1. كم لِي نَجْرِي

    وكانَ جَرْيي لِعِنْدِي

    How long I have been running!

    And my running was toward myself—

  2. أمْرٌ ثابتْ

    وَسِرُّ سِرِّي وَجْدِي

    A settled fact;

    And the secret of my secret is my ecstasy.

  3. فَمَن جَا يَرُومْ

    تَبِنْ لُو رُسومْ

    So whoever comes seeking,

    Traces become clear to him,

  4. ويَتْحَصَّلْ على رَشْحٍ قليلْ مِنْ مرادي

    وبِهْ تُكْتَب تراجيمُ العبادْ

    And he obtains a scant trickle of what I seek.

    And through it the servants’ lives are recorded.

  5. كُلّ واقفْ

    لسْ واللهِ يبرُزْ بِحِيلَهْ

    Everyone who halts

    Will not, by God, emerge through a stratagem,

  6. لاِحْتِبَاسُوا

    جَهْلاً بأوَّلْ فتِيلَهْ

    Because he is held fast,

    Ignorantly, at the first wick.

  7. وَلَوْ يَبْقَى سارِي

    ويَقْطَعْ براري

    And even if he keeps traveling by night

    And crosses wildernesses,

  8. يَقُلْ ما وَرَادَ وَارِي

    دَوَارْ في اعتقادي

    He says, “What lies beyond my dwelling

    Is dizziness, I believe.”

  9. وذاكَ المُقام مقام كلِّ بادِي

    كُلِّ عارفْ يَعْرِفْ

    And that station is the station of every beginner.

    Every knower knows

  10. بأنْ لَسْ هُ وَاصِلْ

    ولا يَقنعْ بأشْ ما وَجَدْ

    That he has not arrived,

    And is not content with whatever he finds

  11. عِنْدُو حاصلْ

    وَيخْطُرْ لُو يُحْكي

    Already in his possession.

    And it occurs to him to imitate

  12. بِوَهْمُوا المَكِّي

    كمجنون لَيْلَى عَلَى كُلِّ وادِي

    Al-Makki in his imagination,

    Like Layla’s Majnun in every valley,

  13. ينوحُ وَيبْكي ألَمَ الْبِعَادِ

    لو تَرَانِي نَتِهْ

    Wailing and weeping at the pain of separation.

    If you could see me glorying

  14. عَلَيَّا ونزهو

    حِينْ أَخَذْنِي بالامْتِنَانْ

    In myself and exulting,

    When he took me in gracious favor,

  15. مُتُّ مِنْوُا

    وَلاَ طَفَنِي عِنيَّ

    I died of him;

    And he caressed me out of myself,

  16. وَانَا بِهْ نُغَنِّي

    أُشَاهِدْ مِنْهُ في سِرِّي التَّجَلِّي مُرَادِي

    And I sing of him.

    In my innermost self I behold his manifestation—what I seek—

  17. وأتْنَعَّمْ بِقَرْبِي مِنهُ في الْفُؤَادِ

    And delight in my nearness to him within the heart.