1. قلْ لمُستَصْغِرِنا عن حَسَدٍ

    نحن من زَعمِكَ غَيباً أَكبَرُ

    Say to whoever belittles us out of envy:

    In the unseen, we are greater than you suppose.

  2. غرَّكَ المَشهودُ من هيْئَتِنا

    يا أَخا الجهلِ المَعاني تُسْتَرُ

    What you see of our appearance has deceived you.

    O brother of ignorance, meanings are concealed.

  3. تَبغي قَوَّالاً نَطوقاً أَنِقاً

    وله زِيقٌ وَسيعٌ أَخضَرُ

    You seek a talker, fluent and elegant,

    With a broad green collar,

  4. أَو له قصرٌ رَفيعٌ شامِخٌ

    والمَعاني أَنْتَ منها أَقصَرُ

    Or one with a lofty, towering palace,

    Yet you fall short of the meanings.

  5. يا أَخا الجهلِ تنبَّهْ وانتَصِحْ

    خِرقَةٌ تُبلى وقصرٌ يُدْثَرُ

    O brother of ignorance, awaken and heed counsel:

    A patched cloak wears out, and a palace falls to ruin.

  6. أَنْتَ ظنَّيتَ بنا ما لم يكنْ

    كم عَجولٍ حينَ يَمشي يَعْثُرُ

    You supposed things about us that were not so.

    How many a hasty person stumbles as he walks!

  7. أَرأَيْتَ اللُبَّ من باطِنِنا

    والَّذي في كَنزِهِ يدَّخَرُ

    Have you seen the essence of our inward being,

    And what is stored within its treasure?

  8. رُبَّ حالٍ صِينَ في خِرْقَتِنا

    دونَهُ البحرُ إذا ينهَمِرُ

    Many a spiritual state has been guarded within our patched cloak,

    Even the sea falls short of it when it pours forth.

  9. رُبَّ عينٍ قد لفتْناها إلى

    ذي انْكِسارٍ وهو المُنْجَبِرُ

    Many an eye have we turned toward

    One who is broken, though he is made whole.

  10. نحنُ قومٌ قد تَوارَثْنا الخَفا

    إِنَّما اللهُ تَعالى المُظْهِرُ

    We are a people who have inherited hiddenness;

    God Most High alone is the Revealer.

  11. قد طوَيْنا سرَّنا في سِرِّنا

    وهو رَغماً للأَعادي يُنْشَرُ

    We have folded our secret within our secret,

    Yet it is spread abroad despite the enemies.

  12. وحَبانا اللهُ طوْراً عامِراً

    ويداً طائِلُها لا يُقْصَرُ

    And God bestowed on us a flourishing state,

    And a hand whose reach is never curtailed.

  13. سَلَفٌ ورَّثَ حالاً خَلَفاً

    صدرُهُ المُزَمِّلُ المُدَّثِرُ

    Forebears bequeathed a spiritual state to successors,

    At its head is the Enwrapped One, the Cloaked One.

  14. وعلى واسِطَةِ النَّظمِ بهم

    أَحمدُ القومِ الإمامَ الأَكبَرُ

    And the central jewel of their string is

    Ahmad of the people, the greatest imam.

  15. كَبُرَتْ نوبَتهُمْ في كونِهِمْ

    فتيقَّظْ أيُّها المُسْتَصْغِرُ

    Their turn has grown mighty in their world;

    So awaken, you who belittle us!

  16. كم بِنا من عارِفٍ ذي طلعَةٍ

    بسَمَواتِ المَعالي تُزْهِرُ

    How many a gnostic among us has a countenance

    That shines in the heavens of lofty attainment!

  17. كم بِنا من رَبِّ قلبٍ ساكِتٍ

    منه آياتُ الهُدى تنفَجِرُ

    How many among us possess a silent heart,

    From whom the signs of guidance burst forth!

  18. كم بِنا من ناطِقٍ عن أَدَبٍ

    بمَعانيهِ تُبَزُّ الدُّرَرُ

    How many among us speak with refinement,

    Whose meanings surpass pearls!

  19. كلَّما غيَّبْتَ قومي بَرَزوا

    كلَّما أصغرْتَ قومي كَبُروا

    Whenever you hide my people, they emerge;

    Whenever you belittle my people, they grow greater.

  20. أَنْتَ يا مسكينُ فيهم جاهِلٌ

    هم أُناسٌ حيثُ غابوا حَضَروا

    You, poor fellow, are ignorant of them.

    They are people who are present wherever they are absent.

  21. مَدٌ عالِ وسِرٌّ ظاهِرٌ

    وقُلوبٌ حالُها لا يفتُرُ

    A lofty tide and a manifest secret,

    And hearts whose state never wanes.

  22. وعلى الجمعِ بفرقٍ باذِخٍ

    ذُكِرَ اللهُ إذا ما ذُكِروا

    And in union, with exalted distinction,

    God is remembered whenever they are remembered.

  23. وإذا أُبْطِنَ منهم واحِدٌ

    في الثَّرى بينَ البَرايا يظهَرُ

    And when one of them is hidden away

    In the earth, he appears among humankind.

  24. مَدٌ لم يَجْحَدَنْهُ عاقِلٌ

    وله قَسراً يُقِرُّ المُنْكِرُ

    A tide no rational person has ever denied,

    And the denier is compelled to acknowledge it.

  25. تشهَدُ الأَعداءُ من أَحوالِنا

    حالَ غيبٍ ظاهِرٍ لا يُسْتَرُ

    The enemies witness, among our states,

    A manifest state of the unseen that cannot be concealed.

  26. وقُلوبُ النَّاسِ تنْقادُ لنا

    وهي في محفَلِنا لا تشعُرُ

    And people's hearts yield to us,

    While in our gathering they are unaware.

  27. لوْحُ محفوظُ العَما في طَيِّ ما

    قامَ بالغيْبِ بهذا يُسْطَرُ

    The Cloud's preserved tablet, within the folds of what

    Subsists in the unseen, is inscribed with this:

  28. كتَبَ اللهُ تَعالى أنَّنا

    أَهلُ عزٍّ عنَّا لا يُحْتَقَرُ

    God Most High has written that we

    Are people of honor; we are not held in contempt.

  29. فضلُهُ في خلْقِهِ لا يُحجَرُ

    ونَداهُ الجَمُّ لا ينحَصِرُ

    His bounty among His creation cannot be constrained,

    And His abundant generosity cannot be bounded.

  30. وهو للحادِثِ منَّا مُظْهِرٌ

    وكذا الحادِثُ منَّا مظهَرُ

    And He makes manifest the created being among us,

    And likewise, the created being among us is a locus of manifestation.

  31. فالَّذي أَغْناهُ في آزالِهِ

    بجُحودِ النَّاسِ لا يفتَقِرُ

    So one whom He enriched in His beginningless eternities

    Does not become poor through people's denial.

  32. والَّذي أَكبَرَهُ في بابِهِ

    بينَ أَبوابِ المَلا لا يصغُرُ

    And one whom He made great at His door

    Does not grow small among the doors of the notables.

  33. نحنُ أَغْنانا وقد أَكْبَرَنا

    نعمَةُ اللهِ تَعالى تُشْكَرُ

    As for us, He has enriched us and made us great.

    The blessing of God Most High deserves thanks.