Sol 6.1

  1. How much treasure and benefit the deep darkness holds

    For one whose stock-in-trade is remembrance and wakefulness.

  2. And how much it holds that men of earnest effort desire;

    The negligent sleeps heedless of it, though it lies in store.

  3. Thoughts grow clear in it, free of their impurities,

    And the mind is ready for explanation and reflection.

  4. So the wellsprings of those who keep night vigil are purified,

    And those who sleep at night do not know what is afoot [reading uncertain].

  5. How far apart are one whose eyelid is immersed in sleep

    And one whose thoughts take heed by night!

  6. O you who enrich the night with sleep and the day with blindness,

    When will you awaken, with neither hearing nor sight?

  7. You hope to settle in an abode of passage,

    And neglect provisions there as the journey draws near.

  8. Awaken your heart from sleep and from drowsiness,

    And be wary, for caution is a trait of the prudent.

  9. And do not squander a lifetime on what brings no benefit,

    For soon—by my life!—life will pass away.

  10. And rise when the night is dyed with its blackness,

    And the radiant stars are lit as lamps within its gloom.

  11. Then lament your sins and beg for their pardon,

    For pardon is awaited when the servant confesses.

  12. So let tears flow from fear and from remorse;

    They will erase the defiance still being written down.

  13. And return to Allah, and knock at the door of His mercy,

    And be patient, for triumph is assured to the patient.

  14. And make your bliss lie in the Qur'an as you recite it,

    For the verses and surahs are the best of what is read.

  15. And if hostility assails you in the darkness, then through it

    The hour before dawn brings you the star in its wake.

Sol 6.1