مضت غرة والحمد للّه في أخرى

مضت غرة والحمد للّه في أخرى

باولى البكا أولى بأخرى العزا أحرى

باولى البكا أولى بأخرى العزا أحرى

A radiant one has passed; praise be to God for another.

A new moon has passed, praise be to Allah, and another has come

Weeping is fitter for the first; consolation more fitting for the other.

The foremost in weeping are foremost in consolation

إذا دبران البعد أقبل بالاسى

إذا دبران البعد أقبل بالاسى

أتت من سعود القرب بشرى على بشرى

أتت من سعود القرب بشرى على بشرى

When the Aldebaran of separation approaches with sorrow,

When distance has passed, sorrow draws near

from the auspicious stars of nearness come glad tidings upon glad tidings.

Good news came with the joy of nearness, tidings upon tidings

فما سطّر الحزن انمحى بمسرة

فما سطّر الحزن انمحى بمسرة

فحمداً لمن أسرى عن القلب ما أسرى

فحمداً لمن أسرى عن القلب ما أسرى

Thus what sorrow inscribed was erased by joy;

What grief has etched is erased by joy

so praise to Him who dispelled from the heart what He dispelled.

So praise be to Him who has released what He has released from the heart

ودُك جبالُ الصبر من بين أحمد

ودُك جبالُ الصبر من بين أحمد

وفك يصديق الخلائق عن أسرى

وفك يصديق الخلائق عن أسرى

And the mountains of patience were crushed by parting from Ahmad,

Patience's mountains crumbled amidst Ahmad

and through creation's truthful one [reading uncertain], I was freed from my captivity.

And the bonds were loosened from the creation's captives

ففي الموت والإحياء للّه حكمة

ففي الموت والإحياء للّه حكمة

من العمر ما تابى ولم ترضه عمرا

من العمر ما تابى ولم ترضه عمرا

For God has wisdom in death and in giving life;

In death and life there is wisdom for Allah

some spans of life you reject and would not accept as life.

Of the lifespan what is owed and not satisfied with a lifespan

ولولا الردى لم ينتفع بدراية

ولولا الردى لم ينتفع بدراية

وما عرف الحبس المعقّبُ والعُمرى

وما عرف الحبس المعقّبُ والعُمرى

Were it not for death, no one would benefit from learning,

And were it not for tribulation one would not benefit from wisdom

nor would hereditary endowments and lifetime grants be known.

And the prisoner and the lifelong prisoner would not be known

لئن كان للإحياء فيه مشقّةٌ

لئن كان للإحياء فيه مشقّةٌ

فراحة موت المؤمنين به تطرا

فراحة موت المؤمنين به تطرا

Though it holds hardship for the living,

If there is hardship in revival

yet through it comes the repose of believers in death.

The relief of the death of the faithful is more agreeable

فما انصف الباكي على إثر مطلق

فما انصف الباكي على إثر مطلق

إلى جنّةِ الرضوان من ناره الحمرا

إلى جنّةِ الرضوان من ناره الحمرا

Unjust is the mourner who weeps after one set free

The weeping one did not do justice chasing after the released

into the Garden of divine pleasure from his crimson fire.

To the Garden of Contentment from his burning embers

أيا سيد السادات هل منك عودةٌ

أيا سيد السادات هل منك عودةٌ

وهل هي بالأحيا تباع وهل تشرى

وهل هي بالأحيا تباع وهل تشرى

O master of masters, will you ever return?

O Master of Masters, will you return?

Can that return be sold for living souls, and can it be bought?

Can the living be bought and sold or bartered?

فيخضرّ عود بعدما سلب اللحا

فيخضرّ عود بعدما سلب اللحا

بلى ان للمصدوع في ربه جبرا

بلى ان للمصدوع في ربه جبرا

So might a bough grow green after being stripped of bark?

So a bough may green after the tact stripped it bare

Yes: the brokenhearted finds mending in his Lord.

Yes, for the stricken one has in his Lord a fixer

ويا حسن العادات عيد زمانه

ويا حسن العادات عيد زمانه

أيحمل قبر ما تحملته قبرا

أيحمل قبر ما تحملته قبرا

And O you of noble habits, the festival of your age,

O best of habits, renew his time

can a grave, mere grave that it is, bear what you bore?

Can a grave carry what another grave has carried?

فما أحسن الدنيا التي كنت زينها

فما أحسن الدنيا التي كنت زينها

وإذا صرت للأخرى فما أحسن الاخرى

وإذا صرت للأخرى فما أحسن الاخرى

How beautiful the world whose adornment you were!

How good is this world that you were its beauty

And since you have passed to the next world, how beautiful the next!

And when you became of the next, how good is the next

فما أحسن القرآن قرآن أحمد

فما أحسن القرآن قرآن أحمد

وما أحسن الاذكار اذكاره النثرا

وما أحسن الاذكار اذكاره النثرا

How beautiful the Qur'an—Ahmad's recitation of it!

How good is the Quran, the Quran of Ahmad

And how beautiful the invocations—his invocations in prose!

And how good are his remembered litanies, prose or verse

فاحياء علم الدين عاد عبادة

فاحياء علم الدين عاد عبادة

ومرد ومنج انت نسخته الغرا

ومرد ومنج انت نسخته الغرا

Thus reviving religious knowledge became worship,

Reviving the science of religion returns worship

a refuge and a means of deliverance—you are its radiant embodiment.

You are its duplicated and ready recourse

لفرديّة الافراد أمرك نافذٌ

لفرديّة الافراد أمرك نافذٌ

وفي الملأ الاعلى ملات الملا ذكرا

وفي الملأ الاعلى ملات الملا ذكرا

By the singularity of the peerless, your command prevails;

To the individuality of individuals, your command is executed

and in the Highest Assembly you filled the gathering with remembrance.

And in the Highest Assembly, the scholars' litanies are remembered

تراه دواما غائبا وهو شاهد

تراه دواما غائبا وهو شاهد

يلى تركه أخذ يلي نهيه أمرا

يلى تركه أخذ يلي نهيه أمرا

You see him ever absent, yet present;

You see him ever absent yet he is present

taking follows his relinquishing, command follows his prohibition.

Taking the one he left, commanding the one he forbade

فما هو كالأشياخ سيرا وسيرة

فما هو كالأشياخ سيرا وسيرة

فما زيدهم زيدا ولا عمرهم عمرا

فما زيدهم زيدا ولا عمرهم عمرا

For he is unlike other sheikhs in wayfaring and conduct;

He is not like the elders in conduct and way

their Zayd is no Zayd, nor their ʿAmr an ʿAmr.

No increase increased them, nor lifespan made them live longer

من الدائم الحي التحيات اقبلت

من الدائم الحي التحيات اقبلت

تؤمّ محيّاه الكريم به تغرى

تؤمّ محيّاه الكريم به تغرى

Greetings have come from the Everlasting, the Living,

From the Eternal Living One greetings have come

seeking his noble face, drawn to him.

Seeking blessing for his noble welcomed one

عليه من الرحمان أوسعُ رحمة

عليه من الرحمان أوسعُ رحمة

سقى سحب الرضوان روضته الخضرا

سقى سحب الرضوان روضته الخضرا

Upon him be the most expansive mercy from the All-Merciful;

Upon him from the Merciful the greatest mercy

may clouds of divine pleasure water his verdant garden.

Watered by the Gardens of Contentment’s rainclouds green

وبارك في الأبناء من بركاته

وبارك في الأبناء من بركاته

وبارك في الاخوان إذ ألهموا الصبرا

وبارك في الاخوان إذ ألهموا الصبرا

And may He bless the sons with His blessings,

And blessed in the sons from His blessings

and bless the brethren, who were inspired with patience.

And blessed in the brothers when they were inspired patience

على أنّه والحمد للّه بينهم

على أنّه والحمد للّه بينهم

خليفته فاشكر لنعمته شكرا

خليفته فاشكر لنعمته شكرا

Yet, praise be to God, among them stands

Since between them, praise be to Allah

his successor; so offer thanks for His favor.

His successor, so thank Him for His blessing in gratitude

وتجلب أعذار الامام خليفة

وتجلب أعذار الامام خليفة

فكم خلف يعقو من السلف الإثرا

فكم خلف يعقو من السلف الإثرا

And an imam's impediments call forth a successor;

And accept the excuses of the Imam Caliph

for how many a successor follows [reading uncertain] the forebears' footsteps!

For how many successors stumble after the exemplars of old?

أبوه له أوصى بنانا ومنولا

أبوه له أوصى بنانا ومنولا

وبالحال منه أصبحت ملكه جبرا

وبالحال منه أصبحت ملكه جبرا

His father bequeathed him fingertips and a gift,

His father bequeathed him pillars and columns

and through the spiritual state received from him, it became his possession, perforce.

And his own state made his reign inevitable

هو الأب وهو الشيخ عند الأب الذي

هو الأب وهو الشيخ عند الأب الذي

هو الأب والشيخ الذي لم يزل أدرى

هو الأب والشيخ الذي لم يزل أدرى

He is the father and the sheikh in the eyes of the father who

He is the father and the elder to the father who

is the father and the sheikh, who has always known best.

Is the father and the elder who has always been the most knowing

فمن برّه برّ الخليفة بعده

فمن برّه برّ الخليفة بعده

فوفّوا بعهد اللّه غرا على اغرا

فوفّوا بعهد اللّه غرا على اغرا

Honoring his successor after him is part of honoring him;

Whoever fulfills his duty to him has fulfilled it to the successor after him

so fulfill God's covenant, radiant ones following one more radiant.

So fulfill to Allah His covenant, dawn after dawn

تبرأت من حولي ولا حول دونه

تبرأت من حولي ولا حول دونه

ومن قوتي لو أن لي قوّةً أبرا

ومن قوتي لو أن لي قوّةً أبرا

I have renounced my own power—there is no power apart from Him—

I am absolved of any power besides His

and I disavow my strength—if I had any strength.

And any might I might have, little or much

وصلى على الهادي الهي مسلّما

وصلى على الهادي الهي مسلّما

على ءاله والصحب من كلموا الاجرى

على ءاله والصحب من كلموا الاجرى

And may my God send blessings and peace upon the Guide,

And bless the Guide, O God I submit

upon his family and companions, who spoke to [unclear word].

Upon his House and Companions who spoke of wages