نحن إخوان النبي المصطفى

ود لو كان رآنا وكفى

We are the brethren of the chosen Prophet.

He wished he had seen us—and that suffices.

وهم الأصحاب كانوا قبلنا

جاء هذا في حديث يقتفى

And they—the Companions—were before us.

This is related in a hadith that is followed.

وانقضت أصحابه وانقطعوا

وبقينا نحن إخوان الصفا

And his companions passed away and were gone.

And we remained—we, the brethren of purity.

حبنا من حبه مكتسب

ومع البعد به البعد انتفى

Our love is derived from his love.

And despite the distance, through him distance vanished.

وهو يشتاق ونشتاق كما

يشتكي نشكو تباريح الجفا

And he longs, and we long; just as

he laments, we lament the torments of estrangement.

وإذا ود وددنا مثله

وهو أمر جل عن أن يوصفا

And when he loves, we love as he does;

and it is a matter too sublime to be described.

إن في الإخوان في الحكم يداً

تقتضي منه عهوداً ووفا

Indeed, the brethren have, by decree, a claim

that requires of him covenants and fidelity.

وهو أيضا نسب متصل

وحدة الروح مقام الخُلَفا

And it is also an unbroken kinship;

oneness of spirit is the station of the successors.

وإذا الصحبة في الظاهر قد

عظمت فضلاً وزادت شرفا

And if companionship, outwardly, has

grown great in merit and increased in honor,

نسبة الإخوان في الباطن لا

تقتضي إلا الجوى والشغفا

the bond of brethren, inwardly, does not

require anything but love's anguish and passion.

شرطوا الرؤية بالعين فمن

نالها منه فبالجسم اكتفى

They made seeing with the eye a condition; so whoever

gained that sight of him was content with the body.

وشرطنا الذات للذات ترى

رؤية التحقيق من غير خفا

And we stipulated that essence be seen by essence,

with a vision of realization, without concealment.

فاعرفوا بالفرق ما بينهما

فاز بالإحسان من قد عرفا

So discern, through the distinction, what separates the two;

whoever has understood has triumphed through excellence.