1. لك الخير إني لا أعيد ولا أبدى

    لفرط اشتياقي واتقاد لظى وجدي

    May goodness be yours; I can neither repeat nor begin to speak,

    From the intensity of my longing and the blazing flame of my passion.

  2. أجل أنني والله والله حافظ

    عهودكم حتى أغيب في لحدي

    Yes, by God, by God, I keep

    Your covenants until I vanish into my grave.

  3. أخلاي إذ شطت بى الدار عنكم

    حليف الوفا محض الصداقة والود

    My dear friends, as my dwelling has carried me far from you,

    I remain bound to fidelity, pure in friendship and affection.

  4. ودادكم فرض علي محتم

    أدين به ما عشت فى القرب والبعد

    Loving you is an obligation binding upon me;

    I adhere to it as long as I live, near and far.

  5. ألفتكم يا أهل مكة الفة

    تفردت بين العاشقين بها وحدي

    I have grown attached to you, O people of Mecca, with an affection

    In which I stand alone among lovers.

  6. جزاؤكم الأوفى من الله عن فتى

    بذلتم له محض الوداد على عمد

    May your fullest reward come from God, on behalf of a young man

    To whom you deliberately offered pure affection.

  7. فلله أيامي لديكم وحبذا

    اجتماعى بكم حول المقام على وعد

    God be praised for my days with you; how lovely was

    My appointed gathering with you around the Maqam.

  8. إذا الشمل شمل الانس لي متجمع

    بكم وقضاء الله بالوصل مسعدي

    When my company, the company of fellowship, was gathered for me

    With you, and God's decree gladdened me with reunion.

  9. وإذ أنا مسرور براح لقائكم

    وأحسوا كؤوسا من حديثكم الشهدي

    And when I was delighted by the wine of meeting you,

    And I sipped cups of your honey-sweet conversation.

  10. لقد كنت في تلك الليالي بغبطة

    بها شرفت ذاتي على رغم حسدي

    Indeed, on those nights I was in bliss,

    Through which my very self was ennobled, despite my enviers.

  11. ليال مضت لى فى حماكم منيرة

    أروح اليكم تارة ثم أغتدي

    Radiant nights passed for me within your sanctuary;

    At times I came to you in the evening, then again in the morning.

  12. فيا أخوى عبداللطيف وخدنه

    خليفة من لى تعلمان بما عندي

    O my two brothers, Abd al-Latif and his close friend,

    Khalifa—who is there for me? You both know my state.

  13. توهمتما منى الجفا اذ فقدتما

    مراسلتى لا والمروءة الود

    You both imagined coldness from me when you missed

    My correspondence. No—by honor and affection!

  14. لان كان ما قد قلتما يا أحبتى

    إذن لا بلغت القصد من الفة المجد

    If it is indeed as you both have said, my beloved friends,

    Then may I never attain my aim of intimacy with glory,

  15. ولا اقتعدت لى همة غارب العلى

    ولا استلمت ركن المعالي بكم يدي

    Nor may any ambition of mine mount the crest of greatness,

    Nor may my hand, through you, touch the corner of high honors,

  16. ولا استخلصت نفسي وداد أئمة

    بهم يقتدى من كان في الكون مهتدي

    Nor may my soul secure the affection of imams

    Whose example is followed by whoever is rightly guided in the world.

  17. اليهم تناهى الفضل في العلم والتقى

    وحسبهم في الفضل ورث محمد

    In them excellence in knowledge and piety reached its utmost;

    And their inheritance from Muhammad suffices for their distinction.

  18. خليلي عني أبلغاهم تحية

    تحية محنى الضلوع على وجد

    My two friends, convey to them a greeting from me,

    A greeting from ribs curved around longing.

  19. ولا سيما بكري بكر زمانه

    إمام على الإطلاق في الحل والعقد

    And especially Bakri, the firstborn of his age,

    An imam in the fullest sense, in loosening and binding.

  20. وشيخى ابن عبدالله أحمد من به

    تزين هذا العصر بعد

    And my shaykh Ahmad, son of Abd Allah, through whom

    This age was adorned thereafter.

  21. وخصا بألطاف التحية عابدا

    فيا حبذا شيخى الحبيب وسيدي

    And single out Abid for the kindest greetings;

    How admirable is my beloved shaykh and master!

  22. على له فضل يضيق بشكره

    نطاق اقتداري لو بذلت به جهدي

    His kindness to me is such that thanks for it exceed

    The bounds of my ability, even if I expended my effort on it.

  23. وقولا له ذاك التليميذ آمل

    اقالته مما جنته يد العبد

    And tell him: that pupil hopes

    To be pardoned for what the servant's hand has committed.

  24. ولا تذهلا أن تبلغا لى تحية

    الى شيخنا الخياط سيدى محمد

    And do not forget to convey a greeting for me

    To our shaykh al-Khayyat, my master Muhammad.

  25. أولئك أحبابى الذين بعلمهم

    وأعمالهم فى طاعة الله أقتدي

    Those are my beloved friends, whose knowledge

    And deeds in obedience to God I emulate.

  26. فشوقى اليهم شوق صب لحبه

    وشوق صد من بعد عشر الى ورد

    So my longing for them is a lover's longing for his beloved,

    And a thirsty one's longing for water after ten days.

  27. عسى الله يوما أن يعيد اجتماعنا

    بأم القرى بعد النوى والتبدد

    May God one day restore our gathering

    In Umm al-Qura, after separation and dispersal.

  28. فانى وان أصبحت بين بنى أبى

    وبين بنى عمى وفى أرض مولدي

    For though I now dwell among my father's sons,

    And among my paternal uncle's sons, in the land of my birth,

  29. فان فؤادى لا يزال لديكم

    مقيما الى أن يطوى البعد مشهدي

    Yet my heart remains always with you,

    Abiding there until my presence folds away the distance.

  30. وانى لحنان الى كل ذى نهى

    وذى أدب والعلم أعظم مقصدي

    And I surely yearn for everyone endowed with reason,

    And those of refinement; knowledge is my greatest aim.

  31. عسى نفحة من نسمة مولوية

    يكون بها بين الأحبة مقعدي

    May a waft from a divine breeze

    Give me a seat among the beloved.

  32. أميط بها عنى العلائق بعدما

    تثقلت حتى صاح بى الثقل اقعدي

    Through it I cast off my attachments, after

    I grew burdened, until the weight cried to me, 'Sit down!'

  33. فأضحى ومرآ الفؤاد صقيلة

    بأيدى الرضا عن كل حول مبعد

    Then I become—with the heart's mirror polished

    By the hands of contentment—detached from every power.