1. من طهر الله لم يلحق به دنسٌ

    وهو المقدَّسُ لا بل عينه القدسُ

    Whomever God has purified, no defilement touches.

    He is the sanctified one—no, rather, his very essence is holiness.

  2. كأهل بيت رسول الله سيِّدنا

    وهو الإمام الكريم السيِّد الندسُ

    Like the household of God's Messenger, our master,

    who is the noble imam, the discerning lord.

  3. جاء البشير بما الآذانُ قد سمعت

    ألقى قليلا وجلَّ القوم قد نعسوا

    The bearer of glad tidings came with what the ears had heard;

    he imparted a little, while most of the people had grown drowsy.

  4. ناموا عن الحقِّ لا بل عن نفوسهمُ

    عند المواهبِ والأقوام ما بخسوا

    They slept, oblivious to the Real—no, rather, to their own selves,

    at the bestowal of gifts; the people were not shortchanged.

  5. لما تحقق أنَّ النومَ حاكمهم

    من أجل ذا جعل الحفاظُ والحرس

    When it became clear that sleep was their ruler,

    for this reason, guardians and watchmen were appointed.

  6. من أجل ذا كانتِ البشرى وكان لهم

    من أجل نومهمُ حفظا لهم مس

    For this reason came glad tidings, and there was for them

    a touch to safeguard them because of their sleep.

  7. فعندما عصموا من كلِّ حادثةٍ

    تصيبُ أمثالهم قاموا وما جلسوا

    So when they were protected from every mishap

    that befalls their like, they stood and did not sit,

  8. بحقِّ سيدهم في كلِّ آونة

    على الصفاءِ وما خانوا وما لبسوا

    upholding their master's due at every moment,

    in purity, neither betraying nor casting confusion

  9. على نفوسهمُ علما بحالهمُ

    لذاك عن مشهد التحقيقِ ما اختلسوا

    upon their own selves, knowing their condition.

    Hence they were not snatched from the vision of realization.

  10. إنَّ الوجودَ الذي قد عز مطلبه

    فيه وفي مثله الأرواح تفترس

    Indeed, the existence whose attainment has grown so elusive—

    in it and its like, spirits are devoured.

  11. أغارتِ الخيلُ ليلا في عساكرهم

    فقيل قد قتلوا إذ قيلَ قد كسبوا

    The cavalry raided their armies by night;

    then it was said they had been slain, when it was said they had gained.

  12. لو أنهم علموا الأمر الذي جهلوا

    على رؤوسهم والله ما نكسوا

    Had they known the matter they did not know,

    by God, they would not have been overturned onto their heads.

  13. أقول قولاً وما في القول من حرج

    ينفي عن النفس ما أغمها النفس

    I utter a saying, and there is no blame in the saying,

    which dispels from the soul the grief the self has caused it.

  14. ما نال موسى بما يبغيه من قبس

    إلا الذي ناله من أجله القبس

    Moses gained nothing through the firebrand he sought

    except what the firebrand gained on his account.

  15. لو أن أهل وجودِ الجودِ نالهمُ

    ما نال موسى من الرحمن ما بئسوا

    Had the people of bounty's being received

    what Moses received from the All-Merciful, they would not have been wretched.

  16. لكنهم بئسوا من ذاك واعتمدوا

    على ظنونهمُ بالجود إذ يئسوا

    But they were wretched through that, and relied

    on their conjectures about bounty when they despaired.

  17. إني رأيتُ فتى أعطى الفتوح له

    بأرضِ أندلس الماءَ والبلس

    I saw a youth to whom providential bounty gave,

    in the land of Andalusia, water and figs.

  18. ولم يكن عنده نطق يقوم به

    وقد تحكم فيه الصمتُ والخرس

    He had no speech by which to sustain himself,

    and silence and muteness had taken control of him.

  19. كمثلِ مريمَ قد كانت شجيته

    في رِزقه فهو في الراحاتِ يلتمس

    His sorrow had been like Mary's,

    over his sustenance; so he seeks it in palms.

  20. وذاك من أعجبِ الأحوال إنَّ له

    حالَ الغنى وهو بين الناس مبتئس

    And that is among the strangest states: his is

    a state of wealth, yet among people he is distressed.

  21. أحوالُ شخصٍ لأمر الله ممتثلٌ

    للحكم مقتنصٌ للنورِ مقتبس

    The states of a person obedient to God's command,

    a hunter of wisdom, drawing a spark from the light.

  22. إنَّ الإمام الذي تجري الأمور به

    في كلِّ نهرٍ من الأحوالِ ينغمس

    Indeed, the imam through whom affairs unfold

    immerses himself in every river of states.

  23. والسرُّ يحكمه لا بل يحكمه

    في نفسه وبه الساداتُ قد أنسوا

    The secret governs him—no, rather, he governs it

    within himself, and with him the masters have found solace.

  24. فما لهم قدم في غيرِ حضرته

    وما لجانبه منهم فمندرس

    So they have no footing outside his presence;

    and whatever of them is at his side is effaced.

  25. هم الحيارى السكارى في محارتهم

    وما لهم في جناب الحقِّ ملتمس

    They are bewildered, drunken in their bewilderment,

    and in the precinct of the Real they have nothing to seek.

  26. الحالُ أفناهمُ عنهم وما عرفوا

    من هم لذلك قيل اليوم قد نفسوا

    The state has annihilated them from themselves; they have not known

    who they are; hence it was said, 'Today they have found relief.'

  27. لو أنهم مزقوا منهم وما لهمُ

    لديه من كلِّ خير فيه ما انتكسوا

    Had they been torn from themselves and all that they possessed

    with Him of every good in Him, they would not have fallen back.

  28. الذاتُ تبهم ما الأسماء توضحه

    والقومُ ما قرأوا علماً وما درسوا

    The Essence obscures what the Names make clear,

    and the people have read no lore, nor have they studied.

  29. كانت عليهم من أثوابِ العلى حللٌ

    فبِئسَ ما خلعوا ومنِهمَ ما لبسوا

    Robes from the garments of exaltation were upon them;

    wretched was their casting off; what they wore came from themselves.

  30. دخلتُ جنةَ عدنٍ كي أرى اثرا

    فقيل ليس جناهم غير ما غرسوا

    I entered the Garden of Eden to see a trace,

    and was told, 'Their harvest is nothing but what they planted.'