سعدي ونحسي بأحكام القضا سبقا

لا نساخ سابق المحتوم ما لحقا

My good fortune and my ill fortune were predetermined by the decrees of fate.

What came afterward cannot annul what was already ordained.

فسابق العلم من ذي العلم في مضى

وإن تعلقن فيه ضلة وتقى

For prior knowledge came from the Possessor of knowledge in the past,

even though error and piety are bound up in it.

ولكن علي اجتهاداً لا أضيعه

أنلت سعد اجتهادي أم لقيت شقا

Yet striving is my duty, and I must not squander it,

whether I attain the good fortune of my striving or meet misery.

إن قدر اللَه لي سعداً بسابقة

متى تقبل ما ووفقت فاتفقا

If God has ordained good fortune for me in a prior decree,

whenever my striving is accepted and I am granted success, the two coincide.

رضيت باللَه ربّاً والنبي هدى

وملتي ملة الإسلام فهي وقا

I am content with God as Lord and the Prophet as guidance,

and my faith is the faith of Islam: it is protection.

ياخمن تفرد باللاهوت والملكوت

الضخم لا ولد حاشا ولا عمقا

O You who alone possess divinity and dominion—

vast dominion—with no offspring, far be it, and no depth.

يرى وليس يرى وهو السميع بلا

سمعٍ بصيرٌ ولا طرفٌ له رمقا

He sees but is not seen; He is the All-Hearing, without

a faculty of hearing; All-Seeing, with no eye that gazes.

سبحانه كان لا حل المكان ولا

منه المكان خلا أو تحت فوق رقى

Glory be to Him! He existed without inhabiting space, nor

was space empty of Him, nor did He climb from below to above.

عن سوف أو حتى متى وعسى

منزهٌ وإذاً أو حيث كيف بقى

Above 'shall,' 'until,' 'when,' and 'perhaps,'

He remains exalted, beyond 'then,' 'where,' and 'how.'

يرى ويسمع حس النمل دب على

كنائن الأرض والديجور قد غسقا

He sees and hears the stir of ants crawling over

the earth's hidden recesses, when pitch-dark night has fallen.

الرازق الفرخ ملقى في عشاشته

والمطعم النازل الأرحام ملتصقا

The Provider for the chick lying in its little nest,

and the Nourisher of what clings within the wombs.

من نسمةٍ نسمةً أنشا مصورةً

من نطفة مضغة كانت لها علقا

From one living soul He created another, giving it form,

from a drop of seed—a morsel of flesh that had been a clinging clot.

على مشية أنشا الخلائق لا

يعيا ولا آده حفظ الذي خلقا

By His will He created all creatures; He does not

weary, nor does preserving what He created burden Him.

ووفي تصرفها كانت إرادته

تقضي ويبقى ولا ضاهى بقاه بقا

And in their changing states His will

decrees; He endures, and no endurance rivals His.

بنى السموات أطباقاً بقدرته

والأرض أمهدها ضد السما ونقا

He built the heavens in layers by His power,

and spread the earth opposite the sky [and purified it?].

وأركد الراسيات الراسيات بها

كيما تسيح فأرست بعد ما سمقا

He made the firmly rooted mountains still, anchored upon it,

so it might [not?] drift; they stood anchored after towering high.

أجرى الرياح وأجرى فوق غطغطها

تلك الجواري فسارت فوقها حذقا

He sent the winds coursing and set above their surging roar

those sailing vessels, which traveled over them deftly.

وأصل ذاك من دخان لؤلؤة

ومن حيالتها مذ أربدت فرقا

And the origin of that was the smoke of a pearl,

and from its surroundings, when it darkened, He made divisions.

والبحر من زبدٍ والأرض من حثل

ومن دخان السماوات انثنت طبقا

The sea came from foam, and the earth from sediment;

and from smoke the heavens curved into layers.

فالثور يحمل هذي الأرض وهو على

صخر على الحوب فوق الماء ما غرقا

The bull carries this earth, while standing on

a rock upon the great fish [reading uncertain], above the water, unsunk.

والما على الغيم حيث فوق هوا

تكوين من خلق الأشيا ومن رزقا

And the water rests upon clouds, which are above the air—

the fashioning of Him who created all things and provided sustenance.

وصور اللوح كي ينشي السحاب به

من بعدا ما النفح الأرياح واعتنقا

He fashioned the Tablet so that He might bring forth clouds through it,

after the blowing of the winds and their intermingling.

وكان ميكال فيها الماء محتسبا

بحيث ما شاءه المولى الرحيم سقى

And Mikal was there, overseeing the water,

watering wherever the Merciful Lord willed.

ريح الشمال تثير البحر مرسلة

حيث الصبا لجنوب الريح قد شبقا

The north wind, sent forth, stirs the sea,

where the east wind has lusted for the south wind.

والرعد زجر مليك المزن مرتجزاً

والبرق نور عصاً في كفه برقا

Thunder is the rebuke of the rainclouds' king, chanting rhythmically,

and lightning is the light of a staff flashing in his hand.

وأرسل الرسل تبشيراً ومنذرة

فبلغت صدق مولاها الذي صدقا

He sent the messengers with glad tidings and warnings,

and they conveyed the truth of their Lord, who spoke truly.

شهدت أن لا إله غيره أبداً

وأحمد فنبيٌّ بالهدى نطقا

I bear witness that there is never any god but Him,

and Ahmad is a prophet who spoke with guidance.

وما أتانا به من عند خالقه

حق من اللَه صدقاً ليس مختلفاً

What he brought us from his Creator

is truth from God, truly, without contradiction.

والموت والعث والوعيد وما

في الوعد جاء وما في النص قد نمقا

Death, resurrection [reading uncertain], the threatened punishment, and what

came in the promise, and what has been inscribed in the text—

للَه دنت بما في الدين يلزمني

أداؤه ثم ما لا كان أو عبقا

I submit to God through what religion obliges me

to perform, then what did not exist or linger [sense unclear].

والنفس ألزمتها مني السؤال لما

فيه السؤال لحال حل أو سبقا

I have bound my soul, on my part, to inquire about

what calls for inquiry, whether a circumstance has arisen or came before.

ديني وقولي فدين اللَه جل وما

قال الرسول مقالاً ولي مذ زكا خلقا

My faith and my speech are God's religion—exalted is He—and what

the Messenger spoke; his words are mine, since he was pure in character.

وإن رأيي فرأي المسلمين ولو

هداك عن ذا ترى منهما افترقا

And my opinion is that of the Muslims, even if,

may He guide you, you see the two diverge concerning this.

وتبت للَه من قول ومن عمل

ونية واعتقادات هفت زلقا

I have repented to God of speech and deed,

and of intentions and beliefs that stumbled and slipped,

ومن فتاوٍ بها أفتيت في سلم

ويوم حرب وما أرسمته حمقا

and of rulings I issued in peace,

and on a day of war, and what I recorded foolishly.

وأسأل اللَه توفيقاً ومغفرةً

وصحة ونولاً ينسخ الملقا

I ask God for right guidance and forgiveness,

and health, and bounty that dispels poverty.

يا محسناً لمسيء جاء معتذراً

يا مالك العبد آب العبد مذ أبقا

O You who are kind to a wrongdoer who comes apologizing,

O Master of the servant: the servant has returned after fleeing.

قد ضاق بي الذرع ضيق الوقف من جر

م لو صور البعض منها أفعم الأفقا

I am overwhelmed, confined like a prisoner, by a crim-

e that, if even part were pictured, would fill the horizon.

لعل لطاً وتوفيقاً ونيل مني

يا من به العروة الوثقى لمن وثقا

Perhaps kindness [reading uncertain], right guidance, and fulfillment of wishes will come,

O You in whom is the firmest handhold for whoever trusts.

إني وقفت على باب الرجاء وذي

يدي مددت لنيل منك مرتزقا

I have stood at the door of hope; and this

hand of mine I have stretched out for a gift from You, seeking sustenance.

حاشاك أن تردد الراجيك لا هبة

ولا صفوحاً ولا من ذنبه عتقا

Far be it from You to turn away one who hopes in You with no gift,

no pardon, and no release from his sin.

يا ليت شعري بما طي سابقتي

حكم الحواكم إلا حكم ما سبقا

Would that I knew what lies folded within my prior decree!

The judgment of all arbiters is only what was decreed beforehand.

فأنت أعلم مني بحبك يا

من لا سواك حبيب لي ولا ملقا

You know better than I my love for You, O

You besides whom I have no beloved—nor is this flattery.

لو كنت قصرت في إنجاز حقك كم

قد زل عبد ومولى العبد ما حنقا

If I have fallen short in fulfilling Your due, how often

has a servant slipped, while the servant's Master did not grow angry.

أنت الغني ومحتاج إليك أنا

على الضعيف ببسط أمر تقا

You are the Self-Sufficient, and I am in need of You.

Upon the weak one, through generosity, a command of piety [sense unclear].

علمي بأنك إذ أديتني طرباً

تهدي إليك فلا خوفاً ولا برقا

I know that, when You bring me joy,

You guide me to Yourself; then there is neither fear nor dismay.

إليك بالمصطفى يا رب مشتفع

حاشاك حاشاك أن ألقى العداة لقا

To You, O Lord, I seek intercession through the Chosen One.

Far be it from You, far be it, that I should meet the foes face to face.