بالبحر قيلولة والشوق أختنق

للنوم حيلولة والحب مختنقُ

A noonday rest by the sea; with longing, I suffocate.

Sleep is barred, and love is choked.

وصرت أبصر منه القلب محترقاً

والروح والجسم والفؤاد يحترق

And I came to see the heart burning from it.

And the spirit, the body, and the heart burn.

وصار قرُّ البحور الشمس مندفقاً

والحر في الشمس والفؤاد يندفق

And the seas' chill became the sun, pouring forth.

And heat pours forth in the sun and the heart.

والقوم سابقهم للحي ملتحقا

ولاحق سابقاً كفاه يلتحق

And the people's forerunner joins the encampment.

And a follower catches up with one ahead; that suffices him.

والشوق آخره أولاه مستبقاً

وسابق كان لا في السبق يستبق

And longing's last races ahead of its first.

And a forerunner was not competing in the race.

والجسم من باطني للروح مرتمقا

وباطني روحه في الشوق يرتمق

And the body, from within me, gazes toward the spirit.

And the spirit of my inward self gazes amid longing.

والسر منه الذي مصيره حنقا

ولو أري حنقاً لأذهب الحنق

And the secret from it is that whose end is fury.

And were I shown fury, I would dispel that fury.

من ذكره لفتاة ليس مختفقاً

معها الفؤاد وإن ينقل فيختفق

At his mention of a maiden, there is no fluttering

of the heart with her; yet if it is relayed, it flutters.

كأنما الشمس إذ تكون مبتزقاً

من لونها بزقت واللون يبتزق

It is as though the sun, when it spouts forth,

has spouted from her color, and the color spouts forth.

وإن علا البدر في الهواء مبتسقاً

كأنَّ منها المحيا فيه يبتسق

And if the full moon rises in the air, towering,

it is as though her face rises high within it.

وإن تر البرق في الظلام مبترقاً

كأنه ثغرها في الليل يبترق

And if you see lightning flashing in the darkness,

it is as though her mouth flashes in the night.

والراح مُزجىً ببرد السحب مبتصقاً

كأنه ثغرها بالرشف يبتصق

And wine, proffered with the clouds' hail, spouting forth,

is as though her mouth were spouting at a sip.

والمسك حيث يفوح نشره عبقاً

كأنه نفسها والنفس تعتبق

And musk, wherever its scent wafts fragrantly,

is as though it were her breath, and the breath grows fragrant.

والسهم في وقعه بالجسم مرتشقا

كأنه لحظها في القلب يرتشق

And the arrow, lodged in the body when it strikes,

is as though it were her glance, lodging in the heart.

وجعلها ذهباً مرونقاً ورقا

يحسن به ذهبٌ ويحسن الوَرِقُ

And likening her to lustrous gold and silver—

gold is beautified by it, and silver is beautified.

أيامنا والليالي يأتيا نسقاً

وكلما نسقا فوبُّها نسقُ

Our days and the nights come in sequence.

And whenever they align, then her [unclear word] is order.

وليس قلبي في الأنام معتشقا

لغيرها غير من لله يعتشقُ

And among humankind my heart is not enamored

of anyone but her, save one loved for God's sake.

غوث الطريقة بعد عدمها عتقا

غيث الخليقة فهو غيثها العتق

The succor of the Way, deliverance after its disappearance;

The rain of creation—he is its noble rain.

خير الأنام وبحر العلم مختسقاً

وحيثما قد رمى في الرأي يختسقُ

Best of humankind, and an ocean of knowledge, striking true;

And wherever he has aimed in judgment, he hits the mark.

بحر الأيادي وفُلْكُ البحر منفلقا

ومنه في الغيب والحسي ينفلق

An ocean of favors, and the sea's ship split open;

And from him, in the unseen and the perceptible, it splits apart.

سيف الإله على الأعادِ منخزقا

ومن سهام له في الرمي يختزق

God's sword against the enemies, driven through;

And his arrows pierce through in the shooting.

مولى النوال على الموال منسحقاً

نواله للعفاةِ حيثما انسحقوا

Lord of bounty to his followers, even from afar;

His bounty is for petitioners, wherever they have gone afar.

هو الجوادُ الذي في مهله سبقا

سبق الجياد إذا الجياد قد سبقوا

He is the noble steed who, at his ease, outpaced

the racing of steeds, when the steeds had raced ahead.

هو التقي السخي الخِرْقُ منطبقا

هو الخضمُّ هو الهاضوم ينطبق

He is the pious, the generous, the gallant, aptly so;

He is the vast sea; he is the mighty devourer—the description fits.

هو الهمام سميذع متى خلقا

وهْوَ الأريبُ هو الجحجاح مختلق

He is the valiant, a noble chief from the moment he was created.

And he is discerning; he is the great chief, so fashioned.

حلاحلٌ مدرةٌ منجزٌ خلقا

ولوذعيٌّ سريٌّ مصقعٌ خَلِقُ

A mighty chief, a spokesman, a fulfiller of promises by nature;

And keen-witted, noble, eloquent, worthy.

والأريحي حسيب مجده انطلقا

وماجدٌ وهُوَ الصِّنديد ينطلقُ

And the open-handed man of noble lineage—his glory has spread;

And a noble man—and he is the fearless champion going forth.

وصِمةٌ بطلٌ ذَمَرْكَمٍ دهقاً

كل الطغاة ومنه الطاغي مدّهقُ

And a stalwart, a hero, a mighty warrior, who crushed

all tyrants; and by him the tyrant is crushed.

ومغشم بُهْمةٌ شهمٌ وقد حذقا

حَزْوراً علم ما الأقحاح قد حذقوا

And a reckless fighter, an unconquerable warrior, noble-hearted, and already skilled;

A sturdy man, he knew what men of pure stock had mastered.

محيي الشريعة بعد عدمها وهقا

وهو الوثيق لها كأنه الوهق

Reviver of the sacred law after its disappearance, a tether;

And he is its firm support, as though he were the tether.

قطب الوجود عليه دار مفترقاً

والفرق والجمع فيه ليس يفترق

The pole of existence, around whom it turned in its divisions;

And separation and union are not separate in him.

والعلم والحلم دائمان متفقا

والعدل والبذل فيه الكل يتفق

And knowledge and forbearance endure together in accord;

And justice and generosity—in him they all agree.

والشمسُ والقمرُ الليلُ النهارُ رَقَى

كلٌّ يضاهي له إكمال ما شرقوا

And the sun, the moon, the night, the day have risen;

Each rivals, for him, the fullness of its shining.