إني سمعت كلاماً ليس يدريه

إني سمعت كلاماً ليس يدريه

إلا الذي سمع القرآن من فيه

إلا الذي سمع القرآن من فيه

Indeed, I heard words whose meaning no one knows

Indeed, I heard speech that none understands

except the one who heard the Qur’an from His mouth.

Except the one who heard the Qur'an from his mouth.

هو الرسول الذي من جاء يطلبه

هو الرسول الذي من جاء يطلبه

بعقله فبهذا القدر أكفيه

بعقله فبهذا القدر أكفيه

He is the Messenger; whoever comes seeking him

He is the Messenger: whoever comes seeking him

through reason—with this much I shall suffice him.

With his reason, I satisfy him with this much.

إني رأيتُ له نوراً يضيء به

إني رأيتُ له نوراً يضيء به

أهل السماءِ إذا عين توفيه

أهل السماءِ إذا عين توفيه

I saw that he possessed a light by which

Indeed, I saw a light belonging to him, by which

the inhabitants of heaven shine—when an eye renders him,

The people of heaven shine, when an eye accords him in full

من الضياءِ الذي فيها حقيقته

من الضياءِ الذي فيها حقيقته

وحقه وسوى هذا يعفيه

وحقه وسوى هذا يعفيه

from the radiance in which his reality resides,

From the radiance within it, his reality

the due that is his; and what lies beyond this excuses him.

And his due; anything other than this effaces him.

من كان أمرضَه فكر فإنَّ له

من كان أمرضَه فكر فإنَّ له

ربّاً يعافيه إيماناً ويشفيه

ربّاً يعافيه إيماناً ويشفيه

Whoever has been sickened by thought has

Whoever has been made ill by thought indeed has

a Lord who restores him through faith and heals him.

A Lord who restores him through faith and heals him.

ما كان أثبته الإيمان من شبهٍ

ما كان أثبته الإيمان من شبهٍ

بالله جاءَ دليلُ الشرعِ ينفيه

بالله جاءَ دليلُ الشرعِ ينفيه

Whatever likeness to God faith had affirmed,

Whatever faith had affirmed of resemblance

the proof of revealed law came to negate.

To God, the proof of the Law came to deny.

والعقلُ أيضاً له رِدء يصدقه

والعقلُ أيضاً له رِدء يصدقه

في قوله فهو برٌّ في تحفيه

في قوله فهو برٌّ في تحفيه

Reason, too, has a rebuttal encircling it

And reason, too, is its support, confirming it

in what it says, though it is devoted to honoring Him.

In what it says; thus it is kind in its solicitous care.

الله يشقي فؤادي إذ رأى جسدي

الله يشقي فؤادي إذ رأى جسدي

عين الصَّدى وهو يبكي في تشفيه

عين الصَّدى وهو يبكي في تشفيه

God makes my heart suffer when it beholds my body,

God torments my heart, since it saw my body

the very essence of estrangement, while it weeps in seeking its own relief,

As a corpse in truth, while it weeps to find relief

لصحبةٍ سلفت ما بين قالبه

لصحبةٍ سلفت ما بين قالبه

وبينه وهو أمر فيه ما فيه

وبينه وهو أمر فيه ما فيه

for companionship once shared between the body’s frame

For a companionship once shared between its bodily frame

and the heart—an affair fraught with all it contains.

And itself—a matter with all that it entails.

لقد تنازعَ فيه الحاكمان معاً

لقد تنازعَ فيه الحاكمان معاً

فالشرعُ يظهره والطبع يخفيه

فالشرعُ يظهره والطبع يخفيه

The two arbiters have indeed contended over it together:

The two arbiters have indeed contended over it together:

revealed law manifests it, while natural disposition conceals it.

So the Law reveals it, while nature conceals it.