1. ألا إنني أرجو عوارفَ فضلِ من

    يكون له التحميد في اليُسر والعُسرِ

    Behold, I indeed hope for gifts from the bounty of Him

    to whom praise belongs in ease and hardship.

  2. فإذا كان عسر أطلقَ العبد حمده

    على كلِّ حالٍ منه في نفعٍ أو ضرّ

    So when there is hardship, the servant leaves his praise unrestricted,

    for every state from Him, whether benefit or harm.

  3. وإن كان يسر قيد العبد حمدُه

    كما جاء في الانعام والفضل في اليسر

    And when there is ease, the servant qualifies his praise,

    as has been reported concerning blessings and bounty in ease.

  4. بذا جاءتِ الأخبار في حمدِ سيد

    رسولٍ إمامٍ مصطفى صادقٍ بَرّ

    Thus the reports have come concerning the praise of a master,

    a messenger, a leader, chosen, truthful, and righteous,

  5. معلم أسباب السعادة كلها

    لكلِّ لبيبٍ عاقلٍ ماجدٍ حرّ

    a teacher of all the means to happiness

    for every discerning, rational, noble, free person.

  6. أنا أسوة فيه كما قال ربنا

    تلوناه في الأحزاب في محكم الذكر

    I am an exemplar in him, as our Lord has said;

    we recited it in al-Ahzab, in the firmly established Reminder.

  7. وفي غيرها فاعلم بأنك مقتد

    به متأسٍّ مؤمنٍ بالذي يجري

    And elsewhere; know, then, that you are a follower

    of him, taking him as an example, believing in what comes to pass.

  8. نصحتكِ يا نفسي على كلِّ حالة

    فقومي له فيها على قدم الشكر

    I have counseled you, O my soul, in every state;

    so stand for Him in it, on the footing of gratitude.

  9. فإنّ الذي يدعى عن الخلق في غنى

    ونحن على ما نحن من حالةِ الفقر

    For the One invoked is free of need of creation,

    while we remain as we are, in the state of poverty.

  10. ولي منه في الأحوال صحوٌ وسَكرةٌ

    إذا ما بدا لي في تجلٍّ وفي ستر

    And from Him, in my states, I have sobriety and intoxication,

    whenever He appears to me in self-disclosure and in concealment.

  11. فأصحو إذا عمَّ التجلِّي وجوده

    وإن خصه بالذاتِ إني لفي سكر

    So I become sober when self-disclosure pervades His existence,

    and if He confines it to the Essence, I am indeed intoxicated.

  12. يخاطبني من كل ذاتِ عناية

    بما شاءه في كلِّ نظم وفي نثر

    He addresses me through every being endowed with care,

    with what He has willed, in every poem and in prose.

  13. فنثري الذي يدريه ما هو من نثري

    وشِعري الذي أبديه ما هو من شعري

    So my prose, which He knows, is not my own prose,

    and my poetry, which I reveal, is not my own poetry.

  14. هويته من كل شيء وجوده

    وصحت به الآثار فانهض على أثري

    His identity is the existence of every thing,

    and through Him the effects are established; so rise and follow my trail.

  15. ترى الحق حقاً فاتبعه ولا تقل

    إذا ما رأيت الحق إني في خسر

    You will see the Real as real; follow Him, and do not say,

    when you see the Real, 'I am indeed in a state of loss.'

  16. فما الناس إلا بين هادٍ ومهتدٍ

    فمنه إلى شامٍ ومنهم إلى مصرِ

    For people are divided only between guides and the guided;

    so from him to Sham, and from them to Egypt.

  17. وهذي إشاراتٌ لمن كان عالماً

    بما قلته في السرِّ كان أو الجهر

    And these are allusions for one who knows

    what I have said, whether in secret or aloud.

  18. إلهي لا تعدل بقلبي عن الذي

    شرَعتَ من الإيمان بالنهي والأمر

    My God, do not turn my heart away from what

    You have prescribed of faith, through prohibition and command.

  19. فما عندكم إلا وجودٌ محقق

    وما عندنا إلا التبرِّي من الكفر

    For with You there is only firmly established existence,

    while with us there is only disavowal of unbelief.

  20. لقد قرّر الإيمان عندي حقائقاً

    تنافي براهين النهي من ذوي الفكر

    Faith has indeed established for me realities

    that contradict the rational proofs of thinkers.

  21. فحزت به كشفاً فعادت معارفاً

    مطالعها في القلب كالأنجم الزُّهر

    So through it I attained unveiling, and they became insights,

    whose dawnings in the heart are like radiant stars.

  22. فلا ريب عندي في الذي قد طعمته

    من العلم بالله المقرَّر في صدري

    So I have no doubt about what I have tasted

    of the knowledge of God established in my breast.

  23. حييت به علماً وعقداً وحالة

    هنا في حياتي ثم موتي وفي النشر

    Through it I have lived in knowledge, conviction, and spiritual state,

    here in my life, then in my death, and in resurrection.

  24. لقيت به ربّاً كريماً بحضرةٍ

    منزهة علياء ماطرة النثر

    Through it I met a generous Lord in a Presence

    transcendent and lofty, raining prose.