خل الكئيب بدائه في ذاته

ففؤاده قد ذاب في حسراته

Leave the sorrowful one alone with his malady.

For his heart has melted in its regrets.

واتركه يرسب في عباب دموعه

ويصعد الأنفاس من زفراته

Leave him to sink in the surging flood of his tears,

and send up breaths from his sighs.

وارحمه ترحم إن بليت بدائه

فالصب آخره مراد عداته

Show him mercy: you shall receive mercy if afflicted with his malady.

For the lovesick one's end is what his enemies desire.

ما أنت والصب الكئيب وما ابتلي

فالكل محمولٌ على نياته

What have you to do with the sorrowful lover and his affliction?

For each is borne along by his intentions.

إياك تكثر من دواعي عذله

فالعذل يغريه على لوعاته

Beware of multiplying occasions to reproach him,

for reproach incites his burning sorrows.

فلكل سائلةٍ قرار والهوى

أجلاه ما أوقعت في هواته

Every flowing thing has a resting place; and love

is clearest when you have been cast into its abysses.

لو كنت تلعق لعقة من حبه

لعذرته ودخلت في مرضاته

Had you tasted a single lick of his love,

you would have excused him and sought his pleasure.

ليس الخلي من الشجي ولأنما

عصيان هذا ذاك من طاعاته

The carefree is unlike the grieving, because

this one's defiance of that one counts among his acts of obedience.

يا من لقلب لم يزل في أسره

متنعماً والأسر من لذاته

O who will help a heart that remains his captive,

delighting in bondage, which is among its pleasures?

أحلى الهوى ما راح فيه مفنداً

وشفاؤه في الحب من راحاته

The sweetest love is that in which he is called a fool,

and his healing in love is among his comforts.

من ذا يلوم المستهام إذا بكى

إثر الخليط منوهاً بجداته

Who would blame the love-bewildered one when he weeps

after his companions, proclaiming his fortunes?

فحياته في صرمهم كمماته

ومماته في وصلهم كحياته

His life in their estrangement is like his death,

and his death in their union is like his life.

وبنفسي الرشأ الذي ودعته

دمعي وأدمعه على وجناته

My soul be ransom for the fawn I bade farewell to,

my tears and his upon his cheeks.

متغيراً عند الوداع فمهجتي

كادت به تنسل من عبراته

Changed at parting; and my soul

almost slipped away for him because of his tears.

أكل الهوى غضّا وأيبسني به

فبقيت مقليّاً على جمراته

Love devoured me while tender and withered me thereby,

leaving me frying upon its embers.

أمحدثي بنقا العقيق أعد لنا

فيه الحديث موشحاً بدواته

O you who tell me of the sands of Aqiq, repeat for us

the tale of it, adorned with its inkwell.

ظبياته هل هن هن كعهدنا

فقلوبنا أسرى هوى ظبياته

Are its gazelles still the very ones we knew?

Our hearts are captives to the love of its gazelles.

ولحبذا نسمات فيح من قبا

بكرت فعطرنا شذى نفحاته

How lovely the wafting, fragrant breezes from Quba!

They came at dawn, and the scent of its breaths perfumed us.

حبي أجاز ظبيةً من حبها

وأحبها لمحمد وصلاته

My love rewarded a gazelle out of love for her,

and I love her for Muhammad and his blessings.

هي ظبيةٌ طابت بطيب حياته

شرفاً وقد نافت بفضل مماته

She is a gazelle made sweet by the sweetness of his life,

in honor, and exalted by the merit of his death.

المصطفى الهادي النبي أجل من

وطئ الحصى يمشي على خدماته

The Chosen One, the guiding Prophet, greatest of those

who trod the pebbles, walking in his service.

الخاتم الرسل الكرام وأول

في الفضل سابقها بحسن ولاته

The seal of the noble messengers, and foremost

in merit, surpassing them through his guardians' goodness.

في كتب شيت قد وصفن خلاله

وبكتب إدريس سناء سماته

In the books of Seth they described his virtues,

and in the books of Idris, the splendor of his marks;

وبصحف إبراهيم عظم قدره

وزبر داود لدى تلواته

in Abraham's scrolls, the greatness of his stature,

and David's scriptures, in his recitations.

وبفضله الإنجيل جاء مصرحاً

ودعاه موسى الطهر في توراته

The Gospel came explicitly declaring his excellence,

and pure Moses invoked him in his Torah.

وكذلك الفرقان أظهر فضله

في كل ما قد نص من آياته

Likewise, the Criterion revealed his excellence

in all that it expressly stated in its verses.

يس سماه وطه إسمه

وقلى الذي الذي ناداه من حجراته

He named him Ya-Sin, and Ta-Ha is his name,

and detested the one—the one who called him from his chambers.

وبدا له بالعفو قبل عتابه

وأراه ما تخفي قلوب عداته

He began with pardon for him before rebuking him,

and showed him what his enemies' hearts conceal.

واللَه أنذره بحيث تجمعت

سفهاء مكة تسع في هجماته

God warned him when there gathered

the fools of Mecca, striving to attack him.

منهم أبي والمغيرة ثم بو

جهل وإبليس أخو لعناته

Among them Ubayy and al-Mughira, then Abu

Jahl, and Iblis, companion to his curses.

منهم أشار بقتله وبحبسه

بعض أشار وبعضهم بشتاته

One of them proposed killing him; his imprisonment

some proposed, and others his banishment.

نزل الأمين من السماء معرجاً

لمحمد بجميع رأي شناته

The Trustworthy One descended from heaven, turning

to Muhammad with all his enemies' counsel.

قال الأمين له عليك بطيبةٍ

فانهض بليلك واسر في وفراته

The Trustworthy One told him: Make for Tayba.

Rise in your night, and travel through its fullness.

واقصد إلى الأنصار هم لك عصبةٌ

تغنيك عن بو طالب وحماته

Head for the Ansar: they are a band for you,

who will free you from need of Abu Talib and his protectors.

ولسوف تدخل مكة رغماً على

أنف المغيرة أو ذرى سرواته

You shall surely enter Mecca, in defiance of

al-Mughira's nose, or the heights of its nobles.

فسرى وثانيه أبو بكر إلى ال

غار المنيف فأولجا بلجاته

He journeyed by night, Abu Bakr his companion, to the

lofty cave, and the two entered its open recesses.

ومضى أبو بكر يشقق ثوبه

خوفاً على المختار من حياته

Abu Bakr went on tearing his garment,

fearing for the Chosen One because of its snakes.

وبنى الخدرنق بيته في بابه

والورق عشش في سما عتباته

The spider built its house at its entrance,

and the grey doves nested above its thresholds.

حتى إذا يئس العدو لطيبة

قصد اقتضاء محقق نياته

When the enemy had despaired, toward Tayba

he set out, seeking to fulfill his settled intentions.

فلقيته آل الأوس ثم الخزرج الش

شم الكرام وهم حمى راياته

The families of Aws, then Khazraj, met him—the

proud and noble, the defenders of his banners.

كم بيعةٍ قد جددت لهم به

قبل النزول لهم لدى عقباته

How many pledges had been renewed for them with him,

before he came among them, at his mountain passes.

وبهم لقد فتح المهيمن مكة

باسم النبي مضوا على بركاته

Through them the Guardian indeed conquered Mecca;

in the Prophet's name they advanced with his blessings.

سبحان من أسرى به ليلاً إلى

أقصى المساجد راقياً درجاته

Glory to Him who bore him on a night journey to

the farthest of mosques, ascending its stages.

وملائك الرحمن سارت حوله

والنور أضوى الأفق من جنباته

The Most Merciful's angels moved around him,

and light illuminated the horizon from his sides.

يا ليلة المعراج أسعد ليلة

درك النبي بها منى غاياته

O Night of Ascension, most fortunate night,

in which the Prophet attained his desired ends!

وارتد والديجور أسود ظافراً

بمراده معطى قضى حاجاته

He returned while the dark night was black, triumphant

in his desire, granted his wishes, his needs fulfilled.

فاستل قرضاب الهدى من غمده

وأراق دم المعتدي بظباته

Then he drew the keen sword of guidance from its sheath,

and spilled the aggressor's blood with its edges,

حتى غدا الشرك المشقشق جله

واهٍ ولم يخطر على هلباته

until bellowing idolatry, for the most part,

grew weak, no longer strutting upon its tail-hairs.

وغدا يغوث ونسره ويعوقه

متحطماتٍ من سنان قنانه

And Yaghuth, its Nasr, and its Ya'uq became

shattered by the point of his lance.

من معجزات المصطفى والبعض من

برهانه وسماته وصفاته

Among the Chosen One's miracles, and some of

his proofs, his marks, and his qualities:

خمدت بمولده مقابس فارسٍ

وتهدم الإيوان من شرفاته

Persia's fires died out at his birth,

and the palace collapsed from its battlements.

وكفى بمن قد أرضعته أدلةٌ

من مرضعات نسائه وشياته

Those who nursed him suffice as proofs,

among his nursing womenfolk, along with his markings.

فحليمة من قبل ترضعه فقد

كانت غروز الثدي عن حلماته

For Halima, before she nursed him, indeed

had breasts whose nipples yielded no milk.

فجرى الحليب بحيث مص ثديها

عذباً فراتاً سائغاً بلهاته

Milk flowed when he sucked her breast,

sweet, fresh, easy to swallow at his palate.

وتكاثرت أرزاق آل حليمةٍ

شرقاً به والفضل من مناته

The provisions of Halima's household multiplied,

overflowing through him; the bounty came from his gifts.

وبحيث أصبح يافعاً مترعرعاً

نزل الأمين عليه في خلواته

When he became a thriving youth,

the Trustworthy One descended upon him in his solitude,

وأراه آية ربه من ربه

وأراه كيف يكون في أوقاته

and showed him his Lord's sign from his Lord,

and showed him how to conduct himself at his appointed times.

فكفى به شرفاً بأن المرتضى

جبريل خادمه وفي طاعاته

Honor enough for him that the favored one,

Gabriel, serves him and is obedient to him.

والبدر شق بكمه والظبي كل

لمه وحياه البعير بذاته

The full moon was split by his sleeve, and the gazelle spoke—

to him; the camel itself greeted him.

وغمامةٍ قد ظللته بعد ما

رقص السراب على مطار بواته

And a cloud shaded him after

the mirage danced over the flight-ground of his [unclear word].

والقوم مذ ورد الهلاك من الظما

في صحصحٍ قد عام في هفواته

When the people faced death from thirst,

on a bare plain awash in its gusts,

أجرى لهم ماء براحةٍ كفه

منه ارتوى وروت جميع سقاته

he made water flow for them from the palm of his hand.

From it he drank his fill, and all his water-bearers were quenched.

ودعا على غمدان حتى هدمت

أركانه بالبعض من دعواته

He prayed against Ghumdan until

its pillars were demolished by some of his prayers.

ومن الأدلة في غوامض علمه

سأل المسن الشيخ عن أبياته

Among the proofs of his knowledge of hidden things:

he asked the aged elder about his verses.

والشيخ لم تسمع بنظم أذنه

من سره في نفسه وخفاته

The elder's ear had never heard the verse,

kept secret within his soul and concealed,

أسفاً بحيث سليله لم يعطه

من نفسه حقاً ومن نفقاته

in grief because his son had not given him

his personal due and financial support,

حتى لقد قال النبي لإبنه

قم أنت مال أبيك من أقواته

until the Prophet said to his son:

Rise: you are your father's wealth, part of his sustenance.

ولكم وكم من آيةٍ لم أحصها

عدّاً ويحصى الرمل دون رواته

How many, how many signs I have not counted

by number; sand could be counted sooner than his narrators.

ولكيف لي فيه الثنا واللَه قد

أثنى له بالفضل في آياته

How could I praise him, when God has

praised him for excellence in His verses?

لا سورة إلا وعظم ذكره

فيها فشاع الذكر في سوراته

There is no surah but his mention is exalted

within it; his mention spreads throughout its surahs.

لكنني متوسل بمدائحي

راج شفاعته وحسن صلاته

Yet I seek a means of approach through my praises,

hoping for his intercession and his generous favors.

وإذا المسيء جنى ولاذ بمحسن

فالظن يخبره بحسن نجاته

When an evildoer sins and takes refuge with a benefactor,

then hope tells him of a happy deliverance.

قد قادني حسن الرجاء وقادني

أملي أرجي منه جم هباته

Good hope has led me, and I have been led

by my longing: I hope for his abundant gifts.

ولقد وقفت ببابه ونزلت من

زل رفده وحللت بين عفاته

I have stood at his door and alighted in the

abode of his bounty, settling among his petitioners.

ورجاي أني لا أخيب من يدي الد

دارين يوم نزل في ساحاته

My hope is not to be disappointed by the hands of the

two abodes, on the day of alighting in his courtyards.

مولاي يا مولى البرية كلها

لطفاً بعبدٍ ساء في توباته

My master, O master of all creation,

be gentle to a servant who has erred in his repentances.

ولطال ما قد ضل في شهواته

متنعماً فيها على شبهاته

For long he has strayed amid his desires,

taking pleasure in them amid his doubtful ways.

ألقى العصي بك الغداة وراجياً

ينجو وترفعه لمن هفواته

He has laid down his staffs with you this morning, hoping

to be saved, and that you may raise him [remaining wording about his lapses unclear].

صلى عليه اللَه من مدثر

وعلى ضجيعيك جزيل صلاته

May God bless him, the cloaked one,

and grant His abundant blessings to the two who lie beside you,

وجميع آلك والصحابة ما ثنى

مثن لخالقه على عرفاته

and all your family and companions, as long as praise is offered

by one praising his Creator for His favors.