1. إذا نَطَقَ الكتابُ بما حواه

    من العلمِ المفصل نُطقَ حالِ

    If the book speaks of what it contains

    of detailed knowledge, through the speech of its state,

  2. علمتُ بأنه علمٌ صحيحٌ

    أتاك به المثل في المثالِ

    I know that it is sound knowledge,

    which the likeness has brought you within the image.

  3. إذا جهلَ السؤالَ فإن فيما

    تراه إجابةُ علمِ السؤالِ

    If he does not know the question, then in what

    you see lies an answer that makes the question known.

  4. أذودُ عن القرابةِ كلَّ سوءٍ

    بأرماحٍ مثقَّفَةٍ طوالِ

    I ward off every harm from my kindred

    with long, straightened spears

  5. من ألسنةِ حِداد لا تُبارى

    أتتك بهنَّ أفواهُ الرجال

    of sharp tongues that cannot be rivaled;

    men's mouths have brought them to you.

  6. رأيتهمُ وهم قدما صفوفا

    عبيدُ مهيمنِ ولنا الموالي

    I saw them, arrayed in ranks from of old:

    servants of the Guardian, and patrons to us.

  7. فإنَّ الله أرسلهم رجالاً

    لإلحاق الأسافلِ بالأعالي

    For God sent them as men

    to join the lowest to the highest,

  8. وإلحامِ الأباعد بالأداني

    وقالوا النقصُ من شرطِ الكمالِ

    and fuse the distant with the near.

    And they said: imperfection is a condition of perfection.

  9. ولكن في الوجودِ وكلّ شيء

    يكونُ كماله نقصُ الكمالِ

    Yet in existence, and in every thing,

    its perfection consists in a lack of perfection.

  10. ولولا الانحراف لما وجدنا

    فلا تطلب وجودَ الاعتدال

    And were it not for deviation, we would not exist;

    so do not seek the existence of equilibrium.

  11. بأنَّ الله لا يعطيه خلقا

    فإنَّ وجودَه عينُ المحال

    For God grants it to no creature,

    for its existence is impossibility itself.

  12. ولا تسألْ قرار الحالِ فينا

    فإنَّ الحكم فينا للزوال

    And do not ask that our state remain fixed,

    for transience holds sway within us.

  13. مع الأنفاس والأمثالِ تبدو

    هي الخلق الجديد فلا تبال

    And with each breath, likenesses appear;

    they are the new creation, so do not be concerned.

  14. وليس شؤونُ ربي غير هذا

    وهذا الحقُّ ليس من الخيالِ

    And my Lord's affairs are nothing but this,

    and this truth is not of the imagination.

  15. رأيت عمى تكوّن عن عماء

    وأين هُدى البيانِ من الضلال

    I saw blindness take shape from a cloud;

    and how far the guidance of clear expression is from error!

  16. فلا يحوي المعارفَ غيرُ قلبٍ

    فإنَّ الحكم من حكمِ العقال

    So none but a heart can contain knowledge,

    for judgment stems from the tether's rule.

  17. إذا عاينت ذا سيرٍ حثيثٍ

    فذاك السيرُ في طَلَبِ النوال

    If you behold one journeying swiftly,

    then that journey is in pursuit of bounty.

  18. إذا وفى حقيقته عُبيدٌ

    له حكمُ التفيؤ كالظلالِ

    If a little servant fulfills his true nature,

    he is subject to shifting, like shadows.

  19. ألا إنَّ الكمالَ لمن تردَّى

    بأدريةِ الجلالِ معَ الجمالِ

    Behold, perfection belongs to whoever robes himself

    in the robes of majesty together with beauty;

  20. فيفهم ما يكون بغيرِ قولٍ

    ويعجز فهمه نُطقُ المقال

    so he understands what comes to be without speech,

    yet spoken discourse baffles his understanding.

  21. لو أنَّ الأمر تضبطه عقولٌ

    لأصبح في إسارٍ غيرِ وال

    If intellects could confine the matter,

    it would be in bondage, not a ruler.

  22. وقيَّدَه اللبيبُ وقيدَتهُ

    صروفُ الحادثاتِ مع الليالي

    And the discerning would fetter it, and it would be fettered by

    the vicissitudes of events, together with the nights.

  23. وإنَّ الأمر تقييدٌ بوجهٍ

    وإطلاقٌ بوجهٍ باعتلالِ

    And indeed, the matter is restricted in one respect,

    and unrestricted in another, owing to a cause.

  24. إذا كان القويُّ على وجوهِ

    محققةٍ تؤولُ إلى انفصال

    If the strong has several aspects

    that are realized and lead to separation,

  25. فأقواها الذي قد قلتُ فيه

    يكون لعينه عين المحال

    then the strongest of them is that of which I have said:

    it is, in its very essence, impossibility itself.