نعتُ المهيمنِ بالإطلاق تقييدُ

نعتُ المهيمنِ بالإطلاق تقييدُ

وكلُّ ما قيل فيه فهو تحديدُ

وكلُّ ما قيل فيه فهو تحديدُ

Describing the All-Overseeing as absolute is a restriction.

I describe the All-Dominating with absolute restriction a binding,

And everything said of Him is a delimitation.

And all that is said about Him is a determination,

وإن سكتُ على عجزٍ أفوز به

وإن سكتُ على عجزٍ أفوز به

فذلك العجزُ أيضاً في تقييد

فذلك العجزُ أيضاً في تقييد

And if I fall silent from inability, succeeding through it,

And if I am silent about incapacity I gain it from Him,

That inability, too, is subject to restriction.

For that incapacity is also in restriction.

فليس يخرجُ في ظني ومعرفتي

فليس يخرجُ في ظني ومعرفتي

شيءٌ عن القيد لا شركٌ وتوحيد

شيءٌ عن القيد لا شركٌ وتوحيد

For nothing escapes, in my judgment and knowledge,

So nothing in my opinion and knowledge,

Limitation—neither associating partners with God nor affirming His oneness.

Escapes restriction, neither association nor oneness.

تنزيهك الحق حدّ أنت تعلمه

تنزيهك الحق حدّ أنت تعلمه

إن التنزيه بنفي الحدّ محدود

إن التنزيه بنفي الحدّ محدود

Your affirmation of the Real's transcendence is a limit you know.

Your rightful transcendence from limit you know,

Indeed, declaring transcendence by denying limits is itself limited.

That transcendence by denying limit is bounded.

إن قلت ليس كذا أثبته بكذا

إن قلت ليس كذا أثبته بكذا

وذا لباس نزيه فيه تجريد

وذا لباس نزيه فيه تجريد

If you say, 'He is not such-and-such,' you affirm Him by such-and-such.

If I say He is not such, I prove Him by such,

And this is a pure garment, within which lies stripping bare.

And that is a transcendent garment wherein abstraction runs.

سلبُ التحير عنه لا يشرفه

سلبُ التحير عنه لا يشرفه

وكيف يشرُف بالتنزيه معبودُ

وكيف يشرُف بالتنزيه معبودُ

Removing bewilderment concerning Him does not exalt Him.

Denying perplexity from Him does not ennoble Him,

And how can the One worshipped gain honor through declarations of transcendence?

And how can He be ennobled by transcendence, the Worshipped?

لو لم يكن في كذا لزال عنه كذا

لو لم يكن في كذا لزال عنه كذا

وزال عنه به حمدٌ وتمجيد

وزال عنه به حمدٌ وتمجيد

Were He not in such-and-such, such-and-such would depart from Him,

Had it not been for such, such would cease from Him,

And thereby praise and glorification would depart from Him.

And cease from Him praise and extolment.

أسماؤه تطلبُ الأكوانَ أجمعها

أسماؤه تطلبُ الأكوانَ أجمعها

فنعتها بالغنى المعلومِ مفقودُ

فنعتها بالغنى المعلومِ مفقودُ

His names call for the worlds, all of them;

His names seek all the cosmos together,

So self-sufficiency, in the known sense, is no attribute of theirs.

So I describe them with the known affluence lost.

لولا القبولُ الذي منا لما ظهرتْ

لولا القبولُ الذي منا لما ظهرتْ

آثارها فلنا من ذلك الجود

آثارها فلنا من ذلك الجود

Were it not for the receptivity that comes from us, there would not appear

Were it not for the acceptance which is from us,

Their effects; so we have a share in that generosity.

Their traces would not have appeared, so ours from that is the munificence.

إن الوجودَ الذي أثبته نسبٌ

إن الوجودَ الذي أثبته نسبٌ

فلا وجود فما في العين موجودُ

فلا وجود فما في العين موجودُ

Indeed, the existence I affirm consists of relations;

For the existence I established is dependent,

So there is no existence, and no existent in concrete reality.

No existence, so what is in the eye existent?

بذا المحال الذي ترمي به فطر

بذا المحال الذي ترمي به فطر

وكيفَ يقبله والكون مشهود

وكيفَ يقبله والكون مشهود

Was it fashioned with this impossibility you hurl forth?

With this absurdity which you cast, create!

And how can it accept it, when the cosmos is witnessed?

And how can He accept it and the world manifest?

أثبت عينك عند النفي نافية

أثبت عينك عند النفي نافية

فمن نفيت وباب النفي مسدود

فمن نفيت وباب النفي مسدود

Affirm your own self as negating at the moment of negation;

Establish your essence with negation a negator,

Whom, then, have you negated, when the gate of negation is closed?

So whom do you negate and the door of negation obstructed?

وكيف تنفي وجوداً أنت تثبته

وكيف تنفي وجوداً أنت تثبته

عقلاً وحوض العقل مورود

عقلاً وحوض العقل مورود

And how can you negate an existence that you affirm

And how can you negate an existence you establish,

By reason, while reason's pool is frequented?

Intellectually, and the basin of intellect abundant?