: unclear here].

فاز امرؤ لم يرع في قصده

أرض الهوينا ورياض الهدون

Successful is the man who, in his quest, has not grazed

the land of languor and the meadows of repose,

وأمه أما على رجله

في سيره أو فوق حرف أمون

and has sought him, either on foot

in his journey or upon a lean, dependable she-camel.

صلى الله عليه ما أبدت ال

ورقاء في الأوراق أشجي فنون

May God bless him, as long as the

gray dove amid the leaves pours forth the most plaintive strains,

وما سرى في البر سار وما

هبت أو عام في البحر نون

and as long as a traveler journeys by night on land, and as long as

a wind blows or a fish swims in the sea.