ظهرت ذاتي لذاتي — Abd Al Ghani Al Nabulsi

ظهرت ذاتي لذاتي

وصفات من صفاتي

My essence appeared to my essence,

and attributes from among my attributes.

وبدت في النفس نفس

مكنت في حركات

And within the self a self appeared,

established within movements.

كنت كالقشر عليها

وهي كاللب المواتي

I was like a husk upon it,

while it was like the congenial kernel.

والذي أبديه عنها

هو نعتي وسماتي

And what I reveal of it

is my description and my distinguishing marks.

عينها غابت ولكن

حضرت باللحظات

Its very essence was absent, yet

it was present in the glances.

وغدت تكشف عني

لي بها عن ظلماتي

And it began unveiling me

to myself, through itself, out of my darknesses.

وتبدت شمسها من

فوق سبع الطبقات

And its sun shone forth from

above the seven layers.

فأنارت أرض قلبي

وبها ضاءت جهاتي

So it illuminated the earth of my heart,

and through it my directions grew radiant.

وأنا الحادث ماض

وأنا الدائم آت

And I, the temporal, have passed;

and I, the enduring, am to come.

وهو أمر واحد واث

نان بعد الإلتفات

And it is one matter—and two

after the gaze turns.

فتنحوا عن طريقي

يا نفوساً جاهلات

So step aside from my path,

O ignorant souls.

واحذروا أن تدخلوا في

طرقاتي الضيقات

And beware lest you enter

my narrow paths.

وابحثوا عنكم وخلوا ال

بحث عن أوصاف ذاتي

And inquire into yourselves, and abandon

the search into my essence's attributes.

أنا إلا روحُ أمرٍ

فوق كل الكائنات

I am but a spirit of command,

above all beings.

أنا إلا محضُ نورٍ

فائض باللمحات

I am but pure light,

overflowing in fleeting flashes.

أنا إلا سرُّ عرشٍ

وأنا ماء الحياة

I am but a throne's secret,

and I am the water of life.

وأنا المعروف في السب

ع الطباق العاليات

And I am the one known in the seven

lofty, superposed layers.

وأنا فوق إشارا

تي وكل الشطحات

And I am beyond my indications

and all ecstatic utterances.

ومعاني الكون دوني

وهو من أدنى هباتي

And the meanings of existence are beneath me,

and it is among my least gifts.

كيف لا والنفس مني

ذهبت في الذاهبات

How could it not, when the self

has departed from me among things that pass away?

وبدا الحق مكاني

يتجلى بصفاتي

And the Real appeared in my place,

manifesting through my attributes.

والذي يعرف ربي

عارف بي وبذاتي

And whoever knows my Lord

knows me and my essence.

والذي يجهله يج

هلني بالغفلات

And whoever does not know Him

does not know me, through heedlessness.

يا أخلاءي رويداً

كم بتعويج قناتي

O my friends, gently now,

in bending my spear-shaft.

ظنكم أعدم نوري

عندكم ذا اللمعات

Your supposition extinguished my light,

in your eyes—the light with gleams.

كلما لمتم شربنا

كم كؤوس صافيات

Whenever you cast blame, we drank

you as limpid goblets,

وعلمنا كم دنانِ ال

باقيات الصالحات

and recognized you as wine-jars of the

enduring righteous deeds.

وجهلتم ما لديكم

كحمير سارحات

Yet you did not know what you held,

like roaming donkeys.

عندكم ماء وأنتم

قد عطشتم للممات

You have water, yet you

have thirsted to the point of death.

هيئوا الأكباد منكم

في غدٍ للحسرات

Prepare the livers within you

for regrets tomorrow.

واستعدوا لسؤال

عن جميع السيئات

And prepare yourselves for questioning

about all evil deeds.

ليت منكم لو شربتم

ما حويتم يا سقاتي

If only you drank from yourselves

what you contain, O my cupbearers!

مخرج الأفلاك أضحى

بحروف الجسم ياتي

The bringer-forth of the spheres now

comes through the body's letters,

عن لسان الملأ الأع

لى وهاتيك الذوات

from the tongue of the highest assembly

and those essences.

ومعاني الروح تتلى

في المسا والغدوات

And the meanings of the spirit are recited

in the evening and the mornings.

وكلام الله برق

خصّنا بالومضات

And God's speech is lightning,

singling us out with its flashes.

وسمعنا وتر الوت

ر بأيدي الغانيات

And we heard the string of the One

in the hands of the beautiful women.

ودفوف الحق من نق

رتها زالت سناتي

And the Real's frame drums: from their beat

my drowsiness vanished.

ومزامير المعاني

أطربت بالنغمات

And the pipes of meanings

stirred rapture with melodies.

وحلا رقصي مع الأر

واح تلك الراقصات

And sweet was my dance with the spirits—

those dancing ones.

ثم باآتي جيمعا

دخلت في ألفاتي

Then all my bāʾs

entered into my alifs.

وانقضى صحوي وقد عم

مت ببحر السكرات

And my sobriety ended; I was swathed

in the sea of intoxications.

غرست في أرضه بال

لطف منه شجراتي

My trees were planted in His earth

through graciousness from Him.

وهو بزري وهو أيضاً

ظاهراً من ثمراتي

And He is my seed; He is also

manifest from my fruits.

وانثنت أغصاننا من

أمره بالنسمات

And our branches bent at

His command, with the breezes,

في ربا أوج التجلي

ورفيع الحضرات

on the heights of manifestation's zenith

and the loftiness of the presences.

يا شذا عرف غراسي

فاح يا طيب نباتي

O scent of my plantings' fragrance!

It has wafted forth—O perfume of my growth!

والسوى في كل حزن

وأنا في النزهات

And all else is in every sorrow,

while I am on pleasure outings.

والذي عنديَ مني

غير ما عند عداتي

And what I have from myself

is not what my enemies have.

هم يروني في شتات

مثل ما هم في شتات

They see me as scattered,

just as they themselves are scattered.

وانطوى عنهم خصوصي

وانتفى عنهم ثباتي

And my special nature was concealed from them,

and my constancy was absent from them.

وانجلت شمسي وهم بال

جسم خلف الهضبات

And my sun shone clear, while they were

in the body, behind the hills.

فاح مسكي وزكام

عندهم عن نفحاتي

My musk wafted forth, but a head cold

kept them from my fragrant breezes.

وأنا في محض إيقا

ن وهم في الشبهات

And I am in pure certainty,

while they are in doubts.

وعلى الجملة فيهم

قد أجيبت دعواتي

And, in sum, concerning them,

my prayers have been answered.

وأصيبوا برزايا

هي إحدى السطوات

And they were struck by calamities—

such is one of the mighty onslaughts.