عرِّجا بي على النقا فجيادِ

عرِّجا بي على النقا فجيادِ

وامشيا بي كمشية المتهادي

وامشيا بي كمشية المتهادي

Turn aside with me to al-Naqa, then Jiyad,

Take me wandering to the meadows green,

and walk with me as one walks with a gentle sway.

And walk with me as lovers walk serene,

يا خليليَّ وانشدا قلب صبٍّ

يا خليليَّ وانشدا قلب صبٍّ

ضاع منه خلال تلك البوادي

ضاع منه خلال تلك البوادي

O my two friends, seek a lovesick man's heart,

Sing, my beloved, of a heart once joyous,

lost to him amid those desert lands.

Now lost amid those deserts, vacant, lonesome.

لي بسلع فرامةٍ فالمصلَّى

لي بسلع فرامةٍ فالمصلَّى

جيرة بل بناظري وفؤادي

جيرة بل بناظري وفؤادي

At Salʿ, then Rama, then al-Musalla, I have

I've trinkets, precious, pearls beyond all price,

neighbors—or rather, within my eye and heart.

Dearer than life itself, than paradise.

هم بقلبي حلّوا مكان السويدا

هم بقلبي حلّوا مكان السويدا

ومن العين في مكان السواد

ومن العين في مكان السواد

They have settled in my heart, where its dark core lies,

In place of heartaches, they have filled my spirit,

and in the eye, where its black pupil lies.

And where was darkness, now their light's apparent.

ظهرت نشأتي بهم وهي منهم

ظهرت نشأتي بهم وهي منهم

في شخوص الأرواح والأجساد

في شخوص الأرواح والأجساد

My being appeared through them, and it is from them,

My life began when they came into sight,

in the forms of spirits and bodies.

Transforming essence, form into their light.

أنا إلا كلامهم بحروف

أنا إلا كلامهم بحروف

عاليات ظلالها في الوهاد

عاليات ظلالها في الوهاد

I am nothing but their speech in letters,

I'm but the letters of their words in prose,

lofty, their shadows in the lowlands.

Whose shades are cast on barren peaks of snows.

كلموا نفسهم بنا فتكلم

كلموا نفسهم بنا فتكلم

نا بهم في الثلاث والآحاد

نا بهم في الثلاث والآحاد

They addressed their own self through us; then we spoke

They spoke themselves through us, and so spoke we,

through them, in the three and the ones.

In one, in three, in all eternity.

وهم الظاهرون هم لا سواهم

وهم الظاهرون هم لا سواهم

وسواهم تصويرهم للمراد

وسواهم تصويرهم للمراد

And they are the manifest ones—they, and none besides them;

They are the manifest, all else their dream,

and all besides them is their depiction of what is intended.

And dreamers waking to the Real supreme.

واسمهم ما به الجميع تسمّى

واسمهم ما به الجميع تسمّى

عندهم في النزول للأعداد

عندهم في النزول للأعداد

And their name is that by which all have been named,

Their name is That by which all things are named,

in their presence, in the descent into numbers,

In One descending to the planes of numbered.

حيث كانوا على المراتب منا

حيث كانوا على المراتب منا

في ظهور وخفية بازدياد

في ظهور وخفية بازدياد

where they were among us, according to the ranks,

Where e'er I stood in hierarchy of being,

in manifestation and hiddenness, ever increasing.

In secret, open, progressing or fleeing,

قل لهم يا أنا يجودوا علينا

قل لهم يا أنا يجودوا علينا

باللقا إننا لبالمرصاد

باللقا إننا لبالمرصاد

Say to them, 'O I,' so they may favor us

Say to them, "O my self, be generous still,

with a meeting; we are indeed keeping watch.

We ever wait to meet you on the hill."

سعدت مقلة بهم قد رأتهم

سعدت مقلة بهم قد رأتهم

فرأت ما رأت على المعتاد

فرأت ما رأت على المعتاد

Fortunate through them was an eye that had seen them;

With joy the trusted ones saw them appear,

and so it saw what it saw in the accustomed way.

Saw what they saw, beyond both far and near.

يا عريب الحمى قفوا لضعيف

يا عريب الحمى قفوا لضعيف

جره ركبكم بنغمة حادي

جره ركبكم بنغمة حادي

O dear Arabs of the protected land, halt for a weak man

O guide of caravans, pass gently by,

whom your caravan drew along with a camel-driver's song.

Your tender step has caused my wounded cry.

كلما أظلمت عليه الدياجي

كلما أظلمت عليه الدياجي

لمع البرق فاهتدى للهادي

لمع البرق فاهتدى للهادي

Whenever the nights grew dark over him,

When darkening clouds obscure the path ahead,

the lightning flashed, and he found his way to the guide.

The lightning flashes light the way you tread.

والهوى سائق له ودليل

والهوى سائق له ودليل

في الفيافي على لقاء سعاد

في الفيافي على لقاء سعاد

And love is his driver and guide,

Passion's my guide, my inner longing's cure,

in the desert expanses, toward a meeting with Suʿad.

To union with my love so bright, so pure.