غنت سويجعة الهوى فوق الروابي

فأهاج الذكر مابي

Love's little songbird sang above the hills,

So remembrance stirred what was within me.

وسألتها عن أصل بعدي واقترابي

قالت الحق جوابي

And I asked her the source of my distance and my nearness.

She said: the Truth is my answer.

إن الفنا هو للفتى كشف النقاب

وبه رفع الحجاب

Indeed, annihilation is, for the young man, the lifting of the face-veil,

And through it the veil is lifted.

من رام يشرب من صفا هذا الشراب

يتجرد من ثياب

Whoever seeks to drink of this wine's purity

Must strip himself of garments.

يا طلعة الأنوار في جنح الدياج

هي للروح تناجي

O dawning of lights in the gloom of night,

It whispers intimately to the spirit.

صرف صفت للشاربين بلا مزاح

وبها ضاء سراجي

Unmixed wine grew clear for the drinkers, without jest,

And through it my lamp shone.

قام المليح بها يدندن بابتهاج

واهب السر لراجي

The beautiful one rose with it, humming in delight,

Bestowing the secret on one who hopes.

هذا مقام القرب في نص الكتاب

ما به شوب ارتياب

This is the station of nearness in the text of the Book,

With no taint of doubt in it.

نادى المؤذن في منارات اليقين

من ترى منك يقيني

The muezzin called in the minarets of certainty:

Who, do you think, can shield me from you?

فلقد خلوا بي في حمى الحصن الحصين

فهوى المحبوب ديني

For indeed, they were alone with me in the sanctuary of the impregnable fortress,

So love of the beloved is my religion.

إن الصلاة لوجه حبي كل حين

وحي جبريل الأمين

Indeed, prayer toward my beloved's face at every moment

Is the revelation of Gabriel the trustworthy.

وإليه من أغياره أبدا متابي

إنه كان ثوابي

And to him I always return in repentance, away from all that is other than him.

Indeed, he was my reward.

سرٌّ سرى في الكائنات بلا حلول

بين هاتيك الطلول

A secret coursed through all beings without indwelling,

Amid those ruined dwellings.

فتقاصرت عن فهمه كل العقول

وإشارات النقول

So all intellects fell short of understanding it,

As did the allusions of transmitted teachings.

من كان مشغوفا بأقمار الأفول

قلبه قلب جهول

Whoever is enamored of moons that set,

His heart is an utterly ignorant heart.

وهو الذي مما يحاول في عذاب

تحت أستار القباب

And he is in torment from what he pursues,

Beneath the curtains of the pavilions.

بالجزع بين ربا المنازل فالمصلى

ركع الصب وصلَّى

At the valley bend, between the hills of the dwellings and the prayer ground,

The lovesick lover bowed and prayed.

وجمال وجه حبيبنا فينا تجلى

وبما شاء تحلى

And the beauty of our beloved's face was revealed within us,

And it was adorned with whatever he willed.

يهنيك يا من في محاسنه تملى

وعن الغير تخلى

May it bring you joy, O you who have delighted in his beauties,

And have renounced all else,

حتى انقضى ما بيننا وقت العتاب

ومضى يوم الحساب

Until the time of reproach between us came to an end,

And the day of reckoning passed.

هذا المقام مقام ربات الخدور

حضرات كالبدور

This station is the station of the ladies of curtained chambers,

Presences like full moons.

فارفع قليلا عنك أطراف الستور

وتملَّى بالحضور

So lift the edges of the curtains a little away from you,

And delight in the presence.

واكشف عن الغيب المقدس حجب نور

قد تجلى فوق طور

And lift from the sacred unseen veils of light

That has shone forth above Mount Tur.

وتحقق المطلوب بالأمر المهاب

فيك منه ليث غاب

And realize the sought-for through the awe-inspiring command;

Within you, from him, is a lion of the forest.

وعلى الرسول صلاة ربي مع سلامي

سيد الرسل الكرام

And upon the Messenger be my Lord's blessing, along with my greeting of peace,

The master of the noble messengers,

ماراق من عبد الغني طيب الكلام

في تقاسيم النظام

As long as sweet speech from Abd al-Ghani delights,

In the measures of verse,

والآل والأصحاب أهل الإحتشام

من بهم نلت مرامي

And upon his family and companions, people of dignified modesty,

Through whom I attained my aim,

والسالكين بمقتضى هذا الخطاب

في محجات الصواب

And upon those who journey as this address requires,

Along the clear paths of what is right.