خليلي لا تعجلا واكتما

حديثي حذاراً على مهجتي

My two friends, do not hasten, and conceal

my tale, out of fear for my life.

فإني اتحدتُ بمن قام لي

إذا ما توجهتُ في قبلتي

For I have become one with him who stood forth for me,

whenever I turned toward my qibla.

ففي كلِّ شيء له صورة

إذا ما بدتْ فلها وجهتي

For in everything he has a form;

whenever it appears, I turn toward it.

وذاك الذي كنتُ أملته

فما كان بعضي سوى جملتي

And that is what I had hoped for:

for part of me was nothing but the whole of me.

تملكني وتملكته

فلي عزه وله ذلتي

He possessed me, and I possessed him;

so his might is mine, and my abasement is his.

وإن أنت تعكس ما قلته

يصح فجمعي في وحدتي

And if you reverse what I have said,

it holds true, for my union lies in my oneness.

وفي حال حبي أنا كاره

له ولحبي فيا حيرتي

And in my state of love, I am averse

to him and to my love—oh, my bewilderment!

أتاني ليلة على غفلة

فثبت إتيانه حجتي

He came to me one night while I was heedless;

so his coming confirmed my proof.

لو أنَّ الذي همت فيه هوى

يكون على ديني أو ملتي

If the one for whom I was mad with love

were of my religion or my creed,

لما كنت أشكو الجوى والنوى

ولكنه ليس من عترتي

I would not complain of love's anguish and separation;

but he is not of my kin.

يخالفني ووفاقي له

لذاك توقفت في وقفتي

He differs from me, yet I am in accord with him;

for that reason I halted where I stood.

هويت السمان ومن لي بهم

وحبي لعينهمُ نحلتي

I loved the plump ones—who can bring them to me?

And my love for their essence is my creed.

وما سمن القوم إلا الذي

يبلغني منهمُ منيتي

And the people's plumpness is nothing but that which

brings me what I desire from them.

يقيني بهم مُشحمٌ ملحمٌ

يقيني من الأخذ في عثرتي

My certainty in them is full of fat and flesh;

it shields me from being seized when I stumble.