Sol 6.1

  1. والحَواميمُ وهي أَقسامُ مِثلي

    إِنَّ قلبي لفي حُضورٍ وفقْدِ

    By the Ḥā-Mīm chapters—the oaths of one like me—

    indeed, my heart is in presence and loss.

  2. لي شُؤُنٌ مكَتَّماتٌ خَوافي

    عندَ حِبِّي طولَ الزَّمانِ وعِندي

    I have secret, hidden affairs,

    with my beloved throughout time, and with me.

  3. هو في المجدِ وحدَهُ مُتَعالٍ

    وتَراني بالذُّلِّ والوجدِ وَحْدي

    He alone is exalted in glory,

    and you see me alone in abasement and ecstasy.

  4. عَجَباً من فَريدِ طورِ انْفِرادي

    لمَليكي وإِنَّني أَيُّ عبْدِ

    How wondrous the singular state of my solitude

    for my King—and indeed, what a servant I am!

  5. ليس مِثلي بلائِقٍ لهَواهُ

    لمنِ الحَظُّ منه ساعَدَ سَعْدي

    One like me is not worthy of his love.

    For whom has fortune from him favored my good fortune?

  6. أُعْذُروني ما أَرْشَدَتني المَعاني

    لسَناهُ إِلاَّ وغَيَّبْتُ رُشدِي

    Forgive me: the meanings never guided me

    to his radiance without my banishing my reason.

  7. خاطَبَتْني آياتُهُ بين قومي

    عن شُؤُني واسمي وعَمِّي وجَدِّي

    His signs addressed me among my people

    about my affairs, my name, my uncle, and my grandfather.

  8. قلتُ عَمِّي العَماءُ عن كلِّ شيءٍ

    قلتُ واسمي مَهْدي فقالَ بمَهْدِي

    I said, “My uncle is blindness to all things.”

    I said, “And my name is Mahdi”; then he said, “In my cradle.”

  9. قلتُ جَدِّي جِدِّي وزَفرَةُ وَجْدي

    قالَ قد أَوصلَتْكَ نفحَةُ جَدِّي

    I said, “My grandfather is my earnestness and the sigh of my ecstasy.”

    He said, “A breath of my majesty has already brought you here.”

  10. قالَ هل تنظِمُ المَعاني رِقاقاً

    قلتُ تَظْمَ العُقودِ قالَ بعِقْدِي

    He said, “Do you string delicate meanings together?”

    I said, “The stringing of necklaces.” He said, “With my necklace.”

  11. قالَ هل تشرَحُ العُهودَ بنشْرٍ

    قلت دُرًّا فقال طِرزاً بعَهْدِي

    He said, “Do you expound the covenants in prose?”

    I said, “As pearls”; then he said, “As embroidery, with my covenant.”

  12. قالَ هل ترتَجي الوُجودَ بقبْلٍ

    أَو ببعْدٍ فقلتُ لا قالَ عَبْدِي

    He said, “Do you hope for existence in a ‘before’

    or an ‘after’?” Then I said, “No.” He said, “My servant.”

  13. ثبتَتْ لي عَبْدِيَّتي يا فَخاري

    قبلَ قبْلٍ بَحْتٍ ومِنْ بعْدِ بعْدِ

    My servanthood was confirmed for me—O my pride—

    before a pure ‘before,’ and from beyond an ‘after.’

  14. صارَ غربي شَرقي وشَرقي غَربي

    وسَنائي فَجري وذِكري وِرْدِي

    My west became my east, and my east my west.

    And my radiance became my dawn, and my remembrance my litany.

  15. ومَماتي يا للغَرامِ حَياتي

    وحَياتي مَوْتي ووَجْدي لحْدِي

    And my death—oh, what passion!—became my life,

    and my life my death, and my ecstasy my grave.

  16. وعِظامي أَقلامُ شَوْقي ودَمْعي

    حبرُ طَرْسي وبسطَةُ الرِقِّ جلْدِي

    And my bones are the pens of my longing, and my tears

    are the ink of my page, and the parchment’s expanse is my skin.

  17. يا رِكابَ العُشَّاقِ سيري بحَيِّي

    وأَنيخي بزَفْرَتي وبعَدِّي

    O lovers’ mounts, journey through my encampment,

    and kneel by my sigh and by my counting.

  18. راحَ جَمْعي بعِزِّ سُلطانِ فَرْقي

    وبفَرْقي أَطلَعْتُ أَلهابَ وقْدِي

    My union vanished through the might of my separation’s dominion,

    and through my separation I raised the flames of my burning.

  19. فاجمَعِ الفجرَ يا سُهادي على اللَّيْ

    لِ بعكْسٍ من الوُلوعِ وطَرْدِ

    So gather the dawn, O my sleeplessness, over the night,

    through a reversal born of ardor and banishment.

  20. وأَقِمْ لي يا دمعُ لُجَّةَ بَحْري

    بسُبوحٍ في الفَلاةِ بوَخْدِ

    And raise for me, O tears, the deep waters of my sea,

    with a swift-swimming steed in the desert, at a brisk pace.

  21. بعدَ هذا فالحمدُ للهِ إِلى

    صاحبُ الوقتِ والأَحِبَّاءُ جُنْدِي

    After this, praise be to God—to

    the master of the age, and the beloved are my army.