تراءيت لي في كلِّ سيء فكنته

تراءيت لي في كلِّ سيء فكنته

ولو لم تكن عيني لما كنت مدرِكا

ولو لم تكن عيني لما كنت مدرِكا

You appeared to me in every thing, and you were it.

I saw you in everything bad so I became it

And had you not been my eye, I would not have perceived.

Even if my eyes were not there, I would not have perceived

فأين أنا والكلُّ مني أنتمُ

فأين أنا والكلُّ مني أنتمُ

ولم أدر من هذا الذي كان أدركا

ولم أدر من هذا الذي كان أدركا

So where am I, when all of me is you?

So where am I and all are from me you are

Nor did I know who it was that had perceived.

And I did not know who was the one perceiving

فقل لي وعرِّفني فإني حائر

فقل لي وعرِّفني فإني حائر

ولو كنته ما حرتُ العلمُ أنكا

ولو كنته ما حرتُ العلمُ أنكا

So tell me and enlighten me, for I am bewildered.

So tell me and let me know, for I am confused

And had I been him, I would not have been bewildered; knowledge is more painful.

And if I were you I would not perplex knowledge to be you

إلهي فإن العبد عينُ حقيقتي

إلهي فإن العبد عينُ حقيقتي

فنحن بنا عقلا وفي كشفنا بكا

فنحن بنا عقلا وفي كشفنا بكا

My God, the servant is indeed the very essence of my reality.

My God, for the servant is the essence of my truth

So by reason we are through ourselves, and in our unveiling through you.

So we, with our intellect, and in our mystical revelation, weep

فإن قلت إني لستكم كنتَ صادقا

فإن قلت إني لستكم كنتَ صادقا

وإن قلت إني أنتمُ فأنا لكا

وإن قلت إني أنتمُ فأنا لكا

So if you say that I am not you, you would be truthful.

If you say I am not you, you would be truthful

And if you say that I am you, then I am yours.

And if you say I am you, then I belong to you

لك الحكم فينا كيف شئتَ تأدبُّبا

لك الحكم فينا كيف شئتَ تأدبُّبا

لسرٍّ بدا لي كان للأمر أملكا

لسرٍّ بدا لي كان للأمر أملكا

Yours is the judgment over us, however you wish—with due reverence.

Yours is the judgment over us however you wish, submissively

For a secret revealed to me had greater sway over the matter.

For an apparent secret that seemed to me the most possessing

أنا كلُّ شي إن تأملتَ صورتي

أنا كلُّ شي إن تأملتَ صورتي

فإني إنسانٌ وإن كنت مألكا

فإني إنسانٌ وإن كنت مألكا

I am every thing, if you contemplate my form.

I am everything if you contemplate my image

For I am a human being, even were I an angel.

For I am a human, even if I were an angel

تمثَّلَ جبريلُ لمريمَ صورةً

تمثَّلَ جبريلُ لمريمَ صورةً

من الإنس لم يأتِ بمثل ولا بكا

من الإنس لم يأتِ بمثل ولا بكا

Gabriel appeared to Mary in a form

Gabriel took the form of a human for Mary

Of humankind; he came with neither a likeness nor you.

He did not come with anything similar, nor wept

لنعلم أنّ الأمر عين الذي ترى

لنعلم أنّ الأمر عين الذي ترى

وقد صار ما عاينته فيه مهلكا

وقد صار ما عاينته فيه مهلكا

So that we may know that the matter is precisely what you see.

To know that the matter is the essence of what you see

And what you beheld in it has become a cause of ruin.

And what you witnessed in it has become perishing

فإن شئت سلطاناً وإنْ شئتَ سوقة

فإن شئت سلطاناً وإنْ شئتَ سوقة

وإن شئت ذا نسكٍ وإن شئتَ منسكا

وإن شئت ذا نسكٍ وإن شئتَ منسكا

So, if you wish, a sultan; and if you wish, a commoner.

If you wish a sultan, and if you wish a merchant

And if you wish, one devoted to worship; and if you wish, a place of worship.

And if you wish an ascetic, and if you wish a hermitage