1. ما الشدة إلا للفرجِ

    وستأتي أنواع الفرجِ

    Hardship is only meant to bring relief,

    and relief will come in various forms.

  2. فاصبر فالله له حكم

    فيما يقضيه على المهج

    So be patient: God has wise purposes

    in what He decrees for souls.

  3. والكل يزول فلا تحزن

    من شيء راح فسوف يجي

    Everything passes, so do not grieve

    over something gone; it will come again.

  4. والدهر عجيب هالكه

    وعجيب أيضا منه نجي

    Time is wondrous in those it destroys,

    and wondrous, too, in those who escape it.

  5. وتصاريف الأيام على

    أهل الدنيا إحدى الحجج

    And the vicissitudes of days that befall

    the people of this world are one of the proofs.

  6. العالم للبلوى خلقوا

    فمن البلوى لا تنزعج

    The world's people were created for trial,

    so do not be distressed by trial.

  7. فجوابهم قد كان بلى

    في الأصل لمعنى ممتزج

    For their answer was indeed 'Yes,'

    in the beginning, for a mingled meaning.

  8. والله له غضبٌ ورضىً

    كالظلمة تظهر والبلج

    And God has wrath and good pleasure,

    like darkness appearing and the brightness of dawn.

  9. فاصعد بمراقي الخير إلى

    أعلى الغرفات من الدرج

    So climb the stairways of goodness to

    the highest chambers among the tiers.

  10. وإذا وكلت إِلَهَكَ في

    أمر من أمرك فابتهج

    And when you entrust your God with

    a matter of your affairs, rejoice.

  11. وابشر فهو المقضيُّ ولا

    تضجر منه أو تختلج

    And take heart: it is what is decreed; do not

    be vexed by it or grow agitated.

  12. والشيء له وقت فإذا

    لم يأت فكن للوقت رجي

    Everything has its time; and if

    it has not come, await its time in hope.

  13. والعسر ليسر يعقبه

    فاخرج عن ضيقك والحرج

    And hardship makes way for ease that follows it;

    so emerge from your anguish and distress.

  14. وسألتك يا مولاي بمن

    يمشون على أسنى النهج

    And I beseech You, my Master, by those

    who walk the most exalted path:

  15. من كل رسول جاء لنا

    بالحق وبالدين البهج

    every messenger who came to us

    with truth and the radiant faith,

  16. وبكل نبي منك أتى

    بطريق ليس بذي عوج

    and by every prophet who came from You

    along a path free of crookedness;

  17. وبنوح يشكر من غرقت

    بالدعوة منه ذوو الهرج

    and by thankful Noah, through whom were drowned

    by his supplication, the men of tumult,

  18. ونجت أصحاب سفينته

    من كل فتى في الله شجي

    while the companions of his ark were saved,

    among them each young man sorrowing for God;

  19. وبإبراهيم خليلك من

    نجّاه الحق من الوهج

    and by Abraham, Your intimate friend, whom

    the Truth saved from the blaze;

  20. وبخلَّته وإمامته

    لبنيه على مر الحجج

    and by his intimate friendship and leadership

    for his descendants throughout the passing years;

  21. وبتسمية من قبل لنا

    بذوي الإسلام المنتهج

    and by the name given us beforehand,

    as people of Islam, the path pursued;

  22. وكليمك موسى من أنجى

    بك أمته يوم الخلج

    and by Moses, to whom You spoke, who saved

    through You his people on the day of parting.

  23. والفرق له كالطود غدا

    في لجة بحر مختلج

    The parted waters became like a mountain for him

    in the depths of a surging sea.

  24. وبروحك عيسى من ظهرت

    أنوار هداه على السرج

    And by Jesus, Your Spirit, through whom appeared

    the lights of his guidance upon the lamps;

  25. أبرى الأعمى والأبرص بل

    أحيى كم ميت مندرج

    he healed the blind and the leprous; more than that,

    he brought many a shrouded dead person back to life;

  26. وبطه أحمد من بهرت

    آيات هداه المنبلج

    and by Ta-Ha, Ahmad—how dazzling were

    the signs of his radiant guidance!

  27. وحمى دين الإسلام وقد

    وافى بالنصرة في الرهج

    He protected the faith of Islam, and indeed

    came with victory amid the dust of battle.

  28. وأبان بمدح الدين لنا

    عن ملته والكفر هجي

    And in praising the faith he made clear to us

    his creed, while unbelief was reviled;

  29. وبأهل البيت بأجمعهم

    أرباب السبق لدى الدلج

    and by the People of the House, all of them,

    masters of precedence in the night journeys;

  30. وبأصحاب المختار ومن

    بالسر أناروا كل دجي

    and by the Chosen One's companions, and those

    who through the secret illumined every darkness;

  31. وأبى بكر الصديق بلا

    شك في الدين ولا مرج

    and by Abu Bakr the Truthful, without

    doubt in the faith or confusion;

  32. وبشيبته وسريرته

    تلك المعمورة باللهج

    and by his gray hair and his inward self,

    that inward self filled with constant remembrance;

  33. وبمن فر الشيطان أسىً

    منه لطريق منتهج

    and by him—Satan fled in sorrow

    from him, along a path he took—

  34. عمر الفاروق ومن بسنا

    علياه أبان عن الفلج

    Umar al-Faruq, who through the radiance

    of his lofty station made victory manifest;

  35. وبعثمان الزاكي الأخلا

    ق شهيد الدار المعتلج

    and by Uthman, pure in character,

    the martyr of the house, beset by strife;

  36. وببحر العلم عليٍّ مَنْ

    قد فاح كروض مفترج

    and by Ali, the ocean of knowledge, who

    has wafted fragrance like a garden opened wide;

  37. صهر المختار وعمدته

    في الشدة والهم اللزج

    the Chosen One's son-in-law and his mainstay

    in hardship and clinging sorrow;

  38. وبكل ولي فاح بنا

    من سيرته زاكي الأرج

    and by every saint who wafted among us

    from his conduct a pure fragrance,

  39. أن تُفرجَ همَّ أحبتنا

    وتقيهم معترك الهمج

    that You relieve our loved ones' sorrow,

    and shield them from the rabble's melee,

  40. وتزيل الغمة أجمعها

    عن هذا القلب المنزعج

    and remove all the gloom

    from this troubled heart.

  41. وادفع شر الأعداء ولا

    تغرقنا منهم في اللهج

    And repel the evil of enemies; do not

    drown us in their clamor.

  42. والطُف يا رب اللطف بنا

    وانقذنا من هذا اللجج

    And be gentle with us, O Lord of gentleness,

    and rescue us from this turmoil.

  43. وصلاة الله مع التسلي

    م على ذي السر المنذحج

    And God's blessings, together with salutations,

    upon the bearer of the secret [unclear epithet],

  44. طه المختار وشيعته

    والصحب ذوي الحظ الفرج

    Ta-Ha, the Chosen One, and his followers,

    and the companions, whose lot is relief;

  45. وعلى العبد المنسوب بهم

    لغني سامي المنعرج

    and upon the servant linked through them

    to the Self-Sufficient, lofty in his winding course,

  46. ما لعلع حادي النوق وما

    سار الركبان على السرج

    as long as the she-camels' driver chants aloud, and as long as

    riders journey upon saddles.