1. كلامنا غير ما تعطى العباراتُ

    من المعاني لنا فيه اعتباراتُ

    Our speech differs from what is assigned to expressions

    as meanings; we have considerations within it.

  2. بنفسه قائم وهو المجرد عن

    لفظ ومعنى معاً وهو الإشارات

    It subsists in itself and is stripped of

    wording and meaning alike, and it is allusion.

  3. هما الكثيفان والسر اللطيف له

    علاقة بهما فيها التفاتات

    Both are dense; the subtle mystery has

    a connection with them, with turns of attention within it.

  4. كالروح يظهر من نفس ومن جسد

    وليس يكشفه إلا العنايات

    Like the spirit, it emerges from a soul and a body;

    and only providential favors reveal it.

  5. فلا تظن بأني إن وصفت حلى

    شيء مرادي به تلك الإحالات

    So do not suppose that, if I describe the adornments

    of a thing, those references are what I intend by it;

  6. أو إن ذكرت نسيماً هب من جهة

    أو نفحة هي قصدي والمرادات

    or that, if I mention a breeze that blew from some direction,

    or a fragrant waft, it is my purpose and my aims.

  7. كذاك البرق والأطلال أذكرها

    في النظم ليست مرادي والحمامات

    Likewise, the lightning and the ruins I mention

    in verse are not what I mean—nor are the doves.

  8. لا والذي جل عمّا للعقول بدا

    وللحواس به الأحياء أموات

    No, by Him who is exalted above what has appeared to minds

    and to the senses; through Him the living are dead.

  9. كلام أهل طريق الله سر هدى

    لا دخل فيه لهم تبديه أبيات

    The speech of the people of God's path is a mystery of guidance;

    they have no hand in it; verses disclose it.

  10. عن المواد له التجريد مخطئة

    منك التآويل فيه والقياسات

    It is stripped of material things; mistaken

    are your interpretations of it and your analogies.

  11. لم يدره ذو انتقاد في تعنته

    لنفسه زعم علم واجتهادات

    The critic, in his obstinacy, has not grasped it;

    he claimed knowledge and interpretive efforts for himself.

  12. فيعرب اللفظ للمعنى فيفهمه

    ولا يبين له إلا الضلالات

    So he parses the wording for its meaning and understands it,

    yet only errors become clear to him.

  13. ومقصد القوم نور في القلوب سرى

    من القلوب وما فيه التباسات

    And what the people intend is a light that coursed through hearts

    from hearts, with no ambiguities in it.

  14. رموز أسرار قوم تستعدّ له

    أرواح قوم لهم في الله راحات

    Symbols of a people's secrets—for it stand ready

    the spirits of a people who find rest in God.

  15. روائح القوم شمتها بصائرهم

    لهم إلى الحق همات ورغبات

    The people's fragrances—their inner eyes have smelled them;

    they have aspirations and longings toward the Real.

  16. لهم نظمنا المعاني يلمحون بها

    غيب الغيوب وتخفيها العبارات

    For them we put meanings into verse; through them they glimpse

    the unseen of the unseen, while expressions conceal them.