1. هذا الطريق الأقربُ

    فخذوا المدامة واشربوا

    This is the nearest path.

    So take the wine and drink.

  2. وهو الوجود ونورها

    كأس وأنت الغيهب

    And he is Being, and its light

    is a cup, while you are deep darkness.

  3. والكأس في يد من بدا

    وهو المليح الأشنب

    And the cup is in the hand of one who appeared,

    and he is the beautiful, pearly-toothed one.

  4. يا أيها الندمان لي

    حثوا المطية واركبوا

    O you, my drinking companions,

    urge on the mount and ride,

  5. منكم إليكم فالذي

    يدري الكلام مهذب

    from yourselves to yourselves; for whoever

    understands the words is refined.

  6. وامشو الصراط المستقي

    م إلى الحبيب لتقربوا

    And walk the straight path

    to the Beloved, that you may draw near.

  7. لا تهربوا منه تروا

    منه إليه المهرب

    Do not flee from him; you will see

    that the escape from him is to him.

  8. فاز الذي يدنو وقد

    خسر الذي يتجنب

    He who draws near has triumphed, and indeed

    he who keeps away has lost.

  9. يا عاذلون تحولوا

    عن دربنا وتنكبوا

    O reproachers, turn away

    from our path, and keep clear.

  10. قلبي به متعلق

    إذ ما لقلبي لولب

    My heart is attached to him,

    for my heart has no screw.

  11. لا أم لي من غيره

    أمد الزمان ولا أب

    I have no mother other than him,

    throughout all time, nor a father.

  12. قام الذي يدعو إلي

    ه بما يقول ويخطب

    Arisen is he who calls to

    him through what he says and preaches.

  13. أين الذي يصغي له

    ويجد فيه ويطلب

    Where is the one who listens to him

    and applies himself to it and seeks?

  14. جلت معاني الغيب عن

    كون يجيء ويذهب

    The meanings of the unseen transcend

    a world that comes and goes,

  15. وعن العقول وما به

    أهل العقول تمذهبوا

    and intellects, and that upon which

    people of intellect have based their doctrines.

  16. هي جنة وجهنم

    أغياره تتلهب

    They are paradise, while the hell

    of all besides him blazes.

  17. وجه هو الشمس التي

    عن شرقنا لا تغرب

    A face—it is the sun that

    never sets from our east.

  18. يتلو مقالة أينما

    ولّوا فلا تتهيبوا

    He recites the saying, 'Wherever

    they turn'—so do not be afraid.

  19. نحن الذين به له

    جئنا وعز المطالب

    We are those who, through him, to him

    have come, and the goals are hard to attain.

  20. الله أكبر هكذا

    أحد هناك فيسلب

    God is greater—thus

    someone there is stripped away.

  21. هو مؤمن لكنه

    عنا بنا متحجب

    He is a believer, yet

    veiled from us by us.

  22. وبه نلوح ونختفي

    برق يرفرف خلب

    And through him we appear and vanish—

    a flickering, rainless flash of lightning.

  23. الله أكبر هكذا

    هو واللبيب يجرب

    God is greater—such

    is he, and the discerning one puts it to the test.