أقول لأقوام رمونا بأسهم العقول

وقد حاصوا كحيص الصواهل

I say to people who shot at us with the arrows of reason,

while they swerved like neighing horses:

وراموا اندحاض النور إذ بان ساريا

بأفئدة النائين من دغل داغل

they sought to extinguish the light when it appeared coursing

through the hearts of those far removed from a schemer's deceit.

صناديد من قد فرقوا بأماكن

على وجه غبر الأرض نار الجحافل

Chieftains of those who scattered, in various places,

over the dusty face of the earth, the fire of armies;

من أهل البوادي ليس يجهل شأنهم

بظلم وعدوان وحالة غافل

people of the deserts, whose conduct is not unknown:

oppression, aggression, and a heedless person's state.

قد اقترفوا فعل المساخيط إذ جفوا

وحادوا عن الغرا بفعل الرذائل

They committed the deeds of those under wrath when they acted harshly,

and turned aside from the radiant way through acts of vice.

وما لهم في الفضل سهم وإنما

لذاذاتهم شهوانيات الغوائل

They have no share in virtue; rather,

their pleasures are ruinous sensual cravings.

سيوفهم سفاكة ونفوسهم

من البعد قد أودت بنار الزلازل

Their swords shed blood, and their souls,

through estrangement, have perished in the fire of upheavals.

وأرضهم ما فارقتها صواعق

من الظلم بل والجور بل والولاول

Their land has never been free of thunderbolts

of oppression—indeed, injustice, indeed, lamentations.

نساؤهم يخرجن باديات كفعل

جاهليات في قرون الأوائل

Their women go out uncovered, like

women of ignorance in the earliest ages.

لهم أنفس شرادة وعلائق

تبعد عن مرضاة حكم الفواضل

They have wayward souls and attachments

that estrange them from the approval of virtuous judgment.

وظلمانيات الوهم التبست بهم

إلى أن أناختهم بوادي المزابل

The darknesses of delusion have enmeshed them,

until they made them kneel in the valley of refuse.

وأجسامهم أخشاب جهل مؤسس

مسندة لا يقمعوا بالمعاول

Their bodies are timbers of deeply rooted ignorance,

propped up, not subdued by pickaxes.

وقد كرهوا الطاعات في كل مشهد

لديها وقد باؤوا بخبث الشواكل

They have hated acts of obedience at every gathering,

in their presence, and have incurred the foulness of corrupt dispositions.

وما قبلوا الحق المؤسس بالتقى

وقد سكنوا القفر الخوالي العواطل

They have not accepted truth founded upon piety,

and have dwelt in the wilderness, empty and barren.

لهم أنفس شواقة لمساخط الإ

له وما أهدوا بنور الدلائل

They have souls yearning for the displeasure of

God, and they were not guided by the light of proofs.

ولما أراد الله ميمنة بهم

ونشر ميازيب لرحمة جاهل

When God wished good fortune for them

and spread out waterspouts of mercy for the ignorant,

تحرك منا القلب نصبو لحيهم

ونركض في قفر البوادي الهوامل

our heart stirred; we yearned for their encampment,

and we galloped through the wilderness of the forsaken deserts.

فسابقنهم بالشهب تدحضهم إلى

أن اشتبكت في الرمي فعل الهواطل

Then they raced them with meteors that drove them back, until

they clashed in volleys like pouring rains.

وصب عليهم من شآبيب رحمة

جداول خير في زوايا الوسائل

From showers of mercy there poured upon them

streams of goodness in the recesses of the means.

وأشرقت الأرجاء من نور ربها

بما قد بدا في القلب من بذل باذل

The regions shone with the light of their Lord,

through what appeared in the heart of a giver's bounty:

صوارم قوم أسخياء أجلة

زهاد ذوو أخلاق فعل الرسائل

the keen blades of generous, exalted men,

ascetics endowed with the moral conduct of the epistles.

تراهم يراعون الضلال وقد كانت

مراعاتهم في كيد عرك المقاتل

You see them tending to those astray; their

care lay in stratagems of grappling with the combatant.

وقد أصبحوا بالنور يهدون لا يزا

يلون الهدى من فضل رب المنازل

They now guide by the light, never

forsaking guidance, through the grace of the Lord of stations.

تراهم قد اصطفوا نحولا صدورهم

لها جؤار من شرح نور النوافل

You see them having chosen leanness; their breasts

cry out as the light of voluntary devotions opens them.

فسل عنا أرباب الكتائب إذ دها

هم نورنا ما طوقوا بالفضائل

Ask the masters of the battalions about us, when it overwhelmed

them—our light—and what virtues they were adorned with.

وقد فاجأتهم منقدات مواقع الن

نجوم إلى أن آبوا أوبة راحل

They were startled by [unclear forces] from the stations of the

stars, until they returned as a traveler returns

إلى الله واستهدوا بهدي من اهتدى

وخالجهم شوقا لأعلى المنازل

to God, and sought guidance through the guidance of one rightly guided.

A yearning for the highest stations stirred within them,

لإدراك ما قد فات لما غرتهم

الطوارق وانقادوا لشد المراحل

to attain what they had missed when they were deceived by

nightly visitations and yielded to the strain of the journey's stages.

فكم من ضجيج قد علاهم لربهم

وأزعجهم خوف الرحيل بنازل

How many cries to their Lord rose over them,

and fear of departure unsettled them as calamity descended!

فأنهضت الأرواح منهم لربها

وشمر منهم ساعد عن تكاسل

Their spirits were roused toward their Lord,

and an arm among them braced itself, casting off sloth.

وقد حمدوا مسراهم إذ تسربلت

ذواتهم بالنور لا بالأباطل

They praised their night journey when

their beings were clothed in light, not falsehoods.

وعند الصباح يحمد القوم ما سروا

ومن يغمض الحق الصدوق بباطل

At dawn, people praise the journey they made by night;

and who would obscure truthful truth with falsehood?

وما احتاج للإعجاز إلا الذي تحد

ى بالنبوات غدوة والأصائل

None needed miraculous proof except one who challenged

through prophethood, morning and late afternoon.

وأما الذي منه اقتفى أثر الذي

اقتفاه فذاك من عيون الدلائل

As for one who, through him, followed the footsteps of the one

he followed, that is among the finest proofs

على أنه في الفضل أضحى ممنطقا

بمنطقة الإسعاد سبل الجلائل

that, in virtue, he has become girded

with the belt of felicity along the paths of great deeds.

لإن اقتفى الآثار في النهى ما ير

مه إلا صديق في فعال الأقاول

If he follows the traces with understanding, none aspires to

this [uncertain verb] but one whose deeds truthfully enact his words.

فنفس اقتفاء العين أوجب حرمة

له عند أهل الفضل بين الأماثل

The very act of following the source grants sanctity

to him among the people of virtue and the exemplary.

وأما إشاعات الأراحيق لا يجو

ز حكم بها إذ فسقهم في الأناجل

As for rumors of pure wines, no judgment may

be based on them, for their impiety is in [an unclear term].

فأين تنبؤات أهل عزائم

قد استبرؤوا لدينهم من تمايل

Where, then, are the foretellings of people of firm resolve,

who have kept their religion clear of wavering?

وبعد صحاح القول انظر صدورها

أمن صوفي أم غير أهل العوامل

After establishing the soundness of the statements, examine their source:

are they from a Sufi, or from someone outside the people of practice?

فأما مقامات الصوفي ففتش

ملاحظة عند الليوث البواسل

As for the Sufi's stations, investigate

with close attention among the valiant lions.

فإن لهم فيها اصطلاحات بينهم

بمدركهم كان احتكام لقائل

For they have terminology for these among themselves;

a speaker must be judged by their understanding.

فقد تعطيك الألفاظ ما ليس مقصدا

لهم فاتئد لا تحكمن بالفواعل

Words may convey to you something that was not intended

by them; take your time, and do not judge by the agents.

وسلهم عما تعتقده قلوبهم

من اليقين الحق الصراح المداول

Ask them what their hearts believe

of the true, plain certainty passed among them.

فذاك هو الحق الذي هو عمدة

لهم وسواه كم له من مماثل

That is the truth which is a mainstay

for them; how many counterparts there are to anything else!

ولا تعتبر من لا مسيس له بهم

فكم حكمت فيهم أسنة صائل

Do not give weight to one who has no contact with them;

how often an assailant's spearheads have judged them!

فإنهم قد أجهدتهم رياضة

فآبوا بأسرار كما للأوائل

For spiritual discipline has exhausted them,

and they have returned with secrets like those of the ancients.

فأنكرهم أهل الفتاوي وما رثوا

لمن غيبوا عن نفسهم بالآئل

The jurists disowned them, showing no pity

for those veiled from themselves by the final outcome [unclear reading].

فيبدو لنا العلم اللدني كما أتي

به الربانيون أهل المنازل

Thus divinely bestowed knowledge appears to us, as brought

by the godly, people of spiritual stations.

ويكفي علوم القوم إن كان طالبا

لها موسى إذ قد كان عين الفضائل

It suffices for these people's knowledge if its seeker

was Moses, the very embodiment of virtues.

بإذن إله العرش أرسل طالبا

معشعشة يأتي بجذوة نائل

By leave of the God of the Throne, he was sent seeking

a nesting-place [uncertain reading], to bring back an ember of bounty.

فحيا ويا يا له من أديب قو

م رؤوس الدائرات الكوامل

He offered greetings—oh, oh, what a refined man, who set upright

the heads of the complete circles!

فقال فهل مسترشد يتبعكم

فأقبس مشكاة على نعت سائل

He said, 'May a seeker of guidance follow you,

so that I may take light from a lamp-niche, as a petitioner?'

فأخبره أن ليس يستطيع ما يرا

ه من عجز التلوينات لباذل

He told him he could not bear what he would see,

through the weakness of shifting states for a giver.

وكيف وخبر ليس كالخبر الذي

أتيتم فهذا إحدى تلك الوسائل

How could he? Experience is unlike the account that

you brought; this is one of those means.

وذا سر أمر الشريعيات لا سوا

ه أو غيره حقق مناط التحامل

This is the secret of religious ordinances—not anything besides

it, nor anything else; ascertain the basis of hostility.

وليس لنا علم سوى ما أتت

به الشرائع من حق وليس بباطل

We have no knowledge except what

the revealed laws bring of truth, not falsehood.

فلست ترى داع إلى الله سلمت

مقالته من دون بحث مادل

You will not find a caller to God whose

utterance has escaped the inquiry of a contentious critic [unclear reading].

وأين تراجم التواريخ عنونت

بأوصافهم بل أصمتت كل كامل

Where are the historical biographies, titled

with their attributes? Indeed, they have silenced every perfected man.

ومن عنوان التاريخ أن فلانا قد

تنكره عصر بأقوال قائل

Among history's headings is that so-and-so was

repudiated by an age on the strength of someone's words.

ويذكر هذا عن مناقبهم فأي

ن من هم أسود الحق أهل اشمائل

This is mentioned among their merits; so where

are those who are the lions of truth, endowed with noble traits?

فإن كانت الفصيا تنقصهم فما

لنا ولي في الأرض إحدى الوسائل

If the verdict [unclear reading] diminishes them, then

we have no saint on earth, one of the means

إلى الله نستهدي بهدي كماله

ونستمطر الأنوار نحو الجداول

to God, through whose perfect guidance we seek direction,

and ask that lights rain down toward the streams.

لأن ما سمعنا أن داع صفت له

محاسنه من دون لمز مخاتل

For we have not heard of a caller whose

virtues were unblemished by a deceiver's taunt.

إذا ما قباب الأرض أعلى على الزنا

دقة الأوباش أهل الرذائل

When the earth's domes were raised above the

heretics—the rabble, people of vice—

وقد كانت الأعصار من القوم أرصدوا

مناظرة الرؤاس بين المحافل

through the ages, some of the people prepared

debates among the chiefs in assemblies.

فمن ها هنا كان انبعاث مثارات

المذاهب في تعضيد أهل الأقوايل

From here arose the sources of contention

among the schools, in support of their spokesmen.

ومن ها هنا علم الجدال تشعبت

موارده في الذب عن كل نافل

From here, the science of disputation branched,

its sources serving to defend every benefactor.

فهل طعن أرباب المذاهب قادح

بمن طعنوا فيه بحجة ناضل

Does an attack by the masters of the schools discredit

the one they attack, through a contender's argument?

أما إن أرباب المذاهب ما جفوا

بتعضيدهم من قلدوا في الفضائل

Indeed, the masters of the schools did not act harshly

in supporting those they followed in matters of virtue.

فكل قد استهدى بنجم إمامه

وما واحد عما تراه بغافل

Each has sought guidance by the star of his imam,

and not one is unaware of what you see.

ولكن إذا قمنا بتصويبهم فما

أرى الخدش يجدي أو أراه بحاصل

But if we affirm their correctness, then

I see no benefit or result in disparagement.

وإن لم تقل ما كل مجتهد مصي

ب قلنا مقالا ما أراه بطائل

And if you do not say, 'Not every independent jurist is right,'

we utter a statement that I see as fruitless.

تقول بأن القوم ما عثروا على

الصواب فما هم إلا في ليل جاهل

You say that the people did not find

what is right, and so are only in an ignorant man's night.

على أنهم ما عينوا مخطئا فذا

يجر إلى التشكيك فيهم بباطل

Yet they have not singled out anyone as mistaken; this

leads to casting false doubt upon them.

فنوقع في شبه السقاسط عقلنا

ولا تبكين فيهم بكاء التواكل

Thus we cast our reason into the doubts of sophistry;

do not weep over them with tears of helpless dependence.

وإن لم تتقصهم فتاوي فهم هم

على الحق في كل العصور الدواخل

If fatwas have not fully investigated them, they remain what they are,

upon the truth in all succeeding ages.

وأهل الفتاوي ما رأوا رأيهم لذا

ك قد أبرقوا في كل حاف وناعل

The jurists did not share their view; for that

reason they flashed lightning at all, barefoot and shod.

وما لهم شدوا حيازيمهم إلى

مزاراتهم يستنجدوا فيض وابل

Why, then, did they gird their loins to go

to their shrines, seeking aid from a torrential outpouring?

وقد خدشوا فيما رمتهم به فتا

وي أمثالهم إذ صاروا بين الجنادل

They had been disparaged by accusations leveled at them in the fatwas

of their peers, when they came to lie among the stones.

فإن قدحوا في مثلهم فكذا سوا

هم يقدح فيهم مثل أمثال فاعل

If they disparage their peers, so others besides

them disparage them, as people of like conduct do.