نقشت في جبينها والمحيا

سطر حسن يصير الميت حيا

Inscribed upon her brow and countenance

is a line of beauty that brings the dead to life.

ما رأينا من قبلها سار في الأر

ض بشكل الإنسان نجم الثريا

Before her, we had never seen walking on earth

a star of the Pleiades in human form.

أخت شمس تبرقعت بدجى الشع

ر فأبدت للناس سراً خفيا

The sun's sister, she veiled herself in her hair's darkness,

and revealed to people a hidden secret.

مذ رآها السها سها وتوارى

خجلاً وانتحى مكاناً قصيا

When Suhā saw her, it grew dazed and hid,

ashamed, withdrawing to a faraway place.

خدها والهلال سيلن لكن

خدها للفؤاد أسرع كيا

Her cheek and the crescent are alike, but

her cheek is quicker to sear the heart.

عبدته المجوس طوعاً وكرها

فرأوا في الهوى صراطاً سويا

The Magians worshipped it, willingly and unwillingly,

and saw in love a straight path.

جمعت في وجودها برزخ ال

حسن وشادت للفتك ركنا قويا

She gathered in her being the isthmus of

beauty, and raised a mighty pillar for slaughter.

قلدت طرفها حسام قضاء

وطوت في قوامها سمهريا

She armed her glance with the keen sword of fate,

and enfolded a Samharī spear within her form.

ونبال الأجفان تلعب منها

في خفايا القلوب لعبا جليا

And the arrows from her eyelids play

in the hearts' hidden depths, their play plain to see.

ولها من عقارب الصدغ لدغ

كم به عاشق غدا مرميا

She has a sting from her temple's scorpions;

how many a lover has it left struck down!

سنة قد خلت بأهل هواها

أين من شامها وراج خليا

An age-old custom among those who love her:

where is anyone who beheld her and went away carefree?

علة للغرام والوجد جاءت

فرقت في البها مكناً عليا

She came as a cause of passion and yearning,

and rose in beauty to a lofty station.

ظبية تجعل الملوك أسارى

وكفى بالجمال جيشاً جريا

A gazelle who makes kings captives;

beauty suffices as a valiant army.

أقبلت تنجلي ببرقع خز

فجلت كوكباً لنا آدميا

She approached, revealing herself in a silken veil,

and unveiled to us a star in human form.

نشرت من خفي طي قباها

عند كشف الغطا شذى عنبريا

She released from her robe's hidden folds,

when the covering was lifted, an ambergris fragrance.

ورأينا من الخد ورداً جميلاً

يذكر اللَه بكرة وعشيا

And we saw upon her cheek a lovely rose,

invoking God morning and evening.

سكرتنا عند التبسم لما

أكرمتنا بفض خثم الحميا

She intoxicated us with her smile, when

she honored us by breaking the seal of strong wine.

وأعنائي منها غزالة سرح

أخذت مذهب الهوى مالكيا

And my torment comes from her, a free-ranging gazelle

who adopted the Mālikī school of love.

هي النقا انعطافاً ولكن

طرزت وعدها من اللين ليا

She is a sand dune in her curves, yet

she embroidered her promise with evasion born of softness.

وإذا كان وعد بعد وصد

تلق في الحال وعدها مأتيا

And if her promise is of separation and rejection,

you find her promise fulfilled at once.

يا لقومي أتلفت عمري فيها

ولقد كنت قبل ذاك نجيا

O my people! I have wasted my life on her,

though before that I had been safe.

إن أمر الإله حتم على المر

ء ولا بد أن يرى مفضيا

God's decree is binding upon a person,

and must inevitably be seen fulfilled.

أنصف الدهر باللقا نصف يوم

ثم وافى بالبعد نشراً وطيا

Time dealt fairly, granting union for half a day,

then came with separation, unfolding and folding.

أين أغدو ونارها في فؤادي

أشبعته من الصدود صليا

Where can I go, with her fire in my heart?

She has sated it with rejection's searing heat.

رب أني سرا أناجيك أدعو

كمناجاة سيدي زكريا

My Lord, I commune with You in secret, praying,

like the intimate prayer of my master Zakariyyā.

ودعائي دعاء خير وإني

لم أكن بالدعاء رب شقيا

And my prayer is a prayer for good, and I

have never been disappointed in prayer, my Lord.

فأثبني منها وصالاً وجدلى

برضاء واجعلني عنك رضيا

So reward me with union with her, and favor me

with Your approval, and make me content with You.

وارض يا بارئي بفضلك عني

واكفني بالقبول ما دمت حيا

Be pleased with me, O my Creator, through Your grace,

and let Your acceptance suffice me as long as I live.

وتكرم على بعد مماتي

كي أرى حين محشري أحمديا

And be generous to me after my death,

that, when I am gathered, I may be seen as a follower of Aḥmad.

ثم قل لي بجاه عبدك طه

قد كتبناك راضياً ووليا

Then say to me, by the rank of Your servant Ṭā Hā:

“We have recorded you as contented and a friend of Ours.”

وتفضل بكل آن وصل

بصلاة تجر فضلاً وفيا

And be gracious at every moment, and send

a blessing that draws abundant grace

وتمد السلام من غير قطع

لحبيب أرسلته أميا

and extends peace without interruption

to a beloved whom You sent unlettered,

أحمد الحامدين وآلال طرا

وصحاب ما فاح للطيب ريا

Aḥmad, foremost among those who praise, and to all his family

and companions, as long as perfume gives off fragrance.