1. فمِن شرفِ النبيّ على الوجودِ

    ختامُ الأولياءِ من العقود

    So among the Prophet's honors over all existence

    is the seal of the saints among the necklaces,

  2. من البيت الرفيع وساكنيه

    من الجنسِ المعظم في الوجودِ

    from the lofty house and its inhabitants,

    from the kind held in reverence throughout existence;

  3. وتبينُ الحقائقِ في ذراها

    وفضلُ الله فيه من الشهودِ

    and the discernment of realities at their summits,

    and God's grace in him through witnessing.

  4. لو أنّ البيت يبقى دون ختمٍ

    لجاء اللصُّ يفتكُ بالوليد

    If the house were to remain without a seal,

    the thief would come and murder the newborn.

  5. فحقِّق يا أخي نظراً إلى من

    حمى بيتَ الولايةِ من بعيدِ

    So direct a discerning gaze, my brother, toward the one

    who guarded the house of sainthood from afar.

  6. فلولا ما تكوّنَ من أبينا

    لما أمرت ملائكة السجودِ

    So, were it not for what came into being from our father,

    the angels would not have been commanded to prostrate.

  7. فذاك الأقدسيّ أمام نفسي

    يُسمى وهو حيٌ بالشهيد

    So that supremely holy one stands before my soul,

    and is called the Witness while he is alive.

  8. وحيدُ الوقتِ ليس له نظيرٌ

    فريدُ الذاتِ من بيتٍ فريد

    Unique in his time, he has no equal,

    unique in essence, from a unique house.

  9. لقد أبصرته حتماً كريماً

    بمشهدِه على رغمِ الحسودِ

    Indeed, I beheld him, assuredly noble,

    in his presence, despite the envious one,

  10. كما أبصرت شمس البيتِ منه

    مكانَ الحلقِ من حبلِ الوريد

    just as I saw the sun of the house in relation to him,

    in the throat's position relative to the jugular vein.

  11. لو أنّ النورَ يشرقُ من سناه

    على الجسمِ المغيبِ في اللحودِ

    If the light were to shine from his radiance

    upon the body hidden in the graves,

  12. لأصبح عالماً حياً كليماً

    طليقَ الوجه يرفلُ في البرود

    it would become knowing, alive, and able to converse,

    cheerful-faced, striding proudly in striped cloaks.

  13. فمن فهم الإشارة فليصنها

    وإلا سوف يلحقُ بالصَّعيد

    So let whoever understands the allusion safeguard it;

    otherwise, he will join the dust.

  14. فنورُ الحقِّ ليس به خفاءٌ

    على الأفلاكِ من سَعد السُّعودِ

    For the light of the Real has no obscurity

    over the celestial spheres, from Saʿd al-Suʿūd.

  15. رأيتُ الأمر ليس به توانٍ

    سواءٌ في هبوطٍ أو صعودِ

    I saw no slackening in the matter,

    alike in descent or ascent.

  16. نطقتُ به وعنه وليس إلا

    وإنّ الأمر فيه على المزيد

    I spoke through it and about it, and of nothing else;

    and indeed, in it, the matter is ever increasing.

  17. وكوني في الوجودِ بلا مكانٍ

    دليلٌ أنني ثوبُ الشهيد

    And my being in existence without a place

    is proof that I am the garment of the Witness.

  18. فما وسعَ الوجودُ جَلال ربِّي

    ولكنْ كان في قلبِ العميدِ

    For existence did not contain my Lord's majesty,

    yet it was within the chief's heart.

  19. أردتُ تكتماً لما تجارى

    إليه النكر من بيضٍ وَسودِ

    I wished for secrecy when there rushed

    toward it rejection from white and black alike.

  20. وهل يخشى الذئابَ عليه من قد

    مشى في القفرِ من خفَر الأسُودِ

    Would one fear wolves for him, having already

    walked in the wilderness under the lions' protection?

  21. وخاطبتُ النفيسةَ من وجودي

    على الكشفِ المحققِّ والوجودِ

    And I addressed the precious one within my being

    concerning realized unveiling and existence:

  22. أبعد الكشف عنه لكل عينٍ

    جحدتْ وكيف ينفعني جُحودي

    After his unveiling to every eye

    that denied him—how could my denial help me?

  23. فردَّتْ في الجوابِ عليَّ صِدقاً

    تضرَّعَ للمهيمنِ والشهيد

    So she answered me truthfully:

    Humble yourself before the Guardian and the Witness,

  24. وسَله الحفظَ ما دامَ التلقِّي

    وسَله العيشَ للزَّمنِ بالسعيد

    and ask Him for protection while reception lasts,

    and ask Him for life, through time, with the fortunate one.

  25. سألتك يا عليم الر مني

    عصا ما في المودة بالودودِ

    I asked You, O All-Knowing—alif-lām-rā, from me [wording unclear]—

    for a staff of some kind in love, through the Loving One.

  26. وأنْ تُبقي عليَّ رداء جسمي

    بكعبتِكم إلى يومِ الصُّعودِ

    And that You preserve upon me the mantle of my body

    at your Kaaba until the day of ascent,

  27. وأن تخفي مكاني في مكاني

    كما أخفيت بأسَكَ في الحديدِ

    and that You hide my place within my place,

    as You hid Your might within iron,

  28. وتستر ما بدا مني اضطراراً

    كسترِكَ نورَ ذاتِك في العبيد

    and veil what appeared from me under compulsion,

    as You veil the light of Your essence within the servants,

  29. وأن تبدي عليَّ شهودَ عجزي

    بتوفيتي مواثيقَ العهود

    and that You reveal to me the witnessing of my helplessness

    through my fulfilling the pledges of the covenants.