1. لا تسلني فأنا أج

    هل مدلول السعادة

    Do not ask me, for I do not

    know the meaning of happiness—

  2. غير لفظ ما له مع

    نى ولا فيه إفادة

    nothing but a word that has no

    meaning and offers no benefit.

  3. ربما توجد بالفر

    دوس لكن بالشهاده

    Perhaps it is found in

    Paradise, but through martyrdom.

  4. إن ما حبب للصو

    في إيثار الزهادة

    Indeed, what made the Sufi

    favor asceticism

  5. علمه أن ليس في الدن

    يا سعيد بالإرادة

    was his knowledge that in this

    world no one is happy by choice.

  6. آه لو كان أبوكم

    ذا دهاء وقيادة

    Ah, if your father had been

    endowed with shrewdness and leadership,

  7. لم يذق ما ذاق حتى

    نال بالخلد مراده

    he would not have tasted what he tasted until

    he had attained his wish in eternal life.

  8. غره إبليس بالخل

    د وعنه قد أحاده

    Iblis beguiled him with

    immortality, and led him away from it.

  9. فعصي مولاه ليت ال

    حكم قد كان الإباده

    So he disobeyed his Lord—if only the

    sentence had been annihilation!

  10. ليس عندي غير هذا

    لا ترم مني زيادة

    I have nothing but this;

    do not seek more from me.

  11. سل إذا شئت دراوي

    ش الطريقة

    Ask, if you wish, the dervishes

    of the order.

  12. قد تجهد فيهم جوابا

    للسؤال

    You may strive among them for an answer

    to the question.

  13. فهم أدرى بها من

    ني حقيقة

    For they know it better than

    I do, in truth,

  14. إذ لهم شوق بتصدي

    ق المحال

    since they long to believe

    the impossible.

  15. أو فسل عنها أخا الأج

    واء قد يحيا سعيد

    Or ask about it the brother of the

    skies, who may live happily

  16. بجناح وفضاء

    وحبوب من حصيد

    with a wing and open space,

    and grains from the harvest,

  17. وغدير وأليف

    وغناء ونشيد

    and a pool and a companion,

    and singing and song,

  18. وبوكر ضم أفرا

    خا على غصن يميد

    and with a nest that cradled chicks

    upon a swaying branch.

  19. همه التغريد لا يع

    رف معنى للقيود

    His concern is birdsong; he does not

    know what shackles mean.

  20. ليس يغتر بوعد

    لا ولا يخشى وعيد

    He is not beguiled by a promise,

    no, nor does he fear a threat.

  21. ما له مال ففي الما

    ل شقاء للوجود

    He has no wealth, for in

    wealth lies the misery of existence.

  22. ما له نطق فإن الن

    نطق بالجهل يزيد

    He has no speech, for

    speech increases with ignorance.

  23. ما له علم وهل في ال

    علم من شيء حميد

    He has no knowledge—and is there in

    knowledge anything praiseworthy?

  24. إنه خال من الهم

    م ومن كاد يكيد

    Indeed, he is free of worry

    and of anyone who schemes and plots.

  25. سله قد ينبيك ما مع

    نى السعادة

    Ask him; he may tell you what

    the meaning of happiness is,

  26. ويوافيك بنص

    أو دليل

    and furnish you with a text

    or proof.

  27. قد يراها في فجور

    أو عباده

    He may see it in debauchery

    or worship.

  28. فليقل ما شاء فهي

    المستحيل

    So let him say what he will, for it is

    the impossible.