إِن مسّنا الضّر أو ضاقت بنا الحيل

فلن يخيب لنا في ربنا أمل

If harm touches us or our means grow strait,

our hope in our Lord will never be disappointed.

وإِن أناخت بنا البلوى فإِن لنا

ربّا يحولها عنا فتنتقل

And if affliction kneels down upon us, we have

a Lord who will turn it away from us, and it will depart.

الله في كل خطب حسبنا وكفى

إليه نرفع شكوانا ونبتهل

God is sufficient for us in every crisis—and enough;

to Him we raise our complaint and supplicate.

من ذا نلوذ به في كشف كربتنا

ومن عليه سوى الرحمن نتكل

Who is there for us to seek refuge in to dispel our anguish?

And on whom but the All-Merciful can we rely?

وكيف يرجى سوى الرحمن من أحد

وفي حياض نداه النَّهل والعَلَل

How can anyone other than the All-Merciful be hoped in,

when His pools of bounty hold both the first draught and the second?

لا يرتجى الخير إلا من لدنه ولا

لغيره يتوقى الحادث الجلل

Good is hoped for only from Him, and no

other is trusted to ward off overwhelming calamity.

خزائن الله تغني كلَّ مفتقر ٍ

وفي يد الله للسؤال ما سألوا

God’s treasuries enrich every needy person,

and in God’s hand lies whatever petitioners ask.

وسائل الله ما زالت مسائله

مقبولة ما لها رد ولا ملل

The one who asks of God finds that his requests remain

accepted, with neither rejection nor weariness.

فافزع إلى الله واقرع باب رحمته

فهو الرجاء لمن أعيت به السبل

So flee to God and knock at the gate of His mercy:

He is the hope of one whom all paths have defeated.

وأحسن الظن في مولاك وارض بما

أولاك ينحل عنك البؤس والوجل

Think well of your Master, and be content with what

He has granted you; misery and fear will loosen their hold.

وإن أصابك عسر فانتظر فرجا

فالعسر باليسر مقرون ومتصل

If hardship befalls you, then await relief,

for hardship is paired and joined with ease.

وانظر إلى قوله: ادعوني استجب لكُمُ

فذاك قول صحيح ماله بدل

Look to His saying: “Call upon Me; I will answer you.”

That is a true word, for which there is no substitute.

كم أنقذ الله مضطراً برحمته

وكم أنال ذوي الآمال ما أملوا

How many desperate people has God rescued through His mercy,

and how many hopeful people has He granted what they hoped for.

يا مالك الملك فارفع ما ألمّ بنا

فما لنا بتولي دفعه قِبَلُ

O Master of Sovereignty, lift what has befallen us,

for we have no power to undertake its removal.

ضاق الخناق فنفسي ضيقة عَجْلَى

بنا فأَنَفُع شيء عندنا العَجَلُ

The noose has tightened; my soul is distressed and impatient over our plight,

for the most helpful thing to us now is haste.

وحل عقدة مَحْل حلّ ساحتنا

بضرّه عمت الأمصار والحلل

Untie the knot of a drought that has settled in our midst;

its harm has swept through cities and encampments.

وقُطِّعَتْ منه أرحام لشدته

فما لها اليوم غير الله من يصل

Its severity has severed bonds of kinship,

and today they have none but God to join them.

وأهمل الخِل فيه حق صاحبه

الأدنى وضاقت على كلٍّ به السُبلُ

Through it, a friend has neglected the right of his companion,

even the closest, and it has narrowed every person’s paths.

فربَّ طفل وشيخ عاجز هَرِم

أمست مدامعه في الخدّ تنهمل

How many a child, and how many a helpless, decrepit elder,

has reached evening with tears streaming down his cheek,

وبات يرعى نجوم الليل من قلق

وقلبه فيه نار الجوع تشتعل

and spent the night watching the stars from anxiety,

while the fire of hunger blazes in his heart.

أمسى يعج مِنَ البلوى إِليكَ وَمِن

أحواله عندك التفصيل والجمل

He spends the evening crying out to You from affliction; and of

his condition, both detail and whole are known to You.

فأنت أكرم من يُدعى وأرحم مَنْ

يُرجى وأمرك فيما شئت ممتثل

For You are the most generous to be called upon, and the most merciful

to be hoped in; whatever You will, Your command is obeyed.

فلا ملاذ ولا ملجأ سواك ولا

إِلاّ إِليك لحي عنك مرتحل

There is no refuge or shelter but You, nor

can any living soul journey away from You except to You.

فاشمل عبادك بالخيرات إنهم

على الضرورة والشكوى قد اشتملوا

So enfold Your servants in blessings, for they

have been encompassed by dire need and complaint.

واسق البلاد بغيث مسبل غَدَقٍ

مبارك مُرجَحِن مزنه هطل

Water the lands with a streaming, abundant rain,

blessed and heavy-laden, its raincloud pouring,

سح عميم ملث القطر ملتعقِ

لرعده في هوامي سحبه زَجَلُ

a copious, all-embracing downpour, its drops unceasing,

whose thunder roars within its roaming clouds.

تكسى به الأرض ألواناً منمنمة

بها تعود بها أحوالها الأُوَلُ

By it the earth is clothed in patterned colors,

and through it her former state returns.

ويصبح الروض مخضرا ومبتسما

من النبات عليه الوشي والحُلَلُ

The meadow becomes green and smiling,

with vegetation upon it like brocade and robes.

وتخصب الأرض في شام وفي يمن

به وتحيا سهول الأرض والجبلُ

Through it, the land grows fertile in Syria and in Yemen,

and the earth’s plains and mountains come alive.

يارب عطفاً فإن المسلمين معاً

مما يقاسون في أكبادهم شعل

O Lord, show compassion, for all the Muslims together

bear flames in their very livers from what they endure.

وقد شكوا كل ما لاقوه من ضرر

إليك يا مالك الأملاك وابتهلوا

They have complained of every harm they have met

to You, O Master of all dominions, and have implored.

فلا يردك عن تحويل ما طلبوا

جهل لذاك ولا عجز ولا بخل

Nothing can keep You from effecting the change they ask—

neither ignorance of it, nor weakness, nor miserliness.

يارب وانصر جنود المسلمين على

أعدائهم وأعنهم أينما نزلوا

O Lord, give the Muslim armies victory over

their enemies, and aid them wherever they alight.

وفلّ حد زمان جار حتى غدا

يدني الرفيع ويستعلي به السِفَلُ

Blunt the edge of a tyrannous age that has come to

bring the exalted low and raise the lowly above him.

يارب فارحم مسيئاً مذنبا عظُمت

منه المأثِم والعصيان والزلل

O Lord, have mercy on an offending sinner whose

offenses, disobedience, and slips have grown immense.

قد أثقل الذنب والأوزار عاتقه

وعن حميد المساعي عاقه الكسل

Sin and burdens have weighed down his shoulder,

and sloth has barred him from praiseworthy endeavors.

ولا تسوّد له وجها إذا غشيت

وجوه أهل المعاصي من لظى ظلل

Do not blacken his face when there close over

the sinners’ faces canopies of blazing fire.

أستغفر الله من قولي ومن عملي

إني امْرؤ ساء مني القول والعمل

I ask God’s forgiveness for my words and my deeds;

I am a man whose words and deeds have been evil.

ولم أقدم لنفسي قط صالحة

يحط عني من وزري بها الثقل

I have never sent ahead for myself a single good deed

by which the heavy weight of my burden might be lifted.

يا خجلتي من عتاب الله يوم غدٍ

إن قال خالفت أمري أيها الرجل

Oh, my shame at God’s reproach tomorrow,

if He says, ‘You disobeyed My command, O man.

علمت ما علم الناجون واتصلوا

به إليَّ ولم تعمل بما عملوا

You knew what the saved knew, by which they drew near

to Me, yet you did not act as they acted.’

يارب فاغفر ذنوبي كلها كرماً

فإنني اليوم منها خائف وَجِلُ

O Lord, generously forgive all my sins,

for today I am fearful and afraid of them.

واغفر لأهل ودادي كل ما اكتسبوا

وحط عنهم من الآثام ما احتملوا

Forgive the people I love for all they have earned,

and lift from them the sins they have borne.

واعمم بفضلك كل المؤمنين وتُبْ

عليهم وتقبَّلْ كل ما فعلوا

By Your grace embrace all believers, and turn in mercy

toward them, and accept all that they have done.

وصل رب على المختار من مضر

محمد خير مَنْ يحفى وينتعل

And, Lord, bless the Chosen One descended from Mudar,

Muhammad, best of all who go barefoot or wear sandals,

وآله الغر والأصحاب عن طرف

فإنهم غُرر الإسلام والحجل

and his radiant family and the Companions, each and all,

for they are Islam’s bright forehead-blazes and white fetlocks.