1. أَهلُ الحِجابِ مع الثِّيابِ عُيونُهُمْ

    محجوبَةٌ في الحالِ والعاداتِ

    The people of the veil and robes—their eyes

    are veiled in their state and habits.

  2. يمشي الوَلِيُّ أَبو المَعارِجِ بينَهُمْ

    في شامِهِمْ وكأنَّه بَهَراةِ

    The saint Abu al-Ma‘arij walks among them

    in their Sham, as though he were in Herat.

  3. يترصَّدونَ قيامَهُ وقُعودَهُ

    بالانْتِقادِ بسائِرِ الحالاتِ

    They watch his standing and his sitting,

    criticizing him in every condition.

  4. إن كانَ مُنْبَسِطاً رَموهُ بخِفَّةٍ

    أَو كانَ منقبِضاً ففي علاَّتِ

    If he is cheerful, they accuse him of frivolity;

    or, if withdrawn, they say he is full of faults;

  5. أَو كانَ منحَجِباً ففي إهْمالِهِ

    أَو كانَ مُشْتَهِراً فبالزَّلاَّتِ

    or, if secluded, they accuse him of neglect;

    or, if well known, they charge him with missteps.

  6. أَو كانَ نِحْريراً بنقْضِ نُصوصِهِ

    أَو كانَ أُمِّيًّا بسوءِ هَنَاتِ

    Or, if a consummate scholar, they refute his texts;

    or, if unlettered, they reproach his vile failings.

  7. عُمْيٌ بهم صَمَمٌ تَكاثَفَ حالُهُمْ

    فأَمالَهُمْ عن نهْجِ نورِ الذَّاتِ

    Blind, with deafness in them, their state grew dense

    and turned them from the path of the Essence's light.

  8. لو أَدرَكوا التَّصريفَ والوَهْبَ الَّذي

    سُدلَتْ عليه سَتائِرُ الغاراتِ

    Had they understood the governance and the gift over which

    the curtains of onslaughts have been drawn,

  9. لتأَدَّبوا عندَ الوَلِيِّ وقَيَّدوا

    برِحابِهِ الحَرَكاتِ والسَّكَنَاتِ

    they would have shown reverence before the saint and restrained,

    within his precincts, their movements and their stillness.

  10. الشَّمسُ في قُبَبِ المَعالي كوكبٌ

    وشُعاعُهُ يُجْلى على الذَّرَّاتِ

    The sun is a star in the domes of lofty heights,

    and its radiance is revealed upon the motes.

  11. والماءُ ينشُرُهُ السَّحابُ بنَسْمَةٍ

    هفْهافَةٍ من حضرَةْ الحَضَرَاتِ

    And water the clouds scatter with a breeze,

    softly wafting from the Presence of presences.

  12. فيمُرُّ بالقِيعانِ يُصلِحُ شأنَها

    ويمُدُّ فائدَةً بكلِّ نباتِ

    It passes over the lowlands, setting them right,

    and spreads its benefit through every plant.

  13. والرِّيحُ يحْفَلُ بالأَنامِ مُرَفْرِفاً

    هبًّا ليُحْيي سائِرَ النَّسَماتِ

    And the wind cares for living beings, fluttering,

    blowing to revive all living souls.

  14. ولكلِّ شيءٍ في الوُجودِ حقيقَةٌ

    ضَمِنَتْ خفِيَّ السِّرِّ بالطَّيَّاتِ

    And everything in existence has a reality

    that holds the hidden mystery within its folds.

  15. هو مُودِعٌ فيها تَعالى أَمرَهُ

    عن حُكْمِ نَفْيٍ كانَ أَو إثْباتِ

    He lodges His command within it—exalted is He

    beyond any judgment of negation or affirmation.

  16. أَجرى الشُؤُنَ فكلَّها تقديرُهُ

    مَرْموزَةً في طَلسَمِ الآلاتِ

    He set affairs in motion; all are His decree,

    encoded within the talisman of instruments.

  17. فيها خَواصٌ قائمٌ مع كلِّها

    مستودَعٌ في تلكُمُ الآياتِ

    Within them are special properties, abiding with them all,

    deposited within those signs.

  18. يا جاهِلاً سِرَّ الغُيوبِ وساقِطاً

    عن فهمِ مَرْقى هذه الدَّرَجاتِ

    O you ignorant of the secret of the unseen, falling

    short of grasping the ascent through these degrees:

  19. الماءُ ينبَعُ من لَفيفَةِ صخرَةٍ

    مجدولَةٍ والصَّخرُ غيرُ مُواتي

    Water springs from the folded mass of a rock,

    tightly plaited, though rock is unyielding.

  20. والنَّارُ تلهَبُ في جَديلٍ أَخضرٍ

    قلبَ الشُؤُنِ مُقَدِّرُ النَّشْآتِ

    And fire blazes in a green, twisted bough;

    the Ordainer of creation has overturned affairs.

  21. هذا نَطوقٌ حين يُسبَكُ لفظُهُ

    وأَخوهُ ذو لَكَنٍ مع الكَلِماتِ

    This one is eloquent when his speech is cast,

    while his brother has an impediment with words.

  22. وهناك مُرتعِشٌ جَبانٌ خائفٌ

    وأَبوهُ يُردي الأُسدَ في الغَاباتِ

    And there is one who trembles, cowardly and afraid,

    while his father fells lions in the forests.

  23. وبَخيلُ طبعٍ مُمسِكٌ في عيشِهِ

    ولعمِّهِ الإِبْذالُ للبَدَراتِ

    And one is miserly by nature, tightfisted in his living,

    while his uncle lavishes whole purses of money.

  24. تلك الإِقامَةُ من قَديمِ مَدارِها

    طبعُ الصِّفاتِ مُصَوِّرٌ للذَّاتِ

    Such is the established order, in its ancient course;

    the imprint of attributes gives form to the self.

  25. ومقسِّمُ الأَرزاقِ أَحكَمَ شأْنَنا

    في الكونِ من قيدٍ ومن إفْلاتِ

    And the Apportioner of sustenance has ordered our affairs

    in existence, in bondage and release.

  26. ومن العجائبِ والعجائبُ جَمَّةٌ

    سِرٌّ أُترجِمُهُ بلُطْفِ لُغاتِ

    Among the wonders—and wonders are abundant—

    is a secret I render in subtle language:

  27. شيخٌ عَظيمُ الشَّأْنِ من جُرْثومَتي

    صعبُ القِيادِ مبارَكُ النَّظَراتِ

    a shaykh of mighty standing, of my own stock,

    unyielding to the rein, blessed in his glances.

  28. ملأَتْهُ روحُ الهاشِمِيِّ عِنايَةً

    وطوَتْ به جَلْجالَةَ النَّفَحاتِ

    The Hashimite's spirit filled him with gracious care,

    and enfolded in him the resonance of wafting breaths.

  29. ضخمُ المَناقِبِ إذْ تُفَسَّرُ حالُهُ

    رحبُ الحضيرَةِ شامِخُ الشُّرُفاتِ

    Vast are his virtues, when his state is expounded,

    spacious his precinct, lofty his battlements.

  30. الكَتْمُ سربَلَهُ بكلِّ جَلالَةٍ

    مخفِيَّةٍ عن قاصِرِ اللَّحَظاتِ

    Concealment has clothed him in every majesty

    hidden from those whose glances fall short.

  31. تركَ الجميعَ لربِّهِ فطوَى له

    كشْحاً وأَخْلَصَ طيِّبَ النِّيَّاتِ

    He abandoned all for his Lord and, for Him, turned

    his flank away, purifying his good intentions.

  32. وعن الوُجودِ البَحْتِ قدَّ عِنانَهُ

    ومشى به في أَثقلِ الخَطَواتِ

    And from sheer existence he severed his rein,

    and walked with it with the heaviest tread.

  33. مُتباعِداً عن أَهلِهِ مُتَحجِّباً

    عنهُمْ بمِرْطِ الطَّوْرِ والعاداتِ

    Keeping far from his people, veiling himself

    from them with the mantle of manner and habit.

  34. إن قالَ أَخلَصَ في العِبارَةِ ظاهِراً

    وإذا خَلا فمُرَقْرَقُ العَبَراتِ

    If he speaks, his expression is outwardly sincere,

    and when alone, his tears are flowing.

  35. مُتَطَيْلِسٌ درعَ الوَقارِ مَكانَةً

    وهو التُّرابُ المحضُ في الخَلَواتِ

    Mantled in the armor of dignity in his standing,

    yet in solitude he is nothing but dust.

  36. وأَعانَهُ في جمعِ ذلك كلٍّهِ

    نفسٌ له عَزَفَتْ عن الشَّهَواتِ

    And helping him bring all this together

    is a soul of his that has turned away from desires.

  37. يخلو ويَجلو ذاكِراً مُتَفَكِّراً

    ومن الشُّجونِ عليه نوعُ سِماتِ

    He withdraws and shines, remembering and reflecting,

    and he bears a certain stamp of sorrows.

  38. يقْضي الدُّجا بعِبارَةٍ وبعبْرَةٍ

    وبعِبْرَةٍ ممدوحَةِ الخَطَراتِ

    He spends the darkness in utterance and tears,

    and in lessons of praiseworthy thoughts.

  39. لم أَنسَ ليلَةَ عيدِ فطرٍ والدُّجا

    رُفِعَتْ كَلاكِلُهُ على السَّاداتِ

    I have not forgotten an Eid al-Fitr night, when the darkness

    had its heavy breasts raised over the masters.

  40. وأَنا بديوانِ الغُيوبِ مُصَدَّرٌ

    من فوقِ عرشِ الفضلِ في مِرْقاةِ

    And I was seated foremost in the court of the unseen,

    above the throne of grace, on a step of ascent.

  41. ويدُ النَّبيِّ المُصْطَفى قَدْ أسدَلَتْ

    لي خِلْعَةً من أَبهَجِ الخِلْعاتِ

    And the hand of the Prophet, the Chosen One, had draped

    upon me one of the most splendid robes of honor.

  42. فقرأتُ طِلْسَمَها وسِرَّ رَقيمِها

    قرأيتُها مَرْموزَةَ الشَّكَلاتِ

    So I read its talisman and the secret of its inscription;

    I read it, its forms encoded:

  43. للهِ صاحِبُها ولابِسُ بُرْدَها

    وادي الهُدى حَسَنٌ أَبو البَرَكَاتِ

    To God belongs its owner, the wearer of its mantle:

    the valley of guidance, Hasan Abu al-Barakat.

  44. رقَّتْ عليه وراقَ فيها كأسُهُ

    كأسٌ جَلاهُ أَشرَفُ الحاناتِ

    It grew delicate upon him, and within it his cup grew clear—

    a cup made radiant by the noblest of taverns.

  45. فعجِبْتُ من ذاكَ المَقامِ وعزِّهِ

    لُطْفُ الحَضارَةِ في شَتاتِ فَلاةِ

    I marveled at that station and its glory:

    the grace of settled life amid the desert's scattered wastes.

  46. حدَّقْتُ أَنظُرُ في طَلاسِمِ سِرِّها

    متعمِّقاً فيها إلى الغاياتِ

    I gazed intently into the talismans of its secret,

    delving into them to the furthest limits.