1. إنَّ الذي خلق الإنسانَ من علق

    أبداه في طبق في الحال عن طبقِ

    Indeed, He who created man from clinging clots

    Made him manifest, in the present moment, stage after stage.

  2. لا يعرفُ الحقَّ إلا القائلون به

    الخارجون عن التقريبِ بالملقِ

    None know the Real except those who profess belief in Him,

    Who shun closeness gained through flattery.

  3. فما يقوم بهم مما يكون له

    من المكاره محمولٌ على الحدق

    Thus whatever befalls them of what is His—

    Of hardships—is borne upon the pupils of their eyes.

  4. ما أوجد الله إنساناً من العلق

    إلا ليعلمَ ما فيه من العلق

    God brought no human being into existence from clinging clots

    Except that he might know the loving attachment within him.

  5. لذاك عشقه بكلِّ نازلة

    والعشقُ لفظة اشتقت من العشق

    For that reason he loved Him through every calamity;

    And ‘ʿishq,’ passionate love, is a word derived from ‘ʿashaq,’ the clinging vine.

  6. ليس الحجاب الذي يعمي بصيرته

    إلا الذي هو فيه من عمى الفسق

    The veil that blinds his inner vision is none other

    Than the blindness of transgression in which he dwells.

  7. والعين من خالق الإصباح بتصره

    بما لديها من الأنوار للفلق

    And the eye, from the Creator of dawn, [beholds Him],

    With the lights it possesses for daybreak.

  8. ما كلُّ من ذاق طعما نال لذته

    من لم يذق طعمَ حُبِّ الله لم يذق

    Not everyone who tastes a flavor attains its delight.

    Whoever has not tasted the flavor of love for God has tasted nothing.

  9. إنَّ الذي هو في عمياءَ مُظلمةٍ

    من نفسه لا يزال الدهرَ في فَرَق

    Indeed, whoever is in a dark blindness

    Arising from his own self remains forever in fear.

  10. فإن بدا علم منه يدل على

    تعيينه زال عنه حاكمُ الفلقِِ

    But if a sign appears from him, pointing to

    His particular identity, the ruler of daybreak departs from him.

  11. فلسكنِ القلبَ في توحيد مشهدِه

    ويذهب العين عنه لاعج الحرق

    So [let him still] the heart in the oneness of his witnessing,

    And the searing pang of burning takes the eye away from him.